For Kobe:
Force a trade, Kobe. Walk into Jerry Buss' office (I would say walk into Mitch
Kupchak's office, but do you two even talk any more?) and tell him it's not
working out. Cut bait. Go to Seattle, maybe in a sign and trade for Ray Allen
and a combination of Nick Collison or Vladimir Radmanovic. Go to New Orleans and
play for your old buddy Byron Scott; maybe he can entice the Lakers with a
package of Jamaal Magliore and a few No. 1 picks. You think your
teammates are the problem? You're like the ringleader of a really bad circus.
Isn't this roster almost exactly the same as the one Dwyane Wade carried to the
second round of the playoffs? Anyone think Wade couldn't do it again?
For Starbury:
Find a way out, Stephon. Find your way back to Minnesota, where you enjoyed the
best seasons of your career, and take your rightful place beside Kevin Garnett.
Can you imagine what might have been had you never left? You probably wouldn't
be wanting for any jewelry for your ring fingers. Go to Isiah. Help him make his
team better. You think Latrell Sprewell wouldn't appreciate a return to the
Knicks? Package Spree (via sign and trade) with enigmatic center Michael
Olowokandi, throw in Minnesota's first lottery pick in almost a decade and you
might have yourself a deal. Meanwhile, Jamal Crawford can assume your point
position in New York.
Mannix admits that because of both of their contracts, it's highly unlikely that either player goes anywhere. I think a big problem the NBA has is that everyone wants a max contract, and players feel they need that to justify their star status.
But guys like Marbury and Richard Jefferson (and Antoine Walker and Raef LaFrenz etc.) shouldn't recieve the same max contracts that Kobe and Tim Duncan get. Teams offer the max to players like these because they need those players to be competative, but it ends up hurting their team, beacuse now you're paying a very good player like a great player and you don't have enough money to pay for the supporting cast that you need.
In my opinion, only a handful of guys should earn the max for what they bring to their team.
The list, in no particular order:
Shaq
Yao (he's putting up better and better numbers, plus his box office draw more than makes pays for the contract)
LeBron
Kobe
Jason Kidd
Tim Duncan
McGrady
AI
Dirk
KG
My second tier is the group of all-stars who should get paid handsonly, but not at the same pay scale that the top guys get. These guys are good-great players, but they aren't the top guys.
The Second Tier includes:
Steve Francis
Marbury
Steve Nash
Dwayne Wade
Amare Stoudimire
Carmelo Anthony (the last three could move up by the time their rookie contract is over)
Walker
Paul Pierce
Rasheed Wallace
Z
Ben Wallace
Chris Webber
Mike Bibby
Peja
Jermaine O'neal
Vince Carter
Richard Jefferson
Elton Brand
Ron Artest
The article also has a real nice post on the NBA Age Limit story:
Look at the numbers. O'Neal never averaged better than 4.5 points per game his
first two years in Portland; Tracy McGrady, slightly more productive, peaked at
9.3.
Would either of their games have suffered as a result of being forced
to play for Duke or Michigan instead of sitting on the bench in Portland or
Toronto? What's the downside? An 18-year-old kid gets to play on a national
stage while at the same time getting two years' worth of education while
developing tangible social skills at some of the finest universities in the
land. Am I missing something?
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