Restricted Free-Agency Status Backfiring on NBA Players and Teams?
By D.J. Foster , Featured ColumnistUse your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories
If it seems odd that two of the league's brightest young talents are still available in free agency, that's because it is.
Both Eric Bledsoe and Greg Monroe are restricted free agents, and that's something that hasn't worked in their favor this offseason.
Bledsoe and Monroe have both had to sit on the sidelines this offseason while they watched their fellow draft classmates get paid. After the market dried up and all the money went elsewhere, Bledsoe and Monroe now face the unenviable position of negotiating a long-term contract with almost no leverage whatsoever.
Here's Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports with a good breakdown of how restricted free agency works, and how sometimes it doesn't:
As BDL Editor Kelly Dwyer wrote in November, restricted free agency exists largely to help front-office decision-makers, allowing them to pass on bidding against themselves for players near the end of their rookie-scale contracts in favor of exploring the league-wide market for a player's services before making a long-term decision.
This can come back to bite you. The Utah Jazz, for example, now probably wish they'd given Gordon Hayward the "deal in the four-year, $50-million plus range" he sought last summer, rather than letting him hit restricted free agency and eventually having to match a four-year, $63 million offer sheet.
But while the Jazz might be kicking themselves for not getting a deal done early after having three years of time to weigh the value of a player they drafted, the Suns had seen Bledsoe in purple and orange for all of one game before the deadline to offer him an extension of his rookie contract. First-year Suns general manager Ryan McDonough decided instead that he'd use the leverage afforded him by restricted free agency…to let Bledsoe sing for his supper.
If McDonough didn't like the tune, then he would have avoided larding up the books with a pricey deal for a player who didn't take well to an increased role. If everything sounded sweet, he could match any offer a competitor made, keeping a valuable contributor at the market rate.
As it turned out, things broke just about perfectly for McDonough; he does like Bledsoe, and a month into the offseason, nobody has tested just how much he wants to keep his rising star guard in the fold.
The reason restricted free agency exists in the first place, aside from the benefit of teams not having to negotiate against themselves, is to keep players in the same market they were drafted.
Richard Rowe/Getty Images
It's beneficial to the league to give small-market teams the option to retain star players after their rookie deals are up in order to create both familiarity and league-wide parity. While it's not a guarantee that all big names would leave a city like Milwaukee after their first four years, it's understandable that the league doesn't want to test that by making all free agents unrestricted.
Most players and teams understand the risk of entering restricted free agency instead of negotiating an extension in the offseason prior to that final year. Young players are usually wise to bet on themselves and hope that they'll perform better than ever in a contract season.
If it were just the players getting burned in restricted free agency, it would be easy to rally for a change to the current system. But that isn't necessarily the case.
Teams can get hurt by restricted free agency through creative offer sheets designed to make matching undesirable, and the acceptance of a qualifying offer can spell trouble as well.
Still, the teams hold most of the cards. They can match, decline or even find a sign-and-trade to benefit all parties. One of those three options happens much more often than not. Who is the last high-profile player to accept a qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent the next season? Exactly.
David Sherman/Getty Images
Bledsoe and Monroe are rare examples of when things can go wrong.
Here's Sean Deveney of the Sporting News:
Given the stalemates that have gone on with Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe and Pistons forward Greg Monroe, the best option for both players would seem to be some sort of sign-and-trade. Bledsoe has been shopped around the league for the past month, while the Washington Post’s Michael Lee reports that Monroe’s agent, David Falk, has sought sign-and-trade deals to get his client out of Detroit.
But, as one league general manager told Sporting News this week, their potential free agency next summer has cooled the market for each.
'I think any one of us would be wary of getting involved in a trade for either player,' the GM said. 'Their teams overvalue them in terms of making trades, they don’t want to give them away for nothing. There’s no reason to give up significant assets for players who probably will be available next summer. That doesn’t mean a deal can’t get done, but it is complicated.'
A stalemate really is the best word to describe what's happening for Bledsoe and Monroe, but eventually, it will get solved. Although this situation can breed a lot of bad feelings going both ways, in this particular scenario, both sides seem to understand the realities of the business.
Here's what Bledsoe told Kyle Burger of WVTM-TV in his hometown of Birmingham:
'First off, I'm going to let my agent handle it,' Bledsoe said [of the contract negotiations] while attending a 'Ball Up' streetball tournament in Birmingham. 'I can understand the Phoenix Suns are using restricted free agency against me. But I understand that.'
There is another solution for both Bledsoe and Monroe, even if it's undesirable for them and their teams. By accepting the qualifying offers available to them, both players can play one more season with their respective teams, then become unrestricted free agents in the 2015 offseason. At that point, finding a suitor would no longer be such a hassle.
Of course, taking on that low salary for a season ($3.7 million for Bledsoe, $5.5 million for Monroe) means punting away a year of significant earnings. More importantly, if a player gets hurt, there's no guaranteeing his future financial health. It's walking on eggshells for 82 games in a lot of ways.
Rocky Widner/Getty Images
While players can mitigate some of that by taking out massive insurance policies, it's obviously not ideal to get paid much less than what you think you're worth, even if it's for a season. The backlash from a fanbase that knows you're leaving isn't exactly fun to deal with, either.
Here's Brett Pollakoff at ProBasketballTalk explaining why it might be worth it to accept the qualifying offer, however:
Teams have all the leverage in the restricted free agency process, but playing for the qualifying offer turns things around to where the players have the advantage. The problem is the amount of risk associated with that decision, but for guys like Bledsoe and Monroe who feel like they deserve contracts at or near the max, they may see it as the only realistic option.
A player taking the one-year qualifying offer by the October 1 deadline is actually one of the worst-case scenarios for the team in restricted free agency. Restricted free agents that do that earn no-trade clauses, as Larry Coon explains in his CBA FAQ:
There are two additional circumstances in which a trade requires the player's consent:
-When the player is playing under a one-year contract (excluding any option year) and will have Larry Bird or Early Bird rights at the end of the season. This includes first round draft picks following their fourth (option) season, who accept their team's qualifying offer for their fifth season. When the player consents to such a trade, his Larry Bird/Early Bird rights are not traded with him, and instead becomes a Non-Bird free agent.
-For one year after exercising the right of first refusal to keep a restricted free agent. The player must consent to a trade to any team, although he cannot be traded to the team that signed him to the offer sheet.
What that means is that if Monroe or Bledsoe accepted their qualifying offers, they could reject any trade they wanted to.
It also limits the number of teams who would want to trade for the talented young players, as they couldn't go over the cap to retain him the following offseason because they lose their Bird rights.
Sam Forencich/Getty Images
Basically, accepting the qualifying offer gives the player the power to choose his next destination from the moment he signs it, even if the freedom comes at a potentially steep price.
It all brings on an interesting question. If the player is unhappy, and if the team stands to lose an asset for nothing after a year, is the system broken?
Absolutely not.
It's just a last resort for an ongoing negotiation that's failed at multiple turns. If the team and player can't come to a price in the middle, and if the market doesn't establish a price, and if a sign-and-trade can't be found, this is the result. It almost never comes to what it has for Bledsoe and Monroe.
While it's not pretty for either side, the outcome has to be a bit unsavory for both sides to provide incentive for teams not to try and get every young player coming off their rookie contract at a temporary discount and to not have players try and leave their original team relatively early on in their careers, even if the fairness of that for players is certainly more debatable.
With that in mind, during the next collective bargaining agreement, you'd have to imagine that it's the players who would buck against restricted free agency, if anything.
Do you think all free agents should be unrestricted?
Do you think all free agents should be unrestricted?
-
Yes
50.4% -
No
49.6%
Perhaps they could push for a free-agency compensation system somewhat similar to major league baseball, where everyone is unrestricted and the original team would receive a compensation draft pick based on a set of qualifiers like stats or the size of the next salary.
That just seems incredibly unlikely to happen, as owners outside of the large markets would rally fiercely against that in the name of parity. There are no perfect solutions here, and again, this is a relatively uncommon circumstance in the first place and might not be viewed as a problem worth addressing. There will be bigger battles to fight, undoubtedly.
Restricted free agency, whether it be through qualifying offers or "poison pill" contracts, can potentially backfire on both teams and players.
It's all part of the game, though, and when you consider the goals of the league and why it's in place, it seems incredibly unlikely that any significant changes to the system will be made.
************************
Anthony Have to Reinvent Himself for NY Knicks Next Season?
By Sean Hojnacki , Featured ColumnistUse your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories
Carmelo Anthony shoots over the outstretched arm of Andre Iguodala during a March 30 win in Oakland.
The New York Knicks made exactly one splashy move this offseason: re-signing Carmelo Anthony to a five-year contract worth $124 million. All other transactions served as window dressing, with Anthony returning to play a salary-cap waiting game for the 2014-15 season, before the Knicks actually free up money to sign talented free agents next summer.
But can Anthony's potent game fit seamlessly into the Phil Jackson system?
The present incarnation is the only scenario where Carmelo works in New York as a meaningful playoff threat. Serving under the confident leadership of Jackson, an 11-time champ as a coach, Anthony has a strong opportunity to lead the franchise to long-forgotten success in the playoffs if Jackson can build a bona fide contender around his star player.
The Knicks have been doomed before by having one great player and a decent, though not championship-caliber, cast around him. This time around, they just so happen to have a star player and a skilled scorer uniquely suited to the new system, meaning he won't have to reinvent himself, but merely tailor his previous prowess to suit the team's new approach.
The Melo We Know
Carmelo Anthony led the league in scoring for 2012-13, then produced the best rebounding season of his career last year with 8.1 boards per game, all while carrying an otherwise discombobulated Knicks team.
Anthony will not have to reinvent himself as such, but he will certainly have to adapt his style of play to suit. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who won a national title in the only season he coached Melo, put forth that Anthony stayed in New York solely because of a belief in Jackson. As Boeheim said following Monday's Team USA practice at West Point, per ESPN New York's Ian Begley:
"Just from a basketball point of view it would have been better to go to Chicago because they've got better players. But he wanted to be in New York and he wants to see if they can turn it around there. I think that's a great thing … He stayed because he believes Phil."
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
The easy route would have been joining Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. Instead, Anthony wants to stay in New York and build a championship contender with Jackson as rookie head coach Derek Fisher takes the helm. As Boeheim said of Fisher: "If you’re going to pick a coach who hasn’t coached, he would be the guy I would pick … He’s really smart. I think he’ll be a really good coach."
Carmelo has bought into the incoming system; now it's just a matter of playing in it and fostering success through ruthless efficiency and execution. The ball cannot stick; no more isolation on possession after possession after possession.
As Anthony told the New York Post's Fred Kerber, there is undeniable cause for optimism in New York. Melo thinks the Knicks will "absolutely" return to the playoffs, but expectations beyond that have been tempered for the time being. As Melo stated: "I can’t wait to get started. No goals. Not setting any goals, but I just can’t wait to get it back on."
The Melo we don't yet know is the triangle Melo, a far cry from the "iso Melo" days of Mike Woodson, among other Knicks skippers, but the new system will not be all that drastic a change for Anthony's game, and his skill set should adapt fittingly to it.
Effects of the Triangle
Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
Phil Jackson coached the triangle offense from 1989 through 1998 with the Chicago Bulls, and from 1999 to 2004 and 2005 to 2011 with the L.A. Lakers. So how did the triangle affect the production of his best scorers?
In Michael Jordan's first season under Phil, 1989-90, he improved on his league-leading scoring average by one point per game and attempted 1.8 more shots on average while playing 1.2 fewer minutes per game. Jordan saw his rebounding and assist totals dip slightly.
In Kobe Bryant's first year under Jackson, 1999-00, he saw his field-goal attempts increase by 2.3 per game and his scoring went up by 2.6 points while his minutes held steady around 38 per night. Kobe's shooting percentage ticked up slightly; he also added one extra rebound and assist per game from his 1998-99 average.
| Player | Season | MPG | PPG | FG Shooting | RPG | APG |
| Jordan | 1988-89 | 40.2 | 32.5 | 53.8 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| Jordan | 1989-90 | 39.0 | 33.6 | 52.6 | 6.9 | 6.3 |
| Kobe | 1998-99 | 37.9 | 19.9 | 46.5 | 5.3 | 3.8 |
| Kobe | 1999-00 | 38.2 | 22.5 | 46.8 | 6.3 | 4.9 |
| Melo | 2013-14 | 38.7 | 27.4 | 45.2 | 8.1 | 3.1 |
Basketball-Reference
Anthony will still have the offense run through him, but even as he remains the focal point as with previous seasons, a game plan for success has been laid down, and the most important star has bought in on Jackson's plan.
This is not to compare Melo to the "Black Mamba" or "His Airness" but merely to illustrate the effect of introducing the triangle around a team's marquee scorer. Age represents one clear differentiating factor, as Melo turned 30 in May, part of the reason for his decision to shed some weight. Jordan was 26 years old when Jackson came to Chicago, and Kobe was 21 when the coach joined L.A.
Age notwithstanding, the most significant factor in Melo's usage will be the cast around him and how he will need to deploy his range of skills in the new system.
Will Carmelo Anthony's scoring average increase in his first season with the triangle offense?
Will Carmelo Anthony's scoring average increase in his first season with the triangle offense?
-
Yes, slightly, just like Jordan and Kobe before him.
83.7% -
No, he's no longer the sole offensive focal point.
16.3%
Melo in 2015
Already, Melo has lost weight to be more of a combo forward in the triangle, per Marc Berman of the New York Post.
According to an "Anthony confidant," Melo "wants to be as athletic as he was when he was a rookie. Plus he wants to be a facilitator in the triangle and speed will help that." Some NBA opponents have confirmed Anthony's improved fitness. Orlando Magic forward Tobias Harris worked out with Anthony in June and confirmed, "He looked real good."
A slimmed-down Melo will rely less on his size and physicality to dominate opposing small forwards, instead capitalizing on his quickness and athleticism that vexed opposition 4s trying to guard him.
There will be an adjustment period, to be sure. A whole host of new players have joined the team, chief among them the new starters in center Samuel Dalembert (who has not averaged more than 22.2 minutes per game in any of the last three seasons) and point guard Jose Calderon, both of whom will be 33 years old when the season begins.
The triangle will benefit greatly from Calderon's three-point shooting (44.9 percent, 191 threes made) in addition to Pablo Prigioni's marksmanship (46.4 percent from downtown last season), which placed both of them in the top five among all three-point shooters for 2013-14.
However, the jewel in the crown will be Melo's play in the pinch post. It will be up to Anthony to become the prototypical scorer from that floor position, where he is uniquely capable of thriving.
רועי ויינברג
26 אוג 2014 22:39:30ריפיט לספרס
צביקה
26 אוג 2014 22:56:38מנחם, בגדול נראה לי שכולם מסכימים לשים את קאבס ב1 או ב2 בזכות לברון לאב, ותנים קרדיט גדול לבולס בזכות גאסול ובתקווה שרוז לא יפגע, ומעבר לזה עדיין מתוך ה-8 הראשונות 3 מזרחיות, שמיאמי סוגרת את הרשימה בקפיצת מדרגה (מעליה 1 ל-20, ואילו היא כבר 1-25). הבולס מזכרת על הרמה של הקליפרס. יש שלוש מועמדות חזקות, קאבס וצמוד לה הספרס, ואחרי זה בחצי צעד התאנדר. כול השאר הרבה מאחור.
גמר קאבס-ספרס. זה משהו שבלאט לא יכול לצאת רע ממנו. מתאים לי.
מנחם לס
26 אוג 2014 23:10:01מומי, בוא נשים יחד אלפייה על הלייקרס? נצא גדולים עם 100,000, פחות 3% לבית.
avri
26 אוג 2014 23:12:58This year, just like last year and the year before it, it is all up to Lebron. Difference is that this year he'll be as hungry as he'd ever been. Cleveland will win, no other story
יפת
26 אוג 2014 23:21:29כתב פה מישהו בתגובה על איזה פוסט, שסוכניות הימורים מתעסקות בדעת הקהל, לאו דוקא בסיכויים ממשיים, והוא 100% צודק.
זה שרוב האנשים חושבים שקליבלנד יקחו לא אומר שהסיכויים באמת לטובתם.
רק אלוהים יודע מי תיקח (ויש שיגידו שגם אדם סילבר).
רועי ויינברג
26 אוג 2014 23:24:30אין מצב שהליגה שולטת בזהות אלופה, זה כמו שהיא תשתף פעולה עם נייק כדי להביא למועדון מסוים 3 מ-4 בחירות ראשונות ב-4 שנים שיש להם פחות מ-6% לזכות כל פעם רק כדי שהשחקן הכי טוב באנ.בי.איי ואחד מ-3 הפאוור פורוורדס הכי טובים בליגה יחתמו שם (שאת שניהם, אגב, היא מייצגת)
שעייה
26 אוג 2014 23:54:48אתה לומד מהר מאוד רועי.
לגבי מנחם, איבד קשר עם המציאות.
רועי ויינברג
27 אוג 2014 00:31:41עוד נתונים מדאיגים: מתוך 7 הדירקטורים באיגוד השחקנים של הליגה שהם גם שחקני נבא, ל-4 (ג'יימס ג'ונס, סטיב בלייק, אנדרה איגודלה, אנטוני טוליבר) יש חוזה פרסום עם נייק, ולעוד שניים (כריס פול, וילי גרין) יש חוזה עם ג'ורדן, מותג-בת של החברה. בסה"כ 6/7, רוב כמעט מוחלט, כאשר בסך הכל יש בליגה 435 חוזי נעליים חתומים, ו-296 מתוכם עם נייקי וג'ורדן בראנד, לפי טאב הסניקרס באתר הופסהייפ המהימן.
בסה"כ, 68.4% מכל חוזי הנעליים בליגה בבעלות נייקי, ו-85.7% מחוזי הנעליים של דירקטוריון איגוד השחקנים.
הסיכוי של קליבלנד לזכות בבחירת הדראפט הראשונה של 2011: 25%+2.8%= 27.8% (הבחירה מהקליפרס, עם ה-2.8% הצלחה זכתה בסוף, אבל היה לה סיכוי גם מהבחירה הראשית. 27.8% שקול ל-0.278).
הסיכוי של קליבלנד לזכות בבחירת הדראפט הראשונה של 2013: 15.6%, שקול ל-0.156.
הסיכוי של קליבלנד לזכות בבחירת הדראפט הראשונה של 2014: 1.7%, שקול ל-0.017.
הסיכוי של קליבלנד לזכות בבחירות הדראפט הראשונות של 2011, 2013 ו-2014 (וכן, אני יודע שטעיתי בהנחה בתגובה מעליי, אבל כאן אני מאמת ומחשב הכל): 0.000737256. פחות מאחד חלקי עשרת אלפים. קלוש.
עוד נתון שקשור ל"חזרה הביתה" של לברון: נייק מלבישה את קליבלנד בראונס וקליבלנד אינדיאנס, קבוצות הבייסבול והפוטבול האחרות של העיר. בינואר 2014, נייק החתימה את כוכב הפוטבול ג'וני מאנזיל על חוזה ארוך טווח ששווה לא מעט. ג'וני מאנזיל נבחר בבחירה ה-22 בדראפט הפוטבול האחרון על ידי קליבלנד בראונס, וכך באותה עיר נמצאים שני טאלנטים, אחד המבטיח ביותר מבני גילו בתחומו, והשני השחקן הטוב ביותר בעולם מאז 2007, באותה עיר, כאשר אותה חברת נעליים מחתימה את שניהם.
צירוף מקרים? תחליטו בעצמכם
שעייה
27 אוג 2014 01:48:02מקנא בך איש צעיר. כבר בגילך אתה מסוגל להביט על העולם בלי פילטרים. כל הכבוד!
אגב, אני נהנה מהתגובות והטורים שלך וה"שיבה הביתה" של לברון עשתה לך רק טוב 🙂
איל
27 אוג 2014 02:29:32כיף לראות את שעייה החביב וטוב הלב.
עושה רושם שהרילוקיישן של מקור השנאה עזר לך לסדר את הראש.
שעייה
27 אוג 2014 05:05:41אל דאגה. המשחקים יתחילו והשנאה תחזור.
ido moria
27 אוג 2014 06:53:03חזק מאד רועי !!
אשך טמיר המקורי
27 אוג 2014 07:21:42צודק שעייה, מאז נטישתו של האליל שלך אתה כבר לא מוח שבוי.
חרדתי לך שנים רבות, מאז שהיית בן 14 ועד הגיעך למצוות.
כיום אני אופטימי להמשך התפתחותך כנער חף מאשליות ומעבודת אלילים (ד"ש לעגל הזהב שלצערנו לא הגענו אליו בזמן והוא כבר אבוד לנצח).
עם זאת, רק כשתאבד אשך תתפכח באמת.
אחד העם
27 אוג 2014 08:50:14אתה בחור מוכשר!!
רועי ויינברג
27 אוג 2014 16:09:31תודה לכולם.
אשך, אם אתה רוצה אני יכול לסדר את זה
ido moria
27 אוג 2014 06:56:22ממש לא נכון – סוכנויות ההימורים מתעסקות בלהרוויח כסף ! וכיוון שיש להם הרבה תחרות הם ייתנו תמיד את היחס הנכון ביותר כל עוד הם ירוויחו . אין שום קשר בין דעת קהל לבין היחסים שהם נותנים.
דדי
27 אוג 2014 19:34:24חוסר מושג טוטאלי לגבי הימורי ספורט.
הסוכנויות באמת עוסקות בלהרוויח כסף, אבל לפי מה שכתבת, אין לך שום מושג איך הן מרוויחות אותו.
(רמז – זה לא מהימורים "מוטעים" על קבוצות שמפסידות או מנצחות).
דעת הקהל והכסף שהוא מהמר זה בדיוק מה שקובע את היחסים שסוכנויות ההימורים נותנות.
לא שום דבר אחר.
איתי
27 אוג 2014 00:06:55מי האלופה שדורגה הכי נמוך אי פעם בתחזיות האלו של ווגאס?
Mbk
27 אוג 2014 12:29:48לא יודע לגבי איי פעם
אבל הפיסטונס של 2004 ודאלס של 2011 היו אלופות מפתיעות מאוד
לרוב זוכה קבוצה מהטופ 5 או שמישהו יקום עם הדגים
איל רדושקוביץ
27 אוג 2014 00:07:13הקאבס שווים גמר מזרח. גג. צא אתפלא אם יפסידו לוושינגטון או טורונטו בחצי
איתי
27 אוג 2014 00:07:34אני פשוט רוצה להבין אם לג'אז יש סיכוי ממשי
דרור
27 אוג 2014 00:12:01איבד קשר…התכוונת מקפיד לא לשמור על קשר…. אין שום סיכוי שקליבלנד לוקחים. ורועי, בשנה שלברון הגיע לגמר עם קלילנד המזרחהיה פח אשפה, ז לא מוכיח שהוא יכול צבד.
שעייה
27 אוג 2014 01:49:32המזרח כבר 15 שנה פח
אשך טמיר המקורי
27 אוג 2014 07:24:20המזרח הוא בור קומפוסט, אתה זורק אליו זבל אורגני והוא מדשן את כיסי השחקנים
דדי
27 אוג 2014 19:36:57אתה שם כסף על קליבלנד או שיקגו – אתה כבר עם 50% סיכוי להיות בגמר הנבא.
זה כל הסיפור מבחינת להמר על סיכויי אליפות של קבוצה בודדת.
זה לא אומר בשיט שמישהו טוען שהקאבס או הבולס קבוצות יותר טובות מהספרס, הת'אנדר או הקליפרס, ואפשר אפילו להוסיף עוד כמה מערביות לרשימה (בטח שפורטלנד).
אדיר
28 אוג 2014 02:11:09הספרס לוקחים. הקאבס נראים לי כמו פרויקט מעניין אבל צריך להתבשל שנה,אפילו שנתיים. הבולס תלויים ברוז וזה להיות תלוי הרבה באוויר. התאנדר הראו שהספרס פשוט יותר טובים.
אם כריס פול יקבל טיפה יותר ביצים, אז אולי הקליפרס.