Recent contracts to Al Horford, Mike Conley Jr. don't help David Stern's contraction case
As spurious as David Stern's case for contraction is, his argument for the elimination of several NBA teams to get players salaries under control and help make his owners more money got shot with more holes this past week, in some very telling places.
- In Atlanta, where the Hawks lose upwards of $20 million per season, and are seen as one of several prime candidates for the contraction chopping block, one of the NBA's more dysfunctional ownership groups signed off on a five-year, $60 million extension for center Al Horford. The deal for Horford, the heart and soul of the team, came only four months after the Hawks, saddled by attendance woes and an expensive lease at Philips Arena, shelled out a franchise-record $120 million for Joe Johnson.
- In Memphis, where the Grizzlies annually bleed money and are viewed at the top of the contraction list, the Grizzlies extended guard Mike Conley Jr. to a deal that could be worth $45 million over five years. The deal for Conley Jr. came only four months after the Grizzlies stunned the NBA world by re-signing free agent Rudy Gay to an $82 million contract.
The two signings raised a question on the contraction front: If financially-shaky Atlanta and Memphis are viewed as expendable, how come they're spending money freely, especially before a new collective bargaining agreement goes into effect?
The new CBA would feature a hard salary cap if owners get their way, and, at the least, players are facing drastic pay cuts.
Most teams, including the Knicks, in the case of Wilson Chandler, passed on giving their 2007 first-round picks an extension for the very reason that they're banking on the new CBA being more owner-friendly when it comes to guaranteed salaries and lengths of contracts.
Let's just say the two signings didn't help Stern's case for contraction. The commissioner brought up contraction at the start of the season because he is going to use it at the bargaining table to strong-arm the players into accepting upwards of $800 million in annual pay cuts from the current $2.1 billion spent on players' salaries and benefits.
"It's a subject that will be on the table with the players as we look to see what's the optimum way to present our game, and are there cities and teams that cannot make it in the current economic environment," Stern said. "I'm not spending a lot of time on it."
