5 NBA Players Who Are Demanding Checks Their Production Can't Cash
It's never a bad way to do business, hitting the negotiation table and asking for as much as one could possibly get.
Of course, securing a significant raise and actually earning that money are two different things. There's a decent chance the five players on this list will secure beaucoup bucks in their next deal but far slimmer hopes of them actually living up to the deal.
Teams won't be paying these players for what they have done, they will try to compensate them for what they will do going forward. It's an inexact science, one that could lead to bargains (Stephen Curry, $44 million for four years), rip-offs (Roy Hibbert, $58 million for four years) or anything in between.
Given the shelf life of professional athletes, it's hard to fault them for attempting to maximize their earnings potential. But those massive checks will come with similar-sized expectations these five will struggle to ever fill.
Eric Bledsoe, Free Agent
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It's incredible that Eric Bledsoe's restricted free agency saga still hasn't finished.
Back in July, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard of a wide split between Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns. The athletic guard was reportedly eyeing a five-year, $80 million deal, but the franchise had dug in its feet at $48 million for four years—a more-than-reasonable offer for Bledsoe and the same signed by Toronto Raptors floor general Kyle Lowry earlier this offseason.
"It has been a trying, bewildering and exasperating process to fathom how Bledsoe, with 78 career starts and $7.4 million in career earnings would balk at the Suns' four-year, $48 million offer when there have been no competing bids the past 10 weeks," wrote Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. "He has his reasons, but we can only guess."
Bledsoe's patience might still wind up rewarded. According to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst, the Minnesota Timberwolves are attempting to pry Bledsoe out of Phoenix in a sign-and-trade exchange. The athletic guard could then receive a four-year, $63 million max contract.
That would give Bledsoe an average annual salary of nearly $16 million, right in line with what Broussard said he was seeking. According to HoopsHype, only 15 players will collect a $16 million-plus salary in 2014-15, all of whom have played an average of 719 regular-season games in their career.
Bledsoe has played 240 of them, only 78 as a starter. Prior to last season—which he missed 39 games of after having surgery on his right meniscus for the second time in 27 months—his career highs were 8.5 points, 3.6 assists and a shade-above-average 17.5 player efficiency rating.
Nothing about him suggests he's a max-contract-type of player. Well, nothing other than his agent.
Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets
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Kenneth Faried couldn't have timed—or executed—his breakout any better.
The energetic Denver Nuggets big man stormed into the summer having averaged 19.8 points on 55 percent shooting and 10.8 rebounds over his final 25 games of the 2013-14 season. He then steamrolled through the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, earning all-tournament team honors after posting 12.2 points on 63.3 percent shooting and 7.7 rebounds in 21 minutes a night for Team USA.
The Manimal, who has until October 31 to work out an extension with the Nuggets or he'll become a restricted free agent next offseason, raised his profile dramatically these past few months.
And his bank account, as one executive told Sporting News' Sean Deveney, has likely grown even more dramatically:
"Before the last few months, one general manager said, Faried might have been, 'in the Paul Millsap or Taj Gibson range.' Millsap is slated to make $9.5 million next year, while Gibson will get $8 million. But given what’s happened since March, Faried could be pushing into an, 'Al Jefferson kind of deal, maybe more.'
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Jefferson, for the record, will collect $13.5 million from the Charlotte Hornets next season. And while Faried hasn't publicly asked for a similar salary, his agent surely won't start his negotiating with anything less if unbiased executives think he could command that much.
Which is a shame considering his motor and rebounding alone won't help him produce at that level. He can't stretch the floor or protect the interior, two critical pieces in the arsenal of today's power forwards.
The Nuggets should hold off negotiations with him until next summer, when they should have a better idea of how much more he can add to his game. He helps this team, but not as much as he would need to at that price. Look for that Millsap-Gibson range to come back into the picture.
Greg Monroe, Detroit Pistons
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Greg Monroe is so confident in his ability to restore his reputation away from the Motor City, he reportedly bet his future on it.
The 24-year-old signed a one-year, $5.5 million qualifying offer to take control of his fate. It sounds like he sees his fit with the Detroit Pistons as poorly as the rest of us.
"Even if the Pistons had offered Monroe a max contract, there was a strong chance Monroe would've declined," wrote Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. " ... Monroe's representatives steered other teams from presenting Monroe with an offer sheet because they didn't want the Pistons to match."
The Moose needs to get out of Motown.
The offensive spacing issues were bad enough when it was him and Andre Drummond clogging up the paint, but the addition of the shot-chucking Josh Smith steered the offense to a new level of dysfunction. With those three on the floor, the Pistons were outscored by almost seven points per 100 possessions.
Something needed to give, but this was a Pistons problem—not Monroe's. If he left money on the table, he might have a hard time getting it back.
Unlike Faried, Monroe's timing couldn't be any worse. His game belongs in a different era, one that could better cater to his low-post offense and high-post passing. He doesn't have the speed or the shooting touch for today's pick-and-attack NBA, and his inability to play above the rim limits his defensive impact.
His issues are compounded by the Pistons' problems, but they won't automatically disappear elsewhere. He's always going to be a curious fit in this league, and teams may never extend the type of offer he feels he deserves.
Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
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Could the Minnesota Timberwolves have more superstar drama brewing? No, but only because fourth-year point guard Ricky Rubio hasn't done enough to wear the superstar brand.
As for the drama, though, there could be plenty. The countdown is ticking on his own extension negotiations, and word is a Bledsoe-style gulf exists between his numbers and those of the franchise.
"His agent, Dan Fegan, is balking at the idea of a four-year, $43 million deal," 1500ESPN.com's Darren Wolfson told Sportando's E. Trapani. "That's plenty for a player of Rubio's caliber. ... But Fegan is seeking the five-year max."
Max money for Rubio is laughable. Even the low-level, eight-figure offer Wolfson touched on seems a bit generous, although the floor general's gifts for distributing (career 8.1 assists) and playing pesky defense (career 2.3 steals) could at least come close to justifying that cost.
But Rubio's severe restrictions as a shooter make a max salary impossible to defend. Since the 1990-91 season, 304 players have attempted at least 1,500 field goals over their first three years in the league. Rubio's 36.8 field-goal percentage is the worst of that entire group.
Again, Rubio's agent is only doing his job, but even he might have a hard time selling his case. If there is a silver lining to the discussions, it's that the point guard sounds like he wants to commit himself to the franchise's future.
"I'm loyal," Rubio said, via Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. "I want to give them back what they gave me there: a lot of love."
As long as that love comes at a reasonable rate, it should be something the Wolves are glad to have around.
Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
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Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson seems like he has a max-contract payday in his near future.
The Warriors balked at the opportunity to potentially acquire perennial All-Star Kevin Love in large part because of an unwillingness to let go of Thompson, sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Thompson then played a signifcant role on USA Basketball's gold-medal group, with Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski dubbing him "our most versatile defender," per USA Today's Sam Amick.
Couple Thompson's defensive versatility with the fact he has converted more triples over the first three seasons of his career than anyone in league history (545), and you have, well, an opportunity for his agent to try to broker his next deal through the media.
"I think Klay Thompson right now is the top two-way, two guard in basketball," his agent, Bill Duffy, told Amick. "I think when you look at his body of work, when you look at what he accomplished guarding point guards on a regular basis (last season), I think it's pretty clear."
The only thing clear is that the hierarchy of two-way shooting guards is as hard to read as ever. Thompson is a part of that discussion, but by no means capable of closing the conversation.
He is a great fit at both ends of the floor for Stephen Curry and among the best players at his position, which just happens to be arguably the league's weakest. There are enough things in his favor to assume he'll collect max money, but he doesn't meet the standards associated with those contracts.
He is largely a shooting specialist and one who depends on others to create his chances. There's a value in what he does, but it doesn't quite reach the level of the major money that seems headed his way.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com. Salary information obtained via ShamSports.com.
