Saturday, May 10, 2008

Buh-Bye Baron?

From Inside Bay Area:
A source close to Davis said it's now a 50-50 chance that the Warriors' captain, coming off a season in which he averaged 21.8 points, 7.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds, will not remain beyond next season after various contract offers that were so low as to be practically hurtful.
In short, it's no big deal. The whole issue is nothing but expected posturing by Todd Ramasar, Baron's agent, to maximize Baron's leverage.

A couple of notes:
  • No team in the league can afford to take on $17.8 million next season, let alone any amount greater than that.
  • Mullin's job is to make sure that the Warriors receive good value for signing a player. At some point, talent doesn't justify the amount of money spent.
  • Baron played an 82-game season for the first time since 2001-2002. Just because he stayed healthy and played well for the majority of the time, doesn't mean that he will do so again. It's especially doubtful considering he'll turn 30 and the eternally dubious condition of his legs.
  • If Baron indeed decides to opt out, the Warriors will have $28 million under the payroll to play with. That's plenty of room to resign both Biedrins and Monta and go after virtually anyone on the free-agent market. Which is 1000 times superior to last season's market. Just look at the list of potential free-agents:
    Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Emeka Okafor, Luol Deng, JR Smith, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Shawn Marion, Stromile Swift, Andre Iguodala, Jose Calderon, Jamario Moon, Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas.
  • Don't forget about that $10 million TPE from the Richardson trade. It expires on draft day, but the Warriors could still use it to bring in a player without paying.

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