In one day, New Orleans lost two of its most high profile athletes and what many consider to be high character guys. In Deuce's case we lost a back that is hands down the greatest to ever put on a Saints uniform. Given Deuce's knee problems and the size of his 2009 salary, it may have been time for the teams to part ways. But it is definitely sad to see it happen. I'm never a fan of seeing a player prove himself over several years in the NFL and then reaching his big NFL pay day in the form of a back loaded contract, the lion share of which he will never see. It happens time and time again in the NFL. A player gives up his body for a team and takes them to the next level. The player has a mediocre salary during those years provided he wasn't a top 10 pick. The player exits that contract and signs a new one which is supposed to be his big pay day. It is his reward for helping to turn around the franchise. Only the contract is back loaded and when the time comes for the team to ante up, they claim that it doesn't make business sense to pay him all of this money now that he is on the down side of his career and his body is all beaten up. And the team is right. It doens't make business sense at that point. But what does make business sense is for the players agent to force the hand of the team and use his leverage to get more money up front (in the form of a guaranteed signing bonus) and a more evenly distributed contract, or even one that declines over the years (starts high and gets lower like Jason David's contract or Dre Bly). The only problem with this idea is that when players hire aggressive agents who make these types of requests, the teams and owners ussually use the media as leverage to make the player appear unloyal and greedy. But, at the end of the day as the Saints and Deuce McAllister made very clear, this is a business and these are merely business decisions.
Check out the Times Picayune article here:
http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2009/02/post_deuce_story_here.html
And all this talk of business decisions brings me to my second rant; the loss of Tyson Chandler. TC was definitely not one of the premier big men in the league and his numbers were down and on top of all of that he has proven to be fairly injury prone over his NBA career. But with that said this move, which is being defined by many NBA insiders as a business move (to get under the cap), was a bad move! Need I say it again? Ok. IT WAS A BAD MOVE! Don't get me wrong, as a Hornets fan, I'd love to eat those words but I dont think I will. Lets look at the facts. TC was a legit 7 footer and he was only 26 years old. Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox are both 6'10 and Joe Smith is 33 and on the verge of retirement. Chris Wilcox showed flashes last year of potential when his numbers were up around 13 ppg and 8 boards. However, he mostly plays from the PF position as does Joe Smith. And oh by the way David West plays PF for the Hornets and he is an all-star. So now we have a log jam at the Forward position. Think about the Hornets have West, Wilcox, Smith, Ely, Posey, Ju-Ju, Marks, Butler, and Peja. All these guys play the three or the four (Posey, JuJu and Butler also get burn at the 2 but thats probably more out of necessity). So now we are going to try to make a playoff run with these PFs moving up to play Center.
But I digress. The crux of my argument here is that the Hornets have robbed Peter to pay Paul. They made the move to get rid of TC because he was going to put them over the salary cap next season. So in return for TC they got what amounts to expiring contracts. Ok now after those contracts expire who are the Hornets going to replace TC with. What Center will they go get on the open market that is as good or better than TC. If you can't afford to pay your Center, who only averages 8 and 8, what makes you think you will me able to get a better one in Free Agency. Someone please explain this to me, I'll ask one more time. Whos is going to play Center next year and in the future for that matter for the New Orleans Hornets?!.......I'll wait......Exactly. No One! So now you have open cap space next season, the majority of which will end up going to CP3 whos contract is set to increase. However, your team is declining. You have a ton of money locked into CP3 for the next 3 years, but your lost one of your best young defenders and a major piece to the puzzle. And who are we left with. An aging Peja Stojakavic who only brings streaky shooting to the table (and this is your highest paid player at around 14 mil), an all-star in David West who is kind of like a poor mans Karl Malone (on the back end of Karl's career), and over paid role players like James Posey, Rasual Butler, and Mo Pete. The bottom line is that this is not going to get it done.
So this brings me to my last point which ties the Hornets and the Saints together. If you can't develop your young talent (ie. Usama Young, Marvin Mitchell, Josh Bullocks, Roman Harper, JR Smith, Julian Wright, Hilton Armstrong) into serviceable starters you end up reaching in FA or via trades. You over pay your FA's (see Peja and Jason David), you trade for over paid players (see TC and Shockey), or you over pay the few guys who manage to materialize in your organization (ie Will Smith). And now the Saints and the Hornets are in the same situation. Shedding players who they would otherwise keep because they have so many average players that are overpaid. They are the opposite of a team like the Patriots or even the Ravens and Colts who constantly re-tool through the draft shedding over priced veterans as they reach the down side of their career replacing them with players that they have drafted and trained to be their replacement (see Rodney Harrison, Tony Saragosa, Marvin Harrison, Junior Seau, Brandon Merriweather, Anthony Gonzales, Haloti Ngata, and Jerod Mayo).
2 comments:
Rob,
Very insightful on the overall scheme of how both organizations are run. I think you hit both nails right on the head. While I agree on the root causes of each, I have two slightly different theories on why both happened for the sake of argument.
1. While everyone wanted to see Deuce stick around, in my belief this was more a football decision than a money decision. Deuce took a pay cut last year and more than likely would have taken one this year. I believe the Saints no longer feel he can be an effective back, and Sean Payton has grown tired of calls from the fans and media to play Deuce more. While he was mildly effective last year, he is no longer a game changer and may not be able to stay healthy for 16 games. With that said, I believe the Saints didn't want the scrutiny/distraction of the "why doesn't Deuce play more" mantra hanging over their heads. And in fairness to Mr. McAllister, if he isn't going to get the opportunity here then he deserves a chance to show what he can do somewhere else. I love Deuce, but it doesn't look good (Shaun Alexander anyone?).
2. Basketball wise this isn't as bad as it seems. Joe Smith is a legitimate backup to David West now. He is a better version of P.J. Brown who we tried to sign last year. He solves the frontcourt depth issue. Wilcox will start at the 5 and I believe will flourish. He is just as good an athlete as Chandler with a little more meat on his bones. The kid is 26 and was averaging 8.4 pts and 5.3 reb in only 19 mins/gm. Give him 30 mins per, running the pick and roll with CP and he will thrive. And he costs half as much as Chandler. Remember...Ely, Marks, and Bowen are all on 1-yr deals. They are gone after this year. You could realistically re-sign Wilcox, the other young big Hardin they obtained, and your draft pick and be right around the luxury tax threshold. Let's face it, we weren't winning the title with Chandler, so why not.
I just want to add my two cents in. I think both of you made valid arguments about Deuce's exit. For one, it was a business decision with Deuce scheduled to make 6 million or so. But, it did have a lot to with Sean Payton as well. I for one think that Deuce still could have had a role on this year's Saints team, but I am glad he is gone. This is no disrespect to Deuce but I don't want to see his career end the same way this past season did, Deuce being under utilized and essentially disrespected. I mean, here is a player that has set multiple Saint's records, been a leader in the locker room, and a become a fan favorite. Yet, week in and week out, he stood on the sideline with his arms folded on 3rd and 1, while Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush could not get the first down. I hope Deuce goes to a team that respects his talent and uses his abilities to help them get to the top. I say "Good Luck Deuce" and if you happen to play us in the regular season, stick it right in Sean Payton's face.
Sorry to get long winded there, but now to the Hornets. I have to agree with Rob, this trade was awful and not well thought out. If you were going to get rid of a player to lower your cap, why not an overpaid Peja who doesn't play any defense. Hopefully, the Hornets have some kind of plan that none of us are aware of, but we'll see in due time.
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