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December 05, 2007
No shot at Varejao; so why do it?
The Anderson Varejao offer sheet had to be one of the sillier one-day stories I’ve covered in nearly 20 years on the NBA beat.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were NEVER going to lose Varejao over paying him the mid-level exception (about $5.3 million this season). You know who’d know that as well as anyone?
Bobcats managing partner Michael Jordan.
Jordan was very insightful last spring in that one extended interview he gave to Charlotte-area media. Among his points: Pursuing trades often makes more sense than pursuing free agents, because a free agent’s previous team has such advantages, under NBA rules, to retain him.
That was part of the reasoning in the Bobcats trading for Jason Richardson, rather than hoarding salary cap room for the summer.
Varejao could be the poster child for Jordan’s point. Because Varejao was a restricted free agent, the Cavaliers had huge leverage; they could match any other NBA team’s offer. They wanted to lock down Varejao for at least three seasons and they wanted to avoid paying him $9 million or more a season.
When the Bobcats signed Varejao to that offer sheet, the power forward got the option of becoming an unrestricted free agent after two seasons. It guarantees him more than $10 million over those first two seasons, $17.3 million over three if he doesn’t opt out.
That’s actually less than the Cavs had offered. So why in the world would the Cavs not match this offer?
And why did the Bobcats participate in what inevitably would be a moot exercise?
Monday afternoon I asked Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins what hope he had that Varejao would actually be a Bobcat as a result of this offer sheet. Higgins replied that he had "high hope."
I respect Higgins’ intelligence enough to assume he said that because he had to, not because he believed it. Why, then, did they participate in this stuff?
Some theories:
1. They’re so hurting for another big man that extending this offer, even if the chances of the Cavs not matching were remote, was worth a try.
2. They wanted to show the fan base they’re trying to improve and willing to spend money.
3. They were doing a favor for Varejao’s agent, Dan Fegan, who represents numerous prominent players.
My guess: All of the above.
Posted by Observer Sports on December 5, 2007 at 04:59 PM | Permalink
Comments
The one interesting thing about this is that there's a 90-day window after a signing after which a player can't be traded (which Varejao has said he wants) which extends past the trade deadline. Varejao could have forced their hand by refusing to play for them, but I guess he values the money more.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Dec 5, 2007 5:13:31 PM
Check what it does to Cavs as far as luxury tax if they choose to match on top of the 90 days the MP mentioned...hmmmm
Posted by: Dave | Dec 5, 2007 6:23:51 PM
Rick,
It was great that you got to interview Michael last spring....think he'll make himself available again this coming Spring to honor us with His Airness? Seems like he pops in town to hire a few friends and then heads out of town. It would be nice to hear from the owners about the team occasionally.
Also, Gerald Wallace's comments seemed to indicate that some of the other players partied a little too much in Canada...did you hear anything else about this? Finally, if you are going to tank a game, why not give Hermann some minutes? Even though he seemed like a star-in-waiting late last year, seems Rod Vincent has stuck him in the doghouse with no minutes. If we're going to drop games by huge margins, what does it hurt to play him a whole game?
Posted by: Wally Hurst | Dec 5, 2007 6:47:28 PM
Could the Bobcats have tried the old Minnesota Vikings poison pill trick? Put in a clause that guarantees a $9 million a year salary if he plays in more than 10 games in any season in the state of Ohio?
Posted by: Authority on Everything | Dec 5, 2007 8:04:07 PM
I thought we were going to the playoffs. Does anyone with this organization have a clue as to how to do anything helpful?
Posted by: jason | Dec 5, 2007 8:35:45 PM
wow Bobcats lose again! What a suprise, Sam isnt doing so great! Hey give the ball to okafor for a chance. how can we keep complaining about not havin a big man if we dont use the only one we have?
Posted by: Zuriel | Dec 5, 2007 9:33:58 PM
wow Bobcats lose again! What a suprise, Sam isnt doing so great! Hey give the ball to okafor for a chance. how can we keep complaining about not havin a big man if we dont use the only one we have?
Posted by: Zuriel | Dec 5, 2007 9:34:08 PM
Another fabulous game tonight...anybody else notice how we fell apart when he came in the game for McInnis towards the end of the third? Sad, when that no-talent clown is our best option at the point.
And Dave, the Cavs are over the cap, so they're going to have to pay double the price on Varejao's contract.
The "poison pill" issue is one the NFL wasn't very fond of...I'm pretty sure somebody is fighting or has fought to outlaw those, and with as rigid as the NBA's CBA is, I doubt they were ever allowed at all.
Posted by: Michael Procton | Dec 5, 2007 10:30:08 PM
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!
We suck again!
Posted by: Carmen Wright | Dec 5, 2007 11:41:09 PM
Bonnell, to answer the question posed in your blog's title:
To make you look like an idiot.
Again.
Posted by: Will | Dec 6, 2007 12:43:27 AM
This team doesnt suck....we are not good though. We have lost 7 straight yet in the East we are not that far outta the playoffs and still have a better record thatn some teams including the bulls & heat(both of which we lost to during the streak). What we need is a big man Emeka is horrible on offense he is one of those players you run very few plays for but let him get his off rebounds & putbacks he is not a low post threat he has 2 left feet and doesnt get solid position. Without another capable big man down low to either be a scoring threat or provide some shot blocking & rebounding so Emeka doesnt feel he has to do it all & is always outta defensive position would help a lot. I think atleast trying to sign Varejao was a good idea even on the slimest of hopes CLE wouldnt match if we dont get some inside help soon we are dead!! The one thing that bothers the hell outta me though is that GWallace & JRich hardly attack the basket anymore especially JRich....in the games we looked good in early we were getting to the rim or free throw line at a high rate....what happened to the vision of Felton running the floor w/ those two running the lanes? Didnt these 2 have a slam dunk contest battle a few yrs back, now they are jump shooters? WTF?!!
Posted by: toriano | Dec 6, 2007 9:50:12 AM
WE LOSE WHEN WE STOP GIVING THE BALL TO OKAFOR! WE HAVE A DUMB A** COACH!
Posted by: Zuriel | Dec 6, 2007 12:04:10 PM
Our coach is dumb, but our PGs are even dumber.
Nice article today, where the coach says that he told his players to get Okafor the ball more, and then the response from McInnis is that he doesn't get yelled at enough, so that's his reason for not playing PG the way he's supposed to.
Whoever thought it was a good idea to hand over the reins to Felton/McInnis the same season they bring in a rookie coach, ugh.
Posted by: Will | Dec 6, 2007 12:11:14 PM
Besides doing a favor to Varejao's agent, the Bobcats also did a favor to the Cavaliers, which may pay off in the future. Establishing good ties with other clubs' management can help in any future trade talks. Of course, there is no guarantee for this, but also, the Bobcats had nothing to lose by signing that offer sheet.
Posted by: Sandy | Dec 7, 2007 10:29:25 AM
I agree with Wally, why not giving Walter Herrmann more minutes? he showed he is capable of doing great things on the court and that he has the usual high basketball IQ international players have. I think the coach doesnt understand the game and probably shouldn't stay there.
Free Walter Herrmann, let the man play!!
Posted by: Tobias | Dec 7, 2007 10:59:19 AM
Well it looks like BlackCat Johnson has put together a good black organization. If we just had more white people in the office and more black people playing the game we might stand a chance. Like that will ever happen.
Posted by: jason | Dec 7, 2007 8:38:58 PM
We lose seven in a row and hear come the idiot racists again. Crawl back in your hole and DIE!
Posted by: BustaCat | Dec 8, 2007 3:26:32 PM
What happened to the long haired South American guy(hermann?) who finished strong last year? He hasn't done a thing this year and I don't believe it's because the other team is D'ing him up, he's just not on the court. What's up?
Posted by: Charles | Dec 8, 2007 5:37:20 PM
Jason, what a very ignorant comment. I'm not surprised by it though, we are in Charlotte, NC
Posted by: Catfan | Dec 10, 2007 8:44:43 AM
Well, I'll be going out Wed. night to watch the depleted Cats try to show us why we should care. What's the over/under on attendance? 8,500? 9,000? Hope we don't just see a wretched jump shooting contest...you know, Richardson 3 for 19; Felton 4 of 9 from the line etc., etc. If Felton and Richardson drive and then dish to Okafor and Wallace, it could be lights out. But, that takes energy and these guys apparently love the nightlife. Maybe things will calm down in the Queen City and we'll see a little more gritty basketball. Wouldn't we all agree that most of the exciting basketball (sports, actually) we've seen this year has come from college teams like Davidson, UNC and UNC Charlotte? The best sports dollar investment this year may be the 49'ers, not the Panthers or the Bobcats.
Posted by: Rocky Mobley | Dec 11, 2007 9:11:21 AM
Vincent is a moron. Why Herrmann does not get minutes even when the game is out of reach is beyond me. Did Herrmann give Vincent's wife a touch up and Vincent caught them out or something?! WTF! Play the man!
The guy produces when he's on the court. Give him a chance Vincent for all Bobcats fans' sake!
Posted by: Foxy | Dec 11, 2007 6:48:59 PM
Hermann
Hermann
Hermann
Hermann
Hermann
Hermann
Tell that freakin' goober announcer to start that chant, will ya?
Posted by: randy rogers | Dec 11, 2007 7:05:39 PM
hey Tobias... shut up.
Posted by: Tobias_must_die | Dec 12, 2007 10:09:19 PM
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