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The Spurs re-sign Richard Jefferson for a great deal of money



You would think you've been around the block a few times
when it comes to the NBA. That you've whittled the league down to two things
you can count on, time and again.
Players will always overrate their own value. And the San Antonio Spurs do everything right.
So that's why the news, which
hit late last month about Richard Jefferson(notes) opting out of the last year of
a contract that would pay him $15 million next season, always made sense. Not
for Jefferson -- it was possible he could have snagged a nice deal on the open
market, but by and large it was assumed he was nuts because nobody would
overpay for someone who was so miserable on the court last season -- but in NBA
terms. It made sense because the guy was overrating his own value.
And even when it became apparent the Spurs would be the
team to re-sign Jefferson -- that they had been working in concert with him to
encourage the opt out, and would be engineering a penny-foolish, pound-wise
deal to aid him into his 30s -- it still made sense. The Spurs,[Linkleri görebilmek için üye olmalısınız. Üye olmak için tıklayınız...], you
watch, will do everything right.
Then the news hits yesterday. Jefferson
re-signs for four years, $38.8 million. Guh. And the fourth year, which
everyone assumed to be non-guaranteed, is actually a player option. As if
Jefferson is going to think twice about wanting to be paid $11 million in
2013-14.
But the Spurs ... the Spurs did this? The rules! THE RULES!
How many fouls do you get a game, again?
This was a pretty nice move from the Spurs, to say the
least. Swell guys, those Spurs. They had all the bargaining power on their
side, and still went ahead and gave the guy a ton of dough. Why?
Teams have hubris, too. They think they can shoehorn any type of player into
their system no matter how much on-court struggles are around as proof to the
contrary. Jefferson looked absolutely clueless with the Spurs last season.
But they're forgetting last season, which they're right to do, and thinking
about last summer. When we lauded them incessantly for grabbing Jefferson, a
corner 3-point shootin' machine who can defend and get to the line.
They think, with another year's tutelage, that this guy can
come back for them. And I can't blame them for this. They're more than likely
right. And not just in the "they're the Spurs" context.
What's become obvious is that Jefferson the player, even if
overpaid, is worth more to the Spurs than that empty slot and the potential for
cap and payroll flexibility. That's not always the case in this league, and
with so many players disappointing or contracts going over the top (in order to
mitigate that "hey, they need a warm body there"-ness). It's something we often
forget.
What I just wonder about, still, is the length and the
terms.
Jefferson is 30. Now, the Spurs are his buddy, right? And
just to be real,[Linkleri görebilmek için üye olmalısınız. Üye olmak için tıklayınız...], real cool buddies, they're operating under the pre-2011
mindset. The one that tells you that guys like Richard can always get something
close to the average salary on the open market. Because that's what Jefferson,
if shopping himself this year or next, would have probably been offered. Even
with a team like Chicago needing wing help.
So let's say Jefferson opts in, makes his $15 million, and
then signs a three-year deal next summer with some other team for $16 million total.
That's $31 million over four years, and again, this is working under the
assumption that the current salary rules hold up. Which they won't. Next year,
all those three-year, $16 million contracts we've seen for years could be
three-year, $9 million contracts.
But just for Jefferson's sake, let's assume he was going to
grab a near-average deal under the current landscape. Combine the two deals?
Overall, four years, $31 million. A bit of a disconnect from four years, $38.8
million, eh?
The Spurs did this guy a favor. He turned 30 earlier this
summer and has seen his per-minute contributions decline two years in a row.
He could bounce back for a season or even two,[Linkleri görebilmek için üye olmalısınız. Üye olmak için tıklayınız...], and the Spurs
need someone at his position. But nearly eight-figures-a-year "need"?
What a summer.