7 Ingredients For Landing That Huge New Signing
The NBA season doesn’t actually start until the end of October but for some teams it may as well be over already. The Dallas Mavericks, for example, just had one of the biggest weekends in the history of their franchise, luring not only Wes Matthews but also DeAndre Jordan to Texas on big Free Agent deals. Plenty for owner Mark Cuban to celebrate, but had they whiffed and missed out on all of their top targets (as has happened the last three seasons in a row), then Cuban says they were considering ripping things up and tanking the season away, taking advantage of what’s expected to be a levelling of talent in the West (aside from the damn Spurs, that is). Rumours are that coach Rick Carlisle may not have wanted to stick around for that plan either. So… massive implications.
On the other hand, the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are in exactly that position. They went hard at DeAndre, at LaMarcus Aldridge, at Kevin Love, at Jimmy Butler. All turned their heads and went elsewhere. Robin Lopez and Roy Hibbert are decent fall-backs but they aren’t about to lead their new teams to titles any time soon. An entire season’s plans now reeled back because they weren’t able to hook the big fish they were after. Imagine if Captain Ahab decided to head back to shore and drop by the fishmongers for some cheap veterans instead.
So how do you avoid the disaster of striking out in the player market? How do you ensure that your team has the sparkling allure to allow them to take their pick of the league’s premier players?
Well, there are several factors at work here. Each changes in priority for each different subject but all play a part. Call them the 7 Ingredients For Free Agent Success.
The Lifestyle
It’s a badly kept secret that top athletes are drawn to those big market cities. Cities where they’ll get plenty of attention for their prowess, where they can leave training and go party with film stars. Los Angeles, Miami and New York have always had this attraction, but beware: Professional sport-folk are pretty serious about what they do. They can always party in Florida or California during the offseason so if you can’t offer anything more from this list to your prospective cornerstone then all you’re selling is a retirement village. Granted, some players probably prefer a low-key township to a bustling metropolis.
The Fortune
‘Show me the money.’ Like, of course this is a major factor. Especially on those last big contracts, players are gonna be tempted to take the biggest cheque as they realise they’ll never get the chance for this kinda cash again. Likewise, that first big contract is often too hard to refuse for a young competitor. LaMarcus Aldridge will have had any number of reasons to leave Portland, but Damian Lillard is going nowhere after they dangled Fortune, Security and Familiarity in his face with a fresh new contract. The only problem here is that with a salary cap, often teams are all offering something in the same vicinity of $, leaving the other six categories to decide things. And while cold hard cash is always a necessity, it isn’t always enough. Wes Matthews left about $10-15m on the table over the next four years when he spurned Sacramento for Dallas, leaving the shambolic Kings far out of his life-story. Although let’s be fair, when you take into account the No State Income Tax thing with Texas then the difference in dollars isn’t actually all that much.
The Security
The 2015/16 NBA Free Agency period was supposed to be full of players leaving long deals on the table in order to get back into free agency soon when the salary cap skyrockets as is expected in a couple seasons. Sure, plenty of contracts have been back loaded with player options, but not too many without that security net. In a profession where injuries can end a career, it’s just too risky to make that gamble. It means more to both player and team to have guarantees and also Money Now tends to trump Money Later.
The Kinship
Do you know a major reason why DeAndre Jordan ended up spurning the Clippers for the Mavericks? The Mavs made him feel welcome and wanted. Dirk Nowitzki cut short his holiday to be at their meeting while Chris Paul didn’t even send him a text until it became clear the Clips might be losing him. Too late. Blake Griffin is DeAndre’s best bud however it was Dallas forward Chandler Parsons that took DAJ out to dinner during recruiting. For at least five nights in a row. Meanwhile every recruitment story you read about Kobe Bryant these days is about how difficult he is to work with and how he’s turning people away with his intensity. That’s not a problem if the Lakers could fill out a few other of these categories, except that they can’t. Same goes for playing with Carmelo Anthony and his vortex of shot-hoggery on a possible 20-30 win Knicks team. It’s cool if you’re winning but if you ain’t then people don’t wanna be working with guys they don’t like. That most definitely extends to coaches too. And fans, sorry NY.
The Familiarity
Similarly, if you’re gonna lose, it may as well be somewhere you feel comfortable. If you’re gonna win, then the middle of the desert is comfortable. And if that’s the case then it’s a risky career move to give that up. Loyalty and honour come into this too. If a dude’s had success with a team, knows his role there and knows that they value him as well, then it’ll be hard to pry him away. Hence Dwyane Wade keeps staying in Miami, hence LeBron went back to his hometown of Cleveland, hence the San Antonio Spurs never lose a single player they aren’t prepared to lose. It’s not a coincidence that both DeAndre Jordan and LaMarcus Aldridge were both born in the state of Texas, where they’ve each just vowed to return to.
The Promises
Look, athletes can be fragile people. It’s a cut-throat career and sometimes you need those extra assurances. On the Clippers, DeAndre Jordan was the third wheel. They treated him like the temperamental project they’d drafted rather than the possible superstar he’d become. Many teams were in the running for his signature, but the Mavericks made the case that most compelled to DAJ’s ego. They told him he’d be their number one guy. They give him the opportunities to let his offensive game flourish like it’d never been able to. Doc Rivers tried to run a Defensive Player of the Year campaign for Jordan, the Mavs will run an MVP one.
The Glory
Ultimately this is what it’s all about, the most important one. Why do you think Kevin Love took long term money to be third fiddle on LeBron’s Cavaliers while DeAndre Jordan walked away from that same string section arrangement to play lead guitar somewhere else? Because LeBron brings championship pedigree every season while the Clippers never reached their potential in DAJ’s time there. It’s why guys like Ray Allen, Shaun Marion and James Jones have followed LBJ around when they might as easily have retired with nothing left to prove. That last elusive ring is a glistening enticement. The San Antonio Spurs can always re-sign their role players for this very reason. Nobody is leaving Golden State for a while now without that decision coming from the front office. Winning is what all these competitive beasts play for. It was the carrot that lured Kevin Love away from Minnesota in the first place. It was the carrot (or at least one of the many) that lured LaMarcus Aldridge to San Antonio. The Championship Desire is what compels. It’ll outdraw every other law in this guidebook.
And now to put it all to the test.
Clearly, each case here is contextual. LaMarcus Aldridge probably prefers the lifestyle in San Antonio to that of Portland (or maybe not, who knows?) but it wasn’t a major deal-maker. The only time the lifestyle thing is crucial is when it’s an overtly flaunted factor. So, California, Florida and New York. If you have money, and all of these lads do, then any place is luxury. But it’s a major statement to move to a holiday destination.
All of them took money, but some took much more than others. Yet at the same time, some took less than others but were more influenced by it. Al-Farouq Aminu was overpaid to get him to move to a team that just lost three starters in Free Agency. But he’s due less money than the more proven Danny Green, who could have gotten even more if he’d left the Spurs – however that would’ve meant leaving the Security (4 year contract), Kinship (Duncan, Coach Pop, Parker, etc.), Familiarity (Green’s sent all but his rookie year with the Spurs) and Glory (speaks for itself) that the San Antonio Spurs have for him.
Rajon Rondo ticks only one of the boxes for his one-year $9m contract with Sacramento. He lost all bargaining power with his disastrous spell in Dallas. If a team would rather cut you in the middle of the playoffs than even leave you on the bench then you can’t demand too much cash. All he’s got is the promise of a starting point guard role, enough to hopefully redeem himself for a much better deal next year. Greg Monroe turned down more Security and possibly more Fortune from teams such as the New York Knicks to take three years and $50m from Milwaukee. But the Bucks are an up and coming team. Not capable of offering Glory yet, but certainly with more to offer than the Knicks or his old Pistons. His third year is a player option, so there’s little risk and he can be back in Free Agency pretty soon if it doesn’t work out. Kinship and Familiarity, even Lifestyle, they can be built up over time. Especially on a young team with an inexperienced coach.
For Kevin Love, he’s playing in Cleveland when he could be playing in Boston or L.A. and he’s doing it without the Promise of being able to play his most effective basketball (he’s the Chris Bosh of the new LeBron Big Three). But on the flipside he gets to challenge for titles, play with guys he respects and he’s getting a stacked new contract to do so. Draymond Green cedes only a star role in re-signing with GSW, though he still has some degree of Promise with the obvious esteem that organisation holds him in. Dwyane Wade sacrificed longer Security for quicker Fortune, his relationship with Pat Riley no doubt a major factor, even if his role is likely to decline with age.
Tyson Chandler is an older player too, a centre with injury history on the end of a big contract. He wanted three year and the Suns gave him four (at an eight figure salary) and that was enough to convince him despite there being plenty of teams looking for a starting C and Alex Len already considered the Suns’ long term guy at the 5 spot.
Paul Pierce could be on his final NBA contract. He went with Glory over money, reuniting with his old bud Doc Rivers in the process. While Brandon Wright went with a bench role on a competitor instead of a possible starter’s role (and maybe a starter’s pay-cheque) on a weaker team.
Compare now the Lakers and Spurs bids for LaMarcus Aldridge, the highest profile Free Agent to leave his established team. The Lakers had the Lifestyle, the Spurs had the Glory. Both had Fortune and Security to offer, neither had Familiarity (though LMA is a Texan-native so that swings it in SAS’s favour slightly). Neither had Kinship (but again, the Spurs have more icons to work with – Kobe vs Pop/Timmy/Tony/Manu(?)/Kawhi). It’s been said that what ultimately swung him were the basketballing Promises he was given. The Xs and Os, as they say. The Spurs had the team and the staff to work out and present an exciting vision of LMA in San Antonio, an extended legacy that he could be a part of, as the Lakers fumbled around with abstractions of potential and hope. They couldn’t offer a concrete strategy and there’s nothing that turns a sale into a bust quicker than uncertainty.