NBA Chat With Jason Fleming 11/14/11

1. dyrese

   will knicks have a rookie jerome jordan coming in 7’0 and hes athletic finisher and rebounds any projection on him

   • Jason Fleming

     Maybe. I know they are keeping an eye on him, but they aren’t overly excited or anything.

2. brendan gibson

   what do you think of my fantasy team? i got stuck with a late pick. what advice can you give me?

   The Care Bears

   pg: steve nash, toney douglas, kyrie irving, baron davis
   sg: joe johnson, stephen jackson
   sf: tony allen, thaddeus young
   pf: blake griffin, zach randolph, glen davis
   c: roy hibbert,

   • Jason Fleming

     It’s not bad, but I’d see about dumping Davis for another center, unless Zach qualifies there too. Then again, maybe it’s not something to worry too much about…

3. Alec

   very interesting question here…whats harder, a european player becoming a starter on a nba team or a D league player becoming a starter on a nba team? Correct me if I’m wrong but isnt international rims like 11ft high?

   • Jason Fleming

     All rims at 10 feet, once you get out of third grade, I believe.

     I’d say it’s much harder for a D-League player to become a starter. They are in the D-League for a reason – they couldn’t make an NBA roster in the first place. Improving that much is a monumental series of steps.

4. Joe

   I realize hindsight is 20/20 but I believe that the league’s reported team loses should have been dissected in the summer,when they were first presented as fact by Stern. They could have been attacked from multiple angles and provided much more leverage for the players to strike a more favorable agreement.They questioned the numbers but did not follow through,major mistake.

   • Jason Fleming

     There was a lot of questioning the numbers even a year ago and the NBA claimed they opened their books to the players. I think it’s interesting to note that no one in the leadership on the Players side has questioned the numbers recently. Those who have are the ones much further from the discussions. That leads me to believe it’s either no longer relevant or the Players have been placated that the claims are valid. I personally have not seen the numbers and the explanations that go along with them.

5. Sven

   Hi Jason. Is it fair to say a 12,3% shift in BRI (from 57 to 50) should be enough to fix the system (mostly broken by excessive spending owners anyway) ?
   I know I wouldn’t accept such a salary decrease, what about you ? Wasn’t it D. Gilbert who said to trust the owners on system issues if the NBPA accepted the 50/50 split ?

   • Jason Fleming

     I wouldn’t be down for a decrease either, especially coming of a season of $4 billion in revenues. If only 57% of that was spent on player salaries, I ask this: where did the other $1.7 billion go? How was that spent?

6. Kevin in Tokyo

   Have you heard anything from B.Roy or Oden? Give Roy whatever Phoenix gave Nash and Hill and lets regrow some knees. Stem cell nanobots anyone? If anyone has the money for some experimental treatment its Brandon Roy..

   • Jason Fleming

     I believe Oden was cleared to run a couple weeks back. He wasn’t slated to be back on the court until January, but supposedly he is on schedule. As for Roy, he has been rumored to be playing in some of these charity games, but I can’t recall if I have seen whether or not he’s hit the floor yet. Supposedly he’s as healthy as he’s going to be – whatever that means.

7. Tyler

   I have probably went to 15 Hawks games over the past 3 years. This lockout is disgusting me and now the players just rejected a GOOD deal for them. I don’t plan to go to another Hawks game for a couple of years. I will definitely watch basketball on TV, but I no longer want to give the NBA by hard earned money

   • Jason Fleming

     You are not alone. I’ve heard from a lot of die-hard NBA fans, close friends of mine, that are just done with it. I don’t fault anyone for this. When the NBA does come back, whenever that is, I think it’s completely valid to have some kind of protest. But, as both sides have made clear, dollars lead the way, so that’s the way to get back at them. Picket signs and the like won’t make an impression on anyone.

8. Tyler

   Did you see Nazr Mohammeds twitter the other day? He said players could get more with a masters than making the NBA. How many players are this ignorant while they are making millions?

   • Jason Fleming

     I did see Nazr’s tweets and I think they were taken a tad out of context. He was being extreme to make a point and just did a bad job of it. I agree it’s a silly comparison, but his base point that players should be students when they have the opportunity is a real one.

9. Cain

   Can we expect Darren Collison to have a break-out 2nd year with the Pacers? I feel he is capable of 16-18ppg and 6-8apg. Can he and Hansbrough develop into constant pick n roll threat?

   • Jason Fleming

     What is this? A basketball question?! I think those numbers for Collison are completely within the realm of reasonable. In fact, that’s what I thought he was going to do last year after the trade to Indy, but he played better later in the year too. As for Hansbrough, I’m still torn. I think he’s too much of just a “forward” – not small or power – to be a starter, so can your first forward off the bench be a constant pick n roll threat? Maybe. I think Collison has already proven he plays very well with David West.

10. jiggy

    Will David Sterns salary decrease as well after the lockout is over? He has something like $20 mil., right! If he gives up like $10 mil. that would help balance players and owners proposals…heh

    • Jason Fleming

      His pay isn’t that high, but the NBA indicated on their Twitterview that every NBA employee – of which Stern is one – has taken a pay cut. Who knows how much, but take it at face value.

11. dyrese

    can the players sue billy as well as the nba because he didnt forgo his salary back in june now you decide to decertify? i think billy and kessler are tryning to milk the players while they ultimately loose in any scenario they just wanted thier pay derek fisher should be ashamed of himself for letting billy take this into the wrong direction

    • Jason Fleming

      I think it would be a poor decision to have the man charged with leading the most important battle in his union’s history not getting paid. He got paid while there was no labor strife, why should he not get paid in a lockout, when he does more work than any other time? Fisher is the one not getting paid for this.

      Which has nothing to do with what Hunter has or hasn’t done, and whether or not it was right or wrong. That’s on the players. I personally think that if they have issues with their leadership then players need to get more involved. Adrian Wojnarowski commented on Twitter today that union representation tends to go to players who “are in the wrong place at the wrong time” – and that’s true. Veterans and team leaders rarely seek to be a player rep. That’s why you see players like Chris Duhon representing Orlando and Samardo Samuels representing Cleveland. LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland and Paul Pierce in Boston are the minority, stars officially involved in the process. If the Players don’t like what has gone on, they can only blame themselves because they endorsed the leadership by not trying to change it or voice educated opinions earlier in the process. It’s a lot like politics in that way. Hard to complain about something when you don’t contribute until it’s too late.

12. jiggy

    Does player union consider votes from rookies and guys who have the lowest salaries? I know they listen to LBJs and Durants….

    • Jason Fleming

      Ever player in the union has one vote that is equal to every other vote. However, no vote was made, other than each of the 30 team representatives casting a vote. Durant’s vote counts the same as Stephen Graham’s.

13. Pericles

    So how come everyone but the players know that this isn’t going to end up in their favour? Everyone (including on this site), is saying that the owners are going to force-feed the players a much worse deal and they don’t seem to know it…how does that happen? Greedy/influential agents? or is it because these guys are used to getting everything they want in life and they think this is another one of those times?

    • Jason Fleming

      Boom – this is the $4 billion question. I have no idea. No clue. I don’t know what the Players are thinking or what they think they are going to get by refusing the agreement.

      That said, I also don’t presume to know what they are thinking, I just don’t understand it. I wouldn’t put the blame on agents, because they also don’t get paid when their players are not getting paid. I also don’t think it’s the last think you said, which I feel is disingenuous.

      I can try to articulate what I think the deal is, but it’s a stretch. Part of the deal here is people need to understand this is relative. It won’t make sense to us, them walking away from a 50-50 deal, because they are still getting millions. Must be nice, right? Well, by that same token the Players have done nothing but give in every negotiation. You can argue all you want about the employee-employer relationship – which I am totally in agreement with – but the fact of the reality is the Players are getting nothing from the Owners in this agreement. They gave up 7% of BRI, and what did they get in return? They give up freedom of movement because of the luxury tax rules, and what did they get in return?

      Nada. Niente. Nothin’.

      And the Owners, they keep asking for more, taking more off the table. I really think the Players just reach a breaking point. You can give, give, give, but after so long you get sick of giving, especially when you get nothing in return.

      I get where the Owners are going. They want to change the system and they have all the leverage. But I truly believe they simply thought they could do it all at once, and that assumption, that bulldog approach, just didn’t work. And as a result, we are here. And at the end of the season, in June when we should be having a draft, and maybe even next September when we should be having 2012 training camp, we could still be here. It’s sad, and it sucks. But part of me still gets it. I think it’s illogical, emotional, poorly planned, poorly educated, and not well thought out at all, but I understand it. It’s not an answer, but it just is.

14. Pericles

    As a Raptors fan, I am ecstatic about the lockout and can’t wait to come back to a NBA that will hopefully have some new rules in place evening things out a bit between the teams talent-wise…my question is don’t the players realize that if every team has a shot to win it (or at least at the playoffs) that EVERY city may be a better city to play in since fan interest will go up everywhere? and what about this analogy for “restricting movement” …if company A can offer you $50K per year to be their accountant , and company B can’t offer you a job because they’re over budget, would you go to court to make it so that company B has increase their budget to hire you because you like the neighborhood better?

    • Jason Fleming

      Your scenario is a hard cap, which is the crux of the Players’ argument. They simply won’t accept it. Whether or not you and I agree on it being a good idea, the Players are adamant they will never accept a hard cap. Hey, I hear you. I agree with you. But I’m not the one who needs convincing.

15. Brian

    i think every single time from now on when a deal is up there is going to be this same type of result. the owners will just keep getting 5% or more of bri in every new deal, along with whatever else, and every 10 yrs or so there will be a potential & probable missed season. eventually it will be owners 75%-25% & i dunno what the players would do to ever break this cycle unless at some point a new league gets formed. what are your thoughts?

    • Jason Fleming

      It’s possible, sure. I keep harping on the fact the players never had any leverage in these negotiations, but you make a good point: when would they have leverage? What could they do to ensure this doesn’t happen to them again? Off the top of my head, I really don’t know. Anyone else?

16. Alec

    Lets say all contracts were “voided” (I know they arent going to be). What happens to the rookies they drafted? IMO they have the rights to the players but nobody signed contracts, does this mean the owners have the right to sign K.Irving to a 3yr/5 mil deal or will the rookie scale contracts still be set in a new cba?

    • Jason Fleming

      It’s quite likely the new CBA will still have a rookie salary scale. The veteran players want that as much as the owners do, because they feel rookies should earn their money. Vets don’t want to see Glenn Robinson signing a $100 million deal out of college either.

      I also think deals won’t get voided, but if they did I would guess each team would retain some sort of advantage to their former players, and I’d guess they would keep players they owned the draft rights to. Right now players like Irving are in the same boat as a Euro player drafted three years ago who never came to the NBA.

      All of that will be negotiated into the final CBA, whenever it does happen.

17. John B.

    Is it true every player could end up being a free agent after the nbpa’s actions today? How sweet would that be? (unless you’re a small market fan) If this were to happen, do you think LeBron & Wade would reconsider Bosh as their third wheel? Maybe they would try and recruit Dwight, Blake, CP3, DWill, or Steph curry?

    Which super team would you rather have?– CP3, Wade, LBJ, Bosh, Marc Gasol or Rose, EGordon, Durant, Blake, Dwight

    • Jason Fleming

      It’s possible, but it’s not likely. The 30 owners all have at least one player on their roster they don’t want to lose in any way, shape, or form. Think Jerry Krause would be excited about that? Or Jerry Buss? Or Mickey Arison? I feel this is a threat the NBA won’t follow through on, but they will wield as a possibility the players should take note of, especially those who could otherwise come back to an amnesty check. Can you imgaine Brandon Roy going from a guaranteed $60 million to unrestricted free agent? Or Gil Arenas? Yikes.

      And, for the record, maybe Wade and James re-think working together at all. If all players are free agents, nothing is off the table.

      That’s a tough call on the super team…I’ll take Rose’s team.

18. Dominic

    Hi Jason,

    Assuming the upcoming season is lost what the heck does all of the mean for free agency?

    • Jason Fleming

      No one knows for sure, but it probably means when it does happen there will be a boatload of players available and a boatload of money being spent. Of course, signing players who haven’t been on a competitive NBA court in almost two years comes with a fairly high degree of risk, too.

      All of which means it should be quite crazy and quite entertaining.

19. Sergio

    Hey boss, nonlockout question. What were your favorite pair of basketball shoes and why? Mine would’ve been the old black Pippen’s with the inner rock or the DWade “Christmas tree” shoes from converse. Great looking and good performance. Currently rocking tin Melo M6, decent.

    • Jason Fleming

      Wow…well. Um. I’m not a big shoe guy, but I have always liked the look of the Air Jordan 5s and 6s. Also really liked the old Flights, with the scripted lettering on the tongue. Never owned any of those, but I liked them.

20. gary garcia, philippines

    is there any possibility that there would be 50 nba games in january, 2012? is there any chance that jamal crawford will play for miami?

    • Jason Fleming

      Well, there is always a possibility, but I wouldn’t advise holding your breath. The league needs 30 days from CBA approval to season opening tip, so in your scenario a deal would have to get done sometime in the next 30 days or so. That might be possible IF there was a union to negotiate with, but after this morning it no longer exists.

      If Crawford is willing to play for the MLE – whatever that ends up being, because Miami will be over the cap and under the lux tax, presumably – and come off the bench, then sure. I’m a Crawford fan, but not as a starting point guard.

21. greg

    what’s your hunch on the “best” teams being forced to give a key player(Miami/Lakers/Dallas?etc) after the CBA gets approved(and I realize that’s a big “IF” all by itself.

    • Jason Fleming

      I’d be surprised that any deal would force a top team to give up a key player, no matter how much they got paid. The Lakers, by far, have the highest payroll in the league, though, so you’d have to start there.

22. greg

    Hi Jason,
    How much of this is on Stern? His entire manner has been arrogant and offensive, threatening, ultimatums, etc. Little wonder the players won’t give up even more.

    • Jason Fleming

      Way too much is being put on Stern. He, of course, will take it and doesn’t mind it, but he only does what the 30 owners want him to do. He’s the mouthpiece, the face of the NBA. If his owners came to him and said let’s just do the same deal, he’d do that instead. For my money, Stern still is and always will be a great commissioner. It just has to be kept in mind who he works for. He should be judged on how he serves those interests as well as the interests of the league as a whole.

23. Aussiebballer

    Why haven’t the owners tried to reduce the MAX contract?
    If they did and then increased the MLE then the majority of players would be happier with the deal.
    Sure the 5% of STARS would get upset but the majority of players will never get near the MAX anyway.

    • Jason Fleming

      That’s a good question which I don’t have an answer to. Under the old CBA players with 0-6 years of experience could earn up to 25% of the cap, 7-9 years, 30% of the cap, and 10 or more 35% of the cap. That wasn’t going to change in the NBA’s proposal, and why not I have no idea.

24. greg

    Let’s start “Occupy NBA Corporate Office”. See you tomorrow at 645 Fifth Ave. in New York!

    • Jason Fleming

      What are you protesting? Just curious as to what the platform is other than “I want to watch NBA games.” I guess it could protest a lack of logic?

25. greg

    Protesting corporate (ownership) greed. If they ran their franchises well (aka Spurs) and made smart decisions (Blazers under Pritchard) they wouldn’t expect the players concessions to stay solvent

    • Jason Fleming

      I don’t know…I think the link is tenuous. And, as I mentioned before, any kind of protest against the NBA will best be made with consumer dollars spent or not spent AFTER a new CBA is ratified.

26. Ron strahley

    If the union is going to be no more, why cannot the owners just offers the players an opportunity to play, just honor their contracts and play games

    • Jason Fleming

      They could. However, there is nothing that says they have to offer all the protections being part of a union gives a player. There is nothing that any longer says a salary is guaranteed, for example, or that a player can’t get waived due to injury and still get paid. Some players may not care, but a majority will. The product they put on the floor won’t be nearly as good. I asked someone this on Twitter earlier: Would you still pay money to see non-NBA players play in NBA games?

27. Steven

    I read that Courtney Lee is Dwight’s best friend. Is that friedship enough to influence Dwight towards signing with Houston if (more like when) they offer him big money next off-season. Or do you think Dwight doesn’t even consider Houston an option.

    • Jason Fleming

      Houston has $49.3 million committed to 2012-13, so they won’t have a max salary slot. Also, Lee could be a restricted free agent and may not even be in Houston’s plans…