HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

When the National Basketball Players Association’s committee sat down to review the final proposal from the owners just prior to the lockout, there was outrage among the players. The group believed that the deal was unfair and every player in attendance voted against the proposal.

Maurice Evans, a vice president of the NBPA, insists that the players won’t settle for a one-sided deal, especially if it resembles anything close to the proposal from two weeks ago.

“If we were to agree to their deal, it would be the worst collective bargaining agreement in sports history,” Evans told HOOPSWORLD. “We would be a laughing stock. What they proposed to us says nothing about a partnership. We want nothing more than to grow the game and reward these great fans that have shown support for us and the NBA, but their proposal doesn’t reflect that partnership at all. They proposed rollbacks, salary freezes and things that don’t promote any player growth or security. It was such a terrible system.”

Evans has been extremely active during these talks, and believes that the owners have made little effort to iron out a new deal because they settled on the idea of a lockout years ago.

“I’ve been at every meeting for the last two years, and we’ve been trying to make a deal for a long time,” Evans said. “We’ve been ready and willing. We’ve made major concessions. We offered to give back over $500 million. At no point did I truly feel that the NBA owners consciously tried to make a deal. Every time we would try to address the competitive issue, they would jump to the profitability issue. Then, when we would address the profitability issue, they would jump to the system is broken issue. When we would address the system, they would go back to the competitive balance. It felt like we were a dog chasing its tail.”

“They didn’t want to engage us on the issues and kept the same hard-line stance over two years,” he continued. “That led me to believe that they had a lockout in mind from the start and wanted to break the will of the players in order to implement their system, which will allow for them to be extremely profitable – not just profitable, extremely profitable – and have no need for revenue sharing. That won’t happen because the players are unified and the players will still be unified no matter how long it takes to get a deal. We’ll still be willing to engage them, as we have for the last two years, in hopes of getting a system that’s fair for everyone.”

However, the two sides are so far apart in these negotiations that Evans believes the 2011-12 season is at risk of being canceled.

“I would say it’s a strong possibility,” Evans said. “The owners have been led to believe that this is going to be better for them – that a lockout would break the will of the players and allow them to implement their system. But again, their proposed system is so terrible that all of the players agreed unanimously in our meeting that we couldn’t agree to the deal. It would be better for the players to have a lockout than to play under a system that doesn’t allow for any player growth, player security and abandons everything that all of the great players before us worked for over the years. It would totally abandon everything they fought to get.”

The players insist that they won’t budge, even once the lockout causes them to miss games and paychecks. They feel that the owners are trying to take advantage of them and they won’t let that happen.

“They’re underestimating us,” Evans said. “They’re underestimating the players, they’re underestimated the fans and, if they think a lockout is good for business, they’re grossly underestimating the business of the sport. I don’t believe you can recapture the momentum, sponsorship dollars and television ratings.”

“Guys love to play and that’s why the game has grown to the level that it has in recent years,” he added. “The players are so passionate about playing. They’ve done everything that the owners have asked and more. They fulfill their jobs on a nightly basis. In the wake of the last CBA – when we had that terrible fight which was a black eye for the league – guys have cleaned up their images. They’ve grown to be even more professional by wearing dress clothes and improving how we represent ourselves, our families and the NBA. It’s insane and unnecessary that we had to go down this road.”

Now that we’re here, players want to continue playing and are exploring the possibility of signing overseas. Prior to the lockout, there was a belief that players who had been under contract wouldn’t be able to sign overseas because they couldn’t receive a letter of clearance from FIBA, which has a strong relationship with the NBA.

However, Evans insists that’s not the case. Because the collective bargaining agreement expired, he says that players are free to play anywhere, which is why the recent Deron Williams to Turkey rumors have legs.

“Unless they grandfather in deals from the previous collective bargaining agreement, there is no restriction,” Evans said. “David Stern made it pretty clear that they didn’t want to grandfather in contracts from the previous CBA. He also made it clear that once the CBA has expired, the NBA as we know it doesn’t exist anymore. Therefore, players are free to play wherever they want. They don’t have contracts. That’s the one thing that is really going to keep us unified. That free agency frenzy we had last summer was all for naught. All of the extensions that guys earned and signed were all for nothing because the system doesn’t exist anymore. He told us plenty of times in the meetings that we’re starting from scratch. The system that they want to implement doesn’t carry any of the same benefits as the old system.”

Evans believes that many players will sign overseas and encourages his peers to do so. He played in Greece and Italy before sticking on an NBA roster, and he believes it’s an excellent way for players to wait out the lockout. In fact, he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of returning overseas. When asked if he would consider playing for an international team, he didn’t hesitate to respond.

“Without a doubt,” Evans said. “I have European experience, which has made me a real viable option to play in Europe. I had a lot of success there. I was the Player of the Year in Europe and was an All-Star twice. There’s been a lot of strong interest in players who want to take advantage of that option. There are options all over the world. If players aren’t valued right now in the NBA, as seen by the lockout, there are other places around the world that would love to have the four hundred players that are available.”

While Evans is keeping his options open, his priority is to help ratify a new collective bargaining agreement. The two sides will resume negotiations later this month, but there is still plenty of progress that must be made. Both groups insist that they’re not going to budge, which means this lockout will likely be lengthy, with plenty more intense meetings and polarizing proposals still to come.

Wafer Keeping Options Open: When a player becomes a free agent, their future is completely up in the air. Finding a new employer and place of residence is stressful enough, but having to go through the process in the middle of a lockout is even more frustrating. With players and agents barred from communicating with teams and a timetable for a new collective bargaining agreement unknown, free agency is more complicated than ever.

However, that’s not how Von Wafer views his upcoming free agency.

After playing for the Boston Celtics last season, Wafer will be an unrestricted free agent once this work stoppage comes to an end. Even with the current state of the NBA, Wafer feels better about free agency now than he did the last time he was on the market two years ago.

“The free agency process is always kind of hectic,” Wafer told HOOPSWORLD. “I’ve been a free agent before, after leaving Houston, and that was a lot of chaos. But this time around has actually been easier for me because I’ve been through it before and I know what to expect.”

{AUTHOR_BOX}Last season, Wafer played 58 games for the Celtics, but received limited minutes and sometimes fell out of the rotation altogether. Going forward, he wants to find a situation where he can receive consistent playing time. He would love for that to be in Boston, but he’s keeping his options open.

“My first option is going somewhere I can play,” Wafer said. “I’ve worked hard and been in the league for five seasons. I know I belong here and I can be a productive NBA player if given the opportunity. I’m 25 years old and starting to enter my prime so I want to find the right situation. I would love to go back to Boston. I loved it there and it would be perfect if I have the opportunity to be a part of the rotation.”

At different points during Wafer’s career, he has received interest from a number of teams including the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs.

In the meantime, he’s not limiting his options to NBA teams. The last time Wafer was a free agent, he made headlines by signing with the Greek powerhouse Olympiakos. He has contemplated the possibility of returning overseas during the lockout, and has received inquiries from a number of international teams.

“Even before the lockout, it’s definitely something that I thought about,” Wafer said. “Now that we are in a lockout, it’s definitely an option because I can go overseas and have a larger role. It’s a way to make money and I could really be a contributor for a team.”

Wafer didn’t stay in Greece for the duration of his previous contract, and he regrets how the situation played out.

“If I could do it all over again, I would have never left Greece,” Wafer said. “It was really hard, but I gave up on it too early. The mistake that I made was going over there all by myself. I should have brought my family or friends so that it would have been easier. Other than that, the experience was great. I definitely think going back over there is an option. It’s a good situation, a competitive league and it’s a chance for me to play during this lockout.”

“The biggest difference was the language barrier,” he added. “Not many people spoke English and you couldn’t just walk up to people and start talking to them. That was the hardest thing. Everything else was fine and the people there were great. It was just the communication part that was sometimes difficult.”

Wafer is approaching free agency with an open mind and experience under his belt. His future may be up in the air, but he has plenty of options and little to worry about this offseason.

NBA News and Notes: Here are several items from the news and notes bin.

•   Demetri McCamey is on the verge of signing a one-year deal with a team in Turkey, according to sources close to the situation. McCamey went undrafted last month, but received interest from a number of teams. He attended the Atlanta Hawks’ free agent camp prior to the lockout, but has chosen to sign overseas rather than wait out the work stoppage for a training camp invite. McCamey’s contract is expected to be finalized shortly and then more details – including the team name – will emerge soon.

•   Greg Smith is another undrafted free agent who has plenty of options during this lockout. Smith attended the Miami HEAT’s free agent camp and received a training camp invite from the team. He also received an invite from the Indiana Pacers, who had expressed interest in him throughout the draft process. Smith would consider signing overseas and has received interest from a number of international teams, but it appears his preference is to wait out the lockout and realize his dream of playing in the NBA.

•   Amar’e Stoudemire made headlines on Friday afternoon when he asked his Twitter followers if he should sign with Maccabi Tel Aviv during the lockout. Sources close to Stoudemire have said that Israel would be the power forward’s preferred destination should he decide to sign overseas during the lockout.