Chalmers is signed in the Russian Superleague, or what's left of it. Russian basketball, like all Eastern European teams, has had a bit of a financial crisis this year, and the Superleague has only 9 teams left in it. Nevertheless, they're nine pretty good teams, so it's not a bad gig. Playing for Enisey Krasnoyarsk, Chalmers is averaging 17.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals in 33 minutes per game. The scoring is 6th in the league, the assists 8th and the steals 7th, but Chalmers' numbers are also down across the board; last year, he led the Superleague in scoring with a 21.0 ppg average, and ranked second in assists with 5.6 apg. That scoring title was a particularly impressive feat considering that he did it while shooting 57% from the free throw line as a 6'0 point guard.
Chase was Jannero Pargo's replacement at Dynamo Moscow for the end of last season, after Pargo moved to Olympiakos. He averaged 18ppg in the Eurocup and 11ppg in the Russian league, but Dynamo got rid of all their imports this year to save money. [See Sergei Bykov's entry, part 11.] Chase is spending this season in Spain, where he's signed with Valladolid of the ACB. He is averaging 13.0 points and 1.7 assists, shooting 39% from both the field and the three point line.
Despite being a 5'8 score-first backup point guard who averaged only 7ppg in his final college season, Brian Chase has played in the NBA. Andre Young, pay attention.
I wasn't into college basketball at the time, so I don't know why it's the case, but everyone seemed to hate Eric Chenowith because of his college days. This is the impression that I got throughout his professional career, at least. He kind of had that Laettner thing going on. If any of what I'm saying sounds plausible, please tell me why it was the case, because I don't know.
Chenowith's professional career involved a few years in the D-League, stints in France, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, as well as a year in the CBA in which he led the league in rebounds. Yet despite being drafted 43rd overall by the Knicks in the 2001 draft (who in an unusual move renounced him several months later before he ever signed with the team ), and despite signing NBA contracts with the Kings, Sonics, Clippers, Lakers, Nuggets, Bulls and Hornets at various points, Chenowith never played in the NBA.
Chenowith retired early into the 2008/09 season, aged only 29, and is now trying to establish a coaching career. He is currently coaching at his old high school team, subsidizing that income by working as a foreman for a construction firm.
As well you know, Childress is signed with Olympiakos in Greece. He wasn't very good there last year, really, unable to do much in the European half court game and not getting many fast break opportunities. But this year he's doing quite a lot better. Childress is averaging 16.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in the Greek league, alongside 15.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in the Euroleague. He's even hit a few threes, going a combined 15-43 (35%) between the two competitions.
Childress is still a restricted free agent of the Atlanta Hawks, who retain full Bird rights on him. Given that the Bulls' PR Machine has already set the wheels in motion for what now looks like an inevitable drastic overpayment for Joe Johnson this summer, the Hawks are probably going to need them.
Christie now runs Christie Sports Management/Athletes Training Firm. Details of that, and of other things in Doug and Jackie's post-basketball lives, can be found here.
I can't find records of a single client of theirs, however.
Christmas went undrafted this summer and later signed with the Sixers for training camp. Yet despite the Sixers' obvious need for a shooter, they decided they'd rather save the money and run with a 13 man roster than they would pay the rookie minimum to Dionte Christmas. That must have stung. What will have stung more was Christmas getting arrested the very next day while driving Marreese Speights' car, which contained an unloaded gun, also registered to Speights. Not a good day's fishing.
After a few weeks on the shelf - in which time he was rumoured to be moving to Germany, although he then didn't - Christmas signed with Hapoel Holon in Israel at the start of this month. He's played in one game for the team, totalling 12 points and 5 assists, shooting 3-10 from the field and 1-7 from outside.
Last year at this time, I wrote this about Adam Chubb:
Adam Chubb will literally never leave Germany.
Unlike all of my offseason predictions about Marcin Gortat, I might have actually been right about something here. Chubb is still in Germany, now into his fifth consecutive season there, and he also just signed an extension that keeps him there until 2012. For ALBA Berlin, Chubb is averaging 10.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in the German league, 10.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the Euroleague, and previously averaged 12.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Euroleague. Adam Chubb as a double digit scorer in the second highest calibre of club basketball competition in the universe? Awesome.
Remember Ousmane Cisse? The shotblocking starlet who averaged 12 blocks per game in high school, was drafted 47th overall in 2001 by the Denver Nuggets, but who never played in the NBA and who, in his own words, "should have went to college?" Well, he's still going. Cisse is signed in Cyprus with APOEL Nicosia, where he's one half of a two headed centre monster alongside former Jazz player Alex Radojevic. Good times.
Unfortunately, as is always the case with Cypriatic basketball, there are no domestic league statistics available. Someone out there should really rectify that, because there's a good number of interesting players that play over there and we need to know about how they're doing. But in the plus side, APOEL were in the Eurocup to begin this year, and after failing to beat Bancas Teramo in the preliminary round, they went in the EuroChallenge instead. So we at least have the statistics for those games. In the Eurocup, Cisse totalled 12 points, 16 rebounds, 6 fouls, 3 blocks and 2 steals in 49 minutes of two games, and in six EuroChallenge games he's averaging 2.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 fouls and 1.2 blocks per game. That's not very good, really.
For the record, in the same six EuroChallenge games, Radojevic is averaging 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 19 minutes per game.
Clancy was second in the Russian Superleague in rebounds per game last season, and has followed that up this year by being fifth in the Israeli league in rebounding. For Bnei Hasharon, Clancy is averaging 10.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, playing only 24 minutes a night. Hasharon also have the third best rebounder in the league, Shawn James, who averages a further 8.7 more in 28 minutes a night. Between the two, they're not missing many.
Another guy on the Bnei Hasharon team is Ron Steele, the former Alabama guard who was off to a flying start in his college career until his knee stopped working. Steele is having a pretty good career resurgence, averaging 11.9 points and 2.3 assists in 23 minutes per game, shooting 54% from the field and 52% from three point range. After the injury to his knee essentially cost him the last three seasons, it's good to see his bouncebackability in full effect. By the way, whoever invented that word should be shot, as should everyone who uses it.
Here's what Keon Clark's been up to recently. Or rather; here's Keon Clark's criminal record.
So, um, you might want to start scrolling down.
25th November 1991: Arrested for shoplifting. Was all of 16 at the time. Sentenced to a year's supervision, completed without incident.
28th March 1994: Arrested for a "misrepresentation of age" violation. Pleaded guilty, fined $100 three years later. Not sure what the wait was for.
28th March 1994: Arraigned for driving without insurance. Charge dropped two days later.
31st March 1997: Cited for speeding. Fined $75.
8th September 1998: Cited for not wearing a speedbelt. Fined $55.
1998: Suspended by UNLV after testing positive for marijuana.
20th May 1999: Cited for possession of cannabis. A year later, sentenced to six months supervision and fined $250 plus costs. In the same incident, was arrested for driving with a suspended license, but that charge was dropped almost two years later.
6th July 2000: Cited for driving the wrong way up a one way street. Fined $75.
11th June 2001: Arrested for driving with a suspended license. Charge later amended to driving on an expired driving license; fined $139.
11th June 2001: Arrested for domestic battery. Pleaded not guilty, but later changed to guilty in a plea agreement. Fined $200 plus costs, and placed on one year's conditional discharge.
29th June 2001: Cited again for driving without insurance. Later dropped.
31st July 2001: Cited for speeding. Fined $95.
29th July 2002: Arrested for reckless driving. Had to forfeit his driving license, but the case was dropped a few months later.
30th July 2002: From presumably the same incident, cited for whatever "failure to reduce speed" is. Sentenced to a year's court supervision in January, and fined $660. The fines are getting bigger. Also cited for driving without insurance, again, yet it was dropped, again.
September 2003: Appeared in court charged with a different case of misdemeanour domestic violence. Pleaded not guilty. Unsure of the outcome.
22nd December 2003: Cited for speeding. Fined $95. At least he made it past the year's supervision.
15th March 2004: Again cited for failure to reduce speed. Pleaded guilty, fined $235.
10th May 2004: Cited for speeding. Fined $75. You're getting the idea by now.
21st June 2004: Fined another $75 for another speeding offense. Cited again six weeks later for failure to pay it, then paid it in full.
16th February 2005; Again cited for driving without insurance. This time, Clark misses a court date, and an arrested warrant is issued in May.
4th April 2005: Cited for driving on a suspended license. By pleading guilty to the above charge of DWI, this one was dropped. Fined $500 and sentenced to a year's court supervision.
7th September 2005: Pulled over for erratic driving, and found to be in possession of cannabis, cocaine and a firearm without proper identification. Charged with two counts on the coke possession, two counts on the gun possession, one for the marijuana possession, one for driving on a suspended license, and two counts of DUI. Released after posting $2,500 bond. In accordance with local drug foreiture laws, his car was conviscated, and later sold on eBay.
28th December 2005: Clark changes lawyers.
3rd May 2006: Arrested for a myriad of things, including DUI (again), property damage, improper lane usage, driving with no insurance, driving without wearing a seatbelt and driving without a license. Pleaded not guilty to everything. DUI charge later amended to "Driving Under The Combined Influence Of Alcohol & Drugs." A charge of "driving using cocaine" was added.
21st September 2006: Scratches found in Clark's formerly conviscated Mercedes (see 7th September 2005 incident).
7th March 2007: Arraigned in Vermilion County court on a felony charge of criminal damage, as well as aggravated driving on a suspended license. Supposedly, after seeing his former car (now owned by a city worker) parked on the other side of town, Clark decided to damage the paintwork.
April 2007: Released from jail on battery and domestic violence charges after posting bond.
17th May 2007: Arrested for two outstanding warrants in Champaign County, both for failure to appear in court, one on a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespassing and the other on a felony charge of driving with a suspended license. Simultaneously arrested for driving under the influence after being found to be three times over the legal limit, and with a bottle of gin in his pocket.
May, 2007: In a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to the firearm and coke possession charges from the 7th September 2005 incident in exchange for the DUI and suspended license charges being dropped.
20th September 2007: Sentenced in Champaign County court to 30 months for the other driving with a suspended license charge. Sentenced in abstentia; arrest warrant issued.
10th October 2007: Sentenced in Vermilion County court to 30 months in prison on the firearms charge, 24 months on the coke possession charge, and one year for the driving under the influence charge, all to be served concurrently. The possession of marijuana charge was dismissed. Sentenced in abstentia, as neither Clark nor an attorney showed up. Another arrest warrant issued.
18th October 2007: Arrested on a bus in Houston on the aforementioned outstanding warrants. Clark had been in Houston attending alcohol rehab, which is why he did not attend his previous court hearings.
15th December 2007: Appeared in court to appeal the Vermilion County court charges above. Admitted in the hearing to being an alcoholic for almost a decade.
21st December 2007: Won his appeal for a new hearing on the firearm, cocaine possession and DUI charges. New hearing scheduled for March.
29th December 2007: Began serving his 30 month sentence for driving with a suspended license.
29th February 2008: Pleaded guilty to the DUI charge from the 3rd May 2006 incident. The rest of the charges were dismissed. Sentenced to 2 months probation and 180 days in jail, to be served concurrently with the rest of his jail time. Also fined $2,900.
18th June 2008: Charges from 10th October 2007 hearing in Vermilion County court overturned, due to Clark not having an attorney present at the hearing, a right that he had not waived. Clark's guilty plea was vacated, and a new hearing scheduled.
Early July 2008: Released from prison on the suspended license charge after serving six and a half months.
28th July 2008: Arrested for violating the probation that he received in the domestic violence case. Sentenced to 180 days for the violation. Don't know what he did to violate it.
1st August 2008: Missed the new court hearing for the 7th September 2005 charges because he was in prison at the time on the probation violation. Another new hearing sentenced.
12th December 2008: Resentenced in Vermilion County court on the 7th September 2005 charges that had been sentenced on 10th October 2007 and overturned on 18th June 2008. This time, in a plea agreement, Clark was sentenced to 30 months probation, a drug treatment program, 100 community service and 12 months of weekend imprisonment (with 260 days credited time served) on the cocaine possession charge. The firearms, DUI and driving on a suspended license charges were dismissed, due to Clark's time spent in rehab, which the judge interpreted as a bloody good start for getting through all of this, if also the cause of those arrest warrants
(All of that took a couple of days to decipher using online and freely available court records. I am not formally educated in the art of reading these documents - and it IS an art, because those things are bloody confusing - so therefore I may have screwed up somewhere. However, a hell of a lot of care has been taken to try and get it right, so if it's not all right then it's at least all close. In fact, there's even more stuff that could go on here that I haven't listed, such as a conviction and sentencing for resisting arrest in early 2007 from an August 2006 incident. I just can't be bothered to do it all, in the same way that you can't be bothered to read it all.)
(In somewhat related news, Clark's father is currently serving a 65 year sentence after killing a man in a fight over a bicycle. A bicycle.)
Clark, who describes himself as "non-conformist", disappeared from basketball in the summer of 2004. He had offers of work coming in, but he just didn't want to take them. For whatever reason, he'd had enough. This seemed weird at the time, but the reason for it may have been revealed three years later in a courtroom, when Clark admitted that he was an alcoholic.
The good news is that, as far as I can tell, Clark has had no problems since we last checked in on him. Clark attends weekly drug court hearings to check on his progress, with the next one scheduled to occur about 2 hours after this story was written, and his attendance and progress in those hearings are almost universally described as "good." He has done this since the December 2008 date of his latest conviction, and, even though it got as far as it has and necessitated the enforcement of the courts, Clark is getting help for his addiction and serving the punishment for his misdeeds. That's good. He used a lot of rope over the span of two decades - a LOT of freaking rope - but he appears to be finally demonstrating some bouncebackability. If he's clean, sober, and learns how to freaking drive safely, there is hope.
But the self-explanatory bad news is that, whenever the subject of Keon Clark is brought up, we automatically think of his substance and legal problems. Not the totally badass player that he used to be.
If that looks like a character assassination, it is not meant to be. It is thorough - obsessively thorough, even - but it is not meant to defame Clark's name. Clark's name is already pretty defamed through no doing of my own, and I find that a shame. I knew him as a basketball player first, way before I ever knew of him as a criminal and an addict. And I've always preferred to think of him as a basketball player.
So, in the interests of entertainment, here is Keon Clark defaming Shawn Bradley. For old's times sake.
Teneessee Tech graduate and former Knicks training camp invitee Milone Clark is currently a Harlem Globetrotter, known as "The Spark." Here's his new hair:
One thing they taught me on my creative writing course is that you can never end on a crescendo. There always has to be a slight lull after the climax in order to restore and wrap up proceedings. So it's that, plus the time honoured principle of alphabetical order, which has seen Milone Clark's story end this piece.
Still, this doesn't feel like much of an ending after all the Keon stuff, does it?
- Maurice Carter's last sighting was back in 2005, when he averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Indiana Pacers' summer league team. He was only 28 at that time, having played in the NBA only the season before, and yet he hasn't played anywhere since. I don't know why this is. If you do, let me know. Carter also apparently owns a piece of the Mississippi Hardhats WBA franchise, a team whose website sorely needs updating, and who might not even exist any more. But, if they do, VIP tickets to a Mississippi Hardhats game are only ten dollars! Nice! Buy early to avoid disappointment!
- Russell Carter is playing for Gravelines in France, a team whose name loses its magic when pronounced in a French accent. Playing alongside former seminal NBA starlet Dan McClintock, Carter has appeared in all of 2 games for Grave Lines, totalling 17 minutes, 0 points and 5 rebounds, which isn't much in a month.
- Steve Castleberry is in the mighty Czech Republic league, where he averages 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds for the even mightier Karma Basket Podebrady. Steve Castleberry was not good in college, has only played in weak leagues such as the USBL and the Dominican Republic since turning pro, and hasn't exactly shined in any of them. Why, therefore, does he garner all this attention on this website, one that is designed with a specific focus for current and fringe NBA players? Well, it's because the Philadelphia 76ers signed him for training camp in 2005. I don't know why they did this, yet because of that, I'm now morally obligated to follow the life and times of Officer Steve Castleberry. Bad times.
- Kelvin Cato is still unsigned, and probably always will be. If any team out there is rueing not signing Dikembe Mutombo, and thinks they might want to sign Kelvin Cato instead.....don't.
- Lion-O Chalmers is playing for Surgut in Russia, where he is averaging a highly applaudable 22.1 points (comfortably first in the league) and 4.9 assists (fourth). Fun Lionel Chalmers fact - Lionel Chalmers is the cousin of current Minnesota Timberwolves forward Craig Smith. I'd make a list of players that are cousins of other players, but it would take one hundred million years to complete.
- "Ca$h Money" Brian Chase averages 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists for Le Mans, another French team whose name is less fun when pronounced properly. Chase's teammates include former World Wrestling Entertainment Champion and Gonzaga forward J.P. Batista, as well as former Sacramento King forward David Bluthenthal, who average 9.0 and 10.1 points respectively.
- Eric Chenowith is unsigned. After joining the Hornets for training camp last season, Chenowith then went to the D-League, where he did precisely nothing. He then signed with a Korean team this year, but left during preseason, and he has not been signed since. For a few years, his NBA window has been open, albeit only slightly. But now, I think it's firmly shut.
- Josh Childress is playing for Olympiakos, as well you know. It's also going rather well for him, as he averages a team leading 15.6 points, good for fourth in the league, as well as 3.7 rebounds. Childress is also shooting 76% on his two point shots, which is almost Josh Childress-like.
- Doug Christie could be doing roughly anything right now.
- Adam Chubb will literally never leave Germany. Thus season, on the first year of a two year contract with Jessica Alba's Berlin team, Chubb is averaging 8.1 points amd 3.6 rebounds.
- Finally, Sam Clancy finally signed a contract for this season, joining CSK VSS Samara in Russia earlier this month. In his first game for the team, Clancy went 0-4. Good times.
- So, in the last post, I talk about how the Boston Celtics free agents aren't expected back. I wasn't speculating or breaking news, merely regurgitating the news offered up by various Celtics beat writers. What then immediately happens? Eddie House and Tony Allen re-sign. Ter-bloody-riffic. Can't I be allowed to self-own without the assistance of others? I say enough dumb shit of my own to kick my own arse many times over. I don't need the incisive input of others to further drag me down, too. Dammit. The lesson, as ever: screw Danny Ainge.
- Speaking of the Celtics, they were also reported to be in the running for Golden State Warriors free agent forward, Matt Barnes. But Barnes has apparently (and I'm using that word at all times now) committed to sign with the Phoenix Suns for the minimum. How the hell did that happen? How did a decent player go for the minimum, when we're still only in the first month of free agency, a month that has seen inferior and comparable players go for the full mid level exception? How have Matt Barnes and his agent not managed to turn his career resurgence into a single multi-year contract yet? How did Steve Kerr manage to pull off such a good move? And why couldn't the Celtics wade in with at least their bi-annual exception? The lesson, as ever: screw Danny Ainge.
(Note: Rumour has it that the Celtics are pursuing Dallas Mavericks forward Devean George, who isn't expected to re-sign with Dallas for obvious reasons. (Also note: for those unaware of the obvious reasons, here they are: 1) Devean George is a bit crap, and 2) Devean George vetoed the original Jason Kidd deal, which, while rather inconsequential in the end, was definitely a bit embarassing. Double bracket.) George isn't a bad backup plan for the Celtics, despite me just calling him "a bit crap". But I still don't see why you wouldn't offer offer just a teeeeeny bit more for Matt Barnes, luxury tax ramifications be damned. You just won a title, for God's sake. Why such tight purse strings?)
- Josh Childress has balls of steel. Depending on who you believe, it's all but a done deal that Childress is going to sign with Olympiakos in Greece, in what is either the biggest deal ever signed by a European team, or close to it. There are people scattered all around the internet who can write, will write, and who are writiing considerably longer articles about what this move will mean for the long term future of the NBA, and particularly the perils and pitfalls of restricted free agency, something which I personally hope dies a miserable death. (Through a combination of the draft, restricted free agency, and being traded, some NBA players can go their whole careers without ever being able to choose their place of employment. How is that fair, even with the massive salaries that they get?) I, however, can't be bothered. But I will commend Childress for his testicular fortitude - trapped in a situation without any real leverage, he managed to find some, a victory for humanity and oppression everywhere. And for Europe, obviously. (By the way, for those who love to say things like "Childress won't fit in in Europe because he's not a very good shooter".....there's more to European basketball than shooting, you know.)
- Nets forward Bostjan Nachbar has also gone to Europe, signing with Dynamo Moscow (that's in Moscow) for three years. The weird pile-on effect from the Childress move is the subsequent over-analysis of the decision for every player who signs in Europe, such as Nachbar and Carlos Delfino. Suddenly, every European signing is symbolic of the demise of the strength of the dollar, or of a systematic failure of the NBA machine. But caught up in that overexuberance are two key oversights:
1) Nachbar and Delfino both started out in European leagues, so going back there isn't all that alien of a concept.
2) They are average NBA players at best. Average to fringe NBA players have occasionally signed in Europe for a while now. It is a direct by-product of the NBA teams signing and drafting so much European talent for themselves - there are only 450 spots in the NBA for about 600 deemed to be worthwhile players, and so some people are going to lose out.
Things are changing, but Bostjan Nachbar isn't a symptom. But, hey, don't let that stop you from overthinking it if you want.
- Primoz Brezec of the Toronto Raptors also signed in Europe, for Lottomatica Roma of Italy. But no one cares about that.
- In a shock NBA-to-NBA transaction, the Orlando Magic signed and traded Keyon Dooling to the Nets, in exchange for nothing significant at all. This represents the first bit of profitable Creative Financing™ of Magic GM Otis Smith's career, so maybe he's learning. As for the Nets, they now have 18 players under contract, but I'm sure that they can find it within themselves to cut Maurice Ager and Keith Van Horn. It is, however, the final nail in the coffin for my Andres Nocioni trade idea. Damn shame.
- Finally, I can bring you big news of two further European signings. Tamar Slay signed with Avellino in Italy, and Boise State's finest Matt Nelson signed with Mahatman Gandia in Spain's lower leagues. This interested me unil I realised that Boise State's finest Matt Nelson was not THE Matt Nelson. I know you feel that pain.
GregOstertagsHairline.com: the NBA website that answers the question that not a single person cared enough to ask.
If your team didn't agree to an extension with its starlet young player this past offseason - such as is the case with the Atlanta duo of Josh Childress and Josh Smith, the Chicago duo of Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, amongst others - then you've probably experienced a modicum of conversation as to whether that player will take the one year qualifying offer this offseason rather than the security of a long term deal, leaving the distinct possibility that your team will lose a key player and important asset, for jack shit in return. Talk of this possiblity happening is particularly widespread in the case of Gordon, who hasn't done much to deny it.
Let me half-arsedly set your mind at rest - it's really not that likely.
Or rather, it should be really unlikely. It might happen, but history suggests that it shouldn't. This is a list of all the rookie scale players to have accepted the fifth year qualifying offer in recent times, accompanied by a headshot for no reason other than cosmetics.
Season before free agency: 9.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 51% shooting Season spent on Qualifying Offer: 3.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 36% shooting Season after that: 3.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 47% shooting
Melvin Ely is crap. He has had one year of non-crapness in 7 attempts. That one season was, conveniently, the final one of his rookie contract. Never justifying his draft position, this one year gave Ely the chance to make a bit of money, especially given that this was probably his only other chance at a multi-year contract. (Ely was 28 at the time, after joining the league at age 24. No one seems to remember this.) Ely took Charlotte's one year QO of $3,308,615 (which may or may not have been the only contract that they offered) in preference to taking Phoenix's multi year offer, or one from the Warriors.
Ely then played like his usual wank, and is now on a minimum salary contract with the Hornets.
Season before free agency: 11.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 41% shooting Season spent on Qualifying Offer: 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 41% shooting Season after that: 6.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 42% shooting
Seattle dodged one hell of a bullet here, when Radmanovic turned down their exceedingly generous offer of a 6 year, $42 million. Why he did this, I don't know. Maybe he thought he was worth more. Or maybe he just hated Seattle. Either way, Seattle reacted, dealing him to the L.A. Clippers for Chris Wilcox, a far better player whom they managed to re-sign for half of what Radmanovic turned down.
Radmanovic did manage to somehow coerce a full MLE contract from the L.A. Lakers, a contract which totalled 5 years and $30.427 million. But, when combined with his qualifying offer of roughly $3.1 millionish, Radmanovic managed to lose almost $10 million on the deal, as well as save Rick Sund from himself.
Season before free agency: 11.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 49% shooting Season spent on Qualifying Offer: 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 44% shooting Season after that: N/A
Pietrus has always been a very flawed player, but with the onset of the new Warriors system under Don Nelson, many of these were able to be reasonably well covered up. In the fourth season of his rookie deal, Pietrus turned in comfortably the best season of his four year career, and was courted heavily by Miami. His agent claims to have had four teams offer their full MLE to Pietrus, which makes it odd that he didn't take any of them.
In the end, Pietrus was stuck with the one year, $3,470,771 qualifying offer from Golden State. From there, the inevitable has happened - he has regressed. His stats are backwards, his weaknesses are no better than they were, and his team just missed the playoffs. Suddenly, Pietrus's package seems less attractive. (Giggidy.)
Season before free agency: 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 47% shooting, 1.5 blocks Season spent on Qualifying Offer: 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 45% shooting, 1.5 blocks Season after that: 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 49% shooting, 0.8 blocks
Two key things to remember with Stromile's choice to sign the QO:
1) It was for $6.2 million, more than he would have gotten on the open market for the first season of any contract. 2) Memphis made it clear that they would match anything, and wouldn't entertain many sign and trade offers. 3) He really, really didn't want to be there.
(That's three things, but you get the idea.)
Financially, Stromile either breaks about even by turning down the QO and signing a four year MLE deal (which was the deal he signed with Houston after the QO year expired), or he's maybe even slightly ahead on the deal. Unlike most players, his play didn't decline under the QO, and while his numbers have suffered slightly in the last three years, his play remains pretty good.
He did not get his wish for getting out of Memphis, though, as he was traded back there after only one season in Houston. Tough break.
Aaaaaand........that's everyone this decade. I would go back further and include players such as Michael Olowokandi (a pretty resounding example of why not to turn down extensions), but it becomes too difficult to find the right numbers, so I won't. Those 4 are the only rookie scale players to have taken the qualifying offer since the year 2000.
They're 1-4, with only Swift making the right move. (This is unless Pietrus is ridiculously, insanely fortunate.)
First off, it's pretty obvious that 4 people in 4 drafts is not a huge amount of people to accept the qualifying offer. That goes without saying, given that 124 people were drafted in the first round of those 4 drafts. But I said it anyway.
Secondly, note that the one to have made a decent decision to take the qualifying offer was a second overall pick, which had a huge impact on the size of the offer in question. For reference's sake, here is a list of all the qualifying offers for those fourth year rookie scale players from the 2004 draft who did not get extensions:
(Everyone else either got an extension, or have already been waived.)
Not all of these players will get a qualifying offer, because the team does not want them for that price, or indeed any price. In two cases (Swift and Livingston), the qualifying offer might actually be an advisable route, given the serious injuries from which both are struggling to recover. But only in a few cases is the qualifying offer of a significant threat to be a viable option: Emeka Okafor (who turned down a 5 year, $60 million eztension), Ben Gordon (who turned down a 5 year, $50 million extension), and maybe some of the lower players (Allen, Telfair).
Bizarrely, Okafor and Gordon have both had worse years since turning those extensions, which could mean anything. It could make them more likely to take the security while they can still get it, or it could make them more liable to have a third attempt at a successful contract year push.
The other factor here is the deep free agent class, that affects everybody in this list. Pessimists theorise that this may mean more players take the one year QO and make themselves available for the 2009 free agent market instead. Optimists might say that instead, because of the lack of money out there, those offers from their current teams suddenly look alot more lucrative and sensible. You can probably guess which of those two schools of thought I subscribe to.
Either way, it's extremely difficult to imagine those two (plus others, such as Deng and Iguodala) turning down $50+ million, twice. Especially since they haven't done anything to justify turning it down once.
HALF BAKED CONCLUSION FROM HALF-ARSED ANALYSIS:
There is not a lot of recent history on which to deduce whether taking the qualifying offer is a wise/probable decision or not. This, in itself, is indicative of the fact that it's a highly unlikely scenario. And when what little precedent there is shows the move to be a generally unwise one, that only reaffirms the idea that the likelhood of a player choosing to accept the qualifying really is nothing to fear.
Sometimes people ask me if there's a way to find out which player profiles have been written and which have not, as about 75% of them aren't complete as we speak.
Well, there isn't. Or rather, there wasn't. For I'm now going to tell you.
This list took 45 minutes to compile so you'd better use it, or else.
That's an idle threat since I have no way of punishing you if you don't do so, so just ignore it.
What I'd like to do is rig up a comments system where each profile has its own comments section like these blogs posts do. But I don't know how to do that. If you do know, and you wish to tell me, and if you wish to help me accepting that you won't get paid in any way, why not write in and tell me?
Sham is a miserable and self-effacing little bastard, whose basketball opinions are often riddled with bias, insecurity, and rank immaturity. He has also never played the sport, and the only game he has ever been to see was a Ware Rebels game back in 2001. The night bus didn't show up and he had to walk the 9 miles home. It was after this that his passion for basketball really took off.
He considers himself to be Britain's foremost NBA expert, an arbitrary title that carries with it no basis in fact, or any worldly significance. He also wrote this section of the website in third person narrative, purely for reasons of arrogance.
Copyright ShamSports.com, 2005-2010. Every published word on this website
is copyrighted to the website's owner, including (but not limited to)
the really stupid ones that I wish I'd never written.
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