Baron Davis Surprises Warriors By Opting Out
Where will Baron end up?Despite telling members of the Warriors front office last week that he wouldn’t opt out of the $17.8 million left on his deal, Baron Davis did just that, becoming an unrestricted free agent at 12:01 AM today. The move has some scratching their heads, as Baron’s 29 year old body has undergone plenty of punishment, perhaps too much for NBA GM’s to write a check worth the sum that he was slated to make in Golden State in ’08-09.
“I’m surprised, because $17 million is a lot of money for a year of basketball, but that’s his prerogative,” Don Nelson said. “He talked to me a couple days ago and said he was coming back. . . . Opting out of a $17 million contract, that’s (bold).”
The only two teams who have the kind of room under the cap to sign Baron are Memphis and Philly, neither of whom need help at point guard. Memphis has a small militia at that position, and the Sixers are paying Andre Miller $10 million to run the point.
The early rumors are that the Clippers are drooling over the possibility of getting Baron back to his native Los Angeles. They’ll try to pair Davis and Elton Brand - a move that would require the Clips to let Corey Maggette loose. The problem there is that it would also force Brand to take a pay cut – probably from $18 million to $12 million in order to get Baron on board.
That move actually might be something worth considering given that Brand recently opted out of his contract, not to get a fatter paycheck, but supposedly to given the Clippers flexibility in their payroll.
From ESPN.com…
Brand and agent David Falk insisted that their decision to forfeit next season’s $16.4 million salary and allow Brand to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career was designed to give the Clippers more payroll flexibility to strengthen the team around its face of the franchise.
Falk told ESPN.com that a visit to Boston for Game 2 of the NBA Finals to see the Celtics’ triumvirate of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen was Brand’s spark.
“He watched what happened when a few stars get together and agree to have a communal effort,” Falk said. “He said, ‘That’s what I’d like to accomplish in my career.’”
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July 1st, 2008 at 9:58 am
bballinca says:
that would be cool to see Baron/Brand together. Clips will still be the Lakers bitch.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:19 am
MoxWestCoastRep says:
The only two places Baron would go is NY or LA because he wants to work on his movie stuff, which is cool- BUT WHO TURNS DOWN 17 MIL?????
NUCKING FUTS!!!!
July 1st, 2008 at 10:26 am
Celts Fan, "Kobe, Tell me how my @$$ tastes" says:
True, walking away from $17M is tough, and he’ll most likely take a pay cut for next year, but he wants to get locked up long term. If he blows out his knee next year w/out opting out, he’s got $17M and then who knows. If he opts out, signs a long-term deal, then hurts himself, he’s still got his $80M over 5 years (or whatever he signs for) coming. You ALWAYS take the most guaranteed money. It’s the same reason Brand opted out too. Not to mention, Baron just played 82 games. That’s impressive for him in 2 seasons combined! Dude stayed healthy, now he’s trying to get reupped before anything bad could possibly happen. Good for him.
Also, if I’m the Clips, I’m pushing Corey out the door and throwing EVERYTHING I HAVE at Baron. Imagine a lineup of Baron, Eric Gordon, Quinton Ross (Bruce Bowen lite,) Elton Brand, and Chris Kamen. That’s a hell of a team on both ends of the floor.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:36 am
Ashlov says:
Baron and Eric Gordon are going to combine for 50 shots per game at 38% accuracy. Woot!
July 1st, 2008 at 10:43 am
iain. says:
allow quinton ross how about Al Thornton at the 3.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:50 am
fiyaman says:
for u to leave $17 mil on the table shows its not all about the money.. nuff props to B-diddy..always liked him now i like him even more..
July 1st, 2008 at 10:55 am
Celts Fan, "Kobe, Tell me how my @$$ tastes" says:
I was thinking Al’d be the first big off the bench, but he could definitely do that too. Hell, you could put Al at the 4 and throw Elton at the 5 and play like the Warriors w/ that lineup and have Kaman as your first big off the bench (for my own sanity, I’m assuming DeAndre Jordan is useless and becomes a poor man’s Kwame Brown -which is like a homeless man’s Popeye Jones – and go to a more traditional system when the backups come in or keep running, depending on situation.)
One thing people don’t always remember
1. Baron has his own company that is somewhat involved with movies (don’t know specifics, just that it’d obviously be beneficial to be in LA) and so does Elton Brand
July 1st, 2008 at 11:10 am
Michorizo says:
How about Baron to the Lakers…that would be ridiculous
July 1st, 2008 at 11:28 am
ERIC says:
espn said that the warriors offered Arenas a 5-year, $100 million contract
July 1st, 2008 at 11:47 am
freshouttatime says:
uhhhh and this is only cuz i’m a new yorker, but dantoni and davis anyone?
granted this will only be fun on paper, since the rest of the knicks need work but wouldn’t it be entertaining?
July 1st, 2008 at 11:57 am
fiyaman says:
i’d take B-diddy on the Knicks btu we still need to get rid of Curry
July 1st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Celts Fan, "Kobe, Tell me how my @$$ tastes" says:
NYK has NO cap space AT ALL and is trying to shed payroll to make a run at LeBron in 2010. It’ll probably be a losing fight since he’s off to join the Brooklyn Nets, but at least you could get a guy like CB4, Melo, or DWade that year. Either way, BDiddy ain’t happening.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
E-ROC says:
B-Diddy, Mobley, Thornton, Brand, and Kaman wouldn’t be half bad, but that bench would probably be the worse in basketball. If I were Brand, I’d sign with Philly.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
chaos rob says:
man Boom dizzle is headed to LA and we all know it. $17M hurts like hell to pass up but LA seems attractive if they put the pieces together and stop underachieving. i see maggette going east or to the suns. Boom, mobley, Thornton, Brand and Kaman would make a good lineup with gordon and ross off the bench. get a couple vets for the bench and they may be the 08-09 warriors with a number 8 seed
July 1st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
djkianoosh says:
why not dre miller & baron davis together in the backcourt? what’s wrong with that? they can both create and both can shoot. takes the scoring load off iguodala.
run and gun baby!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:58 pm
K Dizzle says:
Baron and Dre sounds good but once you realize they both need the ball in their hands and one of them gonna have to guard a 2, it’s not so good.
Boom ain’t givin up 17 mil. He’s gonna sign for 10-12 for 5-6 years so he’s only gonna givin up like 5 mil next season and makin about 60-70 longterm. That 5 mil will come back quick from endorsements cuz Boom’s a god in LA if he signs there.
Great move by the warriors to offer 100 over 5 for Gil and now Wiz really gotta overpay. Payback for him leavin after his 2nd year lol
July 1st, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Dave says:
Clippers and the Lakers should make big runs at Baron. The Orlando Magic too. The latter two have trade assets to make a sign and trade work.
Baron should leave GSW, they’re going nowhere quick. Nelson has already said he’ll play the youngsters more next year and it’s not like their two previous lottery picks are ready to play anytime soon.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:09 pm
LD says:
ESPN says Boom Dizzle is a clipper!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3470016
July 1st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Kobeef says:
@LD
Just read the same story.
Good move for Brand and Baron…but the Clips need a better SG than Mobley if they are going to hang with the West’s best.
They should be able to attract a free agent SG from this bunch:
- JR Smith
- Mickael Pietrus
- Ricky Davis
- Matt Barnes
- Maurice Evans
- James Jones
and an outside shot….Gerald Green.