Extension not coming for Class of 2000
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Friday, October 31
Updated: October 31
11:09 AM ET
Want more proof that the talent level in the NBA draft has been diluted by the influx of high school seniors and underclassmen?
The 2000 NBA Draft is the poster child for the dearth of talent being pipelined into the NBA via the draft.
Today is the deadline for teams to work out contract extensions with players drafted in the first round in 2000. If the team and player can't come to some sort of agreement by 5 p.m. ET today, the player will become a restricted free agent next summer.
As of late Thursday night only three players, the Grizzlies' Mike Miller, the Hornets' Jamaal Magloire, and the Bucks' Desmond Mason, had reached terms with their teams. Miller signed a six-year, $48 million deal with the Grizzlies. Mason signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Bucks. Magloire signed a three year deal with the Hornets on Wednesday. Terms were undisclosed.
Ironically, both Miller and Mason aren't even with their original teams. It appears that Miller, Mason and Magloire are the only players who will work something out in time today, infusing next summer's free-agent market with an additional 16 restricted free agents.
MartinThat means Kenyon Martin (the draft's only real star) will be searching the want ads next summer. Ditto for Stromile Swift, Darius Miles, Marcus Fizer, Chris Mihm, Jamal Crawford, Joel Przybilla, Keyon Dooling, Etan Thomas, Courtney Alexander, Hedo Turkoglu, Quentin Richardson, Morris Peterson, DeShawn Stevenson, Jake Tsakalidis and Primoz Brezec.
Looking over the list, it's not hard to understand why teams are willing to take their time.
"There's an advantage to locking a guy up if you see breakout potential this year," one Western Conference executive told Insider. "However, their agents see it too and they expect teams to pay a huge premium. My thinking is, if you've been in the league three years and we're still talking about potential, the premiums are gone. We should be talking about discounts right about now."
Martin has been the biggest surprise. New Jersey balked at extending him when his agent demanded a near max contract. The negotiations turned so sour that at one point this summer, Martin asked to be traded and the Nets worked the phones pretty seriously in an attempt to accommodate him. During one stretch, the team came close to deals with both the Blazers and the Raptors.
SwiftSeveral other players, including Swift and Crawford, appear on the verge of breakout seasons. Miles, Alexander, Turkoglu and Richardson still fall in the promising category. The rest know they'll struggle to get any free-agent contract next summer, let alone an extension.
The lack of contract extensions goes against the norm. Last year, by way of comparison, three players -- Steve Francis, Baron Davis and Shawn Marion -- got max extensions. Four others -- Wally Szczerbiak, Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender and Jeff Foster -- got significant long-term contracts.
During the summer of 2001, four players received max extensions -- Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce. Three others -- Jason Williams, Michael Dickerson and Al Harrington -- garnered long term deals.
But that's not even the entire story. Several of the players from the draft classes of 1999 and 1998 held out for richer deals and got them in restricted free agency after their fourth seasons.
This summer, 1999 draftees Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Jason Terry, Corey Maggette, James Posey and Kenny Thomas nailed down long-term deals.
Last year, 1998 alumni Mike Bibby, Raef LaFrentz, Larry Hughes, Bonzi Wells, Matt Harpring and Ricky Davis got their money.
So what's the problem? Was the class of 2000 really that bad, or is this a new trend that has swept the NBA?
Try a little of both? "I think you'll see a few more guys signed up next summer," one GM told Insider. "Guys like Pau Gasol, Eddy Curry, Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker look like stars in the making. But I think teams are being much more careful about how they use their money. We're going to wait a little longer, make a player prove themselves a little more, and probably offer less money than we did three years ago. Things change and the reality is that the luxury tax has made everyone overhaul their approach."
Around the League
Today is also the deadline for teams to pick up the fourth year option on players drafted in the 2001 NBA Draft. Failing to do so will make the player an unrestricted free agent next summer.
GriffinThe only two big names left without extensions are the Rockets' Eddie Griffin and the Nuggets' Rodney White.
The Rockets had been leaning toward picking up Griffin's option, but with his most recent legal difficulties (including checking into a rehab center), his future has never been in more doubt.
League sources claim that the Griffin-Jeff Van Gundy feud has been over hyped in the media. Van Gundy's gripes, according to sources, have stemmed more from Griffin's habitual lateness to practice (5 minutes here, 10 minutes there) and the way he blew off the team in a recent preseason game without notifying anyone. Had Griffin called Van Gundy, sources say, he would've been excused.
However, the latest allegations, including striking and shooting at a women in his home, are far more serious. Coupled with an arrest in the spring for marijuana possession and Griffin's flaky behavior on the court, and it may be just enough to convince the Rockets to cut the cord with Griffin.
The team has been trying to trade him, but teams are just as reluctant to commit to Griffin as the Rockets are.
White's story is equally interesting. He came into camp in the best shape of his career and looked very focused in training camp. However, through the Nuggets' first two regular-season games, he's played a total of three minutes.
Should we read anything into that? Nuggets sources say no. There have been trade discussions that have included White, but nothing was imminent as of Thursday. GM Kiki Vandeweghe has routinely declined to explain which way he's leaning on White.
The Nuggets have been quietly working to create extra cap space for next summer. Getting White's $2.5 million salary off the books for next season will help them reach that goal.
The Magic's Steven Hunter, the Raptors' Michael Bradley and the Nets' Brandon Armstrong are the only other players still on active rosters who have not had their options picked up.
The Hornets' Kirk Haston was waived on Wednesday, obviously killing any chance he had to have his option picked up.
LeBron James looked fantastic again Thursday night against yet another Western Conference playoff contender. His 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists seemed almost effortless for most of the night.
How good was he? So good that he evoked this response for Larry Bird, a guy not normally known for gushing over anyone.
"He's going to be one of the top players in the league by the time the season's over," Bird told the New York Times. "These other players in the league, these veterans, can say all they want about him not being ready, but this kid is for real.
"I've never seen anybody like this. He passes as well as anybody I've seen, and with his quickness, his size and his strength -- I hate to put a label on a guy, but if we're not talking about him being in the Hall of Fame within the next five years, something went wrong. He's the best talent I've seen come out in years."
StoudemireBut hopefully James' performance doesn't completely overshadow another high school kid that keeps on over acheiving. LeBron had the stat line, but Amare Stoudemire, the other high school phenom, got the win.
Stoudemire's 28-point, eight-rebound, four-block performance was the difference for the Suns in the end.
Stephon Marbury had the best line about the two. "People are forgetting that LeBron has to go where Amare is (already) at."
He's got a point, Stoudemire's play last year turned a Suns team that many thought was the worst in the West into a playoff contender. Stoudemire was the Suns best player in the preseason and looks like he's ready to keep proving that in the regular season.
If he does, and the Suns take another step in the standings, LeBron will still be playing some catch-up until he can get the Cavs a few wins with that spectacular play.
Murray
A couple of sleepers have emerged after the first few days of the regular season. The Sonics' Ronald Murray looks like he'll be the permanent replacement for Ray Allen for the next month.
The Sonics announced Thursday that Allen will have surgery on his ankle and could be out up to four weeks rehabbing the ankle.
Starting in his place is Murray, a second-round pick from Shaw University who really knows how to score.
Murray scored 24 points in place of Allen early Thursday morning. Before the game he had never scored more than eight points in a game. He had 10 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday's game.
That won't come as a huge surprise to Nate McMillian and Sonics management. They knew after the summer league that Murray had a real talent for getting to the basket. The problem was, with Allen, they didn't have a place for him. The team spent all summer and most of the preseason trying to turn him into a point guard with mixed results.
That transition may take awhile, but in the meantime, with Allen laid up, Murray might just do some damage.
"We felt like he could do some of the things that Ray could do," coach Nate McMillan told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. "The fact that he could stretch the defense and shoot the three. You can involve him in pick-and-rolls. You can run him off screens, and you get something similar: A guy who can score, who thinks score first. He stepped in and got his opportunity and made the most of it."
Murray wasn't the only second-round sleeper with some tricks up his sleeve. Clippers guard Eddie House also had a breakout game for the Clippers on Thursday.
Coach Mike Dunleavy called on House (who spent two uneventful years with the Heat previously) after Keyon Dooling and backup Marko Jaric combined for no points in 22 minutes at the point. House scored 22 points, all in the second half, and led a late Clipper rally
House, however, hasn't won the job just yet. He's more of a scorer than a distributor, and the plan has been to bring him off the bench to add a little punch.
The Clippers have been trying to land a point guard via trade for the past few months. If neither Dooling nor Jaric respond soon, they may have to make a move.
"Our point guard play wasn't good," Dunleavy told the O.C. Register. "We'll keep working it. Basically, the mind set is to give guys a fair chance and not pull the plug on them early."
Bulls GM John Paxson is still fuming about Wednesday night's home debacle versus the Raptors.
How mad was he? Paxson told the Chicago Tribune that he's thinking of possibly fining center Eddy Curry because Curry's shorts keep falling down during games. Paxson finds it unprofessional.
Of course, that's not the only thing he finds unprofessional.
"I can understand missed shots and breakdowns and things like that," he told the Chicago Sun Times. "But never, never accept when you don't feel the team competed. To be honest, that's what I saw. The team didn't compete."
"I'm embarrassed for the fans," said Paxson. "Any time you ask people to pay good money to see a product and it doesn't live up to the billing, I'm embarrassed for them. They had every right to react the way they reacted.
"What frustrates me and bothers me is the way our team took on a little adversity and didn't respond at all. You have to have mental toughness. If you don't, you're not going to be around very long."
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Friday, October 31
Updated: October 31
11:09 AM ET
Want more proof that the talent level in the NBA draft has been diluted by the influx of high school seniors and underclassmen?
The 2000 NBA Draft is the poster child for the dearth of talent being pipelined into the NBA via the draft.
Today is the deadline for teams to work out contract extensions with players drafted in the first round in 2000. If the team and player can't come to some sort of agreement by 5 p.m. ET today, the player will become a restricted free agent next summer.
As of late Thursday night only three players, the Grizzlies' Mike Miller, the Hornets' Jamaal Magloire, and the Bucks' Desmond Mason, had reached terms with their teams. Miller signed a six-year, $48 million deal with the Grizzlies. Mason signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Bucks. Magloire signed a three year deal with the Hornets on Wednesday. Terms were undisclosed.
Ironically, both Miller and Mason aren't even with their original teams. It appears that Miller, Mason and Magloire are the only players who will work something out in time today, infusing next summer's free-agent market with an additional 16 restricted free agents.
MartinThat means Kenyon Martin (the draft's only real star) will be searching the want ads next summer. Ditto for Stromile Swift, Darius Miles, Marcus Fizer, Chris Mihm, Jamal Crawford, Joel Przybilla, Keyon Dooling, Etan Thomas, Courtney Alexander, Hedo Turkoglu, Quentin Richardson, Morris Peterson, DeShawn Stevenson, Jake Tsakalidis and Primoz Brezec.
Looking over the list, it's not hard to understand why teams are willing to take their time.
"There's an advantage to locking a guy up if you see breakout potential this year," one Western Conference executive told Insider. "However, their agents see it too and they expect teams to pay a huge premium. My thinking is, if you've been in the league three years and we're still talking about potential, the premiums are gone. We should be talking about discounts right about now."
Martin has been the biggest surprise. New Jersey balked at extending him when his agent demanded a near max contract. The negotiations turned so sour that at one point this summer, Martin asked to be traded and the Nets worked the phones pretty seriously in an attempt to accommodate him. During one stretch, the team came close to deals with both the Blazers and the Raptors.
SwiftSeveral other players, including Swift and Crawford, appear on the verge of breakout seasons. Miles, Alexander, Turkoglu and Richardson still fall in the promising category. The rest know they'll struggle to get any free-agent contract next summer, let alone an extension.
The lack of contract extensions goes against the norm. Last year, by way of comparison, three players -- Steve Francis, Baron Davis and Shawn Marion -- got max extensions. Four others -- Wally Szczerbiak, Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender and Jeff Foster -- got significant long-term contracts.
During the summer of 2001, four players received max extensions -- Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce. Three others -- Jason Williams, Michael Dickerson and Al Harrington -- garnered long term deals.
But that's not even the entire story. Several of the players from the draft classes of 1999 and 1998 held out for richer deals and got them in restricted free agency after their fourth seasons.
This summer, 1999 draftees Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Jason Terry, Corey Maggette, James Posey and Kenny Thomas nailed down long-term deals.
Last year, 1998 alumni Mike Bibby, Raef LaFrentz, Larry Hughes, Bonzi Wells, Matt Harpring and Ricky Davis got their money.
So what's the problem? Was the class of 2000 really that bad, or is this a new trend that has swept the NBA?
Try a little of both? "I think you'll see a few more guys signed up next summer," one GM told Insider. "Guys like Pau Gasol, Eddy Curry, Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker look like stars in the making. But I think teams are being much more careful about how they use their money. We're going to wait a little longer, make a player prove themselves a little more, and probably offer less money than we did three years ago. Things change and the reality is that the luxury tax has made everyone overhaul their approach."
Around the League
Today is also the deadline for teams to pick up the fourth year option on players drafted in the 2001 NBA Draft. Failing to do so will make the player an unrestricted free agent next summer.
GriffinThe only two big names left without extensions are the Rockets' Eddie Griffin and the Nuggets' Rodney White.
The Rockets had been leaning toward picking up Griffin's option, but with his most recent legal difficulties (including checking into a rehab center), his future has never been in more doubt.
League sources claim that the Griffin-Jeff Van Gundy feud has been over hyped in the media. Van Gundy's gripes, according to sources, have stemmed more from Griffin's habitual lateness to practice (5 minutes here, 10 minutes there) and the way he blew off the team in a recent preseason game without notifying anyone. Had Griffin called Van Gundy, sources say, he would've been excused.
However, the latest allegations, including striking and shooting at a women in his home, are far more serious. Coupled with an arrest in the spring for marijuana possession and Griffin's flaky behavior on the court, and it may be just enough to convince the Rockets to cut the cord with Griffin.
The team has been trying to trade him, but teams are just as reluctant to commit to Griffin as the Rockets are.
White's story is equally interesting. He came into camp in the best shape of his career and looked very focused in training camp. However, through the Nuggets' first two regular-season games, he's played a total of three minutes.
Should we read anything into that? Nuggets sources say no. There have been trade discussions that have included White, but nothing was imminent as of Thursday. GM Kiki Vandeweghe has routinely declined to explain which way he's leaning on White.
The Nuggets have been quietly working to create extra cap space for next summer. Getting White's $2.5 million salary off the books for next season will help them reach that goal.
The Magic's Steven Hunter, the Raptors' Michael Bradley and the Nets' Brandon Armstrong are the only other players still on active rosters who have not had their options picked up.
The Hornets' Kirk Haston was waived on Wednesday, obviously killing any chance he had to have his option picked up.
LeBron James looked fantastic again Thursday night against yet another Western Conference playoff contender. His 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists seemed almost effortless for most of the night.
How good was he? So good that he evoked this response for Larry Bird, a guy not normally known for gushing over anyone.
"He's going to be one of the top players in the league by the time the season's over," Bird told the New York Times. "These other players in the league, these veterans, can say all they want about him not being ready, but this kid is for real.
"I've never seen anybody like this. He passes as well as anybody I've seen, and with his quickness, his size and his strength -- I hate to put a label on a guy, but if we're not talking about him being in the Hall of Fame within the next five years, something went wrong. He's the best talent I've seen come out in years."
StoudemireBut hopefully James' performance doesn't completely overshadow another high school kid that keeps on over acheiving. LeBron had the stat line, but Amare Stoudemire, the other high school phenom, got the win.
Stoudemire's 28-point, eight-rebound, four-block performance was the difference for the Suns in the end.
Stephon Marbury had the best line about the two. "People are forgetting that LeBron has to go where Amare is (already) at."
He's got a point, Stoudemire's play last year turned a Suns team that many thought was the worst in the West into a playoff contender. Stoudemire was the Suns best player in the preseason and looks like he's ready to keep proving that in the regular season.
If he does, and the Suns take another step in the standings, LeBron will still be playing some catch-up until he can get the Cavs a few wins with that spectacular play.
Murray
A couple of sleepers have emerged after the first few days of the regular season. The Sonics' Ronald Murray looks like he'll be the permanent replacement for Ray Allen for the next month.
The Sonics announced Thursday that Allen will have surgery on his ankle and could be out up to four weeks rehabbing the ankle.
Starting in his place is Murray, a second-round pick from Shaw University who really knows how to score.
Murray scored 24 points in place of Allen early Thursday morning. Before the game he had never scored more than eight points in a game. He had 10 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday's game.
That won't come as a huge surprise to Nate McMillian and Sonics management. They knew after the summer league that Murray had a real talent for getting to the basket. The problem was, with Allen, they didn't have a place for him. The team spent all summer and most of the preseason trying to turn him into a point guard with mixed results.
That transition may take awhile, but in the meantime, with Allen laid up, Murray might just do some damage.
"We felt like he could do some of the things that Ray could do," coach Nate McMillan told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. "The fact that he could stretch the defense and shoot the three. You can involve him in pick-and-rolls. You can run him off screens, and you get something similar: A guy who can score, who thinks score first. He stepped in and got his opportunity and made the most of it."
Murray wasn't the only second-round sleeper with some tricks up his sleeve. Clippers guard Eddie House also had a breakout game for the Clippers on Thursday.
Coach Mike Dunleavy called on House (who spent two uneventful years with the Heat previously) after Keyon Dooling and backup Marko Jaric combined for no points in 22 minutes at the point. House scored 22 points, all in the second half, and led a late Clipper rally
House, however, hasn't won the job just yet. He's more of a scorer than a distributor, and the plan has been to bring him off the bench to add a little punch.
The Clippers have been trying to land a point guard via trade for the past few months. If neither Dooling nor Jaric respond soon, they may have to make a move.
"Our point guard play wasn't good," Dunleavy told the O.C. Register. "We'll keep working it. Basically, the mind set is to give guys a fair chance and not pull the plug on them early."
Bulls GM John Paxson is still fuming about Wednesday night's home debacle versus the Raptors.
How mad was he? Paxson told the Chicago Tribune that he's thinking of possibly fining center Eddy Curry because Curry's shorts keep falling down during games. Paxson finds it unprofessional.
Of course, that's not the only thing he finds unprofessional.
"I can understand missed shots and breakdowns and things like that," he told the Chicago Sun Times. "But never, never accept when you don't feel the team competed. To be honest, that's what I saw. The team didn't compete."
"I'm embarrassed for the fans," said Paxson. "Any time you ask people to pay good money to see a product and it doesn't live up to the billing, I'm embarrassed for them. They had every right to react the way they reacted.
"What frustrates me and bothers me is the way our team took on a little adversity and didn't respond at all. You have to have mental toughness. If you don't, you're not going to be around very long."
