Quote:
Originally Posted by PHLIP
Given the crucial nature of having a big man in the league who can play, I can see that, especially given his young age and swift advancement, he's looking damn good out there.
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I don't really think that extension was such a great move. I'm not a Bynum hater by any means, but really, there was no need to extend him now.
The Lakers possessed restricted free agent rights, allowing them to match any offer and Larry Bird rights, allowing them to go over the cap to sign him to anything. That's pretty much all the leverage you could have, short of a sniper trained on the front offices of every other competing team in the league.
Certainly, there other considerations:
- Peace of mind of having a guy signed
- Championship-level teams shouldn't be worried about the luxury tax in the short term (in which three guaranteed years falls)
- scarcity of bigs who can play (as mentioned by PHLIP)
- future contracts should be based on what you WILL GET not what you HAVE GOTTEN, and here there is youth and potential
But consider also:
- the Lakers couldn't have paid any more than this, as Bynum got the MAX annual salary allowable
- the cap might actually decrease next year, given the crummy economy, which would lower the amount they'd have to pay (the max is a percentage of basketball income, IIRC)
- His injury history + anyone's injury possibility (see: Ellis, Monta under "Young Millionaire Idiot" on wikipedia)
- Al Jefferson got only $12.5M annually on his early extension (signed before hitting RFA), he put up 16/10 with superior low post skills the year before the extension (Bynum had just put up 13 and 7 in third a season)...both are extremely young with upside
- he hasn't looked THAT good this year (hindsight), as his foul rate has regressed (increased...) considerably
In the end, all that a "bad" extension costs a team is money and potentially a roster spot, and money isn't a big deal when you're aiming for a trophy...