Charlotte Bobcats Players in Europe?
By Editorial Staff
I put a question mark in the title because, I mean, I just don’t freakin’ know. I know Garrett Temple is headed to Italy. I really can’t blame him at all for that. I think he’s actually left already or leaving in the next few weeks. The next rumor was Corey Maggette, who was rumored to be going to Greece. That came up back on the 12th and hasn’t been made much of since, that I’ve seen anyway.
Deron Williams was the first guy who actually signed and you sat back and said “Hmm, yeah there might be something to this.” Besiktas, I think that’s the proper spelling of the Turkish team, has become sort of the focal point of likely destinations for NBA Stars. They aparantly want Kobe Bryant as well and if not him, Kevin Durant. Ty Lawson was the latest to actually sign overseas, for a Lithuanian club to be exact. Is it really a big deal?
Let’s focus on the Bobcats. Do you care that much if Maggette, DJ Augustin, Gerald Henderson or any other player signed for next year goes to play in Europe or elsewhere in the interim? For a team like the Bobcats, one without a major star (some might say no star at all but that’s a different post all together isn’t it), there are no barnstorming players. Maybe Augustin as a Jordan branded athlete or Kemba Walker as the first Under Armor endorsee could be added to a roster that’s headed to China. But there is no demand for these players in any sort of headlining capacity like that so they would have to sign on with a team.
Therein lies the problem. I find it really unsavory to sign with one of these European teams and have an opt-out clause written into your contract. I can’t go to work at Bank of America on a contract basis and have it written in that if Wells Fargo wants me I can just walk away. I understand that sports is completely different but it’s the same sort of manhood, unwritten rule, honorship sort of thing that I think people lose sight of.
If a player, let’s say Maggette for arguments sake, because he’s the only guy who doesn’t have an immediate understudy/competing starter already on the roster, let’s say Corey Maggette does go to play in Greece. He gets his FIBA clearance (something Bismack Biyombo doesn’t have), he gets his insurance, he gets a contract with an opt-out clause that in the case of the NBA season starting up, he is allowed to void his contract with the team and return to play for the Bobcats. Do you as a fan, or if you were Michael Jordan or Rich Cho, do you get upset?
My initial response is “no, doesn’t bother me.” The dude isn’t getting paid until the NBPA and the NBA get their act together anyway, why not capitalize on an opportunity. No harm in going over there, getting some experience. I mean the insurance is there for something right? Wrong. If Corey Maggette goes over there and blows up his ACL, as Desagana Diop did playing for the Bobcats last year, he is lost of at least 9 months. Do the Bobcats have the ability to cut him and void his contract at that point? I doubt it, depending on the new CBA and even under the previous CBA, a player would have to be seriously, badly, horribly injured to enable a team to void a contract. What if he did get seriously, badly, horribly injured? Yeah, they’d void his contract. What does that mean? They wouldn’t lose any more money, he’d have that insurance to pay him.
In this new Bobcats front office, the key is gathering “assets.” This is like the Bobcats’ fan rallying cry now; “WE HAVE ASSETS! WE HAVE ASSETS!” If Maggette were to Shaun Livingston his knee over in Greece that would simply be a lost asset. While he’s not an expiring contract right now, he will be. He’s still a serviceable player, if he’s not the player the Bobcats need he could be somewhere else and they’d trade him and get, you guessed it, more assets. While an injured player can be traded and has been (hell, one front office executive thought it was a great idea last year), even unofficially retired players have been included in trades (See: VanHorn, Keith), that still seems shady.
Yeah, I’m nitpicking here. I am taking it to the possible worst case secenario and splitting hairs and calling for moral high-ground, all to explain the icky-feeling I get when I think about players going overseas in this lockout. But you know what I’m clearly overlooking in my distaste? I just realized, it’s all about how it looks. Deron Williams signing with a Turkish team is like saying “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be required to show up for the NBA any time soon.” Ty Lawson signing is like saying “Well, I’ve got to play somewhere come October.” Worse still, Garrett Temple, an unsigned, free agent who had about four ten-day-contracts last year signing with a little-known team in Italy is a huge sign saying we’re in deep labor trouble.
There won’t be NBA Basketball for a while. I understand guys wanting to play, I understand having that opportunity and you can write the contracts how you want and have the opt-out clauses and all of that. To a fan, an NBA fan, a Charlotte Bobcats fan, I can’t stand the thought of those guys going overseas for so many reasons. Most of all, I just want my team on my court in my arena in my city, and SOON.
Andrew Barraclough is Senior Editor for RobertoGato.com, a Charlotte Bobcats Blog on theFansided Network. Follow him on Twitter @therobertogato and Like the site on Facebook.