KR1245;684398 wrote:I have no problem at all with people going where they want to in free agency.
But when players start talking with execs years in advance & conspiring (Yeah, I'm talking about the Heat.. And I know somebody will tell me there's no proof.. and to you I say: Stop being so damn naive) to get 2 of the biggest names in the NBA (and Chris Bosh) onto a certain team, there's a problem.
And when we have players causing a circus like this in their free agent year. Meeting with other teams, saying he'll only sign with the Knicks, etc, there's a problem.
Yes, Denver gave him permission to meet with them. But what are they going to say? "Oh, nah, he probably won't re-sign with us, just have him meet with them in the off-season, when we have a slimmer chance to get something back for him"? Of course if you give Denver the option of giving him permission, they're going to take it in order to get a lil more value in return!
This is absolutely ridiculous & the NBA is turning into a fuckin circus
But that's how things work today. These guys play with each other all summer. You look at the elite AAU teams and they have guys from over a 100 mile radius. Because of AAU, these guys are getting to be good friends at a really young age and are not the "enemies" that many want to believe them to be. Hell, last night Wade was sitting next to Garnett during the dunk contest.
Whether execs were involved or not, no one knows. Dan Gilbert is wasting his money trying to find out, but I doubt anything arises. With that said, you can't stop players from recruiting each other. The same thing happens at the college level, so why wouldn't it happen at the highest level? Is it any different from the guys at Facebook recruiting guys from Google? Not really.
If a day comes where a guy like Carmelo says, "Trade me to the Knicks or I won't play", then we have a problem. But him telling the Nuggets that he doesn't plan on resigning and that he only wants to play in New York really isn't a problem to me. Is it talked about too much? Absolutely. But the Nuggets are choosing to talk to the Knicks through their own free will.
Denver has an asset right now, and they want to get something for it. It's their choice to do that rather than being left empty handed. It's a business decision. These teams always have to be planning for the future (something the Cavs failed to do). You think because Apple is doing so well with the iPhone that they are not doing R&D for the next big thing?