Warrior No More: Baron Davis To Sign With the Los Angeles Clippers
Dizzle stays in Cali
Baron Davis intends to go home and sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. His agent, Todd Ramasar has confirmed the verbal agreement.
The contract reportedly is for 5 years, 65 million but can’t be finalized until July 9th (moratorium on signings and trades). Davis was supposed to earn a massive 17.8 million next season before he unexpectedly opted out Monday to test the free agent waters.
Must have been a quiz…
Corey Maggette and Elton Brand opted out of their Clipper contracts, and Shawn Livingston’s contract was renounced even though he’s recovering from a devastating knee injury. Of course I would love Brand in Philly, but from what I’m hearing, he’s going to be quickly signed by the Clippers at slightly less. If you all remember, Davis and Don Nelson had a falling out towards the end of the season and Boom was benched even though the Warriors still had a shot to get in the playoffs. Now the Warriors are without their most dynamic player who posted averages of 21 points, 7 dimes and 4 rebounds and have to face him in the same division.
Good move by all?
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July 2nd, 2008 at 2:40 am
He takes less money to go to a worst team? On the face of it, can’t say it was a great move for B-Diddy. But if Brand re-signs and recovers, Kaman regains form, Eric Gordon represents, and Mike Dunleavy coaches them up….nah they’re still gonna suck.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:18 am
That was a surprise coming in from work and reading Davis took the money and didn’t resign with Golden State a 50 win team, I hope Baron knows as long as Donald Sterling (racist slumlord)owns that team they will never contend for a divison title much less a world championship. And what if Magette signs with another team the Clippers will barely win 40 games.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
A classic case of money overcoming common sense. You’d think he’d rather play in New York than to play for Sterling. Better still why not the Lakers?
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Nellie scares someone away once again…
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Sanfoka, Baron’s looking for that last payday before retiring to make movies in Hollywood. The Clippers with that lineup aren’t capable of winning 50 plus games, and I would not want to play for Mike D-Antoni because you can’t win championships just outscoring people you have to play defense sometime. Euro basketball is designed for up tempo play, in the states come April you better bring your hardhat because NBA playoff games are won in the halfcourt.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I’m losing hope that the 76ers are going to be able to sign Josh Smith. He’s visiting soon but I believe Philly can only max out at $1 Mil. Option 2 is a sign and trade w/the 76ers dealing Iggy.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Sorry, Max out at $11 Mil.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I think it had a lot to do with the length of the contract as well. I’m all for making sure you are financially secure. It’s just a job and if we’re being honest GS isn’t going to win until Nellie makes them defend. And we all know that is unlikely to happen!
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Boom in LA with his boys? T-r-o-u-b-l-e. At least he’s gonna give TSF a lot to talk about.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
The Baron will be aight in LA, he’s about to turn 30, he hasn’t been in any trouble before why start now.?
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
eric daniels, I hear ya. Only he knows his reasons. Personally I can’t wait for (no D) Antoni to disappoint those ass holes in the NY media, by making the knicks…win maybe 5 more games than last year. Especially with that same line up.
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Sanfoka, Marbury may be a better human being, but he is one selfish- assed basketball player and who would want him a s a teamate, and D-Antoni is going to pursue an uptempo game with a 19 y.o. Italian kid as his foundation with bunch of me-first players that is funny. The Knicks should have hired Mark Jackson and rebuilt the team around Walsh and Jackson -type which are fundamentally sound players who play defense and will win in April - June instead of impressing Oct- April
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 pm
true dat eric, but let’s see what the anti-Isaiah crowd will say now. Lord knows I defended Isaiah until he panicked and lost his ball sense and mind. But this team needs an overall, and (no D) Antoni won’t be the one to do it.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
@ronglover
If the Sixers sign Josh Smith will they be able to sign Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams? Do they have enough money to make all three of them happy?
Also, keep in mind that the Hawks can match any deal made to Josh Smith. I’m not saying that they will but they have that option and the fans here in ATL are pressuring ownership to sign both Joshs (Smith and Childress). He really wants to stay in Atlanta but it’s also no secret that he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Mike Woodson. It should be interesting to see how this situation pans out.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
The 76ers brass is saying that they will sign Lou and Iggy. And from what they’re saying they will match any offer.
Can teams still go over the cap to sign their own free agents?
They gave Smith everything but the key to the city yesterday, but he’s gonna get that reception wherever he goes. The 76ers are offering 5 years $67 million from what I’ve heard.
Golden State may go after Iggy if Brand stays in LA. If the 76ers miss out on Brand and Smith, they will go after Childress and Biedrins
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Ok, thanks for the reply as I wasn’t sure what the word on the street was in Philly. As for as answering your question, it appears that teams CAN go over the cap to sign their own free agents. I found this explanation via google:
“….Bottom line is even though there is a salary cap, there are seven exceptions that allow you to sign players and exceed the cap. It’s not a hard cap like football and hockey have.
The most commonly used exception is the Free Agent Exception. When one of your players has an expiring contract, you can sign him to a contract and exceed the cap. How much you can sign him for depends on which of the three categories he falls in. There is a) The Bird Exception, b) The Early Bird Exception, and c) The Non-Bird Exception.
(1) Qualifying Veteran Free Agent (“Bird”) Exception. A team may re-sign its own free agent to a first-year salary of up to the maximum player salary if he played for the team for some or all of each of the prior three consecutive seasons (or, if he changed teams, he did so by trade).
(2) Early Qualifying Veteran Free Agent (”Early Bird”) Exception. A team may re-sign its own free agent to a first-year salary of up to the greater of (a) 175% of the player’s salary in the last season of his prior contract, or (b) 108% of the average player salary for the prior season, if he played for the team for some or all of each of the prior two consecutive seasons (or, if he changed teams, he did so by trade). A contract signed using the Early Bird Exception must be for at least two seasons.
(3) Non-Qualifying Veteran Free Agent (”Non-Bird”) Exception. A team may re-sign its own free agent who is neither a “Bird” nor an “Early Bird” player to a first-year salary of up to the greater of (a) 120% of the player’s salary in the last season of his prior contract, (b) 120% of the player’s applicable minimum salary for the current season, or (c) if the player is a Restricted Free Agent, his Qualifying Offer amount.”
Oddly enough, this explanation came from the 76ers website. Good stuff nonetheless.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Thanks for the breakdown. What do you think about the Spurs going after Maggette?
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Well, if they do get him it would definitely fill the void for another perimeter and athletic scorer. I think it would take some of the pressure off of Ginobli. But if they get him, how will they use him and how will he fit into Greg P’s system? I would expect him to start and Manu coming off the bench. If they find a way to make it work, the Spurs could be a scary team.
Also, remember that for the last 5 five years, they’ve came back and won the title a year after they didn’t make it back. So they do a solid job of coming back after not getting back to the Finals the previous year. Will the trend continue? I don’t know but it will be interesting to see.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
All signs point to Maggette starting and MG coming off the bench.
For some reason they find that perfect mix of youth and experiece. That move would put the West back on notice.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I would have to agree with your last comment.