hey Storyteller/douglast, do Blake/Outlaw really have unguaranteed contracts?

by iverigma2 on Jun 6, 2009 1:33 AM PDT

from the news of KP intending to keep Outlaw/Blake, It really sounds like they have team options instead of unguranteed contracts.

Another possibility is Oregonian didn't understand their contract terms and just assumed it's team option. Because from KP's quote: "We'll keep them, I can't see a scenario where we don't. They've been terrific for us this year. They were major parts of 54 wins. We'll pick them up." He didn't use the specific words - "team option".

But he did seem to predicate that he will keep them no matter what. I don't know, if he can potentially trade them before July 1st, he shouldn't deprive himself of that flexibility and the great benefit comes with that. It's just not KP-style. He usually like to be vague and keep all the options open.

I think it's likely they have team options instead of unguaranteed. In this case keeping them is indeed the no-brainer (I know they can still be traded after July 1st though)

DX's salaries page also lists their final year as partially unguaranteed. Hoopshype doesn't but they don't seem to know unguaranteed contracts exist. Patricia's site also doesn't have it but again there's no "unguaranteed contracts" on any players on her site.

So Storyteller, douglast, or any other CBA gurus, what's your take on what KP said? Please educate me!!! Thanks.

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yeah!!! it's on storytellers sight dughhhhh!!! :)

j/k, but I ain’t either one of em, but it’s been pretty much determined they do have ungarenteededed contracts for the next season….

what he means (kp), is that if we choose not to pay them… we don’t have too…. but if we don’t decide not to keep them… then they automaticly stay on our roster… in a team option… we would have to decide to keep them … to make them stay on our roster…

it’s really just a tricky way of saying we have a team option, but not …..a team option… lol

if that helps… but is my understanding.

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

by faith on Jun 6, 2009 2:23 AM PDT reply actions

now I feel like a jerk...

I didn’t leave storytellers link…. sorry…

it’s permalinked to the main page of blazersedge down in the righthand pane ……………….. shoot… lmao.. is this legit gang?

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

by faith on Jun 6, 2009 3:21 AM PDT up reply actions

they are unguaranteed, not options

in general, the old-school media writers either don’t understand the CBA intricacies, or they “dumb it down” for the general readerships who, let’s face it, aren’t nearly as tuned in and sophisticated as us die hards here on BE.

As we’ve stated before, in practice the team option and unguaranteed contract work almos exactly the same, which I believe is why guys like KP often interchange the terminologies. People know what a “team option” is. Less people probably know what an “unguaranteed contract” means. Thus, my guess is that KP uses the option term just to keep the conversation moving and not have to explain what exactly that means. For all intents and purposes, whether or not we guarantee their deal next year is at the team’s option, so he could be using the term generically like that, and not in the technical meaning of the term.

Just some guesses. But yes, they are definately NOT team options in CBA terms.

How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009

by douglast on Jun 6, 2009 8:11 AM PDT reply actions

I only know what I know

A year ago, I saw a comment on Sham’s site (a fantastic site for salary information) that indicated that neither Outlaw’s contract nor Blake’s contract was guaranteed for 2009-10. This was a surprise to me since I was under the impression at the time that both had a team option for 2009-10 written into their contracts. I did some surfing and found that reliable sites such as RealGM seemed to indicate that there was no option on their 2009-10 contracts but that instead, the amounts were not guaranteed.

Now I rarely do this (because I really don’t have any relationships with true Insiders), but this particular piece of information seemed so significant to me that I attempted to have someone with real inside information confirm it. I was able to get that confirmation.

Hey, it says on the front page of my site that what’s posted there is just my best guess as to what contract status is for players. That’s absolutely true. And I’ve never seen an official piece of paper from the NBA stating the status of anybody’s contract. But in this case, I feel pretty confident in saying that Blake and Outlaw are not guaranteed for 2009-10 if they are waived before June 30th.

As for the Pritchard quotes in the Oregonian and the Tribune – I don’t know what specific question was asked so I can’t interpret the answer with any complete certainty. Consider the possible questions that he might have been asked:

Will you consider not picking up the options on Outlaw and Blake in order to get more cap space this summer?

Will Outlaw and Blake be on the Blazer’s roster a month from now?

If Outlaw and Blake aren’t traded before July 1st, will their options for 2009-10 be picked up?

Do Outlaw and Blake have team options and will you pick up those options?

KP could have answered any one of these questions with the statement quoted in the Oregonian. And each one would have communicated different information. So can I make a definitive comment on the quote? No. My sense is that the guys asking the questions from the Oregonian and the Trib used the word “options” in their question, and in lieu of a 5 minute lecture on the difference between a team option and an unguaranteed contract, KP answered the question using their terminology. But I don’t know that for certain because I wasn’t there and neither article posts the exact question that was asked, so don’t quote me on that as a definitive statement.

If you push me into a corner to make a conclusion? I’d say that KP shut the door on either player being cut simply for cap savings, but he didn’t shut the door on them being traded either before or after their 2009-10 salary amount kicks in on July 1st. (ie, I think something like the first question I listed was probably asked)

by Storyteller on Jun 6, 2009 11:53 AM PDT up reply actions

Tom Penn was on Courtside after his "promotion" and sent similar signals

6.5 – 7 million in cap room if we keep our draft pick, unsigned picks, “option players” exercise.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2009/05/blazers-tom-penn-vice-president-of-basketball-operations-audio.html

by Norsktroll on Jun 6, 2009 12:42 PM PDT up reply actions

If Portland resigns Blake and Trout will there be a moritorium on trading them? If they were re-upped before july first it would seem that we could do what we want with them but if portland waits till after july first Its almost like signing are own fa but they were on the market and cannot be traded for a period of time?

I try to help with everything," Fernandez said. "If the coach says go rebound, I go rebound. I work for the team.

""If I'm playing this game to get media and attention, I shouldn't be here," Aldridge said. "I'm here to play basketball, and do what I can do to help this team win."

His stare became blank. It was apparent he was back in that place, on the Rose Garden's logo, picking up Aaron Brooks as the crowd nervously roared.

by Dragonage on Jun 7, 2009 7:14 AM PDT reply actions