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Plus SA has golf courses. Does Kidd like golf?
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Dingster
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I know of a veteran guard that has a few rings, is partial to golf and can hold his own on the court.
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Yep fair enough, I forgot Deke was on a max contract. If Kidd goes to SA (which IMO is still a big IF) then San Antonio's two punch would be even better than Kobe and Shaq. Will be a blow for the East if this happens as Kidd is the best guard in the league and with all the talent right now in the West then the East needs all the help it can get.
Dingster
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Interesting article on Arenas. I hope that he stays at Golden State, esp for their fans.
Arenas' fast track might run over Warriors
By Sean Deveney - Sporting News
Gilbert Arenas can run, with speed beyond NBA convention. He has the hands of a pickpocket and the footwork of a Riverdance troupe dancer, but other players have those attributes, too. Arenas, though, has pure speed. He can run like a jack rabbit in need of Kaopectate. Track coach Milan Tiff, a former Olympian who works with about 35 NBA players in the offseason at UCLA, helped Arenas train in the months before the 2001 draft and declared his speed world-class.
"He's unbelievable," Tiff says. "He could do the 100 in 9 seconds if he applied himself to it. He could be in the Olympics."
Alas, Arenas already is employed, and his career is accelerating at warp speed. Overlooked in the first round of the '01 draft, Arenas now is one of the league's hottest players, averaging 24.1 points (on 53.4 percent shooting) and 5.8 assists in his last nine games entering the week.
He is the engine of the Warriors, who are 24-27 after winning just 21 games last year.
Good news for the Warriors, right? Well, no, and this is where the otherwise upbeat story of the league's fastest player grinds to a halt. Arenas will be a free agent this summer, and every time he plays well, he accelerates what seems to be a one-way trip out of Golden State that neither he nor the team wants.
"I am happy right now, and I will be considering the Warriors this summer," Arenas says. "I mean, they are my No. 1 choice right now, just because I like it there and they did bail me out in the draft. But, it's something I have to look at."
When he does look, he won't like what he sees. Arenas and the Warriors are caught in a loophole. The NBA has been careful to design its contract rules to limit player movement. Teams have the right to sign their own players to any contract up to the league maximum, even if the team is over the salary cap, thanks to the "Larry Bird exception."
Problem is, these rules only go into effect when a player has been with a team three straight years. Arenas is a unique case, because he was a second-round pick and did not get the guaranteed three-year contract first-round picks get. He has no Bird rights, which means, essentially, the Warriors have no significant advantages over other teams when it comes to keeping him.
Arenas is a restricted free agent, so Golden State can match any offer he gets, but because the Warriors are over the salary cap, and because Bird rights are not involved, they must use a salary-cap exception as their matching offer. The biggest exception they will have is the midlevel exception, which should be about $4.3 million. If a team offers more than the midlevel exception, the Warriors can't match.
That's why Arenas' breakout year is bad for Golden State. Ask any general manager about the upcoming free-agent market, and Arenas is the first name that comes up. One general manager estimates Arenas will get a contract starting in the $8 million a year range, a big jump from the $500,000 he's getting this season. Big names such as Jason Kidd and Gary Payton will be on the market, but they are heading into the downside of their careers. Arenas is 21, and for a team with cap space, he could be a building block for the next decade.
"If you compare his numbers in his second year to Payton, Kidd, (Steve) Francis, (Baron) Davis, Stephon Marbury, they compare favorably," says Arenas' agent, Dan Fegan. "And you're not going to rebuild a team around Kidd at this point -- he is almost 30. It is a blessing Gilbert is in this position because he will get this contract before anyone else in his draft class."
Three things could happen. First, the Warriors could dump enough salary to clear space for Arenas (and the team has desperately tried to do that). Second, Golden State could curse its luck and watch Arenas walk to a team with cap space. The rebuilding Nuggets are the favorite because Arenas has a good relationship with Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe -- it was Vandeweghe who introduced Arenas to Tiff. Vandeweghe would like to build the Nuggets around speed to take advantage of the thin Denver air, and he knows no one is faster than Arenas.
Third, Arenas could sign a one-year deal with the Warriors, then sign a long-term deal in 2004. Fegan laughs off that possibility, though. "A one-year deal would be a huge risk," he says.
Having been burned by the business side of the NBA before -- Arenas sat on the bench most of last season while the Warriors played highly paid veteran Mookie Blaylock -- Arenas is not surprised to find himself caught in this loophole. But he has learned his NBA lessons the same way he plays the game: very quickly.
"There is a business side that kicks in at this level," Arenas says. "I sat behind a guy last year because he was making $6 million. It does not matter if you outwork someone if he is making more than you. That's all business stuff. I don't like it. But, I probably learned that faster than most other guys."
Arenas' fast track might run over Warriors
By Sean Deveney - Sporting News
Gilbert Arenas can run, with speed beyond NBA convention. He has the hands of a pickpocket and the footwork of a Riverdance troupe dancer, but other players have those attributes, too. Arenas, though, has pure speed. He can run like a jack rabbit in need of Kaopectate. Track coach Milan Tiff, a former Olympian who works with about 35 NBA players in the offseason at UCLA, helped Arenas train in the months before the 2001 draft and declared his speed world-class.
"He's unbelievable," Tiff says. "He could do the 100 in 9 seconds if he applied himself to it. He could be in the Olympics."
Alas, Arenas already is employed, and his career is accelerating at warp speed. Overlooked in the first round of the '01 draft, Arenas now is one of the league's hottest players, averaging 24.1 points (on 53.4 percent shooting) and 5.8 assists in his last nine games entering the week.
He is the engine of the Warriors, who are 24-27 after winning just 21 games last year.
Good news for the Warriors, right? Well, no, and this is where the otherwise upbeat story of the league's fastest player grinds to a halt. Arenas will be a free agent this summer, and every time he plays well, he accelerates what seems to be a one-way trip out of Golden State that neither he nor the team wants.
"I am happy right now, and I will be considering the Warriors this summer," Arenas says. "I mean, they are my No. 1 choice right now, just because I like it there and they did bail me out in the draft. But, it's something I have to look at."
When he does look, he won't like what he sees. Arenas and the Warriors are caught in a loophole. The NBA has been careful to design its contract rules to limit player movement. Teams have the right to sign their own players to any contract up to the league maximum, even if the team is over the salary cap, thanks to the "Larry Bird exception."
Problem is, these rules only go into effect when a player has been with a team three straight years. Arenas is a unique case, because he was a second-round pick and did not get the guaranteed three-year contract first-round picks get. He has no Bird rights, which means, essentially, the Warriors have no significant advantages over other teams when it comes to keeping him.
Arenas is a restricted free agent, so Golden State can match any offer he gets, but because the Warriors are over the salary cap, and because Bird rights are not involved, they must use a salary-cap exception as their matching offer. The biggest exception they will have is the midlevel exception, which should be about $4.3 million. If a team offers more than the midlevel exception, the Warriors can't match.
That's why Arenas' breakout year is bad for Golden State. Ask any general manager about the upcoming free-agent market, and Arenas is the first name that comes up. One general manager estimates Arenas will get a contract starting in the $8 million a year range, a big jump from the $500,000 he's getting this season. Big names such as Jason Kidd and Gary Payton will be on the market, but they are heading into the downside of their careers. Arenas is 21, and for a team with cap space, he could be a building block for the next decade.
"If you compare his numbers in his second year to Payton, Kidd, (Steve) Francis, (Baron) Davis, Stephon Marbury, they compare favorably," says Arenas' agent, Dan Fegan. "And you're not going to rebuild a team around Kidd at this point -- he is almost 30. It is a blessing Gilbert is in this position because he will get this contract before anyone else in his draft class."
Three things could happen. First, the Warriors could dump enough salary to clear space for Arenas (and the team has desperately tried to do that). Second, Golden State could curse its luck and watch Arenas walk to a team with cap space. The rebuilding Nuggets are the favorite because Arenas has a good relationship with Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe -- it was Vandeweghe who introduced Arenas to Tiff. Vandeweghe would like to build the Nuggets around speed to take advantage of the thin Denver air, and he knows no one is faster than Arenas.
Third, Arenas could sign a one-year deal with the Warriors, then sign a long-term deal in 2004. Fegan laughs off that possibility, though. "A one-year deal would be a huge risk," he says.
Having been burned by the business side of the NBA before -- Arenas sat on the bench most of last season while the Warriors played highly paid veteran Mookie Blaylock -- Arenas is not surprised to find himself caught in this loophole. But he has learned his NBA lessons the same way he plays the game: very quickly.
"There is a business side that kicks in at this level," Arenas says. "I sat behind a guy last year because he was making $6 million. It does not matter if you outwork someone if he is making more than you. That's all business stuff. I don't like it. But, I probably learned that faster than most other guys."