The value of the free agent crop this offseason has been wildly over-inflated, and that’s mainly because of the salary cap projections for next season and beyond after the TV money kicks in and franchises around the NBA reap the benefits of the windfall of cash that will accompany it. The latest figures have the cap pushing up against the $90 million threshold after next season. That means a number of teams today have the financial flexibility to sign what would have previously been considered mid-level players to enormous contracts without worrying about the luxury (or repeater) tax. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.
Still, for some people, it’s hard to stomach handing out such hefty sums of money to what amounts to glorified utility players and/or potential stars who, along with their Publisher’s-Clearing-House-sized checks, have also been handed the giant burden of expectation that goes along with it. We can argue all day long about who exactly we’re referring to, but some folks have a pretty clear vision of who they believe got obscenely overpaid this summer.
Take John Wall, for instance, who expressed no uncertain amount of disbelief that one player in particular now makes as much money as he does. Via Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post:
Wall on crazy FA market this summer: "Like, Reggie Jackson gets 5 years, 80. Like, I’m getting the same amount as Reggie Jackson right now."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) July 14, 2015
And no sooner did those words escape his lips did he realize how bad that probably sounded, then immediately went into damage control mode.
More Wall on FA market: "But I’m happy for those guys. To see anybody get the opportunity to live their dream out … that’s a blessing."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) July 14, 2015
We get where he’s coming from. Not only is Reggie Jackson a largely-unproven player, the last time we checked, the Detroit Pistons still had Brandon Jennings on their roster, who is set to return after suffering a season-ending injury. Something’s gotta give.
But Wall could probably benefit from a few pieces of sage advice from Jalen Rose going forward. First, stay out of other people’s pockets. Second, you’re only worth what you have the leverage to negotiate. And the tsunami of cash headed this way from the San-Andreas-sized television contracts the league signed recently is bringing a tidal wave of leverage along with it.
(via Jorge Castillo)
