NBA Immovable Contracts...Honorable Mention - Landry Fields

[BobLoblaw]

I'm just saying that if Asik wasn't making that kind of coin next season, he would have been traded IMO.

Possibly. However, I think the much bigger problems are the trade demand (i.e. teams are lowballing now because they think the Rockets are desperate) and the knee issue. This is someone who already had a torn ACL, so when teams hears "swollen knee, reasons unknown, treatment isn't working", it makes everyone pause.

Also, Morey can't afford to give Asik at a huge discount to 76ers or Raptors or such, he has to get good value. Otherwise they might just re-sell Asik a month later to OKC at a higher price (or to some other contender). That would be pretty bad.

[mountio]

I was on board with rescinding at the time as well. Dont buy all the agents crap - no one chooses to come to TO now anyways unless we give them the largest contract, and if we offer the most money, agents will sign with us in the future, whether or not they "like" us.
In any event, thats over and scary enough, he has been even worse than I thought (and I thought he would be bad). No one should be surprised hes on this list (Im surprised hes only honourable mention). The guy is a shooting guard / small forward, who cant shoot beyond 4 feet. Hes a nice guy with good bball IQ - but that doesnt cut it.
Just a horrible, horrible signing. Believe it or not, I have much more sympathy for other bad contracts we have signed (AB, Hedo) - at least they are servicable NBA players, who, despite their faults, have some value. Landry has none.
Id like to personally request no more LF trade threads - he has negative value and we are not getting anything for him

[KHD]

Rescinding was NEVER an option. You do that, and you can say goodbye to the chances of signing almost anyone else, for years to come.

Landry Fields' career was ruined by an injury combined with the fact that he came to an organization which was "trying to win".

After this contract, he needs to sign for a team where he will get time, if that's even possible at this point.

[Miekenstien]

Possibly. However, I think the much bigger problems are the trade demand (i.e. teams are lowballing now because they think the Rockets are desperate) and the knee issue. This is someone who already had a torn ACL, so when teams hears "swollen knee, reasons unknown, treatment isn't working", it makes everyone pause.

Also, Morey can't afford to give Asik at a huge discount to 76ers or Raptors or such, he has to get good value. Otherwise they might just re-sell Asik a month later to OKC at a higher price (or to some other contender). That would be pretty bad.

i agree with this and wold add that as long as houston keeps winning they can afford to wait until they get what they want.

i also hope other gms get the stones to not bow to demands to the detriment of their own teams in the future.

[Puffer]

Truth be told, if Fields contract can't be moved, then I just hope the nerve damage heals over the course of the season. Fields is exactly the kind of guy I would love to see the Raptors have on their team (I'm talking about the guy with the same physical skills he had in his rookie and sophomore years, but with the experience and intelligence he has gained along the way. Great movement off the ball, great defensive smarts, great court vision, completely unselfish.

What a shame he suffered the nerve condition.

[mountio]

Rescinding was NEVER an option. You do that, and you can say goodbye to the chances of signing almost anyone else, for years to come.

Landry Fields' career was ruined by an injury combined with the fact that he came to an organization which was "trying to win".

After this contract, he needs to sign for a team where he will get time, if that's even possible at this point.

not to rehash this old argument .. but it just doesnt make any sense. You mean to believe that if we offer a free agent the most money available that they will turn us down out of "principal" and take less money elsewhere? Not a chance in hell.

Its one thing if it was illegal and we cant get out of the deal - but its entirely another not to do it for fear of it hurting our reputation with agents.

Of course agents wouldnt like it .. but, you know what? Fuck them. If we offer the most money, we will still get the player we want, and frankly, we arent getting any guys at discounts anyways.

[KHD]

not to rehash this old argument .. but it just doesnt make any sense. You mean to believe that if we offer a free agent the most money available that they will turn us down out of "principal" and take less money elsewhere? Not a chance in hell.

Its one thing if it was illegal and we cant get out of the deal - but its entirely another not to do it for fear of it hurting our reputation with agents.

Of course agents wouldnt like it .. but, you know what? Fuck them. If we offer the most money, we will still get the player we want, and frankly, we arent getting any guys at discounts anyways.

You don't want to piss off the agents. Negotiations are already hard enough.

And if we rescind an offer, then who's going to ever deal with us in good faith again? For example, the "agreement in principle" type of deals that occur all the time (i.e. the Jermaine O'neal draft day deal). Who would trust us again?

[tucas]

not to rehash this old argument .. but it just doesnt make any sense. You mean to believe that if we offer a free agent the most money available that they will turn us down out of "principal" and take less money elsewhere? Not a chance in hell.

Its one thing if it was illegal and we cant get out of the deal - but its entirely another not to do it for fear of it hurting our reputation with agents.

Of course agents wouldnt like it .. but, you know what? Fuck them. If we offer the most money, we will still get the player we want, and frankly, we arent getting any guys at discounts anyways.

Contract negotiations have to start before you can offer the most money. If you piss agents off and they don't want to work with you, you can't offer the most money.

[Bendit]

Rescinding of contract offers can and has occurred in the NBA...most recently with Iguodala's offer from the Kings this past summer. What would be the problem doing so in Fields case is that there was another party involved (the Knicks) as it was clearly a poison pill offer to deter them. Iam also unclear of the full legality in this circumstance...did Fields not accept the Raptors offer even though the contract itself may not have been signed? Under some interpretations this is then a binding contract and the org. could have been sued and even Stern could have stepped in. In Iggy's case I believe there was a perfectly acceptable out since he had yet to accept the offer and they pulled it before.

The reality is that players can hold the team responsible for breach much easier than the other way around...witness the bush move Boozer pulled on Cleveland a few years ago after agreeing and changing his mind for a higher number as did our very own fav f/a signing Turk who ditched Portland after "agreeing". One of the things I appreciated about BC is that he kept his word I think. Maybe to a fault sometimes!

[tucas]

Rescinding of contract offers can and has occurred in the NBA...most recently with Iguodala's offer from the Kings this past summer. What would be the problem doing so in Fields case is that there was another party involved (the Knicks) as it was clearly a poison pill offer to deter them. Iam also unclear of the full legality in this circumstance...did Fields not accept the Raptors offer even though the contract itself may not have been signed? Under some interpretations this is then a binding contract and the org. could have been sued and even Stern could have stepped in. In Iggy's case I believe there was a perfectly acceptable out since he had yet to accept the offer and they pulled it before.

The reality is that players can hold the team responsible for breach much easier than the other way around...witness the bush move Boozer pulled on Cleveland a few years ago after agreeing and changing his mind for a higher number as did our very own fav f/a signing Turk who ditched Portland after "agreeing". One of the things I appreciated about BC is that he kept his word I think. Maybe to a fault sometimes!

Not to take away from your point but I just wanted to clear this up as I've seen it multiple times from different posters since the fields signing. The poison pill was not offered as a strategy to deter Knicks from accepting(although it may have had that effect). Poison pill contracts are given out when a RFA doesn't have bird rights, which is in most cases with a 2nd round pick or undrafted(same situation with Asik). Because 2nd rounders are only under contract for 2 years but you need 3 to have bird rights(and go over the cap to resign FA), teams were losing their RFA because they couldn't match more than the MLE which defeats the purpose of having a RFA. That's why the Raptors owe Fields an equal amount over 3 years but if New York had accepted the offer they would've had the poison pill at the end of the contract.
Point being teams don't give out poison pills to stop other teams from matching, they do it because they have to give the other team an oppurtunity to match their RFA. Whether or not Fields is worth 6 mi

[rocwell]

Yeah.. his contract just become movable. ok.