Now We Root For USC? Oregon?
November 24, 2008In Defense of Randy Lerner
November 24, 2008Detroit Pistons Denver Nuggets Detroit Pistons Forward Antonio McDyess surprises nobody and holds up his end of a clandestine deal to go back to Motown.
Perhaps NBA followers are supposed to be surprised. Or, at least, act surprised. But to the real shock of absolutely no one, Antonio McDyess informed everyone…..gasp, get ready for this….that he’s going back to the Detroit Pistons as soon as he is allowed to under NBA rules on December 3rd.
It’s one of the absolute worst rules in the NBA, and it should be changed in the next collective bargaining agreement. But alas, for right now, it’s perfectly legal, and so the Detroit Pistons have been allowed to conduct a trade that under normal circumstances would not be allowed by the CBA. You see, just trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson wouldn’t work, because their salaries don’t match. To take on so much salary in Iverson, Pistons GM Joe Dumars needed to circumvent the rules somehow. So he asked Antonio McDyess to play a pawn in his little game.
McDyess was included in the trade to Denver, but he made such a stink about not playing in Denver, that the Nuggets agreed to buy out his contract and once McDyess cleared waivers, he was free to sign wherever he pleased. The only stipulation was he has to wait 30 days to sign back with the Pistons. After toying around with a few teams, one of them being Cleveland, and pretending like he was actually considering signing somewhere other than Detroit (and it sure was convincing….by all accounts Danny Ferry never fooled himself into believing McDyess was ever going anywhere but Detroit), McDyess finally lived up to his end of the agreement with Dumars.
According to A. Sherrod Blakely for MLive.com,
“The Detroit Pistons were defeated 106-80 by a bad Minnesota Timberwolves team Sunday, but not everything was bad for Detroit.
They received a bit of good news from Antonio McDyess, who informed the Pistons that, as expected, he will re-sign with them next month.
McDyess was part of the four-player trade with Denver earlier this month that brought Allen Iverson to Detroit.
“We looked at two or three different scenarios besides Detroit,” McDyess’ agent, Andy Miller, said in a phone interview Sunday night. “Antonio felt he started something in Detroit, and felt an obligation to his teammates, the fans and the organization, to finish it.””
Nobody will ever know for sure if there was actually a handshake deal in place between Dumars and McDyess, but it’s hard to look at this objectively and not read between the lines. McDyess’ agent sure has been adamant in making sure everyone knows how much thought Antonio put into signing a couple different places, but in the end felt “obligated” to return to Detroit. Either way, it’s not legality of this that’s so frustrating, it’s that it makes such a huge impact on the balance of power, not just within the Central Division, but within the entire Eastern Conference.
Antonio McDyess is not a superstar, but he is a difference maker. There’s no denying the Pistons are a dramatically better team with him than without him. There’s no denying the depth he would have provided to Cleveland’s frontcourt would have made the Cavaliers a better team. This one loophole rule could be the difference ultimately between a 1st place and 2nd place finish in the Central Division for these two teams.
If anything, you might say that McDyess’ value to the Cavaliers was not so much in what he gave to the Cavs, but what him being in Cleveland would have taken away from the Pistons. When one singular move has the potential to make such a difference for two teams, it’s worth examining the spirit of this rule.
To be clear, nobody broke any rules here. Every team acted precisely in a manner that is well within their rights under the current CBA. The Nuggets had every right to buy out McDyess’ contract. Why would the Nuggets, a team already slashing payroll to get under the luxury tax level, want to keep paying a high salary to a player who has no intention of showing up and playing there? So the Nuggets did what was best for them, and worked out a buyout for McDyess. If McDyess wants to wait 30 days to play and if he wants to give up even more money beyond what he left behind in his buyout with Denver, it’s his right to do so and to sign with the Pistons.
But maybe, just maybe, the NBA needs to clean up this rule. It makes it entirely too easy for teams to get around certain rules that are in place for a reason. The rule requiring the salaries in a deal to matchup is in place as a form of safeguarding against uneven trades. A trade of Billups and McDyess for Iverson sounds somewhat fair, but a trade of Billups for Iverson straight up is in no way a fair or even trade. Yeah, the Nuggets got what they wanted in the form of a salary dump, but this affects other teams. The Cavaliers, Celtics, and Bobcats were all teams expected to have a shot at McDyess…..if he wasn’t already determined to go back to Detroit, of course.
Nobody gives up the amount of money of McDyess did out of just loyalty alone. While terms of his Denver buyout were not disclosed, league sources have indicated it was as much as $9 million. Then, factor in the fact that the most Detroit could offer him was $1.9 million, while Cleveland could offer him multiple years starting at around $5 million this year, and you’re looking at over $12 million left on the table by McDyess. It’s hard to imagine something like that happening without some kind of understanding with Joe Dumars already in place.
This isn’t meant be any kind of accusatory piece or anything like that. Dumars and McDyess did nothing wrong. But that’s the point. Shouldn’t it be wrong to pull off what they just did? Shouldn’t the NBA have a stronger interest in maintaining the integrity of the rules that are place? Regardless, the Cavaliers just missed out today on a piece that would have made them the hands down favorite to win the Central Division this year, and that’s really too bad.
82 Comments
Whatever. Overreact to this story all you want, I made no concrete accusations whatsoever.
“Pistons GM Joe Dumars needed to circumvent the rules somehow.” – Dumars couldn’t trade Billups for Iverson because their salaries don’t match. You see, there’s a RULE in the NBA that they have to match. So, to make this trade work, Dumars had to circumvent the RULE, which he did by throwing in McDyess, whom he knew the Nuggets would buy out and would allow McDyess to go back to Detroit.
“He asked Antonio McDyess to play a pawn in his little game.” – Well, McDyess did agree to sign back with Detroit, didn’t he? How did he know the Pistons are willing to sign him without talking to Dumars?
“After toying around with a few teams … and pretending like he was actually considering signing somewhere other than Detroit … McDyess finally lived up to his end of the agreement with Dumars.” – That’s exactly what happened. He pretended to be interested in some teams, and then he re-signed with Detroit, which EVERYONE expected him to do all along. Why was it being reported the INSTANT the trade was made that McDyess was going back to Detroit if Dumars didn’t know this was going to happen?
I’m far from the only one saying there’s a chance there was a handshake deal.
Matt Watson: “Did McDyess have a handshake agreement with Joe Dumars to return all along? We’ll never know for sure, but one thing is clear: he’s leaving a lot of money on the table.” – http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/11/24/agent-antonio-mcdyess-will-return-to-detroit/#cont
More of Watson: “All of this is a long-winded way of saying that, should Dumars and Miller share a knowing wink and a nod, McDyess might be convinced to return on the assumption that he’ll eventually get back every penny he would have earned had he not been traded in the first place.” – http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/2008-11-08/mcdyess-is-soon-to-be-a-free-man/
He did the exact same thing I did. Threw it out there, said it’s possible, but then said we’ll never know.
Somehow you’re completely blind to the point. All I’m saying is that I think the NBA should considering changing this loophole rule, so we don’t have to even consider that such things are possible.
This is getting confusing, RockKing. So the “rule” you said Dumars “needed to circumvent” is the rule that you need to trade players with equal salaries? Is that your new argument? Every GM in the league does that every time they make multiple-player trades – exactly what rule are they circumventing?
Why not just stand behind your original argument? You’re accusing Dumars and McDyess of cooking up a secret agreement behind the scenes to cheat Denver out of a player and to fake out the rest of the NBA.
Did it happen? Maybe. We’ll never know.
Do you have every right to speculate about it on your blog? Sure.
Are you being paid by Danny Ferry to publish malicious rumors about Cleveland’s rival teams? Obviously. Hey, I have no proof, but what else could possibly explain your behavior? I think I’ll post a 1000-word article about it on my blog, then whine when people criticize me.
That’s not a new argument, that was my original argument.
Obviously I need to explain to you how the NBA rules work. First of all, there’s a rule that says that when two teams trade, all the salaries in the trade on one side cannot exceed 125% plus $100,000 of the salaries on the other side of the trade.
Dumars wanted to trade Billups for Iverson, but Iverson’s salary exceeds this limit. So, Dumars had to CIRCUMVENT THIS RULE if he wanted to swap just Billups for Iverson. He knew he had to add another player going to Denver to make the salaries work. He knew McDyess’ salary would make the trade work. He also knew that Denver would not keep McDyess, which meant he would be able to get McDyess, a player he never wanted to lose, back.
That’s precisely what happened, and that’s what rule I said Dumars needed to circumvent. I’m sorry you don’t understand how the NBA works and were thus confused.
That rule, the equal salary rule, is there for a reason. By allowing a player to sign back with his original team after just 30 days, it makes it too easy for a player to go back to his original team, which thus destroys the spirit of the equal salary rule. THAT is what I have issue with.
Did Dumars have a secret agreement? You said it the EXACT SAME WAY that I did…..maybe, we’ll never know. But that was never my point. But you were so blinded by your ridiculous Detroit bias that you somehow thought I was trying to say that Dumars did something wrong. This is precisely why I stated so many times in this article that Dumars did nothing wrong, because I didn’t want idiot homers like you to get the wrong idea. My problem is with the 30 day rule as it currently exists, NOT with the fact that Dumars may or may not have had any kind of agreement with McDyess.
Hey, just do us all a favor: When McDyess retires at the end of this season, signs with another team or signs a contract that in no way recoups his losses, come on here and eat crow publicly.
Joe was my favorite player. I think he is a rock solid GM. But the man is also cold blooded in his own way. He totally would trade a player he knows wants to stay, knowing that he might force his way out and sign back, with no intention whatsoever of signing him back to a big deal ever again. Joe’s a good guy, but this is the same man who will fire coaches who win 50+ games their entire time with the team without a second thought, who let the face of the franchise walk when he became a free agent, etc. Did Joe probably have a good basis to think he’d get Dice back? Yes. Is there a deal to make Dice whole on the money he lost? I wouldn’t count on it one bit. Frankly, if nothing else, Joe saved the Pistons some cash. Don’t confuse Joe the player with Joe the GM. He’s management now. He may like his players and get along with them very well, but he’s in the end management. I don’t think he has a sleepless moment about how much money Dice just lost. And I don’t think Dice will ever recoup it with the Pistons.
first off, im with amar on this one. i think you have your head in the sand if you think there wasnt some kind of “wink wink” agreement on the side any time a player gets traded, gets bought out and then resigns with his original team in 30 days (especially taking a bargain buyout) and turning down more money from other contending teams. thats just a general statement with nothing in particular to do with the pistons or mcdyess.
that being said, jack’s exactly right. if mcdyess goes to another team next season or just retires, then maybe there really was nothing more to it. maybe it was just a calculated risk by dumars that paid off. but if mcdyess signs a seemingly “bloated” one-year deal with detroit that just somehow lets him recoup what he lost in the buyout and/or what he left on the table in offers from cleveland, san antonio or boston, then i think there is more to the story. no we will never know what happened here for sure (if anything). but amar’s point is that this NBA rule has to get tightened up. whether or not the pistons did anything wrong is irrelevant. it was just used as a relevant example since that trade just happened. thats not to say the same or similar situation happens again this season by another team.
back to what jack said, assuming there was no side-arrangement and dumars really did make a calculated risk that (1) mcdyess would not want to play in denver after the trade, (2) denver would offer mcdyess less than a 50% buyout, (3) that mcdyess would happily accept such a low-ball buyout, (4) mcdyess would turn down offers from other contending teams, some of which are 2-3 times the amount of money that detroit could give him and (5) mcdyess would wait it out and return to detroit in 30 days, then Dumars must walk around Detroit doing sam cassell’s “my nuts are the size of canteloupes dance” all day long!
How is it a calculated risk knowing that ‘Dyess wouldn’t want to play in Denver after he re-signed this offseason in Detroit for the 2 year deal he received?
Denver shouldn’t have to pay the man the full amount of his contract, but they should pay him something otherwise he costs them his full salary while he’s sitting at home collecting social security.
Why wouldn’t ‘Dyess accept a buyout if it means he can play for an organization that didn’t screw him twice in his career?
#4 is my favorite… why is he forced to sign for more money? He’s a free agent, and much like he did this offseason when he could’ve been available to sign somewhere else, he re-signed for a 2 year deal to stay in Detroit for 2 years. It’s no secret that his career has somewhat been revived in Detroit, and he is loyal to an organization that signed him and his knees in ’05 when it looked like noone else would offer as much to him as Detroit did.
Why wouldn’t McDyess wait out the 30 days? It’s not like he’s going to start for Detroit. Brent Barry waited 30… I believe Kurt Thomas waited 30…
Get real you guys. I can see why you think money is the all important aspect of playing basketball because LeBron is on your team. In Detroit, you play because of the team. Billups played for Detroit up until the 2007 offseason on the MLE he signed in ’03. We can all pretty much agree that he was worth more than the MLE he signed in ’03. There is loyalty in Detroit… just like Maxiell signing for $20m over 5 years. He likely would’ve gotten a full MLE had he wanted to become a free agent…
boney – im saying the combination of all those factors happening was a pretty risky proposition. not just that mcdyess would refuse to play in denver, but then all of those other things would fall into place. its one thing to turn down $2 million in cleveland or boston (legit contenders) to return to detroit for $1.5 million. its totally different to turn down $5.5 million from cleveland to return to detroit for $1.5 million, especially after taking a buyout of less than 50% of your contract!
and by the way, you keep talking about loyalty in detroit while the other guy (jack?) talked about dumars being a “cold-blooded” GM. which is it? you really cant be “cold-blooded” and loyal at the same time. one of those 2 has to win out over the other and being cold-blooded means you cant be loyal all the time, and vice versa. i will assume dumars is a loyal guy, which all the more reason points to him being “loyal” to mcdyess for taking such a huge pay-cut and letting him recoup that money this offseason. im sure detroit is a wonderful place to live and play. ive been there many times and the suburbs are quite lovely. even the casinos downtown are pretty nice now. but lets not kid ourselves on this. all im saying is that it is quite reasonable to think there was some kind of side-deal that went down. its not completely beyond the realm of possibility considering all the facts! thats all im saying.
idiothomer / pistonsfan. come on man. all of a sudden pro sports are full of ethical, rule-abiding gentlemen? every GM in the league wants to bend as many rules as possible to get some kind of advantage. Dallas did this exact same thing last year in the jason kidd trade and would have gotten away with it had stackhouse not blabbed to the media. look at what mchale did a few years ago trying to sign griffin to some kind of stupid “secret” deal. look at the Cavs (paxson/gund) a few years ago with the carlos boozer situation, which came back to bite them. this stuff happens. its quite possible and reasonable to think that dumars and the pistons did a little extra here to get things to work out well.
boney – here is another thing to think about. lets say im 100% loyal to my company and then they go and send me to another company right out the blue. ive busted my butt for them for years, and just like that they get rid of me. the first company then says they’d like me back at a fairly small price, but then a direct competitor comes along with an offer thats 3 times as much money to go there. im still pissed at the company for dropping me after all ive done for them and how loyal i was. what better way to stick it to them than by going to the competitor for more money?
it just seems to me even less likely that mcdyess would go back there – considering how loyal he has been for all these years – after they screwed him by trading him out of the blue to denver.
in other words, detroit trading mcdyess after all he’s done and after all this time right out of the blue is a pretty big “F you” to mcdyess. and he’s cool with that and returns for less money? otherwise, he knew all along what was going on and played the role perfectly.
Tom – I agree with you. It’s quite possible that McDyess and Dumars conspired to game the Denver trade, then cover up for it by lying to other teams and the media for a month. This stuff happens all the time. I’d like to think that Dumars and McDyess, two of the more respected men in the league, wouldn’t behave like that. But I can’t prove that they didn’t.
But I also can’t prove that they DID. And unless I had proof, I wouldn’t write an article premised on the certainty that these two guys are cheats and liars. There are plenty of alternate explanations for McDyess’s decision, which have been pretty thoroughly explored in the comments. It might seem implausible in this day and age, but McDyess might actually value friendship, geographic stability (he does have kids), top-notch trainers and even (gasp) loyalty over money.
Tom,
I’ll take all 3 of your replies, and reply just once.
Another thing to consider is that McDyess had a chance to opt out of his deal and roll out of town last offseason, and he chose to re-sign in Detroit because he wanted to win a title and that’s the reason why he signed in Detroit in ’05.
He didn’t opt out of his deal, instead, he signed a 2 year deal to stay in Detroit for even longer and showed the loyalty that the franchise once showed him when no other franchise would.
You have to remember, the guy has played for a few franchises in his career and has been in Denver twice already. ‘Dyess is a smart enough guy to know how the business of basketball works, and he knows how salaries need to match..
Why should money matter? Why is trading him “out of the blue”, like you claim Detroit did, a “big F you”? Just because you would feel betrayed by your company doesn’t mean everyone does. Mature people realize that business is business sometimes and you deal with it. When McDyess initially was traded he said that he’d rather retire than play for anyone else. To think that he would sign anywhere else, for any amount of money if he was bought out, it pretty stupid to be honest. He has been with this same team in Detroit for years, why pull a PJ Brown and jump on another roster so late in your career when you know the system and you know the players?
I’m not a Pistons’ homer, I know the deal looks shady and I understand how it does. It’s not “illegal” by any means, many teams have done it before but since this time it was done and it included a player who could’ve been the difference for Cleveland, I sense sour grapes from you donks. It’s perfectly fine with me that Cleveland fans experience sour grapes, but don’t blame it all on some kind of insider dealings because ‘Dyess didn’t take the money from CLE. I wouldn’t take the money either if I knew I had a good thing with another organization AFTER an entire career of making $10+ million per year. He doesn’t need the money… don’t you guys realize that?
oh and “cold blooded” Joe Dumars??? that’s funny…
what has Dumars done that’s cold blooded?
It’s not just Joe Dumars that runs the Pistons, it’s the coaches, the players that have been together for years, etc… Look past just the pretty picture on the outside and it’ll show you much more than what you get with Cleveland. Cleveland you get LeBron and not much else… I can see why it’s hard to look past that first layer
its not sour grapes for me. frankly i dont think mcdyess would have made much of a difference on the team. hes a good bench guy and provides depth, but i dont think the cavs changes of winning it all or not winning it all was riding on signing mcdyess. its really not a big deal to me. i thought the exact same thing when the jerry stackhouse situation came up between the nets and mavericks.
yes i do understand that he doesnt “need” the money. none of these guys do. the norm in all professional sports is to take as much money as possible no matter what. very rarely do players take less money when more money is on the table elsewhere. maybe mcdyess falls into that minority of taking less money – i dont know. if thats the case, then great.
im not the one who called dumars cold-blooded. that was jack (#54, and a pistons fan i do believe). i was just using his words. so ask him what dumars has done thats cold blooded. i really dont know. maybe it was firing rick carlisle for larry brown?
Wow Cleveland, cry about it. McDyess is a Piston and wants to be a piston. Get over it. Pistons hate Cleveland. Why would he go there? Get your own players.
PS. Enjoy Lebron while he’s still in Cleveland cause he’s gone in 2010!!!!
and why is it a big “F you” if he was traded out of the blue? you said “He didn’t opt out of his deal, instead, he signed a 2 year deal to stay in Detroit for even longer and showed the loyalty that the franchise once showed him when no other franchise would.” if thats the case and he showed them some loyalty, then turning around and trading him away out of the blue is an “F you” statement if you ask me.
im done arguing this topic. if you want to believe the pistons are a pristine organization that would never, ever bend the rules or do anything shady, and abide by loyalty at all times, and dumars simply got really lucky with this “calculated risk,” thats fine by me. just make sure you take your head out of the sand from time to time to get some fresh air.
but all of you never said anything when this happend with dallas and new jersey last year if it was so bad.
(Edited by WFNY: Stay classy, Andrew.)
First off, why do you care? Would you want to play for denver right now? Does denver really need dice? no. so let him join the pistons. Why would he then, given the opportunity to go home, decide not to sign with the team that hes played with for the past 4 years, but sign with a rival? Yea that makes a lot of sense. I didn’t see you crying when Brent Barry resigned with the spurs after he got trades. If krusty the klown verejoke was traded to fit salary restrictions, and then got waived and signed with the cavs, you would not care.
PS The cavs will not be winning a ring with bron and ill be sure to go to the games when he signs with new york.
Cleveland is pathetic. Just because McDyess is loyal, and wanted to play for Detroit, that means that this rule is a joke or something? Youre just whining because he didnt want to play for your team. If the cavs made a trade, and somebody like Delonte returned in this way, you’d throw a parade. Just whining because your jealuos that you didnt get him, and that he didnt want to play for him. If he signed with Cleveland, would you still think that the rule needed to be changed? No, you would have no problems with it. Is Cleveland scared of Detroit with the addidtion of Antonio? Thats what it sounds like.
Now when the cavs dont win the central, youll have a “legit” excuse why.
Youre going to learn about loyalty when LeBron is a knick in 2010.
From Spain, GO Pistons¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ A real team not a King James team.
This year pistons return winning division and conference with A.I and stuckey and dyess in the second unit.
Enjoy with lebron,surely he goes to big apple in 2010,is really nice to see but cleveland is not a team,is a bad copy of pistons planificattion.
All you cleveland fans need hope in BIG Z, right?
Oh go cry somewhere else, McDyess is pistons forever, even if we don’t win championships.
LeBron runs your show, so deal with what you got.
Lebron, 2010 KNICK.
Seems to me the real issue is the author got a little butt-hurt (understandably).
Plus, I didn’t know the author was Dumars’ confidant. He talks like he KNOWS what Joe’s motives were and that’s just foolish and reckless.
8 MILE 8 MILE AHHHHHHHHHHH
What a bunch of over-reacting dummies
FAIL.
Pistons fan here.
RockKing – I hear you and agree with you that the rule should be changed. I just have two issues with what you’ve said here. You’ve repeatedly said that you think the Pistons have done nothing wrong and just skillfully bent the rules in their favor. But that is inconsistent with the headline of your article – that the McDyess held up his end of a “clandestine” deal. Such a deal would be illegal and mean the Pistons did something wrong. You later say that it would be hard to look at this objectively and not read between the lines. Again, what you are implying here and in other areas of the column is that the Pistons likely did something illegal – no matter how many times you try to take it back by saying explicitly that you think they didn’t do anything illegal. Clandestine deals are very illegal, even if no one gets caught. Insinuating their occurrence is therefore an accusation.
My second issue is the general hypothesis that this stinks of misdealing to begin with. Let’s suppose you are Joe Dumars. You know you need Dice’s salary to make this deal work. You know you want him back. And you think he might be willing enough to come back that you can make a clandestine deal with him and Denver. Denver just wants Billups. For appearances, they have to buy him out below 100 cents on the dollar (otherwise there would be no arguing the deal was arms length). But they bought him out for 50 (I forget the exact number – but it was a big, big paycut that took away a year of guaranteed money). Do you for one moment think Denver would say no to buying Dice out for 85 cents or 90 cents if it meant getting Billups? Remember, they were sellers of financial flexibility here, not buyers. And to the extent Dice was involved in some secretive deal here, you’d have to think he’d make a precondition that he’d get a healthy buyout number, right? Instead, he’s way worse off after the deal financially.
That’s not meant to be definitive proof that there wasn’t a clandestine deal. I just think the evidence is stronger that Dice is back in Detroit for one reason – he really, really, to the exclusion of all common sense, wants to be a Piston. And that’s not forbidden under the CBA (again, I know you keep saying this is just us beating a straw man since you explicitly say what the Pistons did was legal. See paragraph 1 for my response to that.)
Good luck this year, you guys have a great team (and I’m sad to say a much better chance of winning, with whomever Wally and Snow become, than we do this year)
Sorry one last thought. I realize that Matt W and others have thrown out the notion that there might be a wink wink deal here. I have nothing against your speculation – I too think there’s a chance (and a good one…call it 25%?) that Dumars did something under the table here. I have something against statements like “Antonio McDyess surprises nobody and holds up his end of a clandestine deal to go back to Motown.” That is your headline. And it is not couched as speculation. It is written as a statement of fact. You will find no such statements from Matt. I mean, I’m probably not walking too far out on a limb to say you think Dumars is guilty as sin (read: made a clandestine agreement), right?
I simply write this in anticipation of your reaction being “how many times in this thread do I have to say that I think the Pistons were smart to do this, did nothing wrong, all I’m doing is speculating like your blogger did, etc. etc.”
Dice is the man for making money a non-issue. Playing for a winning organization is the way to go, Labron (spelling?) should come to Detroit for less too.
One Source Talent can help him get the exposure he needs to find a good fit. One Source is a tool that helps models and actors get started in the entertainment industry. We would be happy to help that Labron guy find a team that suited him.
First of all, Mcdyess’ contract was 13 million over the next two years total. He then got a 2 million bump in salary because his trade kicker “kicked” in when he was traded to take him to 15 million. He was bought out for close to 7 million and he will resign for 2 million. Thus, he is only leaving 4 million on the table and the article states that he was leaqving 12 million on the table because the writer is adding McDyess’ original contract plus the trade kicker plus what Cleveland could have offered him. That is absolutely retarded. You can’t just add them and say that is how much he is leaving behind!
[…] players who seemed to care for the Pistons were Antonio McDyess, who was probably trying to make his decision to go back to the Pistons look like the right one, Will Bynum, and Rodney Stuckey. Pistons coach Michael Curry seemed to […]
sorry guys… LbJ is the King. This is the result of trading Chancey to Denver and acquiring AI. Chancey and doing great and Denver and probably can advance on the next round.