Roundup From BN Walk: Dumb Reasoning Behind Ariza's Move, Pac-10 Media Day & Other Notes
by Nestor on Jul 8, 2009 5:30 AM PDT
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PrintLet's start the Humpday roundup with another tidbit on Trevor Ariza. Actually this ESPN article on Ariza has already been flagged by Sideout11 in the fanshot section. But I found this part to be really funny (emphasis added):
Sources say several factors led to Ariza's decision. First, his toddler son lives in Los Angeles with his mother and Ariza liked that Houston was a much shorter flight than Cleveland. Second, Adelman promised him the Rockets would feature him offensively while the Cavaliers refused to guarantee him a starting job. Instead, the Cavs told him he'd be given a legitimate chance to compete for the spot against last year's starter, Delonte West.
"He wanted to be sure he'd start," the source said. "That was a big hang-up."
Seriously. Did the source consider how incredibly dumb his (or her) comment across in that piece. So Ariza went to Houston because Houston was a much shorter flight to LA than Cleveland? It must have been even shorter than to that flight from LAX to LAX if he stayed with the Lakers. lol And then to thrown in the argument that he went to Houston because he would be "starting" with the Rockets. Was there any doubt that Ariza had put himself in a situation where he had pretty much carved out a solid spot in the starting rotation with the Lakers?
Never has a UCLA associated player in the NBA been made to look so dumb (and greedy) by his handlers. And right now all signs point to a monumental screw job by his agent. Whatever. I was glad Ariza was finally finding a niche in the league after flailing around for four years. Had he stuck around with the Lakers he would have been on our radar. But at this point not sure how many of us are going to follow him if he flames out in Houston, throwing away what could have been a great opportunity to carve out a lasting legacy with one of the greatest teams in all of sports.
Moving on, speaking of going away, Dohn has another update on Brandon Warner:
Received word that Compton College defensive tackle Branden Warner, who originally committed to UCLA, is at New Mexico State and ready to enroll in summer school.
Hopefully, that puts an end to this ever-twisting story.
And hopefully that will be the last update on Warner as well.
Staying with football Reggie Carter will be the player representative for UCLA at the Pac-10 Media Day, which is on July 20 in LA. Reggie will of course going to it with Coach Neuheisel. BTW speaking of the Pac-10, apparently the conference officials have discovered social networking tools. More details over here.
Lastly, since we are talking about social networking tools, always on the cutting edge SB Nation has released some new features adding the options of mobile commenting and retweeting. More details available over at SB Nation's Blog Huddle.
The mobile commenting should make the game threads (or pregame threads) even more fun. Those of you lucky enough to go to the Rose Bowl or Pauley Pavillion will be able to post right from the games, tailgates, or over night camping out sesssions before big games. We now have less than two months to go till kickoff.
GO BRUINS.
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Don't know if Ariza was with the same agent...
but the decision to leave UCLA after his freshman year was not the wisest either. He was nowhere near ready to make the impact of the usual “one and done” player, as shown by how long it’s taken him to get minutes in anyone’s rotation.
Ariza never wanted to go to college
He made that clear, but he was very young for his grade and was not old enough out of high school to enter the draft. Coming in, we knew he’d be a one and done.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 8, 2009 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions
I think Ariza was trying to save face...
… by the looks of it, I’ve read a few quotes (sorry can’t find them right now) that Ariza was told he’d probably get a mid-level contract, but that he should shop around and see what he could get. Seemed like the Lakers weren’t completely intent on keeping him, and they really wanted Artest to begin with.
That could certainly be it
There have been countless rumors of the Lakers’ front office trying to get Artest in the past so it’s not like it’s far fetched to say that he was Kupchak’s first option this offseason. I will say, however, that Trevor’s agent certainly didn’t do himself or his client any favors by trying to embarrass the other party in the press. At best, his comments were not in good faith, and when a deal can go sour for any variety of reasons, there doesn’t seem to be any advantage to poisoning the well on purpose. Just incredibly poor negotiation skills on the part of David Lee
Ariza would have been a Laker
if it weren’t for the missteps and miscalculations of his agent—I’ve read enough to be convinced of that. Artest may have been on the Laker’s radar, but I’m not so certain he was their 1st choice….that is, until Ariza’s agent started jerking them around publicly. Once Artest practically fell into their laps, that essentially ended the Ariza negotiations…..and the money ended up being the same!
Ariza and the Lakers would have been a perfect marriage for both parties….Ariza being close to home on a championship-caliber team, and the Lakers getting a young, talented role player on the rise. There is only one person to blame for this breakup….David Lee.
by godblesstyus95 on Jul 8, 2009 10:42 AM PDT up reply actions
No doubt David Lee screwed up big-time. But it certainly seems like the Lakers were looking at him as their second choice, as they’re going for as many titles in the next 3 years as possible, and Ron-Ron looks like for the next 3 years at least, the better player. Agree with your 2nd para completely, but I think Ariza fashions himself as something more than a role player.
Twittering and Fox71
Fox 71,
Did you see the link to update your social networking tools in the post? If you have been keeping your cap in while out in the Florida sun golfing, there may be enough left for you to make the transition and get “socialed up”….:)
Bill
BillSouthBay
Yeah, I'm going to be all over this
Social networking is something I’ve been doing for years and years. I was sending twitters from my two-way wrist radio when I was Dick Tracy’s sidekick.
The buck stops with Trevor
I don’t blame the agent. I think Trev just gambled and lost. It was clear for the get go the Laker’s salary limitations, why Trevor reportedly sought more is beyond me. Worst off he gets at Houston what the Lakers were essentially offering. Pissed that he’s leaving…A starting Bruin on an NBA championship team-that would’ve boded well for our program.
Normally I'd agree
But for me, going public and complaining is not SOP for an agent. Yeah, the high profile egomaniacs do, but most deals are done relatively quietly and in private. Terms may leak out and the distance between the parties as far as negotiations might be mentioned, but generally in the form of rumors from anonymous sources that can’t be attributed to anyone so that no one looks bad. Putting the pressure on an organization through the media is bush league and it’s hard for me to believe that any player that isn’t TO would give the go ahead on something like this. Given this particular agent’s history of doing the exact same thing one year earlier with Bynum leads me to believe that this guy just shoots off at the mouth, and even if your agent represents you and you want to take back public statements, you can’t unring a bell.
Indeed not one of the better agents
But about “unringing” the bell, this scenario reminds me of the A-Rod negotiations whereby he skirted his agent’s missteps and righted his contract. I think Trev could’ve done this. I just can’t see Mitch and the Laker org screwing a player simply because his agent craps out in public, especially a well liked and pivotal player like Trev. Of course Artest’s hardon for the Lakers may have shrunken Trev’s window to right the situation.
Ariza wasn't screwed,
his agent is a complete asshat who almost bungled the Andrew Bynum contract extension earlier.
by Seanny Rotten on Jul 8, 2009 12:08 PM PDT up reply actions
I think it's a lot easier to sit here and dissect the woulda couldas shouldas
But if I put myself in Ariza’s situation, I fully understand how things could go wrong so quickly. The article below indicates that he had no direct contact between himself and Mitch, and was therefore getting all his information about the Lakers’ position through the worst possible source: Lee. This was a position, you recall, that Lee had been “insulted” with by not being in the 10 mil a year range. You think he was going to objectively lay out Trevor’s options to him (as any good agent looking out for the best interest of his client would)?
I don’t think any player expects his agent to burn bridges after meeting one, then go off about said meeting to the press. By the time he could have even realistically realized what was happening, the damage was done and Mitch was probably on the phone with Artest’s people already. Lee had already talked about Trevor having “no choice” but to sign with another team because of Kupchak to the press. For Mitch, it’s GM negligence to not initiate your contingency plan at that point and it’s certainly not “screwing” Trevor. Artest’s willingness to come certainly put time pressure on the whole situation, but if anyone screwed Trevor, it’s Lee.
Blaming agents is overrated
But I still don’t think the buck stops with Trevor. His agent certainly screwed him, but an agent’s antics should have no bearing on the Lakers ultimate decision. If they thought Ariza was the best fit, they should’ve signed him regardless of David Lee’s stupidity (they could’ve gotten him, obviously, at the mid-level exception they offered).
So ultimately this falls on the Lakers. They had their pick and they went with Artest, and I sure as hell hope it’s because they truly consider him the better fit. Personally — and for a number of reasons — I’m torn on whether he actually is. 30, for one thing, is a scary age in basketball.
One and Done Insecurity?
In most cases, one expects a client to control an agent.
But, perhaps, a cost of Trevor’s one-and-done is that he didn’t learn enough in college to be the master of his own domain.
Despite the Seinfeld reference, I’m serious. Four years in college expose one to substantive knowledge and allow one to grow in both wisdom and maturity. Said another way — education and experience give one the sense of self confidence and security that one needs in a situation like Trevor faced with the Laker negotiations. When one does not have that experience, knowledge and sense of security, one becomes more dependent on the “hired help” and less able to make sure they are doing a good job.
The argument in favor of leaving after one year is “you can’t leave all that money on the table”.
The argument against leaving is that without the skills necessary to manage one’s life, one will be leaving money on the table for quite a few years.
sjh
I'm not sure this was Ariza's fault
Ron Artest said in his interview that the Lakers called him at 12:01, right as soon as they could. That leads me to believe that the Lakers prioritized Artest over Ariza. So once Ariza and Co. found out that he wasn’t the priority, but that Artest was taking a day or two to evaluate his options, they tried to make it clear that he had other options. I think the call for more money may have not really been what it seems and it was instead an attempt at getting the Lakers to believe there were other suitors out there. If the Lakers thought Ariza had other suitors, maybe they’d want to make sure that they didn’t miss out on Artest and Ariza and signed Ariza to the contract Artest got.
Just a thought. I’m just trying to put together other scenarios because Artest’s comment that he was called at 12:01 leads me to believe that Ariza couldn’t have just gotten ~$6 mil that Artest got and Ariza ended up getting.
makes his agent's actions even crazier imho
If Lee knew that artest was a viable option, he should have tried to press the lakers for the mle early in the process rather than saying he was talking to other teams and may or may not talk to the lakers before reaching a decision.
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Jul 8, 2009 10:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Ariza made the right call.
The Lakers clearly wanted Artest more than Ariza. As for the Cleveland situation, it was a question of playing time and emphasis on the offensive end. Ariza will play more in Houston and will be a greater focus of the offense in Houston than he would be in Cleveland. For Trevor, a young guy with a ring, he’d rather build on his own talent than succumb to a lesser role on a more impressive contender.
And who knows, down the road, the Rockets could sign someone big and make a play for a championship.
The Dream Shake ...on Twitter.
"I think girls are probably just better shooters." - Steve Novak
FWIW
I have nothing against the Rockets. I am not even really upset with Ariza. I just thought the explanations and statements coming from his agent (and sources around Ariza) were baffling and kind of dumb. That’s all.
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