Does Baron HAVE to sign with the Clips?

[Jeff]

enjoy those season tickets Sports Guy!

[BudweiserCeltic]

Clippers should either up their offer Davis, or he should be allowed to walk out of the agreement. No way Baron signs a $13 million, or so, contract with the Clippers under normal circumstances. He agreed to take a paycut under a set of conditions no doubt... and I bet one of those conditions was Brand.

We'll see.

[winsomme]

Technically, Baron doesn't have to sign anywhere.  While verbal contracts are enforceable, it's unclear whether all the specific terms have been agreed to.  Even if they were, legally all contracts for more than a year have to be in writing, and generally a court won't enforce them; this is something known as the "statute of frauds".

As a practical matter, though, I think both Baron and his agent would be black-listed if they attempted to back out of the contract at this point.

Blacklisted? How is Baron backing out of his agreement any worse than what Brand is doing? Brand told the Clippers to get him help which they did and now that the Sixers can offer more money he is bolting. If I was Baron I would not sign with the Clippers if Brand is not there. Baron does not want to play on a team with no hope of contending anytime soon. I have no problem with players looking out for their best interests. If Baron does back out of his agreement where can he end up? I see Cleveland jumping at the opportunity to do anything and everything to get him.

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron is screwed now, though.  No Brand, no Maggette, no hope.

i totally disagree....nobody is going to black-list Baron or his agent for backing out of this deal. for all we know, one of the reasons Brand didn't sign with the Clipps is because they were low balling him.

the talk around these circles was that at the end of the day, the Clipps offer to Brand could actually be a lot closer to the GS (or Philly) offer than had been originally thought. Marc Stein just wrote this article yesterday.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=FA-notes-080707


but the question that was never really answered is how much the Clipps were actually offering Brand. and the whole original reason for Baron to go there was to play with Brand. if the Clipps couldn't get that one done, then nobody would hold it against Baron for also not sigining.

actually at this point, he should go team up with Maggette in GS. that lineup of Baron, Jax, CM, Al and Biendrins with Monta coming off the bench like a Ginobili would be pretty good. they also would have three solid prospects to develop or trade in Wright, Belinelli and Randolph...

maybe Baron will go to the Clipps, but that team is in big trouble with no Brand.

[winsomme]

wasn't the whole deal with Baron going to the Clipps that the Clipps HAD to deal with BRAND BEFORE they could get something together on Baron because Brand had such a high cap hold that it prevented them from having the space to actually sign Baron.....?

so if that was the case, how far could the negotiations have gotten with Baron if they weren't actually getting a deal together that worked for Brand that reduced his cap-hold and freed up the space to sign Baron?

[Who]

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron would be fine because he has the talent to override the negative feelings

His agent's career would be in free fall and all of his clients would struggle to get early agreements on contracts. He'd be blacklisted and he'd a very tough time getting out of that.

[Who]

What Baron and his agent need to do is to act diplomatic. Go to the Clippers and request their permission to void the contract. It's in neither Baron's or the team's best interests to execute that contract agreement.

If Baron does join the Clippers they'll be a 35 win team that doesn't get high lottery picks and doesn't make the playoffs. In a year's time they'll be competing with Portland and the Sonics, amongst others but those two have some of the brightest young talent in the league, for the best free agents and will very likely lose out on all the top players.

The Clippers do not have a clear path to becoming contenders without Brand while also signing Baron. Better off to wait til next year with a high lottery pick and bundles of cap space to rebuild.

[winsomme]

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron would be fine because he has the talent to override the negative feelings

His agent's career would be in free fall and all of his clients would struggle to get early agreements on contracts. He'd be blacklisted and he'd a very tough time getting out of that.

why wouldn't his other client's talent also override any negative feelings?

i think the only thing that matters is how much Baron actually wants to play for the Clipps. maybe he actually wants to play there even without Brand....who really knows..

[houlana]

baron is one of my favorite players in the league.
he should be able to break this verbal contract with the clippers because he got shafted.
he wanted an opportunity to play on a good team, and the clippers are no way near without brand. which is the only reason he signed with the clippers. sure its nice to play in your home town, but its not that big of a deal.
 

[winsomme]

What Baron and his agent need to do is to act diplomatic. Go to the Clippers and request their permission to void the contract. It's in neither Baron's or the team's best interests to execute that contract agreement.

If Baron does join the Clippers they'll be a 35 win team that doesn't get high lottery picks and doesn't make the playoffs. In a year's time they'll be competing with Portland and the Sonics, amongst others but those two have some of the brightest young talent in the league, for the best free agents and will very likely lose out on all the top players.

The Clippers do not have a clear path to becoming contenders without Brand while also signing Baron. Better off to wait til next year with a high lottery pick and bundles of cap space to rebuild.

i still don't understand how the Clipps negotiated a contract that they didn't technically have the cap space for...

[winsomme]

baron is one of my favorite players in the league.
he should be able to break this verbal contract with the clippers because he got shafted.
he wanted an opportunity to play on a good team, and the clippers are no way near without brand. which is the only reason he signed with the clippers. sure its nice to play in your home town, but its not that big of a deal.
 

i agree, the person getting shafted here would be Baron not the Clippers...TP

[Chris]

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron would be fine because he has the talent to override the negative feelings

His agent's career would be in free fall and all of his clients would struggle to get early agreements on contracts. He'd be blacklisted and he'd a very tough time getting out of that.

why wouldn't his other client's talent also override any negative feelings?

i think the only thing that matters is how much Baron actually wants to play for the Clipps. maybe he actually wants to play there even without Brand....who really knows..

Agents are replacable, players aren't.  If GM's decide they won't work with a certain agent, then the players will drop that agent.

[Chris]

What Baron and his agent need to do is to act diplomatic. Go to the Clippers and request their permission to void the contract. It's in neither Baron's or the team's best interests to execute that contract agreement.

If Baron does join the Clippers they'll be a 35 win team that doesn't get high lottery picks and doesn't make the playoffs. In a year's time they'll be competing with Portland and the Sonics, amongst others but those two have some of the brightest young talent in the league, for the best free agents and will very likely lose out on all the top players.

The Clippers do not have a clear path to becoming contenders without Brand while also signing Baron. Better off to wait til next year with a high lottery pick and bundles of cap space to rebuild.

i still don't understand how the Clipps negotiated a contract that they didn't technically have the cap space for...

They had cap space for it though.  Brand was not under contract, and they were well under the cap.  They just would then have had to renounce other FA's in order to get far enough under the cap to sign both Brand and Davis.

[Who]

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron would be fine because he has the talent to override the negative feelings

His agent's career would be in free fall and all of his clients would struggle to get early agreements on contracts. He'd be blacklisted and he'd a very tough time getting out of that.

why wouldn't his other client's talent also override any negative feelings?

Because they're not all as good as Baron Davis. I'm sure several of his other clients will be role players trying to get a long term commitment or a borderline player looking for an opportunity perhaps through a favour (all those Matt Barnes training camps).

It wouldn't end them but I do believe it would make it harder for them.

Why enter into an early contract agreement and limit your options when they guy across the table will just cancel everything and walk away at the sight of a better offer?

Why do a favour (Bobcats Varajeo) for a guy who'll stab you in the back when the opportunity is there?

[winsomme]

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron would be fine because he has the talent to override the negative feelings

His agent's career would be in free fall and all of his clients would struggle to get early agreements on contracts. He'd be blacklisted and he'd a very tough time getting out of that.

why wouldn't his other client's talent also override any negative feelings?

i think the only thing that matters is how much Baron actually wants to play for the Clipps. maybe he actually wants to play there even without Brand....who really knows..

Agents are replacable, players aren't.  If GM's decide they won't work with a certain agent, then the players will drop that agent.

unless they want the players that are his clients....

i would think if anything, the players would respect the agent for getting Baron OUT of that Clipps deal.

[winsomme]

Baron had an "agreement in principle", where terms were negotiated and agreed to.  Presumably, Brand never made so strong of a commitment.

Trust me:  if an agent sat down, negotiated a contract, everyone agreed to it, and then he allowed his client to back out, he would be blacklisted.

Baron would be fine because he has the talent to override the negative feelings

His agent's career would be in free fall and all of his clients would struggle to get early agreements on contracts. He'd be blacklisted and he'd a very tough time getting out of that.

why wouldn't his other client's talent also override any negative feelings?

Because they're not all as good as Baron Davis. I'm sure several of his other clients will be role players trying to get a long term commitment or a borderline player looking for an opportunity perhaps through a favour (all those Matt Barnes training camps).

It wouldn't end them but I do believe it would make it harder for them.

Why enter into an early contract agreement and limit your options when they guy across the table will just cancel everything and walk away at the sight of a better offer?

Why do a favour (Bobcats Varajeo) for a guy who'll stab you in the back when the opportunity is there?

who got stabbed in the back? i think it was Baron by the Clipps not getting it done with Brand.

plus, talent is at such a premium in the NBA if you have a guy that can help teams, they are going to get signed...that's how i see it anyway...

i think the only question that remains at this point is how much Baron wants to play in LA. if it was all about getting Brand there, then i think the agents responsibility is to get Baron out of the deal.