Brian Roberts, an NBA bargain

[San Diego Flyer]

In the wild and crazy NBA scrum over sub-stars getting obscene salaries, there sits our Brian Roberts. He is one of only two pg's listed on the Portland Trail Blazers roster. But at 30 years old he is the second oldest player on the team. The All NBA starting point guard, Damian Lillard, is 25 years old, and makes $24m per year.

It's such a dichotomy that Brian's place on the roster should command a high salary, but his skill level and relatively bargain rate salary is probably what has kept him employed. He is now an unrestricted free agent, but in NBA language is considered a "scrub". Good at some things, pedestrian at most others.

Austin Rivers, an ex-Pelican teammate, who can't shoot well from anywhere on the court, just signed a 3 year contract for $34m with the Clippers. This is the height of insanity. Rivers backs up Chris Paul who makes $23m per year. It doesn't hurt that the Clippers coach is Doc Rivers, who is Austin's dad.

Now we know Brob is appreciative of the journey he has taken and the places he his been, while earning far more money to-date than he ever could have with his degree to this point. In a precious few years that will change, and he will be glad he graduated.

But for now, I just hope he gets several more years in the NBA making the really big bucks even as a backup. He certainly deserves it and could earn it. Couldn't happen to a better person.

[Widget]

If he were "BRiv" he'd make a lot more.

I had to google the word nepotism. It seems obvious to everyone who doesn't have to write the check.
Posted via Mobile Device

[San Diego Flyer]

The Knicks just signed pg Brandon Jennings for 1 year at $5m to back-up Derrick Rose. Jennings showed signs of brilliance before he blew out his achilles heel last year.

As soon as the NBA free agent "July Moratorium" is over this Friday, teams can begin signing their verbal commits and the real money starts to be locked in. If Roberts has value that date will start a chain of events that possibly could include him. There will be a scrum of players that are excessed due to cap restrictions since some teams are eating up globs of cap space by signing several very expensive players. The distance between the "haves" and the "have nots" is getting huge.

[Gazoo]

My understanding is that the bigger issue is the floor, not the cap. Many teams are having to throw $ at people to hit the minimum salary level.

Which made me think, why on earth would anyone have worried about the luxury tax previously?? Last year's cap was $70M with a luxury tax applied at $85M. This year's cap will be $94M, with the floor $85M.

So riddle me this, if the owners are swimming in this kind of money that they can increase the floor to the level that was the previous year's luxury tax line, why would they have cared about the luxury tax last year if they truly wanted to win?? Who cares about the luxury tax, you could have had a payroll last year of $90M and it still would have been less than the current year's cap.

[San Diego Flyer]

That scenario will go on as long as that golden tv goose lays the eggs. That can't go on forever. The players are in a perfect storm for raking in money right now. No better time for a below average player to cash in--if they are fortunate to be with the right team and in the right contractual situation.

[ud2]

Originally Posted by San Diego Flyer That scenario will go on as long as that golden tv goose lays the eggs. That can't go on forever. The players are in a perfect storm for raking in money right now. No better time for a below average player to cash in--if they are fortunate to be with the right team and in the right contractual situation.

Cable tv and sattelite tv companies will not allow their customers to pick a la carte the channels that they want to pay for, if this forced bundling ends, then I think that could deal a blow to sports leagues.

I think many are getting tired of paying so much per month for cable/satellite tv.

[San Diego Flyer]

Originally Posted by ud2 Cable tv and sattelite tv companies will not allow their customers to pick a la carte the channels that they want to pay for, if this forced bundling ends, then I think that could deal a blow to sports leagues. I think many are getting tired of paying so much per month for cable/satellite tv.

I hope you are right. Count me as one of them that is real tired of those escalating bills due to services offered that I could not care less about.

[anthonycharles]

Originally Posted by Gazoo My understanding is that the bigger issue is the floor, not the cap. Many teams are having to throw $ at people to hit the minimum salary level. Which made me think, why on earth would anyone have worried about the luxury tax previously?? Last year's cap was $70M with a luxury tax applied at $85M. This year's cap will be $94M, with the floor $85M. So riddle me this, if the owners are swimming in this kind of money that they can increase the floor to the level that was the previous year's luxury tax line, why would they have cared about the luxury tax last year if they truly wanted to win?? Who cares about the luxury tax, you could have had a payroll last year of $90M and it still would have been less than the current year's cap.

Unlike the NFL which has a hard cap and a hard floor, the NBA floor is meaningless.

http://www.businessinsider.com/nba-s...ingless-2013-9

Dan Gilbert owes $54 million in luxury tax after this year's championship season.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16...n-luxury-taxes

I'm all for the NBA players getting their money. Get it while you can, especially BRob. On another note, I find it incredible that a mediocre player at best like Jerryd Bayless gets a GUARANTEED contract of 3 yrs for $27 million from Philly, meanwhile in another sport, one of the best players in the NFL who helped carry his team to a Super Bowl Championship is fighting like crazy to get a 3 yr GUARANTEED contract. His name is Von Miller. He's facing maybe only getting $14 million in a one year GUARATEED contract thru the franchise tag. NFL owners have it made and NFL players are being shown as the suckers they are...killing their brains for pennies compared to basketball and baseball players.

Kids...if you are multi-talented and actually good enough to have a professional career, I suggest not choosing football and going with either baseball or basketball.

[Gilchrist's Autograph 2]

Portland is trading cash for Napier. Maybe this explains why Roberts isn't getting paid like a backup PG. "In Portland, Napier will serve as the third point guard behind Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum."
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[priceg75]

Why NFL lags behind NBA in guaranteed contracts.

[San Diego Flyer]

Originally Posted by Gilchrist's Autograph 2 Portland is trading cash for Napier. Maybe this explains why Roberts isn't getting paid like a backup PG. "In Portland, Napier will serve as the third point guard behind Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum." Posted via Mobile Device

Pretty hard to argue against those three choices. McCullum made $2.5m last year and was a first round draft choice in 2013. There are a lot of teams that can't afford that. I imagine BR's agent is beating the bushes for a spot somewhere.

[Justin]

I'm 33, and none of my friends (mostly UD alums) have cable. We all had it in our mid twenties, but now don't see it as a viable solution for entertainment purposes. Especially when we can stream Netflix or Hulu, or find things on the web (including game broadcasts) and cable is all reality TV junk.

On that note, I hope Brob and CJ get something for their hard work and contributions. Good people deserve good things.

Originally Posted by ud2 Cable tv and sattelite tv companies will not allow their customers to pick a la carte the channels that they want to pay for, if this forced bundling ends, then I think that could deal a blow to sports leagues. I think many are getting tired of paying so much per month for cable/satellite tv.

[jack72]

I have heard for the last 30 years that this madness in sports pay will come to an end, because of ... Fill in the blank. Yet it not only went on, but increased. I would like to believe that they are pricing themselves into a problem, but has not happened yet. Ditto entertainers.

Can't afford the finances as a team? No problem, move the team to a different city. The NHL moved to the US cities. Baseball and basketball to Canada. Football, basketball and baseball will move to London, Madrid, Mexico City, wherever if need be.

[THirt]

BRob signing back with the Hornets for the veteran's minimum... just over a million for a 1-year contract. Good for him.

[San Diego Flyer]

Outstanding. He is a known commodity in Charlotte. Should be comfortable there.

	Charlotte CHARLOTTE UNC Charlotte is one of a generation of universities founded in metropolitan areas of the United States immediately after World War II in response to rising education demands generated by the war and its technology. Now a research intensive university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest of the 16 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest institution in the Charlotte region. The university comprises seven professional colleges and currently offers 18 doctoral programs, 62 master’s degree programs and 90 bachelor’s degrees. More than 900 full-time faculty comprise the university’s academic departments and the 2007 fall enrollment exceeded 22,300 students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the 49ers.

[shapanud]

http://www.atthehive.com/2016/7/6/12...-roberts-worth

Brian will be the 3rd point guard on an NBA team and making just over $1m for another year. As the article says, Coach Clifford likes to have a veteran 3rd PG on the roster that knows the system in case of an injury. Brian fits the bill and from all reports was well liked by his teammates in Charlotte, so the signing makes sense for both Brian and the Hornets.

	Charlotte CHARLOTTE UNC Charlotte is one of a generation of universities founded in metropolitan areas of the United States immediately after World War II in response to rising education demands generated by the war and its technology. Now a research intensive university, UNC Charlotte is the fourth largest of the 16 institutions within the University of North Carolina system and the largest institution in the Charlotte region. The university comprises seven professional colleges and currently offers 18 doctoral programs, 62 master’s degree programs and 90 bachelor’s degrees. More than 900 full-time faculty comprise the university’s academic departments and the 2007 fall enrollment exceeded 22,300 students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the 49ers.

[The Fly]

How many seasons does this make for Brian in the NBA? Wondering if he's now qualified for a pension. I think you need five years, but I'm not sure about that.

[Lifelong Flyer Fan]

This will be his 5th season.

[San Diego Flyer]

Hornets announcement:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16...ts-1-year-deal

Veteran minimum of $1M/year could even go up next season. A guy can live on that.

Another from the Hornets:

"The 30-year-old point guard returns to the Hornets for a reported one-year, minimum contract. Kevin Pelton believes Roberts is a solid full-time backup at this stage of his career."

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I hope the Hornets are in position to win 48+ games again next season. This could be really huge for Brian, having a coach that loves you as a veteran backup on a playoff caliber team, could set him up for 3/4 years as an appreciated role player for the veteran minimum of $1M+. Add an almost certain increase in the vet minimum over the next few years when the cap goes to $110M, and this turned out extremely good for BR. Plus the added stability of a coach that has job security, this is a win-win-win on all fronts.

Bouncing around from Memphis to Miami to Portland like a stale cookie did not bode well.
This move fixes all that.

[BRob2Perryman3]

BRob..is a positive impact on ANY team. Might be minimal, but his addition to any team makes that team better. From 2 star recruit to NBA veteran. This is UD basketball in a nutshell. Go Flyers!!