Michigan4Life

July 6th, 2017 at 11:49 PM ^

on getting that big payday. Word is ATL will match but the Knicks are pretty dumb to give him this much money when they have Melo, D-Rose, Noah and Lee big money. They have to renounce D-Rose contract in order to pay THJ.

LSAClassOf2000

July 7th, 2017 at 6:27 AM ^

That sounds good to me. Indeed, like the last two cycles, he could cover the costs for about two years of HTTV in one big donation, making all of us seem like we're holding back.

Actually, as long as anyone - I don't care who - who cares to give indeed gives more than Andre Roberson leaves as a tip if yesterday's story is the case, that works for me. 

BoFlex

July 7th, 2017 at 12:08 AM ^

I don't even know how to judge the value of NBA contracts anymore with the new salary cap... Curry is making close to $41 million a year now, and benchwarmers like Mozgov are making $16 million a year... I can't tell if THJ is undervalued at $17.75 million over or under valued now... Less than half the "value" of Curry, but only slightly more than Mozgov?

OwenGoBlue

July 7th, 2017 at 12:17 AM ^

Courtney Lee must be on the move or at least available. Weird for the Knicks since they weren't willing to pay Justin Holiday and could have had him for much cheaper. This is the price they pay for the dumb trade that sent him away. Will be fun to root for THJ in the Garden again.

RChenemy

July 7th, 2017 at 12:20 AM ^

(Long time lurker, first time commenter!)

In February, I wrote an article at the NBA blog 16 Wins A Ring about THJ during his run of excellent play in early/mid-February, basically saying that the advanced metrics show that he's been playing at this level for a while and just hadn't gotten the minutes to showcase his skills.

This contract is kinda crazy, but he might be a little more deserving of it than people realize!

https://16winsaring.com/tim-hardaway-jr-has-been-ready-this-whole-time-…

Vengeful Barbarian

July 7th, 2017 at 2:54 AM ^

being critical of the nba money printing machine does make sense. their "success" which allows for high salaries do come at a cost to consumers, who have to pay higher and cable rates, or fans who get squeezed by high ticket prices when they go to games. I dont know about you, but after my two year contract expires at the end of august, my DISH network bill is about to jump from $65 a month to $89 a month, all for the same channel lineup that I need to watch Michigan football. no doubt some of that higher price is due to the rising media rights deals rhat keep going up. im fed up and I'm cutting the cord. I'll settle for watching football at my in-laws instead.

TrueBlue2003

July 7th, 2017 at 8:10 PM ^

works. It isn't that the players get paid first and then the prices follow to keep up with costs.  The revenues from TV deals and for tickets are entirely driven by fan demand.  And with those revenues, teams pay players what they want (and they are still extremely profitable after paying players these huge salaries).

So good for THJ and the league and the players for producing a product that commands those prices and earns that revenue - the NBA has performed favorably compared to most other television programming in the past few years.

remdog

July 7th, 2017 at 6:19 AM ^

Since the NBA essentially has a monopoly exempt from anti-trust laws, a union which is also essentially a protected monopoly and stadiums often paid for by taxpayers. All this anticompetitive political favoritism and cronyism is driving these ridiculously huge salaries while screwing the little guy. The salaries would probably still be high for the best players but not this high without special treatment by politicians.

Crootin

July 7th, 2017 at 8:56 AM ^

THJ didn't force the public to pay for stadiums.  How is this "screwing the little guy"?  NBA salaries are through he roof.  So what?  It isn't a zero sum game.  They bring in revenue.  People pay to watch.  Also, don't blame the politicians, blame the voters.  #nopolitics

Hard-Baughlls

July 7th, 2017 at 12:56 AM ^

Great for Hardaway.  Happy for him.

NBA suck now though...2 elite teams (Cleveland, GS) and 2 contenders (San Antonio, Boston)

Just terribly uncompetitive.  

South TX MFan

July 7th, 2017 at 5:41 AM ^

Wow. Some of these contracts are ridiculous. Holiday re-signed with the Pelicans for 5yrs/$126M while averaging 15ppg and has missed 144 games over the past 4 years.

CarlosSpicyweiner21

July 7th, 2017 at 8:12 AM ^

Love Timmy, but this just shows what is wrong with this world. An average player is going to get almost $20 mill a year when his true value is maybe 3-4 mill. I love sports, but at some point this world needs to stop attending games and stop watching TV. 

When so many people in the world can't keep a home and can't afford food there is an issue when basketball players are getting paid $40 Mill a year. They are playing a game that generally offers the world zero value besides getting away from their life for 2-3 hrs and frankly often causes extreme amounts of hate towards other people.

redjugador24

July 7th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^

Not knocking THJ because clearly I'd take the $ too, but that is an absurd amount of money for a guy that is by no means a superstar.  All that TV $, ticket revenue, etc. that is driving up these contracts comes from us as consumers and as taxpayers.  At what point (if ever) do we as consumers decide the product is overpriced and the bottom fall out of the league?

BlueMaize

July 7th, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^

When you consider "true value" it comes down to pure supply and demand. The owners are making BILLIONS now in the NBA. Teams hat had a value of a few hundred thousand just 5-10 years ago are now worth over a billion. When you consider this, and the fact that the competitive teams are able to do even better, it makes sense that owners are willing to shell out big cash during free agency.

The bigger discussion of wealth inequality in the world comes down to the capitalist society itself - if the players didn't deserve this kind of money, fans wouldn't be spending money on tickets and TV contracts and merchandise which makes the owners super-rich who then pass along some of that wealth to the players. As long as fans are paying for the product, everyone involved in producing that product are gonna get paid.

redjugador24

July 7th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^

I can fist bump and cheerlead like a boss, and mix in the occasional chest bump when its earned.  I have no problem grabbing water for the superstars.  In garbage time I could hit +30% on threes.  I gotta be worth $30 million or so..... Need to get me an agent.