2010 Exposes True NBA Player Intentions

While it is barely midway through the 2008-2009 NBA season, most NBA enthusiasts are impatiently waiting for the 2010-2011 off-season to role around. For those unaware of how free agency works, players sign contracts with limited life-span for a certain number of years and depending on their career, have the opportunity to sign extensions. When their contract is up, the player then either becomes a restricted or unrestricted free agent, depending on the contract wording. An unrestricted free agent is a player with the option to sign with any team, regardless of what their current team says; a restricted free agent is the same as an unrestricted, however the players' current team has the ability to match any offer made by other teams. Either way, the facts show that players generally tend to stay with their current team. In the past decade, only 9 high profile players switched teams through free agency.

Well why is the 2010 season different? Money. With the media industry's capabilities today, NBA All Stars do not base their entire signing on the allotted money in a given contract; advertising and personal marketing help skyrocket players' earnings. After the 2009-2010 season, at least 19 high profile NBA Stars will be up for free agency. These players include LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki, Tracy McGrady, Shaq, Dwyane Wade, Michael Redd and many more. While these are all respected players on their current squads, huge contracts may not be enough to keep each of these players.




Expert analyst Jalen Rose expands on the future of LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

LeBron James is the biggest name of the 2010 free agent market. He is currently a star on the Cleveland Caveliers, with many huge sponsors including huge companies such as Nike and will make above $157 million. LeBron has already alluded to the fact that he "may" be interested in the New York Knicks as a free agent. I bet you're confused as to why the arguably highest profile NBA player would want to be on a depleted New York Knick squad, but think about it logically. Where in the United States can you get better marketing and advertising than the Big Apple? The only two cities who can even compete are Chicago and Los Angeles, but neither of these teams have anywhere near the Salary Cap space to take on the money LeBron wants in his contract.

This is just one of LeBrons huge advertisements that he was able to attain in Cleveland, commercials depicting "The LeBrons." Unfortunately, this seems to not be enough marketing to keep him satisfied in Cleveland.

To be honest this whole issue is a matter of X's and O's. These stars are looking for a place to thrive in today's less-than-average economy. Each player is looking for the best location for themselves to make money, not even win basketball games. It's kind of pathetic that the NBA has come down to this, and has sacrificed its' integrity to satisfy the top players needs. Nobody can convince me that it is better for the NBA to have great players on terrible NBA teams in high marketing locations, rather than great players on decent teams in average advertising places. I guess we'll see in 2010 when decisions are made. Hopefully there will be some players who value their experience and winning like the only days, and not just money.