Danny's Word

[amenhotep04]

Seeing that Amir Johnson got traded again, it made me think about the year he was drafted.  Danny wanted him, but didn't think he'd be around when the Cs picked in the second round.  Yet, when our pick came up, Danny chose Orien Greene because he had given his word to Greene.  He tried to tell Greene they would bring him in anyway even if he wasn't drafted, but Greene and his agent talked about Danny's word. So Danny chose Greene.

Why am I bringing this up?  Danny's caught some flack of late with the Powe situation.  I guess I just wanted to say that there's more there than meets the eye.

Slow news day.

[Roy Hobbs]

I think giving your word means a lot between GMs and agents.  I know when Carlos Boozer backed out of his verbal agreement, his agent felt a ton of pressure. 

Or, look at the Marquis Daniels situation.  Both the agent and the team seem happy with the arrangement, and both sides are acting like they are bound by it.

On the other hand, you've got the Hedo Turkuglu deal.  I think he and his agent probably made a lot of enemies with their decision to back out of a deal.  If there's any gray area, it's that Hedo's signing came during the July moratorium, when teams can't officially sign players.

[RAcker]

I think giving your word means a lot between GMs and agents.  I know when Carlos Boozer backed out of his verbal agreement, his agent felt a ton of pressure. 

Or, look at the Marquis Daniels situation.  Both the agent and the team seem happy with the arrangement, and both sides are acting like they are bound by it.

On the other hand, you've got the Hedo Turkuglu deal.  I think he and his agent probably made a lot of enemies with their decision to back out of a deal.  If there's any gray area, it's that Hedo's signing came during the July moratorium, when teams can't officially sign players.

I've pretty much thought the same thing.  Agents generally represent a lot of talent and if you give your word and back out, you might just be screwing your team out of any future cooperation from his clients. 

Again, this is probably not a spoken thing, but it's hard for me to believe that grudges aren't held by certain agents considering that this same thing happens in every other business on the planet.

[jdpapa3]

I'd like to see a good author get involved with something like this for a book or in-depth article. The relationships between agents/gm's seem fascinating on the outside. Fascinating to hoops junkies, that is.

[amenhotep04]

I think giving your word means a lot between GMs and agents.  I know when Carlos Boozer backed out of his verbal agreement, his agent felt a ton of pressure. 

Or, look at the Marquis Daniels situation.  Both the agent and the team seem happy with the arrangement, and both sides are acting like they are bound by it.

On the other hand, you've got the Hedo Turkuglu deal.  I think he and his agent probably made a lot of enemies with their decision to back out of a deal.  If there's any gray area, it's that Hedo's signing came during the July moratorium, when teams can't officially sign players.

Interesting,the relationship with agents has to be above board.

Regarding Turkoglu, what's he got a six year deal?  Definitely his last contract.  Terribly overpriced. Hard to tell how much involvement his agent had with this.  Hedo may have blown his agent off.

[billysan]

I would say that most agents and GM's try to keep their word. Players are usually the ones to 'break' verbal commitments. OTOH in a situation like Boozer with Cleveland and going to Utah, it was the Jazz who dangled the bait after Boozer had verbally committed.

This may not be the same as breaking their word, but the Jazz definitely 'snuck in there'. Is this considered a character issue with players and could it have affected the ability of the Jazz to move Boozer this year?

[guava_wrench]

I would say that most agents and GM's try to keep their word. Players are usually the ones to 'break' verbal commitments. OTOH in a situation like Boozer with Cleveland and going to Utah, it was the Jazz who dangled the bait after Boozer had verbally committed.

This may not be the same as breaking their word, but the Jazz definitely 'snuck in there'. Is this considered a character issue with players and could it have affected the ability of the Jazz to move Boozer this year?

There is definitely more incentive for teams to keep their word than for players, since the player only signs one contract at a time, while teams have to be able to lure many players. Teams can only blame agents so much for players' decisions since agents can't actually control players.

[BoundingRounder]

Seeing that Amir Johnson got traded again, it made me think about the year he was drafted.  Danny wanted him, but didn't think he'd be around when the Cs picked in the second round.  Yet, when our pick came up, Danny chose Orien Greene because he had given his word to Greene.  He tried to tell Greene they would bring him in anyway even if he wasn't drafted, but Greene and his agent talked about Danny's word. So Danny chose Greene.

Why am I bringing this up?  Danny's caught some flack of late with the Powe situation.  I guess I just wanted to say that there's more there than meets the eye.

Slow news day.

Danny shouldn't be catching any flack...He never said he offered Powe a contract "previous" to Cleveland's offer...That's just the way a lot of people chose to see it, including reporters...You won't see any quotes around what Danny supposedly said...Seriously, check it out...It's simply another case of "making the news" not reporting it...