9 mil!?!?! And were paying AB 8?!?! I'm shaking my head so much I had to call off work. I'm throwing up. We need players like Lance. Playmakers. and to know he only went for a million more than AB makes it even worse.
Locker room stuff matters. A lot of teams don't want to take a chance on bad character with a high-priced free agent, because it's harder to fix if the rumors are all true. A cheap player, sure, you can cut him easily.
But also, Bradley makes $15 million over the next two seasons, while Lance makes $18 million. That's 20% more. And if Lance is as wonderful a bargain as you think he is, and he may be, he'll make a lot more from 2016-2018, when Bradley is scheduled to make $17 million. If he puts the locker room antics behind himself, Lance should probably wind up making on average $3-4 million more per season over the 4 years of Bradley's contract, or near 50% more. If he doesn't, it's because NBA teams just don't think he's worth the trouble.
In a professional league, lockeroom stuff SHOULD NOT matter. It's what the guy does on the court. If he's a headache in the lockerroom but and star on the court, people need to get over it. They are all professionals and shouldnt be coddled becasue someone rubs them the wrong way. I would have rather had Lance over Bradley. Terrible decision by Ainge.
I'm sorry, but that's just naive. If a player isn't professional off the court, that's going to detract from practices, film sessions, game plans and the like. Basketball is very much a team sport -- you need everyone on the same page.
Furthermore, when that player has a history of sexual assault and domestic violence, you run further risk. Look, I think Charlotte got a good deal, but there's a reason NBA teams (and their army of private investigators) weren't tripping over each other to sign the guy. Charlotte gets a potential discount for two years, while Lance gets a chance to show everyone he's matured, before striking it huge in 2016 (he'll get Carmelo money if he grows up.)