How The Shorter Moratorium Period Could Impact The Celtics

http://www.celticshub.com/2016/03/18/57963/



How The Shorter Moratorium Period Could Impact The Celtics




Posted by Ryan Bernardoni

on Mar 18, 2016




Dec 31, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics center Tyler Zeller (44) high fives Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger (7) as Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins (15) holds the ball after a Boston basket during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports




Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted out Thursday that the NBA and NBPA have agreed to shorten the “moratorium” that the league imposes at the beginning of each league year. This is the time used for the league to complete a full audit of their books and set the exact salary cap for the next season. As the cap is unknown during this period, but previous contracts have expired, teams are able to speak to free agents but not make their signings official.

The immediate reaction to the change is that it’s in response to last summer’s emoji-fueled DeAndre Jordan soap opera, which it probably is. Jordan was an unrestricted free agent though, and the players most commonly impacted by the moratorium are restricted free agents. The issue for them is that offer sheets cannot be logged with the league during the moratorium. That means that, if a team agrees to an offer sheet with an RFA early in the moratorium, the waiting period to see if the rights-owning team will match can be very long. That wait puts all other team plans on hold but can still result in nothing. Teams are very hesitant to make plays on RFAs until the moratorium is over, and by that point the player can find their market dried up because other teams have filled their needs with unrestricted players. The change adds a minor concern to the Celtics’ coming offseason, but may also create an opportunity.

The Celtics have important players entering restricted free agency in the coming summers and, because they may not be a simple decision to keep but also won’t be getting max contracts, the negotiations could be difficult. The ideal, from a team perspective, RFA negotiation goes like Jae Crowder’s did. The player, knowing their leverage isn’t great, agrees to a long contract at a salary that seems fair. If the salary is above their cap hold and qualifying offer, they come to an agreement but do not sign the contract until later in the offseason so the team can use the space between those figures to make other moves. If RFAs know that they can get to the point where teams are willing to extend offers before the market has dried up, they may be less willing to come to this type of agreement.

Jared Sullinger and Tyler Zeller hit the market this summer and Kelly Olynyk the year after. It looks like Zeller may be playing his way off the team, or at least well down the big man market, but Sullinger’s situation is more tricky.

He could still come to quick terms, which would be important because the Celtics potentially have big plans for their cap space, but if the wait to seriously talk to other teams is now less than a week he might be smart to wait things out and then force the Celtics’ hand.

Sully is a bit of a divisive figure but a 24 year old center in the top-10 in RPM for the position, and a starter on a playoff team, has a right to expect a contract paying well into 8-figures per year. If he gets that via an offer sheet instead of on an early agreement from Boston, it could force the team to lose him or eat up cap space before business is done, especially if a player like Kevin Durant moves slowly in deciding his next move and the rest of the market sits basically on hold for some time. A similar issue could come to bear in 2017, when Olynyk, who will have many suitors, will be part of a star-studded free agent class.

Where there’s risk, there’s also potential reward. Last season we saw a set of attractive restricted free agents, including Crowder, agree to return to their former teams. The Celtics would likely have been interested in someone like Kris Middleton (everyone wanted Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green) if he had waited to hit the more open, post-moratorium market. This summer, Harrison Barnes could be a target for the team and Golden State has some difficult decisions to make around his re-signing.

If Kevin Durant really shows any interest in the Warriors they would have to wait on Barnes to keep that possibility open. If Durant takes a few weeks to make his decision it means that a team could jump in and poach Barnes. Bradley Beal, Festus Ezeli, and Evan Fournier could be in the same situation. Andre Drummond is an RFA but Detroit will match any offer sheet anyway, so the change matter less to players in that situation. In 2017, that pool of good-but-not-max (at the moment) RFAs includes players like Victor Oladipo, Nerlens Noel, and Steven Adams. A competing GM could look to poach Sullinger or Olynyk, and find Boston making the same move on their players.

In my opinion, this is a good change for the league. The DeAndre Jordan saga was interesting, and funny to follow, but not good for two franchises. The change also gives some additional options to the restricted free agents who have historically sat in a very weak negotiating position, and I’m generally for more player power. It will be good to maintain (or eliminate) a shorter moratorium period in the long-term, but the timing of the change isn’t great for the Celtics.



bob



,

The longer moratorium was a farce and the shorter one will be one as well. Teams are able to talk with players but they could not agree to actual terms of a new contract until the moratorium is over. Maybe once upon a time teams followed the rules, but recently the media has reported many of the details of the new contracts before the moratorium was over.

A shorter farce is better than a longer one, but perhaps changing the rules to eliminate all talks between players and teams until the league's numbers are posted is the best answer. If the wait is only one week (or so), so what? At least the nod and wink charade will be over.

gyso

gyso wrote:The longer moratorium was a farce and the shorter one will be one as well.  Teams are able to talk with players but they could not agree to actual terms of a new contract until the moratorium is over.  Maybe once upon a time teams followed the rules, but recently the media has reported many of the details of the new contracts before the moratorium was over.

A shorter farce is better than a longer one, but perhaps changing the rules to eliminate all talks between players and teams until the league's numbers are posted is the best answer.  If the wait is only one week (or so), so what?  At least the nod and wink charade will be over.

gyso

gyso,

None of it is enforceable.

Isaiah Thomas is our best recruiter. How does one tell him that he cannot talk to any player he wants to, and enforce that? DWade talked to LeBron and sold him on the Heat. It didn't matter how long the moratorium was, LeBron was already sold, by a fellow player.

I agree a shorter farce is better, but I don't know of how to end it.


bob


.

Bob,

Players can talk to players, nothing gets changed there. The rule of no team - player conversations with agreement to terms is enforceable, yet the league usually turns a deaf ear on this. That is the farce.

gyso