The trade proposal:
Dallas sends 24-year-old point guard Devin Harris, veteran swingman Jerry Stackhouse, the expiring contracts of center DeSagana Diop and swingman Devean George and guard Maurice Ager to New Jersey for Kidd and forward Malik Allen.
Sources say Dallas will also send the Nets the league-maximum $3 million, the Mavs' first-round draft pick this June and a first-rounder in 2010.
The Rule:
-1-Year Bird: Must receive consent to trade players with a 1-year contract, excluding options, who will become Early Bird or Bird free agents at teh end of the contract, or players who have accepted a qualifying offer for a 5th season following the 4th option season on the Rookie Scale. If the player consents, he will lose his Bird rights and become a non-Bird free agent at the end of the contract.
-George's "early Bird rights,'' which come from being on his second one-year deal, mainly give him a chance to sign his next contract for more than the salary cap allows. However, he's unlikely to command that much anyway. Another benefit is the veto power that's also part of those rights, as per the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.
-The Mavs have the right to sign Devean George, this offseason, even though they are over the salary cap. This means he has Bird Rights, named after a similar scenario that involved Larry Bird during Bird's playing days.
-Other 1-Year Bird players include: Derek Anderson, Jeff McInnis, Dwayne Jones, Anthony Carter, Kelenna Azubuike, Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus, Dikembe Mutombo, Chris Mihm, Earl Barron, Jannero Pargo, Sean Marks, Jacque Vaughn, Darrick Martin, C.J. Miles, and Roger Mason.
-Because George's current contract is for only one season, his rights are not transferable to another team (they would be transferable if his current contract were for more than one season). Since he would be losing those rights -- known as Early Bird Rights - he has to consent to the proposed Mavs-Nets trade.
The Block:
George's agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN.com by phone: "We're not trying to block anything. The issue is that if he agrees to this deal, he has to give up his Bird rights. To lose that tool in today's world of free agency is a difficult thing to do. In this day and age, the sign-and-trade is a valuable tool that I don't want to lose for Devean. We're not trying to cause a problem. Teams have to do what's in their best interest. Sometimes players do, too. I hate to cause grief, but I have to do what's best for Devean. It's not a power play. My job is to protect him."
Video of George:
Showing posts with label Mark Bartelstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Bartelstein. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sports Agents Discuss Negotiating
This Is Not a Game
Top sports agents share their negotiating secrets.
Alix Stuart, CFO Magazine
January 1, 2006
From the sidelines, professional athletes have leverage that corporate negotiators can only dream of. Endowed with unmatchable skills and advised by top agents, stars like Alex Rodriguez, LeBron James, and Maria Sharapova can just name their price, threaten to walk, and receive untold riches, right?
Not quite. For anyone who has followed the saga of Terrell Owens, All-Pro wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, it's clear that even a star needs to play by certain rules. When Owens's agent, Drew "The Shark" Rosenhaus, fumbled an attempt to secure a better contract for him, Owens vented his displeasure by insulting his teammates and was effectively terminated.
While Owens's situation is an extreme example of how aggressiveness can backfire, other top agents say they are just as restricted by basic negotiation principles as the next guy. "There has to be some resolute willingness to push the envelope," says sports agent Leigh Steinberg, head of Leigh Steinberg Enterprises and the inspiration for the character Jerry Maguire in the 1996 movie of the same name, but "you need to remember that all humans have ego and pride, so the key is to try and avoid confrontation."
Can the intricacies of sports negotiation offer any lessons for finance executives? Sure, signing All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens to another year is much more glamorous than brokering a better compensation package, selling off a business, or quelling employee dissatisfaction. But the similarities outweigh the differences. Deal-making in the corporate world involves "the same dynamics" as negotiating sports contracts, says Peter Carfagna, who oversaw contracts for the likes of Tiger Woods while he was chief legal officer at International Management Group and now teaches negotiation strategy at Case Western Reserve University. Even when you have a good deal of leverage, he adds, "you have to use it selectively, so you develop a reputation for being reasonable."
Make a List, Check It Twice
The first step, say many agents, is to catalog what you want. The longer and more varied your wish list, the better. "You should itemize a whole litany of requests, which become bargaining chips," says Bill Duffy, agent for National Basketball Association stars like Yao Ming and Drew Gooden. That strategy essentially means padding your must-haves with nice-to-haves and not disclosing which are which. "You may have things that you're willing to throw away, but your opponent doesn't know that," says Duffy.
Knowing the priorities ahead of time makes it easier to concentrate on the things that matter most to your client, says Lon S. Babby, agent for the NBA's Grant Hill and Ray Allen. He gives clients a list and asks them to rank about 15 criteria, from salaries and incentives to state income-tax considerations. Such lists are just as critical in corporate deals, although they may not appear until the later stages of a negotiation. "A lot of people think it's just about price, but it's often more subtle," says Peter Falvey, managing director at Revolution Partners, a Boston-based investment bank. In his experience, concerns like liquidity and employee provisions often take precedence.
The question then becomes whether to tackle the most or least important issue first — and how transparent to make the ranking. Carfagna says that while at IMG he used an "inside-out strategy," starting with the most-important issues, "because I wanted to know if we had a deal before getting to the peripheral issues." In the corporate world, some deal-makers, like John J. Leahy, CFO of Boston-based technology consultancy Keane Inc., believe in dealing with the low-hanging fruit first. "The more things you can agree to, the more psychological momentum you get, and the further along you are to getting the deal done," he says.
In most corporate deals, a letter of intent spells out core terms like price and time frame, so there is a defined starting point. Finance chiefs say that makes the process more efficient. Duffy, on the other hand, prefers to have the other side make the first offer, because "you certainly wouldn't want to underbid." Either way, the key to a successful deal is to engineer the back-and-forth so that "you get what you want, but you have the other side offer it," says Babby.
Head Games Once you know what you want, the next step is to "inhabit the reality" of the person with whom you are negotiating, says Steinberg. "You've got to understand what the pressures are on that person," he adds. His first step is to research the negotiation history of a team's general manager, running through questions like: Is this someone who will make a first offer and stick with it, or does he play a high-low negotiation game? Is this someone who has real authority, or will he need to run the deal by his boss?
Such due diligence, as CFOs would call it, is much like that advocated by negotiation guru Roger Fisher in his landmark book Getting to Yes, and it recently helped Steinberg land a giant salary for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. When Steinberg negotiated the first-round draft pick's initial contract with the Steelers in 2004, he knew the team was "philosophically opposed" to clauses known as escalators — incentives that enhance base salary in a deal's latter years. For his part, though, Roethlisberger wanted the opportunity to earn more for performance and to keep pace with other quarterbacks over time.
So Steinberg did some creative term-setting, and in the end Roethlisberger agreed to take the lowest possible base salary in his starting year in exchange for a $9 million signing bonus and a six-year contract filled with incentives based on playing time that could make it worth as much as $40 million over that time. "Had we insisted on an escalator, he might still be holding out," says Steinberg.
On the corporate side, Keane CFO Leahy has recognized that one of his first steps in deals with privately held, owner-run companies is to get sellers "past the emotional hurdle" of letting go. Since sellers are typically concerned with the fate of their customers and employees, Leahy says that he tries to make the case that merging with Keane will be best for all involved. Without promising too much, he tries to get owners comfortable with "the role current employees will play in the combined company, or demonstrate the type of investments we're willing to make."
Perception Is Reality
Of course, what both sides want ultimately ends up second to what the market will bear. Consequently, in sports negotiations — as in many CEO and CFO compensation contracts — a major component of external due diligence is a peer review. That often means making a case that a particular athlete exceeds the competition — as the agent defines it. "The question in these negotiations is often whose definition of performance and value will prevail," says Steinberg.
Setting such terms is especially important when marketing somewhat damaged goods. Last season, Tom O'Connell, head of Tampa-based Legends Management Group, represented a minor-league third baseman who was struggling after a "tremendous" previous season. By isolating the source of his poor performance — a switch to the American League after seven years in the National League — O'Connell could then go back to some of the National League teams that had courted him to "rekindle the fire." And in the end, O'Connell secured a deal in a more familiar environment; one that he believes offers the player a greater opportunity to make the majors. The trick, says O'Connell, is selling potential: "It's very easy to ride a thoroughbred, but Seabiscuit is a whole different animal," he explains.
Similarly, the jockeying Guidant recently did to rejuvenate its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson is a case study in emphasizing potential. When Guidant announced last fall that some of its pacemakers and defibrillators had been recalled, J&J tried to renege on its $25 billion offer, on the grounds that conditions had materially changed. Rather than rolling over and playing dead, however, Guidant filed a lawsuit against J&J for breach of contract, maintaining that its share price was still strong and that it would soon have the lawsuits behind it. Ultimately, the two parties agreed on a discounted price — about 15 percent below the original offer. (At press time, however, another suitor — Boston Scientific Corp. — had trumped the J&J bid for Guidant and the deal was uncertain.)
Some agents have struck gold for their clients by thinking outside the peer group. That was how former tennis player Anna Kournikova earned a reported $20 million in endorsements in 1999, more than any other female tennis player, even though she was hardly a top-ranked player. "We posited that the marketplace for Anna Kournikova was not the tennis marketplace, but the celebrity and entertainment marketplace," says Kournikova's agent at the time, Octagon's Phil de Picciotto. "Essentially the argument is, 'Yes, you're paying more than you ever thought you would. But we're going to deliver more than you could ever imagine.'"
Executive-compensation consultants are hard-pressed to name a CFO with that kind of star power, but there are ways to stand apart. "Some CFOs are more valuable than others, either because they have depth in a certain area of finance expertise or breadth in areas beyond finance," says Jan Koors, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners. One advantage enjoyed by those in the business world is that, unlike athletes, executives typically enhance their skills with age. An athlete, says Babby, may be "the nicest guy in the city, but if he can't play anymore, it's a cold business."
Resolve and Patience
Many athletes get the best deals when they have alternatives. That's why free agency, or being able to field offers from multiple teams, is so often at the heart of the deal in professional sports.
That fact was perfectly illustrated by Ray Allen's most recent negotiations with the Seattle SuperSonics, says Babby. The agent started by approaching the team a year ahead of the contract expiration to offer it first dibs on "a franchise icon," but found the team unwilling to pay. Not until a year later did the team re-sign Allen at the salary he wanted — after his contract expired and he had other offers. "We saw the market one way, they saw it another way, and ultimately we couldn't get it resolved until [Allen] could go out and prove his value," the agent says.
Still, for the ultimate alternative — walking away — to work, says Carfagna, "you have to be willing to make good on your threat." Such resolve is probably why the Minnesota Vikings' Bryant McKinnie eventually got a better deal than the team wanted to give. The seventh draft pick in 2002 asked to be paid more than the player ranked behind him, but the team refused to meet that condition. In response, McKinnie held out eight weeks into the regular season, losing out on any salary he would have been paid if he had been signed in a timely fashion. Finally, as the November 1 deadline by which Minnesota had to sign or lose him drew near, the team owners caved and paid McKinnie for a full five years, despite the half season he'd missed. "He was able to resist the temptation of signing an inferior deal," says McKinnie's agent, SFX Sports Group's Jim Steiner.
When such strong-arm tactics would be counterproductive, agents say that relying on performance-based contingencies — and patience — can be the best way to get a deal done. When the San Francisco 49ers released Jerry Rice in 2001 at age 39, for example, Steiner, his agent, admits that "we had only a certain amount of leverage, because there were only two teams interested, [the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions,] and Detroit was willing to go only so far." In that case, he and Rice accepted a relatively low seven-figure salary, and then renegotiated for a better deal after Rice exceeded expectations and went to the Pro Bowl.
Similarly, earnout structures used in deals when an unproven product is at stake can reward future value. Murraysville, Pennsylvania-based medical-device maker Respironics Inc., for example, agreed to buy a product line from SpectRx Inc. back in 2003 for $5 million in cash and an additional $6.25 million over the next two years, contingent on the business's performance. In November, SpectRx got the last of its checks from the buyer, ending up with a grand total of $9.5 million for the product line. Says CFO Dan Bevevino: Earnouts are "a good way to bridge any difference in valuation perspectives," while ensuring that the buyer pays only for what it gets.
Be Nice
In all negotiations, however, sports agents agree that the tenor must be professional, courteous, and ethical. As soft as it sounds, many agents say building good relationships is what is most critical to getting the best deals. "It's a small world, and what goes around comes around," says Duffy.
Such an attitude paid off in spades for agent Mark Bartelstein when client Darius Songaila's contract with the Sacramento Kings came up for renewal last year. Bartelstein could have secured a release by working up a three-year deal with another NBA team that the Kings could not have matched, but Songaila's preference was an offer the Kings easily could have topped — a shorter contract from the Chicago Bulls.
So, with nothing to offer, Bartelstein went to the King's operating chief, whom he considers a friend, and asked for a favor. "I went to Geoff[Petrie] and said, 'Would you do the right thing for Darius?'" Bartelstein recalls, at which point Petrie backed off the negotiations. Bartelstein believes the implicit agreement was that he would remember the goodwill in the future when it came to marketing the Kings to clients. "He knows I'm not going to forget he did something for me," says Bartelstein.
The ultimate prize for a CFO in any negotiation, however, may be the personal satisfaction that comes from a battle well fought, regardless of the final terms. If a CFO won't argue for what he really wants, says Steinberg, he will be consigned to "that great mass of people who walk through life with a terrible roiling sense in their gut, feeling underappreciated and trod on." And, of course, if you can show shareholders the money, you may just feel like a star.
Alix Nyberg Stuart is senior writer at CFO.
http://www.cfo.com/printable/article.cfm/5347948/c_5350503?f=options
Top sports agents share their negotiating secrets.
Alix Stuart, CFO Magazine
January 1, 2006
From the sidelines, professional athletes have leverage that corporate negotiators can only dream of. Endowed with unmatchable skills and advised by top agents, stars like Alex Rodriguez, LeBron James, and Maria Sharapova can just name their price, threaten to walk, and receive untold riches, right?
Not quite. For anyone who has followed the saga of Terrell Owens, All-Pro wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, it's clear that even a star needs to play by certain rules. When Owens's agent, Drew "The Shark" Rosenhaus, fumbled an attempt to secure a better contract for him, Owens vented his displeasure by insulting his teammates and was effectively terminated.
While Owens's situation is an extreme example of how aggressiveness can backfire, other top agents say they are just as restricted by basic negotiation principles as the next guy. "There has to be some resolute willingness to push the envelope," says sports agent Leigh Steinberg, head of Leigh Steinberg Enterprises and the inspiration for the character Jerry Maguire in the 1996 movie of the same name, but "you need to remember that all humans have ego and pride, so the key is to try and avoid confrontation."
Can the intricacies of sports negotiation offer any lessons for finance executives? Sure, signing All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens to another year is much more glamorous than brokering a better compensation package, selling off a business, or quelling employee dissatisfaction. But the similarities outweigh the differences. Deal-making in the corporate world involves "the same dynamics" as negotiating sports contracts, says Peter Carfagna, who oversaw contracts for the likes of Tiger Woods while he was chief legal officer at International Management Group and now teaches negotiation strategy at Case Western Reserve University. Even when you have a good deal of leverage, he adds, "you have to use it selectively, so you develop a reputation for being reasonable."
Make a List, Check It Twice
The first step, say many agents, is to catalog what you want. The longer and more varied your wish list, the better. "You should itemize a whole litany of requests, which become bargaining chips," says Bill Duffy, agent for National Basketball Association stars like Yao Ming and Drew Gooden. That strategy essentially means padding your must-haves with nice-to-haves and not disclosing which are which. "You may have things that you're willing to throw away, but your opponent doesn't know that," says Duffy.
Knowing the priorities ahead of time makes it easier to concentrate on the things that matter most to your client, says Lon S. Babby, agent for the NBA's Grant Hill and Ray Allen. He gives clients a list and asks them to rank about 15 criteria, from salaries and incentives to state income-tax considerations. Such lists are just as critical in corporate deals, although they may not appear until the later stages of a negotiation. "A lot of people think it's just about price, but it's often more subtle," says Peter Falvey, managing director at Revolution Partners, a Boston-based investment bank. In his experience, concerns like liquidity and employee provisions often take precedence.
The question then becomes whether to tackle the most or least important issue first — and how transparent to make the ranking. Carfagna says that while at IMG he used an "inside-out strategy," starting with the most-important issues, "because I wanted to know if we had a deal before getting to the peripheral issues." In the corporate world, some deal-makers, like John J. Leahy, CFO of Boston-based technology consultancy Keane Inc., believe in dealing with the low-hanging fruit first. "The more things you can agree to, the more psychological momentum you get, and the further along you are to getting the deal done," he says.
In most corporate deals, a letter of intent spells out core terms like price and time frame, so there is a defined starting point. Finance chiefs say that makes the process more efficient. Duffy, on the other hand, prefers to have the other side make the first offer, because "you certainly wouldn't want to underbid." Either way, the key to a successful deal is to engineer the back-and-forth so that "you get what you want, but you have the other side offer it," says Babby.
Head Games Once you know what you want, the next step is to "inhabit the reality" of the person with whom you are negotiating, says Steinberg. "You've got to understand what the pressures are on that person," he adds. His first step is to research the negotiation history of a team's general manager, running through questions like: Is this someone who will make a first offer and stick with it, or does he play a high-low negotiation game? Is this someone who has real authority, or will he need to run the deal by his boss?
Such due diligence, as CFOs would call it, is much like that advocated by negotiation guru Roger Fisher in his landmark book Getting to Yes, and it recently helped Steinberg land a giant salary for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. When Steinberg negotiated the first-round draft pick's initial contract with the Steelers in 2004, he knew the team was "philosophically opposed" to clauses known as escalators — incentives that enhance base salary in a deal's latter years. For his part, though, Roethlisberger wanted the opportunity to earn more for performance and to keep pace with other quarterbacks over time.
So Steinberg did some creative term-setting, and in the end Roethlisberger agreed to take the lowest possible base salary in his starting year in exchange for a $9 million signing bonus and a six-year contract filled with incentives based on playing time that could make it worth as much as $40 million over that time. "Had we insisted on an escalator, he might still be holding out," says Steinberg.
On the corporate side, Keane CFO Leahy has recognized that one of his first steps in deals with privately held, owner-run companies is to get sellers "past the emotional hurdle" of letting go. Since sellers are typically concerned with the fate of their customers and employees, Leahy says that he tries to make the case that merging with Keane will be best for all involved. Without promising too much, he tries to get owners comfortable with "the role current employees will play in the combined company, or demonstrate the type of investments we're willing to make."
Perception Is Reality
Of course, what both sides want ultimately ends up second to what the market will bear. Consequently, in sports negotiations — as in many CEO and CFO compensation contracts — a major component of external due diligence is a peer review. That often means making a case that a particular athlete exceeds the competition — as the agent defines it. "The question in these negotiations is often whose definition of performance and value will prevail," says Steinberg.
Setting such terms is especially important when marketing somewhat damaged goods. Last season, Tom O'Connell, head of Tampa-based Legends Management Group, represented a minor-league third baseman who was struggling after a "tremendous" previous season. By isolating the source of his poor performance — a switch to the American League after seven years in the National League — O'Connell could then go back to some of the National League teams that had courted him to "rekindle the fire." And in the end, O'Connell secured a deal in a more familiar environment; one that he believes offers the player a greater opportunity to make the majors. The trick, says O'Connell, is selling potential: "It's very easy to ride a thoroughbred, but Seabiscuit is a whole different animal," he explains.
Similarly, the jockeying Guidant recently did to rejuvenate its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson is a case study in emphasizing potential. When Guidant announced last fall that some of its pacemakers and defibrillators had been recalled, J&J tried to renege on its $25 billion offer, on the grounds that conditions had materially changed. Rather than rolling over and playing dead, however, Guidant filed a lawsuit against J&J for breach of contract, maintaining that its share price was still strong and that it would soon have the lawsuits behind it. Ultimately, the two parties agreed on a discounted price — about 15 percent below the original offer. (At press time, however, another suitor — Boston Scientific Corp. — had trumped the J&J bid for Guidant and the deal was uncertain.)
Some agents have struck gold for their clients by thinking outside the peer group. That was how former tennis player Anna Kournikova earned a reported $20 million in endorsements in 1999, more than any other female tennis player, even though she was hardly a top-ranked player. "We posited that the marketplace for Anna Kournikova was not the tennis marketplace, but the celebrity and entertainment marketplace," says Kournikova's agent at the time, Octagon's Phil de Picciotto. "Essentially the argument is, 'Yes, you're paying more than you ever thought you would. But we're going to deliver more than you could ever imagine.'"
Executive-compensation consultants are hard-pressed to name a CFO with that kind of star power, but there are ways to stand apart. "Some CFOs are more valuable than others, either because they have depth in a certain area of finance expertise or breadth in areas beyond finance," says Jan Koors, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners. One advantage enjoyed by those in the business world is that, unlike athletes, executives typically enhance their skills with age. An athlete, says Babby, may be "the nicest guy in the city, but if he can't play anymore, it's a cold business."
Resolve and Patience
Many athletes get the best deals when they have alternatives. That's why free agency, or being able to field offers from multiple teams, is so often at the heart of the deal in professional sports.
That fact was perfectly illustrated by Ray Allen's most recent negotiations with the Seattle SuperSonics, says Babby. The agent started by approaching the team a year ahead of the contract expiration to offer it first dibs on "a franchise icon," but found the team unwilling to pay. Not until a year later did the team re-sign Allen at the salary he wanted — after his contract expired and he had other offers. "We saw the market one way, they saw it another way, and ultimately we couldn't get it resolved until [Allen] could go out and prove his value," the agent says.
Still, for the ultimate alternative — walking away — to work, says Carfagna, "you have to be willing to make good on your threat." Such resolve is probably why the Minnesota Vikings' Bryant McKinnie eventually got a better deal than the team wanted to give. The seventh draft pick in 2002 asked to be paid more than the player ranked behind him, but the team refused to meet that condition. In response, McKinnie held out eight weeks into the regular season, losing out on any salary he would have been paid if he had been signed in a timely fashion. Finally, as the November 1 deadline by which Minnesota had to sign or lose him drew near, the team owners caved and paid McKinnie for a full five years, despite the half season he'd missed. "He was able to resist the temptation of signing an inferior deal," says McKinnie's agent, SFX Sports Group's Jim Steiner.
When such strong-arm tactics would be counterproductive, agents say that relying on performance-based contingencies — and patience — can be the best way to get a deal done. When the San Francisco 49ers released Jerry Rice in 2001 at age 39, for example, Steiner, his agent, admits that "we had only a certain amount of leverage, because there were only two teams interested, [the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions,] and Detroit was willing to go only so far." In that case, he and Rice accepted a relatively low seven-figure salary, and then renegotiated for a better deal after Rice exceeded expectations and went to the Pro Bowl.
Similarly, earnout structures used in deals when an unproven product is at stake can reward future value. Murraysville, Pennsylvania-based medical-device maker Respironics Inc., for example, agreed to buy a product line from SpectRx Inc. back in 2003 for $5 million in cash and an additional $6.25 million over the next two years, contingent on the business's performance. In November, SpectRx got the last of its checks from the buyer, ending up with a grand total of $9.5 million for the product line. Says CFO Dan Bevevino: Earnouts are "a good way to bridge any difference in valuation perspectives," while ensuring that the buyer pays only for what it gets.
Be Nice
In all negotiations, however, sports agents agree that the tenor must be professional, courteous, and ethical. As soft as it sounds, many agents say building good relationships is what is most critical to getting the best deals. "It's a small world, and what goes around comes around," says Duffy.
Such an attitude paid off in spades for agent Mark Bartelstein when client Darius Songaila's contract with the Sacramento Kings came up for renewal last year. Bartelstein could have secured a release by working up a three-year deal with another NBA team that the Kings could not have matched, but Songaila's preference was an offer the Kings easily could have topped — a shorter contract from the Chicago Bulls.
So, with nothing to offer, Bartelstein went to the King's operating chief, whom he considers a friend, and asked for a favor. "I went to Geoff[Petrie] and said, 'Would you do the right thing for Darius?'" Bartelstein recalls, at which point Petrie backed off the negotiations. Bartelstein believes the implicit agreement was that he would remember the goodwill in the future when it came to marketing the Kings to clients. "He knows I'm not going to forget he did something for me," says Bartelstein.
The ultimate prize for a CFO in any negotiation, however, may be the personal satisfaction that comes from a battle well fought, regardless of the final terms. If a CFO won't argue for what he really wants, says Steinberg, he will be consigned to "that great mass of people who walk through life with a terrible roiling sense in their gut, feeling underappreciated and trod on." And, of course, if you can show shareholders the money, you may just feel like a star.
Alix Nyberg Stuart is senior writer at CFO.
http://www.cfo.com/printable/article.cfm/5347948/c_5350503?f=options
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Detailing the Bucks-Charlie Bell Saga
Last season, Charlie Bell made $744,000. Bell had his most productive NBA season, which saw him average 13.5 points per game, 3.0 assists per game, and 1.18 steals per game.
Currently, Bell is a restricted free agent. Therefore, his options are to:
a) Sign a long-term contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
b) Accept the Bucks' one year qualifying offer of nearly $900,000 and then become an unrestricted free agent after the 2007-08 season.
c) Sign a long-term offer sheet with another team and see if the Bucks match the offer or not.
Here is a timeline of the events that took place:
-Mid August: Milwaukee offers Bell a three-year deal worth $9,000,000.
-Mid August: Bell’s camp reportedly demands the third year be a player option with larger annual payments (nearly $5,000,000 per season).
-August 31: Bell reportedly weighs offers from a handful of European teams.
-August 31: Bell's agent, Mark Bartelstein, reportedly says he is considering simply accepting the one year qualifying offer.
-September 7: Bell reportedly received an offer from Olympiacos for three years and $9,000,000.
-September 13: Bartelstein and Bell determined he would not accept the one year qualifying offer.
-September 17: Miami Heat sign Charlie Bell to a five year, $18,500,000 offer sheet. The Bucks have seven days to match, although Bartelstein and Bell have publicly tried to convince them not to match so he can play with Miami. It has been reported that Bell would make $3,000,000 in year one and an average of $3,600,000 per season throughout the agreement.
The length of the deal probably puts it out of question for Bucks general manager, Larry Harris, to match this agreement. The new deal will keep Bell under contract until he is thirty-three years old. Considering the money the Bucks have committed to Michael Redd and Mo Williams already in the backcourt, it would not make sense for Harris to bring back Bell. Earlier this sumer, the Heat made a strong run at Williams, offering him a five year, $31,000,000 contract. However, the Bucks offered a significantly larger deal at six years at $52,000,000.
Upon determining whether to matching Bell’s offer sheet, the Bucks will need to consider giving future extensions to Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villanueva, who become restricted free agents after the 2008-09 season. Therefore, Harris will most likely pass on Bell and look to fill the spot vacated with a minimum salary veteran-type player, such as Dee Brown or Troy Hudson.
Bell is a savvy veteran who shoots the ball well from long-range. He is a versatile guard who handles the ball well and plays smart. Bell is no more than an average athlete, but hestles and plays hard each night. He is able to free himself off the ball for an open jumper by using screens. He is not much of a threat to drive off the dribble, but still can score effectively.
For Miami, Bell will join Jason Williams, Dwyane Wade, Smush Parker, Chris Quinn, Daequan Cook, and Devin Green in a crowded backcourt. Bell’s addition most likely signals the end of Chris Quinn with the Heat. Additionally, the Heat will most likely look to again unload Jason Williams and his expiring contract of $8,937,500. Miami will be targeting a player who can defend at the wing and shoot the ball consistently from the outside. The addition of Bell also ends any chance that Gary Payton will return for another season. If the Heat are unable to trade Williams, they may even consider waiving him outright, in order to save money against the luxury tax.
Bell will fit in with the Heat nicely. Assuming Williams does not return to the Heat, Bell will compete for a starting job next to Wade. Bell provides a long-range shooting threat that the Heat badly need, especially after the loss of Jason Kapono to the Raptors. Last season, Belll was one of only twenty-one players who averaged more than 13 points per game, 3 assists per game, while shooting over 35 percent from behind the three point arc. His 35.2 percent mark from three point ranked thirty-third in the Eastern Conference last season.
After receiving the offer sheet from the Heat, it is probably in the best interest of all parties for the Bucks to decline matching the offer and let him move onto Miami. Although Milwaukee would have liked to have Bell return to be the first guard off the bench behind Williams and Redd, at this cost it is not worthwhile. I expect the Bucks to decline the offer sheet and turn their attention to free agent point guards. I would suggest signing a young player with upside such as Dee Brown or C.J. Miles.
Currently, Bell is a restricted free agent. Therefore, his options are to:
a) Sign a long-term contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
b) Accept the Bucks' one year qualifying offer of nearly $900,000 and then become an unrestricted free agent after the 2007-08 season.
c) Sign a long-term offer sheet with another team and see if the Bucks match the offer or not.
Here is a timeline of the events that took place:
-Mid August: Milwaukee offers Bell a three-year deal worth $9,000,000.
-Mid August: Bell’s camp reportedly demands the third year be a player option with larger annual payments (nearly $5,000,000 per season).
-August 31: Bell reportedly weighs offers from a handful of European teams.
-August 31: Bell's agent, Mark Bartelstein, reportedly says he is considering simply accepting the one year qualifying offer.
-September 7: Bell reportedly received an offer from Olympiacos for three years and $9,000,000.
-September 13: Bartelstein and Bell determined he would not accept the one year qualifying offer.
-September 17: Miami Heat sign Charlie Bell to a five year, $18,500,000 offer sheet. The Bucks have seven days to match, although Bartelstein and Bell have publicly tried to convince them not to match so he can play with Miami. It has been reported that Bell would make $3,000,000 in year one and an average of $3,600,000 per season throughout the agreement.
The length of the deal probably puts it out of question for Bucks general manager, Larry Harris, to match this agreement. The new deal will keep Bell under contract until he is thirty-three years old. Considering the money the Bucks have committed to Michael Redd and Mo Williams already in the backcourt, it would not make sense for Harris to bring back Bell. Earlier this sumer, the Heat made a strong run at Williams, offering him a five year, $31,000,000 contract. However, the Bucks offered a significantly larger deal at six years at $52,000,000.
Upon determining whether to matching Bell’s offer sheet, the Bucks will need to consider giving future extensions to Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villanueva, who become restricted free agents after the 2008-09 season. Therefore, Harris will most likely pass on Bell and look to fill the spot vacated with a minimum salary veteran-type player, such as Dee Brown or Troy Hudson.
Bell is a savvy veteran who shoots the ball well from long-range. He is a versatile guard who handles the ball well and plays smart. Bell is no more than an average athlete, but hestles and plays hard each night. He is able to free himself off the ball for an open jumper by using screens. He is not much of a threat to drive off the dribble, but still can score effectively.
For Miami, Bell will join Jason Williams, Dwyane Wade, Smush Parker, Chris Quinn, Daequan Cook, and Devin Green in a crowded backcourt. Bell’s addition most likely signals the end of Chris Quinn with the Heat. Additionally, the Heat will most likely look to again unload Jason Williams and his expiring contract of $8,937,500. Miami will be targeting a player who can defend at the wing and shoot the ball consistently from the outside. The addition of Bell also ends any chance that Gary Payton will return for another season. If the Heat are unable to trade Williams, they may even consider waiving him outright, in order to save money against the luxury tax.
Bell will fit in with the Heat nicely. Assuming Williams does not return to the Heat, Bell will compete for a starting job next to Wade. Bell provides a long-range shooting threat that the Heat badly need, especially after the loss of Jason Kapono to the Raptors. Last season, Belll was one of only twenty-one players who averaged more than 13 points per game, 3 assists per game, while shooting over 35 percent from behind the three point arc. His 35.2 percent mark from three point ranked thirty-third in the Eastern Conference last season.
After receiving the offer sheet from the Heat, it is probably in the best interest of all parties for the Bucks to decline matching the offer and let him move onto Miami. Although Milwaukee would have liked to have Bell return to be the first guard off the bench behind Williams and Redd, at this cost it is not worthwhile. I expect the Bucks to decline the offer sheet and turn their attention to free agent point guards. I would suggest signing a young player with upside such as Dee Brown or C.J. Miles.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Scouting Report: Danny Granger
The Indiana Pacers could struggle this year to make the playoffs. However, in Danny Granger, Indiana's basketball executives, Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh, have a great piece to rebuild with.
Player Name: Danny Granger
Current Team: Indiana Pacers
Ideal Position: SF
Drafted: 17th
Height/Weight: 6'9"/228
Birthdate: 4/20/83
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
High School: Grace King HS
Colleges: University of New Mexico/Bradley University
Agent: Mark Bartelstein
Contract:
05-06 $1,318,920
06-07 $1,417,800
07-08 $1,516,800
08-09 $2,329,804 (Team Option)
09-10 $3,289,684 (Qualifying Option)
Notes:
Spent first two seasons at Bradley University, before transferring to New Mexico in January 2003, shortly after his coach was replaced by Jim Les; Earned First Team All-Mountain West Conference his junior and senior seasons; Ranks in the top ten in career blocked shots at both New Mexico and Bradley University; Graduated in the top ten percent of his high school class; Known to be a Jehovah's Witness.
Strengths:
Very versatile player; Inside-outside player; Can perform at a high level at shooting guard, small forward, and power forward; Strong as a playmaker; Being a big-time rebounder makes him very valuable to his team; Excellent touch around the basket; Shoots a high percentage from mid-range; Competes hard all the time; Great strength; Posseses quick hands, which allows him to get a lot of rebounds and block shots that he shouldn't necessarily get to; Good size, strength, footwork, and wingspan; Very quick leaper with a big vertical leap; Strong foul line shooter; Steals and blocks at a high rate.
Weaknesses:
Durability has been questioned because of some injuries in college; Needs to continue to develop the range on his jump shot; Ball-handling is a big area that needs improvement; Left-hand is much weaker than the right; Experience on the wing is necessary for him to continue to develop in the NBA; Needs to continue to become more assertive in order to be a double-double guy in the league; Free-throw shooting form needs adjustment; Needs to keep awareness defensively off-the-ball.
Player Name: Danny Granger
Current Team: Indiana Pacers
Ideal Position: SF
Drafted: 17th
Height/Weight: 6'9"/228
Birthdate: 4/20/83
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
High School: Grace King HS
Colleges: University of New Mexico/Bradley University
Agent: Mark Bartelstein
Contract:
05-06 $1,318,920
06-07 $1,417,800
07-08 $1,516,800
08-09 $2,329,804 (Team Option)
09-10 $3,289,684 (Qualifying Option)
Notes:
Spent first two seasons at Bradley University, before transferring to New Mexico in January 2003, shortly after his coach was replaced by Jim Les; Earned First Team All-Mountain West Conference his junior and senior seasons; Ranks in the top ten in career blocked shots at both New Mexico and Bradley University; Graduated in the top ten percent of his high school class; Known to be a Jehovah's Witness.
Strengths:
Very versatile player; Inside-outside player; Can perform at a high level at shooting guard, small forward, and power forward; Strong as a playmaker; Being a big-time rebounder makes him very valuable to his team; Excellent touch around the basket; Shoots a high percentage from mid-range; Competes hard all the time; Great strength; Posseses quick hands, which allows him to get a lot of rebounds and block shots that he shouldn't necessarily get to; Good size, strength, footwork, and wingspan; Very quick leaper with a big vertical leap; Strong foul line shooter; Steals and blocks at a high rate.
Weaknesses:
Durability has been questioned because of some injuries in college; Needs to continue to develop the range on his jump shot; Ball-handling is a big area that needs improvement; Left-hand is much weaker than the right; Experience on the wing is necessary for him to continue to develop in the NBA; Needs to continue to become more assertive in order to be a double-double guy in the league; Free-throw shooting form needs adjustment; Needs to keep awareness defensively off-the-ball.
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