Because I’m a blogger. Trust me, it’ll make sense later.
Even though Miller, Chauncey Billups’ agent, disputes that an agreement is in place between his client and the Pistons, McCosky is sticking to his original story, which is that a five-year, $60 million deal is in place. McCosky explains in his blog on the Detroit News:
At about 4 p.m. today, I reported on Detnews.com and WDFN that the Pistons and Chauncey Billups had agreed structurally to a five-year, $60 million offer. That has not changed, despite a lot of other media outlets’ attempts to discredit that report. That’s how this sickening business works sometimes.
I never said the deal was done. No deal can be officially done until Billups signs, and he can’t do that until July 11. Andy Miller, Billups’ agent, is furious with me and that bothers me. I have had a great working relationship with Andy and Chauncey and I want that to continue. I wasn’t trying to do harm to anybody. Announcing the structure of a five-year, $60 million deal didn’t sound to me like bad news for either one of them. It’s a great offer — by average annual salary the richest in Pistons’ history.
But Andy feels like the Pistons were trying to pressure him into a deal. That’s not remotely the case, but that’s how he feels. He was also angry that the news got out before he could talk to Chauncey. He tore into me and then categorically denied agreeing to any part of any kind of deal. That’s fine. Except, the structure of the deal is still in place and Billups has no other offer even close to bid against it. Are there important details to clean up? Of course. Are any of those details potentially deal-breaking? Don’t think so.
Actually, he didn’t initially announce the structure of the deal, at least not on DetNews.com (I didn’t hear the WDFN report). To recap, his initial announcement (since scrubbed off DetNews.com and replaced with an updated article) consisted simply of this:
Free-agent guard Chauncey Billups agreed Tuesday in principle to a five-year, $60-million deal to remain with the Pistons.
Billups, who will be 31 next season, became a free agent Sunday. He will be the highest-paid Piston next season. There apparently were no other serious bidders for Billups.
There’s no explanation of structure in that announcement, and it was that initial announcement that set the wheels in motion, prompting A. Sherrod Blakely of MLive to call Miller and have Miller refute that any agreement was in place.
Can you blame Blakely for calling Miller? Of course not; he’s playing catch-up on a story another reporter is trying to break. And can you blame Blakely for relaying the news to fellow MLive employee Justin Rogers that Miller refuted the news? Not at all; the fact Miller (apparently the only person both privy to the negotiations and willing to go on the record) contradicted a published report is inherently newsworthy.
And just to set facts straight, it was only after McCosky’s original announcement was updated that he actually explained the structure of the deal (four years guaranteed, admitting it was still unclear whether the fifth one would be), and it was in that same update that he included quotes from Miller (”I would not characterize it as being wrapped up …”) confirming Blakely’s report that this wasn’t a done deal.
In any case, McCosky’s blog entry tonight also said this:
Listen, this is a great offer for Billups. Are we really at a point where giving a 30-year-old point guard a five-year deal that averages $12 million per is considered a low-ball offer? …
The Pistons are bidding against themselves for Billups. On Tuesday, they could have told Miller to go ahead and seek your best offer. The best he would have come back with, most likely, would have been a $9 million per year starting salary with the Bucks. But the Pistons didn’t do that. They made an offer that reflects both what he has done for the franchise the past five years and for what he means to the team going forward. Nothing about a five-year, $60 million offer is insulting. Nothing. And at the end of the day, Chauncey will happily sign it.
Not to split hairs, but a five-year, $60 million contract probably starts out at $9.75 million a year, with 10.5% raises each year (why 10.5%? Because it’s the max allowed by the collective bargaining agreement), culminating in a $14.5 million fifth year. A five-year deal starting at $9 million with 10.5% raises each year culminates with a $13.4 million fifth year and is worth a total of $55.5 million.
So yeah, using McCosky’s claim of a $60 million deal in place and his example of what Billups could get elsewhere, the Pistons would be chipping in an extra $4.5 million over the life of the contract. That’s a nice chunk of change, but definitely not overwhelming. Just felt I should point that out, since “$4.5 million over the life of a contract” puts things into better perspective than talking about “a five-year deal that averages $12 million per” and “a $9 million starting salary with the Bucks,” which makes it sound like you’re comparing two very different scenarios, when they’re actually quite close.
Why am I bothering to set all this straight? Perhaps because McCosky’s closing thoughts rubbed me the wrong way:
In the old days, before ESPN, the internet and blogs, a reporter didn’t have to rush to print every step of a contract negotiation. You laid out the parameters for both sides, you reported whatever propaganda each side wanted to spew and you waited for the final deal. We can’t do that any more. Any blip of information, however preliminary or non-binding, has to be put out there immediately. So, you are going to have days like this, when a normal step of a negotiation process gets diced and sliced by various media outlets until you can’t remember what the original piece of news was. The news is this — the basic structure of a deal is in place for Billups to return to the Pistons for the next five years.
I can understand McCosky’s frustration with a never-ending news-cycle — he began his career in another era and has had to learn how to do his job differently on the fly. But in this specific instance, I don’t buy that the story had “to be put out there immediately.” It seems that he was only one who had the inside scoop, so there really was no rush. Calling in to talk on WDFN and putting up a hastily written 50-word announcement on DetNews.com reeks of trying to be known as the guy who broke the story, not as the guy who got the story right. (And did he really throw “ESPN, the internet and blogs” under the bus and not talk radio? Of those, talk radio is usually the most irresponsible.)
Before saying a word to talk radio or putting up a bare-bones announcement online, why not place a call to Miller and invest another 45 minutes cobbling together a more informative article explaining that McCosky’s anonymous source doesn’t agree with what Chauncey’s camp is willing to put on the record?
(Which, mind you, still hasn’t been done, at least not with the version of the story presently online. Nowhere does McCosky reveal where he’s getting his info. I’m assuming he has a source — and judging by Miller’s reaction, a source within the team — not because he actually reveals as much but because I’m not willing to admit he simply has divine inspiration.)
Regardless of how this post might come across, I don’t actually have anything against McCosky. In fact, I believe him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Miller is the one trying to spin things in an attempt to control the story and what his client hears. But lashing out at other media outlets for not blindly accepting his word and then blaming the internet for his burning desire to scoop the world? That just doesn’t make sense.
Basically you’re right.
If he has such a good relationship with Miller and Chauncey why didnt he give Miller a call once he had his info?or at least give him a heads up that hes running the story.
Seems he just wanted to get his name on the espn news ticker so he could yell First!.
Sure we want our info right now but we also want it correct. So dont blame us cause you didnt take the time to do your job right.
For the record I think if thats the deal they are offering Chauncey then its pretty good. The nets and magic already overpaid with carter and lewis. I hope those two contracts dont effect chaunceys deal to much.
Or he had this story precisley right, and Miller is trying to play a little hardball. That’s what agents do, yes? I mean, any one of us could have walked in and negotiated a $12M deal for Chauncey. Dude has to justify his existence somehow, yes? So he pulls a press stunt, which will be fantastic for future business.
Boy, that escalated quickly… I mean, that really got out of hand fast.
It jumped up a notch.
It did, didn’t it?
Yeah, I stabbed a man in the heart.
I saw that. Andy Miller killed a guy. Did you throw a trident?
even if mccosky was a little wrong, i would instinctively side with him, as opposed to a person who makes his living leeching off the talent of others. andy miller is just like the rest his bottom-feeding 15% brethren. f him, his iphone, and his vicious rumor. once this deal is finalized, i hope to never hear his name again. and i hope that when they do announce this deal it is verbatim to what mccosky reported.
Well, all in all this is freaking AMAZING….
1) We now know absolutely for sure that nobody else is bidding for Chauncey, there have been no offers made.
2) The process of resigning him will now begin in earnest, and will probably end up at a MAXIMUM of 13 Million a year, which is a far cry from the 15 ESPN insiders were whispering during the playoffs. The reason the process can begin now is that EVERYONE has a VERY public starting number. That’s what was missing before, a competing starting number for them to argue slightly higher than and sign.
Whoever this “inside source” is? THANKS A PILE GUY, and I honestly mean that. Now we have a favorable number, it’s out in the open and it’s a public fact Mr Miller has no leverage…. vicious rumor indeed!
Also, Matt is right, McCosky is a decent reporter but the whole “I only did it to keep America informed” angle is umm… yeah… I’d have gone for “Look, SOMEONE had to make these negotiations move forward. I did it, and I’m glad I did it” ala Ollie North.
Andy Miller’s dead in the water on greater offers.
The only thing he can do is exactly what he’s doing.
Clearly, no deals are signed until the 11th, but that didn’t stop Ben Wallace from announcing, literally a year from this breaking news on Billups, to the day, that he was going to the Bulls.
It’s a verbal agreement until the 11th.
Since Miller seems to have no other competitive teams with cap-friendly situation, then that’s that.
I suppose McCosky is concerned that Miller, who represents more than a few NBA players besides Billups, may choose not to talk to him in the future. That might be frustrating, but at the same time, I really don’t see anything more than frustration on Miller’s part. He couldn’t have been pleased when Orlando bowed out of the running with Lewis’s offer. That kind of thing happened with all semi-competitive teams with cap room, over the course of the draft to today. Oh well, Andy.
That is a nice contract. Compared to Ben’s deal, it’s reasonable. Ben’s agent made a killing on Chicago, and Paxson’s a damn fool for blowing his cap space last year on a half-dominant undersized center in a weak free agent pool, as compared to what was available this season. Thanks for the stupidity, Chicago. You stay classy.
What’s funny is that the system the NBA holds in place keeps Billups from getting more than what is offered.
From what I understand, no other team has the cap space to counter-offer the 60 million dollar deal.
If there were another suitor, then Detroit would have right and could choose to outbid, but again, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
In Chauncey’s best interest, he wants top dollar. The Pistons have the highest offer on the table at 60 million. Chauncey would not want to sign a mid-level exception, since he was making similar money from Detroit on that lesser level of pay. Chauncey could also choose to not sign with anyone and not play, but that earns Chauncey zero dollars. It also seems too late to hold on to his option for what he was to receive this year and try again next season. On top of that, whatever deal Chauncey signs will be non-re-negotiable, as part of the CBA, so there’s no chance of Chauncey calling for more.
There are ways Chauncey could choose to play financial ball with his agent, of which those choices are less years and more money, but it still seems like Detroit’s offer is the only bid on the table.
The best leverage he would have would be to force a sign and trade which, while technically impossible, could be done through persuasion. I’m sure Denver has done its able best to plant Camby/Nene type scenarios in Miller’s brain.
My guess is that someone on the Pistons intentionally leaked the number for the reasons we described, and that the number is probably on the lowest possible end of the negotiations. Hence, Miller is countering with his media tirade.
Off topic a bit but theres a blip on draftexpress about Acker
http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=2160
They seem to be under the impression he will be in summer camp even though Pistons didnt list him on their roster. His team Olimpiacos also didnt pick up his option so anyone know what his status would be now?
Matt, I love how he refers to his job as “this sickening business”.
He’s one Mai Tai from “Falling Down”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106856/
http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/vegas_070702.html
Nothing about Acker there. Amir is expected to miss the first couple games until he resigns. Samb has put on 30lbs and has been working out at the pistons practice facility for the past week.
Thats a good flick but I cant believe Joel Schumacher directed it…the guy who killed Batman and put nipples on the batsuit.
Thanks for pointing that out, Fel — I just put up a post about Acker.
There is also the possibility that McCosky, in spite of the great relationship he contends is in place between him and Miller, DID try and call Miller to get that 45-minute follow-up, and was told to slag off.
McCosky cannot keep up with your lighting quick first step, Matt.