Sunday, March 21, 2010

Hornets' Salary Hell

We can all in hindsight scream and kick the Hornets' management for the sad state of affair this team finds itself in.
But when Posey, MoPete and Peja were signed, if we were all honest, 99% would at THAT time have said they agreed with these moves .
The true blame is on The Creaky 3 directly.
Posey has done nothing, and has in fact, been a huge liability on defense and even worse on offense.
In one recent 20 game stretch, Posey was shooting 16% from 3-pt land.
He is really good at something though that's hard to put a price on (though I'll value it at.. zero...): Posey is excellent at meeting the starters at mid-court, smiling,hugging them and whispering in each starters' ear.
My guess on what's being whispering goes like this: "Yo, playah, I'll only be scoring 2 points tonight in 25 minutes, but still get my $68,109 paycheck for tonight's game.(1/82nd of his $5,585,000 annual salary)"
In his 22 minutes per game, NoShot Posey is averaging a staggering 4.5 points per game on 35% shooting, 30% from 3-pt land.
So over 66 games, the Hornets' are getting banged for their buck at a $18,804 per point clip.
MoPete has contributed nothing to this team since his signing. Has any players shot more bricks and airballs?
And his out-of-control, off-balance heaves driving to the goal look like something out of a YMCA pickup game.
NothingPete's statistical contribution for his $6.21 million salary? 42% FG, 37% 3-pt FG, 6.33 pt a season scoring average.
And when he does score, the PA system should play "Mo Money, Mo Money, Mo Money" because that's all NoPete is doing: taking mo of Hornets' money, mo of Hornets' money, mo of Hornets' money.
At least Peja, when healthy, gives you an occasional offensive "explosion" of 20+ points.Peja unfortunately just physically fell apart over the last 3-4 years.
But for every 20 points he scores, Peja forfeits at least that scoring total in his complete defensive liability.
Yet more painful than his injuries is his 2009-10 salary: $13.392 million.
Yes, these contracts were too high, but that's hindsight.
So, when you want to do the typical "management sucks" tirade.. remember this:
The Creaky 3 continue to steal paychecks from the Hornets' organization, and because of the backward A** guaranteed salary structure of the NBA, the Hornets are literally stuck in salary hell.

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