Awesome for Dre. Not just the cash but getting to stay in Atlanta, with a stable young core, thatās a good situation all around. Real happy for him.
I am with you but, lets be honest, it is the guaranteed cash
oh yeah thatās NINETY MILLION lol. Itās totally about that. Heās not just rich, heās mega rich, in his 20s. But these guys often get so little control over where they play and who they play with, itās nice to see him in a good situation too.
No question. Being with good people you are familiar with etc is perfect. Also his first bi monthly paycheck will be like 600k. UVa education wins again!
I wonder to what extent you can counter NIL bags by showing recruits āwe get guys into the league.ā I mean even if youāre on a two-way, you make the kind of big bucks that put (many, not all) NIL deals to shame. But my guess is while that would sway a youngster, it probably doesnāt convince parents so much, who want the bird in hand.
Great question and depends on the kid and family. I mean for any 17 year old there is no difference today in 500 grand and 5 million dollars, right? But has to be a big part of the bigger picture for sure
20-25 mil is a nice tradeable contract number.
Pretty good payday for Dre, considering that I heard from reliable sources that he canāt shoot, he canāt jump, he canāt move his feet, and heāll be lucky to get three years at $45 million.
Just shows how difficult it is to predict these kinds of things, and why itās kinda silly to try.
Thereās a great story from the '80s about Robert āChiefā Parrish, who had to get a paycheck recut because he stuffed his check down his jersey when they were handed out pregame. Chiefās check disintegrated from his perspiration during the game, so the Cās had to void it and cut him a new one.
Isnāt there a similar story where Ricky Henderson got a big check from the Aās and I think it was one of those novelty looking ones, but it was actually real, and like months later accounting couldnāt figure out why there was a strange balance and it turns out Ricky never cashed the check and had it hanging in his house somewhere.
Tangent here, but I hope someone is doing a 10-part documentary on Ricky. Loved that guy. So does Ricky.
Thatās a doc I am here for. Big fan for so many reasons. The one-off stories from Ricky are off the charts. Honestly never will be a character like that anymore in sports.
Tangent on a tangentā¦ has the age of social media and the 24hr access to athletes eliminated the true unicorn characters? Sure there are attention seekers and they use their platforms. But the Ricky Hendersonās of the world or a Ron Artest in a slightly different vein are just different.
Probably, tbh. I feel like people tend go in two different directions: totally flat an/or stage-managed persona. Or way overexposed so that I know their views on the curvature of the earth.
Btw, back on Dre ā from about 10 minutes in or so, to 20 minutes or so of the linked podcast, Sam and the local ATL guy really go in on Dreās career breakdown, so far, warts and all, and focus on what he needs to improve on. One thing that was less obvious to me was that heās not a very good rebounder (esp. for his size / length). They were basically like, if you want to be the A+ role guy, you at least need to be doing all the little things very well.
I hadnāt heard that one, but itās great and pretty credible based on everything Iāve heard about Ricky. He was definitely one of the all time great characters in sports along with being one of the best to ever play the game.
He had framed it because it was the first dollar or first million, I canāt remember, that he made in the majors.
I think youāre right about guys falling in one of two schools of bland or over exposed in a way that is very contrived. The modern athlete is hyper aware and self conscious. The beauty of a Ricky is he didnāt care what you thought.
That is an interesting take on Dre. Looking at his stats heās averaged 4.1rpg. That number should be a tick higher most likely especially if heās slotting in at the 4 a lot. But there could be an argument made that his opportunities are limited with Collins and Capela on the floor at the same time. I donāt know the advanced metrics around that.
I think the final sentiment is the most important part, to max out his full potential and his role, Dre needs to master all the little things and do them at an A+ level.
Slight disagreement there. I like Ricky. I miss stolen bases and good sports characters but IMO, anyone that talks that much and that often about themselves, cares very much what you think about them.