Dear Baron,
Geoff Lepper just told me you opted-out of your contract. You couldn't tell it to my face? Couldn't at least call me? Send a text? Freaking IM me, even? I didn't take you for that kind of guy, Baron. I thought you were bigger than that. Kinder.
I'll tell you once, and once only. You made a mistake. You were supposed to opt-in. That would've been way cooler. We could all grow beards again and name our kids after you and stare at Jessica Alba when she shows up at Oracle to watch your games. You're a local hero, or were. Can be again. Just sign a new contract dude. Like $13mil per for, say, 3 years. Yeah, that's a good starting point. Then we can bring in another mid-level free agent, Ron Artest maybe. We'll also be able to sign Ellis and Beans. It's gonna be sweet. Trust me, bro.
Plus, no one else can afford what you're asking for. No contender anyway. Do you really want to play for the Kings? The Grizzlies? You were set to earn $17.8mil next year. That's not enough for you?
Oh, you think you might have a chance to go home and play in LA? The Clippers maybe? Bad idea. Boooo! Terrible. Seriously though, that doesn't even make any sense. Corey Maggette, Elton Brand, and Cris Kaman would be better teammates than Ellis, Jax, and Beans? Laughable.
Okay, also as of a week ago your agent, Mr. Ramasar, kept telling everyone that you were "adamant" about staying a Warrior, that the chances of you opting-out were "extreme". Are you, is he, a liar, or what? Now the $10mil trade exemption is gone, kaput, expired yesterday afternoon, right about the time you were making the decision to shoot us all in the foot. So now you're not a Warrior and it's too late to use the trade exemption to get a suitable replacement PG, someone like Kirk Hinrich. I know you're not that cold, Baron. You wouldn't do that. Right?
But if you wanna play hardball, we can play hardball. Here's the thing - sorry in advance for hurting your feelings - you're gonna be 30 years old by the time the playoffs start next year. You are notoriously injury prone. Even after playing in all 82 games last year, the first time you've come even close to that mark since your sophomore season, you've averaged just 51 games over the last 8 years. We all saw it last year. When the Warriors surrendered the 8th spot in the West over the last 2 weeks of the season you were playing like a shell of yourself. Remember the Suns game? Riding pine for the entire 2nd half of the biggest regular season game of your career. Sorry, guy. That's not gonna cut it.
I don't know what exactly your asking for, probably in the $90-$110 mil over 5/6 years range. If you want that kind of cheddar then there needs to be some guarantee that you're gonna play at least 70 games a year. Sorry, but I don't see that happening.
Oh, and here's something you can stew on. That Gilbert Arenas guy, the one who you kind of made us Warrior fans forget about...Well, he just opted out of his contract with the Wizards and he's a free-agent too. And here's another thing, apparently Chris Mullin just offered Arenas a $100mil contract. Seriously, this is straight from the Washington Post:
Baron Davis surprisingly opted out of the final year of his contract that would have payed him $17.8 million this season from the Golden State Warriors.
Then, according to my sources, the Warriors quickly burned the phones and offered former Warrior Gilbert Arenas a maximum-level contract, one that would pay him more than $100 million over five years. My source told me that Gilbert received a flurry of phone calls from the Warriors in the first 30 minutes of free agency.
Hmmmm, suddenly someone's not so sure about his decision, is he?
I'm not trying to threaten you, Baron. I'm just saying, we have options. It's not like we're up against the ropes or anything and we're just gonna hand you the money. This wasn't a bluff. Hell, we'll renounce you tomorrow if that's how you wanna scrap, get you off our books, the slate clean. I don't want to do it - in fact I personally have no authority to do it - but I'm pretty sure Chris Mullin reads this blog every day, and if I say run he says "how fast?" You know what I'm sayin?
Listen, Baron, I - we - love you. Sincerely. The last two seasons have been a special kind of magic. But our memories are as short as we need them to be. The ball is in your court. Do the right thing.
Yours truly,
The Machine
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4 comments:
It would be great to see Arenas back in the arena. BD has been fun to watch and I liked him for the most part, but wouldn't you say that the Warriors have gone as far as they can with him? It seems long term Arenas is a better option. If BD is signed to a four or five year deal there is no way he is healthy the last two or three years.
two reasons why it would be awesome to have gilbert arenas back on the warriors.
1. I could refer to him always as Cousin Gilbert, for no reason other than his first name is the same as my last name. which would be totally awesome.
2. You could reference and comment on his totally awesome blog with your blog and it would make better sense since he would be a bay area athlete.
So Long Baron. You're no A-Rod, and the Warriors definitely ain't no Yankees.
double negative in that last sentence. my bad. the warriors ain't the yankees. how elementary of me.
Hey Gil Bang, just wondering why it takes Arenas being back on the Warriors for you to be able to refer to him as Cousin Gilbert? Can't you just call him that now?
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