If you haven't heard by now, the Grizzlies are in a contract impasse with their #12 draft pick, guard Xavier Henry. The reasons behind the dispute are myriad, but the main one is (you guessed it) money. Before addressing why this is a debilitating decision by Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, let me explain the two sides of the dispute.
"How is there a dispute?!?!" you might ask. "I thought there was a pay scale for first round picks!" You're right; there is a pay scale in place that determines what a first-round draft pick will earn in his first three NBA seasons. The current pay scale calls for Xavier, the #12 pick, to receive $1,683,500 in his first season, $1,809,700 in his second, etc. Additionally, rookies are eligible to receive up to a 20% bonus on that base salary.
Herein lies the dispute: Heisley only wants to pay Henry 100% because he believes Henry has done nothing on the court to warrant a 20% bonus. Henry and his agent, Arn Tellem, want 120% since virtually every other first-rounder has received that bonus and they believe Henry is a valuable asset to the team. That 20% difference, which amounts to just over $330,000, has kept Henry from the summer league and could keep him out of training camp if the dispute continues.
There are a million reasons why I believe Heisley should pay up and end the dispute, but I am just going to give three. First, Heisley should pay up because he is stunting Henry's NBA growth. He has already missed three of the Grizzlies' summer league games and only two more remain. The summer league gives rookies an invaluable taste of the NBA and allows to them to actually play basketball instead of just working out. They get to suit up against legitimate NBA players and gell with their teammates. By making an example out of $330,000, Heisley is doing more harm than good.
The second reason why Heisley should pay up is that, for him, $330,000 is pocket change. Literally. According to Forbes, Heisley is the 522nd-richest man in the world and has an approximate net worth of $1.4 billion. Yes, billion with a "B." The guy gives new meaning to the term "loaded." Of all people, he should be willing to pony up $330K, right? I did the math and found that $330,000 represents a 4,243rd of his net worth. To put that into normal terms, let's say I have $25,000. A 4,243rd of that comes out to about $5.89. So what I spend on a sandwich, Heisley won't spend on his team's highest draft pick, a player that could be the team's most productive rookie since O.J. Mayo. We all know that Heisley is cheap, but this is unbelievable.
The third and final reason Heisley should pay Henry 120% is that this is the state of the NBA today. Rookies get 120%, whether you like it or not. Heisley is standing on principle here, that he shouldn't have to pay a 20% bonus to someone who has yet to play an NBA minute. He believes players should have to earn bonuses on the court. If he truly believed that, why did he pay Rudy Gay a ridiculous sum of $82 million? Gay certainly didn't earn that kind of money on the basketball court. With that deal, Heisley proved that he could be a free spender. With this contract dispute, he's going the other way. I know he doesn't think rookies should be getting bonuses, and that's fine. Frankly, I don't believe they should either. But the NBA today is a league where the players have the power and rookies do get bonuses. That's just the way it is.
Michael Heisley, you think of yourself as a master negotiator, a force to be reckoned with in dealings. You don't like to be pushed around and you've proven that during your tenure. Hell, you even signed Darius Miles and played him just so the Portland Trailblazers would have to pay him millions. I get it; you aren't going to let some untested rookie boss you around. But until you climb off your high horse and pay up, Henry will not sign. His agent, Tellem, is one of the NBA's most influential and refuses to get bossed around even more than you. If you think he'll budge, you're just fooling yourself. Unfortunately, this contract dispute has shifted from a disagreement about the pay scale into a full-fledged owner vs. agent ego struggle. And in today's NBA, power no longer resides with the owners.
If the LeBron Sweepstakes taught us anything, it's that power is fully in the hands of the players and their agents. The sooner you understand that, Mike, the sooner Xavier Henry will be filling up NBA boxscores.
Owen
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