× The Wrath of the Rose | est. 1970 (an NBA retrospective) ×

Post by **kibaxx7** » 10 May 2022, 00:43

Note: Since I totally forgot about free agency last year, I've been searching for some data on the old day's contracts and the records are pretty vague. I just found Petrie had a 6-year deal and Wicks signed a 5-year. Then Basketball Reference doesn't have salaries data until the mid-80's... so I just wrote something that thought would make the story a little more interesting.

Post by **kibaxx7** » 14 May 2022, 15:39

Post by **kibaxx7** » 14 May 2022, 15:40

Note: I've been searching a little more. I found Robertson's suit against the league in 1976. It looks like here is when all things began to change, but nothing really happened until 1988 with Tom Chambers. We keep going like this, then! McKenzie stays! *hammer noise*

Conversations about free-agency hypotheticals must begin with Oscar Robertson's landmark court case, which prompted the start of the modern-day offseason. The Hall of Famer filed the antirust suit in 1970, though it wouldn't reach a verdict until six years later. As president of the players union, his 1970 suit against the NBA contended the draft, option clause and other rules restricting player movement were violations of antitrust laws.

The suit was settled in 1976, when the league agreed to let players become free agents in exchange for their old team's 'right of first refusal' to match any offer they might receive. This eventual ruling marked the beginning of free agency as we know it today, allowing players to move around the league as they saw fit and ending teams' restrictive and lengthy control over their on-court assets with the interminable option clause.

Tom Chambers remembers when an NBA player’s destiny lied with the whims of his team. Before 1988, you could be drafted or traded. Signing with another team after your contract was up, however, was not the wide-open option it is today. Even if your team was willing to let you go, they had to receive compensation. In short: if you were good, chances were you weren’t going anywhere. “There was no such thing as free agency,” Chambers said. “If a team had you, then you had to sign with that team unless they traded you. You really couldn’t move. There was no movement at all. Therefore, contracts were kind of locked into what you could make.”

Seattle, however, appeared less than thrilled with the state of their frontcourt despite Chambers’ presence. They pulled off a draft-day trade to bring up-and-coming forward Michael Cage to the team. They had drafted another long-limbed, athletic forward in Derrick McKey the year before. Days later, it became official. Players whose contracts had concluded would be truly free to choose their teams if they met two conditions -- have been in the league seven years or more and have played through two NBA contracts. As a player who met both requirements and whose talents would be in high demand, Chambers, it turned out, would be the perfect pioneer for the NBA’s new frontier of free agency.

Agent · Post by **Agent** » 14 May 2022, 20:37

Wow didn’t know this fact about NBA history!

Post by **kibaxx7** » 17 May 2022, 00:07

Post by **kibaxx7** » 17 May 2022, 00:08

Agent wrote: ↑
14 May 2022, 20:37
Wow didn’t know this fact about NBA history!

Should have done my research a little earlier.

Post by **mvp** » 17 May 2022, 10:36

This chise is a history lesson

Post by **kibaxx7** » 19 May 2022, 20:58

Post by **kibaxx7** » 19 May 2022, 20:59

mvp wrote: ↑
17 May 2022, 10:36
This chise is a history lesson

Oh it's been a huge lesson for me too. I'm learning a lot about the league's early legends and how it was constructed and played.

Login • Register