Kawhi Leonard - CHI

[Jeremiah Hill]

Kawhi Leonard has decided to sign with the Chicago Bulls for the upcoming season for the following max contract. 

Year 1 - $23,500,000

Year 2 - $26,085,000

Year 3 - $28,954,350

Year 4 - $32,139,328

Year 5 - $35,674,654 (PO)

    Kawhi would first like to thank the Phoenix Suns who have been a very good organization to Kawhi but unfortunately Dan's vision never fully came together to create enough sustained success in the 3 years that he had him. 

    Second he would like to thank James Kay, Charles Barkely, Magic Johnson, and Walt Frazier. Their spirited pursuit was quite frankly inspiring. He would also like to thank everyone else who threw their hat in the ring. 


    We could argue for days on the merits and demerits of each of the teams. I know that because we did it. This was one of the most difficult free agency decisions ever. I'm not going to give every reason why we didn't choose a particular team. I am going to talk about why we chose Chicago. 

Loyalty, Winning, Fit, Consistency. 

    

    These 4 pillars formed the basis of his offer. His team has the most players with Bird Rights on it in the league this season, that is incredibly impressive. What it allows is for his team to take on another max contract and then offer his current players much more money than his competition. 

    The Bulls have been proven winners throughout the entirety of D5 existence. They are third in all time regular season wins within D5 (best of his suitors). This was very important to Kawhi as he wants to compete long term and not just in the short term. The Bulls Organization offers the comfort of knowing that regardless of what happens they will find a way to be winners. 

    Fit. When faced with the choice of playing with Chris Paul or playing with Russell Westbrook we think it is clear that as far as style of play is concerned the obvious choice is Chris Paul. He consistently makes players better. Kawhi loves the idea of a player who's entire role is to make him better.

    It was these reasons that Chicago was chosen over the competition, we wish everyone the best of luck in their free agency pursuits. 

I hope everyone appreciates how incredibly fine tooth comb we went over each issue. This was literally decided by a hair. 

[Shane Battier]

YEAH! Welcome to Chicago, Kawhi! I have been enjoying preparing and thinking about my presentation to various free agents. I was a bit sad that we had no real chance to sign LeBron after I made a somehow long presentation. But I am extremely happy to have Kawhi! Really excited for the next season.

Kawhi!!!!!!

[James Kay]

Another great free agency for Charlotte

[Walt Frazier]

Well, time for most of us to hibernate for the next 5 years. Another super team is born. I really hope this doesn't begin to hurt D5's health. I may be reactionary a little bit here, but I fear GM's lose interest b/c they feel they have no real chance for YEARS of their real life in this league.

Congrats to Shane.

Never thought Kawhi would pull a LeBron and join some other star's team, but here we are.

[Dan Majerle]

Jul 7, 2016 3:24:20 GMT Jeremiah Hill said:

    Kawhi would first like to thank the Phoenix Suns who have been a very good organization to Kawhi but unfortunately Dan's vision never fully came together to create enough sustained success in the 3 years that he had him. 

   

Lol this understatement...  It took you 4 days to reply if I did not poke you you did not reply with my offer... and in the last minutes you said I'm not in the running.... 

[Hanamichi Sakuragi]

I think, the PAs should intervene with this one if Dan is telling the truth that Jeremiah replied in the last minute and he was already out of the race.

[Jeremiah Hill]

Jul 7, 2016 4:20:28 GMT Hanamichi Sakuragi said:

I think, the PAs should intervene with this one if Dan is telling the truth that Jeremiah replied in the last minute and he was already out of the race.

His first offer sucked. I don't care if English isn't his first language it isn't for a lot of players here and they all put in a lot of effort into their presentations.

It sucked so bad that I went back 2 other times to get him to add more to it because everyone put so much time and effort into theirs. Each time was met with a sentence here and a sentence there.

If we put any other offer next to Dan's Kawhi offer and Dan got Kawhi back and someone else found out how little Dan put into the signing their would be an even bigger fit than their is now.

I've seen Dan write very well before, look up the Fire Dan thread. His effort their was on display. He didn't even put in that much effort for the most important signing of his GM career.

Ian was actually worried that I wouldn't respect Bird Rights enough. I flat out told him the only way Phx loses Kawhi is if he puts in no or close to no effort.

Thats how hard it was going to be. Then he did that exact thing.

[Dan Majerle]

Are you worried about the presentation you already replied to me presentation yesterday and ask me some question. If you told me you want a power point presentation. I might have done it for you if you want flash animated text I would have do it for you. If I did not poke you would you reply to my offer?

[Brian Scalabrine]

Jul 7, 2016 3:36:45 GMT Walt Frazier said:

Well, time for most of us to hibernate for the next 5 years. Another super team is born. I really hope this doesn't begin to hurt D5's health. I may be reactionary a little bit here, but I fear GM's lose interest b/c they feel they have no real chance for YEARS of their real life in this league.

This resonates with me. Also this greatly diminishes the value of bird rights. League changing decision.

[Hanamichi Sakuragi]

Jul 7, 2016 4:41:26 GMT Jeremiah Hill said:

Jul 7, 2016 4:20:28 GMT Hanamichi Sakuragi said:

I think, the PAs should intervene with this one if Dan is telling the truth that Jeremiah replied in the last minute and he was already out of the race.

His first offer sucked. I don't care if English isn't his first language it isn't for a lot of players here and they all put in a lot of effort into their presentations.

It sucked so bad that I went back 2 other times to get him to add more to it because everyone put so much time and effort into theirs. Each time was met with a sentence here and a sentence there.

If we put any other offer next to Dan's Kawhi offer and Dan got Kawhi back and someone else found out how little Dan put into the signing their would be an even bigger fit than their is now.

I've seen Dan write very well before, look up the Fire Dan thread. His effort their was on display. He didn't even put in that much effort for the most important signing of his GM career.

Ian was actually worried that I wouldn't respect Bird Rights enough. I flat out told him the only way Phx loses Kawhi is if he puts in no or close to no effort.

Thats how hard it was going to be. Then he did that exact thing.

So, Ian already intervened? I am just pointing out the process now. I think, these FA decisions are objective and your thought process is very acceptable. Just the process, if no one saw that as a problem then I don't have a problem with it.

[Hanamichi Sakuragi]

Jul 7, 2016 4:47:37 GMT Dan Majerle said:

Are you worried about the presentation you already replied to me presentation yesterday and ask me some question. If you told me you want a power point presentation. I might have done it for you if you want flash animated text I would have do it for you. If I did not poke you would you reply to my offer?

Presentation is actually important Dan and it is not PAs job to ask it from you, it is your responsibility to provide the best and the deepest presentation  and explanation that you can come of. 

[Dan Majerle]

If I did not show any interest if in signing a player I would not place an offer for him. If I'm not interested in my team just look at the teams history from rocking bottom to a playoff. If you want a presentation I could have dance or sing for you, I could have send some porn picture.

[Shane Battier]

Dan, you should have done the best presentation you could come up with. Why wait for the PA to dictate what you should do? Also, let us remember that they also have their own teams to manage aside from their lives outside D5

[Dan Majerle]

The question here are the BR are respected in time how attentive the PA's are. If after rookies contract are never respected might as well focus on the free agency. If the problems is my English then that's another story your just being racist. If the PA's reply is I don't have a vision for my team that's understatement. I offer Jimmy a contract he replied immediately because jimmy will build a legacy in Chicago. Do you think I'm not creating a legacy for Kwahi? Base on your reply you did not give me a chance to give an offer and the Faith of Kwahi is already been decided after I poked into you message. 

[Dan Majerle]

Does anyone bid for Buttler? Before you already bid Its already been decided.. Just wondering or alarming concern as a GM.

[Dan Majerle]

Jul 7, 2016 5:41:13 GMT Kevin Hollis said:

Jul 7, 2016 5:32:11 GMT Dan Majerle said:

Does anyone bid for Buttler? Before you already bid Its already been decided.. Just wondering or alarming concern as a GM.

Dan, it's okay. Jeremiah should not have been put in control of the most prominent class of free agents as a first year PA. This will cause D5 to be impacted greatly and a lot of people are going to feel the effects of his decision. I would have chosen Alex over Jeremiah to represent my top free agent and Alex hates me. Fyi Jeremiah already confirmed with me Durant would return so my opinion is unbiased as it gets.

Kevin,

Do you dance and sing for your presentation? I don't bid for Durant I have respect for his bird rights. I bid Jimmy for the reason I have to test the integrity of Jeremiah when he replied to me Jimmy is Chicago legacy lol in an instant.. that's I have already concluded Chicago would get Kwahi.

[Alex English]

Jul 7, 2016 5:41:13 GMT Kevin Hollis said:

I would have chosen Alex over Jeremiah to represent my top free agent and Alex hates me.

[Alex English]

Guys this decision wasn't made independently. There is a private thread between Jeremiah, Ian, Chris Mullin and myself where we discussed all of the offers for Kawhi. It's 3 pages long and we got quite detailed and nitpicky because the decision was so close and there were so many strong offers.

[Dan Majerle]

Lol are you sure alex? I have PM Offer Jeremiah for Butler then immediately replied Chicago's Legacy.. Just a question integrity.

[Alex English]

Jul 7, 2016 6:16:54 GMT JR Wiles said:

I have one question guys...

I have not had internet and I'm lucky to be on now to see and reply to this.  From what I saw until this thread, Dan was going crazy and was going to be booted as GM. Sorry Dan. But then I see here that multiple player agents... And In and a non player agent were having talks about a FA player and where he should go.

Maybe I  am wrong. I hope so. But player agents I feel should not help one another decide. Ian so be it. Chris Mullin..? Why?

Please update me guys while I'm online.

PS... I hope my FAs don't get decided like this. Please guys keep the league fair. 

PLEASE

I'm not quite sure I see your argument. It's kind of counter-intuitive. Keeping one single person from making a big decision all on their own is in the interest of fairness. That's why we have more than one person giving input on these big name guys, and it's why Ian is acting as an advisor this year. Any player agent can get his feedback whenever they want it.

Why Chris Mullin? Well because so many GMs, yourself included, dislike that it's always the same group making all the big decisions. It's why Jeremiah was added and it's why other non-staff GMs will be asked for their input.

[Brandon Roy]

this issue is quite alarming.. I understand what Dan is feeling.. Kawhi is still young so if we will base it in real life I think it will be difficult too.. He have already won a ring so that makes it really hard. Plus his attitude is so laid back so it's hard to tell whether he is loyal or wants money or to win multiple championship but the way I see it, he is as loyal as Duncan in real life but that's what I thought also with Durant so we cannot really say what's in the mind of the players.

[Ian Noble]

Me, Jeremiah, Alex and non-staff-GM Chris Mullin spent three days and a three page thread discussing Kawhi Leonard's signing. The sheer weight of effort from GMs was staggering but special shout out goes to James Kay (CHA), Charles Barkley (HOU) and the eventual "winner" Shane Battier (CHI).

The amount of deliberation from we four GMs was also enormous, I spent all of Tuesday night doing nothing but discussing Kawhi Leonard.

We considered Dan Majerle and the Phoenix Suns's offer until very late in the process because of the impact this would have on his team and especially because Phoenix had Bird Rights on Kawhi, we wondered about his lack of English and made sure that would not impact our decision because it would be like excluding a GM who didn't do a Photoshop jersey switch or something, but getting effort from Mr Majerle was like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone, and a lack of English doesn't stop you from spelling Kawhi correctly. Dan's lack of effort was the reason I posted this thread and Jeremiah also messaged him to try and put more effort in. No BR player leaves a team without serious need.

I'll be back with more later, I have to get ready for work.

[Dan Majerle]

Jul 7, 2016 6:48:16 GMT Ian Noble said:

Me, Jeremiah, Alex and non-staff-GM Chris Mullin spent three days and a three page thread discussing Kawhi Leonard's signing. The sheer weight of effort from GMs was staggering but special shout out goes to James Kay (CHA), Charles Barkley (HOU) and the eventual "winner" Shane Battier (CHI).

The amount of deliberation from we four GMs was also enormous, I spent all of Tuesday night doing nothing but discussing Kawhi Leonard.

We considered Dan Majerle and the Phoenix Suns's offer until very late in the process because of the impact this would have on his team and especially because Phoenix had Bird Rights on Kawhi, we wondered about his lack of English and made sure that would not impact our decision because it would be like excluding a GM who didn't do a Photoshop jersey switch or something, but getting effort from Mr Majerle was like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone, and a lack of English doesn't stop you from spelling Kawhi correctly. Dan's lack of effort was the reason I posted this thread and Jeremiah also messaged him to try and put more effort in. No BR player leaves a team without serious need.

I'll be back with more later, I have to get ready for work.

Ian, Jeremaiah send me a message when I poke him a message and send me a message I'm out of the running. He did not confirm if my offer was fine. Please specify what do you mean of lack of effort? If I'm not interested into a player I will not place a bid on him. Do I need to draw and spell it or sing it for you that I need for this team? My question is the integrity of this Player Agent I offered Jimmy and He immediately replied Jimmy is Chicago for life? wow no deliberation need?  

[Alex English]

Jul 7, 2016 6:56:46 GMT Dan Majerle said:

Ian, Jeremaiah send me a message when I poke him a message and send me a message I'm out of the running. He did not confirm if my offer was fine. Please specify what do you mean of lack of effort? If I'm not interested into a player I will not place a bid on him. Do I need to draw and spell it or sing it for you that I need for this team? My question is the integrity of this Player Agent I offered Jimmy and He immediately replied Jimmy is Chicago for life? wow no deliberation need?  

This was James Kay's opening offer to Kawhi:

Hi Kawhi,


We are very excited to offer you a maximum contract. Further down in
the offer, I will expand on the financial details of exactly what we
think would benefit you best, and the various contract options we are
offering you.

For now, I’d like to discuss our recent trade, wherein we sent Andrew
Wiggins to the Jazz in exchange for Brandon Ingram. With our offer, we
are also extending the chance to pair with Russell Westbrook as the
faces of our franchise for years to come. Therefore, we would like to
explain our rationale behind this trade, and our plans for the future.
We believe that the face of a franchise should be well informed
regarding that franchise’s plans.

So, I’d like to start off by expressing how difficult that move was
for us. Andrew Wiggins was integral to our success last season. He is
a great kid, and will do well in this league. We wish him nothing but
the best as he joins the young Jazz.

However, this move was directly motivated by our pursuit to sign you
this free agency, if not the only motivation. We love Brandon Ingram’s
skill-set – a tall, lengthy, aggressive shooter. But we made this move
for you, Kawhi. By performing that trade, we were able to clear 22
million dollars in cap space, enough to offer you the max contract you
obviously deserve. We also made space for you in our starting lineup.
Like last year, KCP will continue to come off the bench. And as a
young rookie only 18 years old, Ingram will come off the bench,
hopefully learning from the very best – you.

And lastly, and perhaps most importantly - this is a rationale that I
have not revealed to anyone else – we made this trade to present you
with the opportunity to make this team your own. Now, we have been
planning on making a very serious offer to you for quite some time and
as a good GM, I meticulously plan every move and try to foresee
potential obstacles to our goals.

I foresaw a situation in which you would not want to join the
defending champions. You want to make your mark on this league, I
understand that. That’s truly why we traded away Wiggins. With Wiggins
on the team, you would simply be joining a team that had already
proven itself. By clearing a spot for you, we are giving you the
opportunity to shape this team and claim it as your own. Right now, we
are in the conversation for contenders. We’ve traded away a young up
and coming player, but we are still one of the top teams in the East.
Yet, we are not what we once were. Now, we are asking you to come and
make this team yours – to fill that role, and to become a champion for
Charlotte.

Our offer will be grounded in three main ideas: That our team is the
very best fit for you; that joining our team puts you in the best
position to win; and that our team has proven itself to be the most
dedicated to you.

Team Fit

- Our starting lineup would be:
Westbrook/Middleton/Leonard/Ibaka/Noel with KCP and Ingram off the
bench. You would of course receive starter minutes, and be a focal
point on both ends of the floor.

- As a DPOY winner, your talents would fit right into our
defensive identity. Noel and Ibaka are both defensive stalwarts at the
rim, and Khris and KCP can tackle anyone at the perimeter. Adding you
at the wing would spell utter devastation for all of our opponents’
offensive plans.

- You would provide a veteran presence to our team’s youth,
yet you would also not be the oldest player on the team. Westbrook is
27 and Ibaka is 26 - both a few years older than you. We also envision
a mentor-mentee relationship between you and Brandon Ingram.

- We are not starving for offense, yet we are definitely not
over-saturated. Westbrook is our offensive igniter, but there is a gap
on our team in regards to offense – a gap that you would fill
perfectly. Many of our players depend on Westbrook to initiate offense
for them. You would flawlessly provide the role of another offensive
creator. Your post game is one of the best in the league, which would
fit perfectly between Westbrook cutting, Ibaka popping out, and Noel
lurking at the rim.

Contender Status:

- We are the defending champions. We clearly have what it
takes to play with the very best. Our supporting cast perfectly
complements your talents.

- Due to our trade, you can make this a championship team
again. Trading away Wiggins – we traded away what made us a
championship team. By joining the Hornets, you put us back in
contender status – and vault us into favorite status as well.

- We are young. Our average age is 23.3 years old. Our
players are still developing and only getting better. This team is
built to contend now – AND in the future, giving the Hornets serious
dynasty potential.

Dedication:
- We exchanged Wiggins for the cap space to sign you +
Ingram, and to make space in our starting championship lineup. What
other team has taken such an enormous risk just for the chance to sign
you?


- We have had our eye on you for some time, waiting for the
right moment. Looking back at stock watch threads, you can see GM
James Kay over and over again fighting for you to receive ratings
increases, explaining how talented you truly are.

- We are willing to offer multiple variations of contract
offers in order to best suit your needs, even if that goes against our
standard contract offering practices.

Now, I would lastly like to address what I’m sure bothers you most –
the prospect of leaving your current team, the Phoenix Suns.

I am sorry Kawhi, but the Suns have failed you. They have failed to
put you in a position to succeed. The Suns roster is NOT a contending
roster, and they are certainly not a roster built for the future. It
is only a testament to your great talent that you were somehow able to
lift that roster into the 8th seed. The 6’ 1” Lou Williams is NOT a
starting shooting guard, and between his defensive deficits and Goran
Dragic, opposing guards can score at will. Taj and Zach Randolph are
aging quickly. The lone bright spot is the presence of Zach Lavine,
but that is simply not enough. The Suns are not built to win now, or
in the future. They do not have their 2017 pick, or their 2019 pick.
And unlike the Hornets, they do not have the young assets to make up
for their lack of picks.

So again, I say, the Suns have failed you. By leaving the Suns, you do
no disservice to that team. They had their opportunity to help you,
and they came up woefully short. You do not owe it to them to waste
away your prime as they continue to flounder at the bottom of the
Western Conference.

In terms of money, owning your bird rights gives them little
advantage, since they can offer you one more year in a year that would
be more advantageous for you to opt out and re-sign for more money.
Our offers will be just as competitive, since we are offering player
options so you can opt out and re-sign with a more favorable maximum
salary.

In conclusion, the Hornets have shown tremendous dedication to you. We
just took a huge risk to get a better chance at signing you – to make
us a more enticing destination for you. Our roster is perfectly molded
to fit around your skill-set. And with you, we will become the
championship favorites for this year, and years to come. We hope to
hear from you soon, Kawhi. Thank you.

As for our offers: We offer the max contract of 23,500,000 increasing at the maximum rate with any combination or variation of PO or years that Kawhi desires.

This was yours:

Hi,

The Phoenix Suns would offer Kwahi Leonard max contract of: $172,494,525

1st Yr. $27,697,500
2nd Yr. $30,744,225
3rd Yr. $34,126,089
4th Yr. $37,879,958 (Player Option)
5th Yr. $42,046,753 (Player Option)

This is his team and would be build around him.

thanks

After prompting from Jeremiah, this was your best effort as far as I can see in the Kawhi thread:

Good day Jeremiah,

Here is my offer to Kwahi $185,692,150M Below is the break down

$23,500,000
$26,085,000
$28,954,350
$32,126,089
$35,879,958
$39,146,753 (Player Option)

Here is the reason why should Kwahi stay.

1) How many the team is build around him already for him?
I. Proven veterans not just veterans they are still on there prime and star quality?
II. Does they have an upcoming super star to pair with him in the future.
III.I have the still cap to go after some players need help improve the team.

2) The team is improving year after year. Last season we went at 7th at the conference. Before when I get control of the team, the team was chaotic and no direction basically I have clean-up everything and made him this team. Under my management we were able get players suited for him.

3)He does not need to adjust this is his team right away.

I hope that gives you some insight into the type of offers you were going against and what we're referring to when we talk about effort.

[Dan Majerle]

Ok so this would be an essay writing contest I guess? Do the Player Agent consider how the team was develop, Alex I challenge you get a worst team in the D5 build it to be a play-off in 2 years. Your just lucky that you had already your pieces in mold.

[Alex English]

Jul 7, 2016 7:29:46 GMT Dan Majerle said:

Ok so this would be an essay writing contest I guess? Do the Player Agent consider how the team was develop, Alex I challenge you get a worst team in the D5 build it to be a play-off in 2 years. Your just lucky that you had already your pieces in mold.

It's not an essay writing contest otherwise James Kay would have won (or maybe Charles Barkley). There is a huge contrast there between the two and it's the content that really matters. Every other team's offer was far similar to James Kay's than it was to yours. Every one outlined why Kawhi was a great fit for their team and why they wanted him. It was very clear what their plan was and the strengths they were offering. You kind of just listed out a contract and needed prompting to give any kind of explanation. Which, by the way, you never would have gotten that prompting if Kawhi weren't your Bird rights free agent. It's not for the player agents to make your case for you.

[Dan Majerle]

So you as PA does not consider GM effort in building the team from scratch is just decided through essay messages. You can not judge the GM if does not have the effort for his team. Now I challenging you leave Denver and get a team lowest rank and make it a play-off contention in 2 years. lets see If you would not consider that an effort.

[Ghazny Dimalen]

I like the way Dan Challenge Alex.
I feel you Dan, we are in the same path, but you must move on, if the player doesn't want to sign to your team look for another player that will fit to your team, try to sign more useful player use this quote "quantity over quality" if the "quality over quantity" will not fit to your team..

last season i already feel the same frustration you have now, when Monroe leave us even i have the bird rights and more cap space to sign a big name in free agent. because of that frustration my decision making was affected and i sign rondo, boozer and gooden an Over Price contract. please don't commit mistake like i did last year offseason.

just calm and plan another strategy to your team..
goodluck to us DAN..

[Hanamichi Sakuragi]

I think the decision was fine. Why would Kawhi sign with a team who laid up the contract offer on the table and said "This is his team and would be build around him."

There is no way a player in real life will ever sign with that kind of presentation. If you follow the NBA, the minimum length of presentation is 2 hours for the big guns!

[Walt Frazier]

Jul 7, 2016 6:48:16 GMT Ian Noble said:

... but special shout out goes to James Kay (CHA), Charles Barkley (HOU) and the eventual "winner" Shane Battier (CHI).

Now I feel dumb for not pestering Jeremiah. I figured I would send my big offer and then I knew he was inundated do I didn't say too much, assuming I would be asked for more as things went. It's what I would have done in a decision like this. Multiple times I've had Gms argue against their competitors and spell out in more detail certain parts of their offers. That's partially my mistake, assuming other PA's do the same things, but I felt bad for Jeremiah and didn't pester him, so I now look like I didn't try as hard.