Knicks officially sign PG Felton
Basketball Betting Lines
07/12/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks made it official on Monday by signing free agent guard Raymond Felton.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but the New York Daily News previously reported its a three-year deal that could be worth $25 million for the five-year veteran.
"Raymond is a top point guard and someone we targeted during the free agency period," Knicks president of basketball operations Donnie Walsh said. "He is an all-around player, excelling on both sides of the court and a true professional."
The Knicks were looking for a point guard after Chris Duhon signed with the Orlando Magic.
Felton played in 80 games for Charlotte last season and averaged 12.1 points, 5.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds in helping the team reach the postseason for the first time in its existence.
The North Carolina product has spent his entire career with the Bobcats and has averaged 13.3 points, 6.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest over 399 games, including 369 starts.
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GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -Enough talk about the salary cap. The New York Knicks think they can win now.New York introduced new additions Raymond Felton, Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and Ronny Turiaf on Monday. Not quite the same as showing off Le
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<< Canada well-represented at 2010 MLB All-Star Game
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays will send three of
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Toronto's All-Star representatives of Verno
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Blackhawks announced Monday that the club will match San Jose's offer sheet
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The Sharks signed the 2
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Division I Men's Basketball Committee revealed its format for the newly expanded 68-team field in the NCAA Tournament on Monday. Beginning next March, eight teams will play early during th
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Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American League manager Joe Girardi didn't
hesitate when asked about Boston third baseman Adrian Beltre's status for
Tuesday's All-Star Game.
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Pironkova, Kanepi win Palermo openers >>
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova
and Wimbledon quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi were among Monday's opening-round
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Sky Blue FC, 2-0, on Saturday at Toyota Park.
It was Chicago's first ever win ag
Haslem stays home; Heat now with five players >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Udonis Haslem has opted to stay in Miami, giving
the Heat a grand total of five players on their roster.
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offered larger deals by th
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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