Derrick Rose against NBA salary cap

[Scoot26]

HONOLULU -- Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose has established himself among the elite NBA players in just three seasons. His salary, however, doesn't come anywhere near the top in the league, let alone his own team.

Because of rookie salary scale restrictions, the league's reigning MVP earns about $5.5 million a season -- far less than other NBA stars. The scale is on the table between the league and players' association during its extended labor dispute that could result in more games being canceled and might wipe out the season.

Rose, in Hawaii this week visiting military personnel as part of the Hoops for Troops USO Tour, will undoubtedly earn a lot more when he becomes a free agent at the end of his four-year, $22.5 million contract, depending on the new agreement, of course.

"I wish it was back like where it was in the old days where there wasn't a cap," Rose told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Back in the day, they were giving guys coming out of college multimillion-dollar contracts, so why stop it now? The game is growing. There's no need to stop it."

The union would like players to get out from the rookie salary scale quicker than five years. On Monday, union executive director Billy Hunter mentioned Rose and Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin during an hour-long podcast with ESPN.com as examples of players who are underpaid because there are still locked into their scale figures.

The league said it has proposed a new bonus pool for top-performing rookie scale players who earn league honors as such as MVP or are on the All-NBA first, second or third teams.

Rose said the labor strife is about getting an agreement that's fair.

"Greed is not on our side," Rose said. "We're not greedy. ... What they're trying to do to us is dead wrong."

The sides met for three days with a federal mediator before talks broke down Thursday after players said owners insisted they commit to a 50-50 split of revenues before any further discussions about the salary cap system could continue.

"I know that everybody is waiting for us to play, but it has to be on the right terms." Rose said.

Rose has been waiting and spending most of his time training in Los Angeles with other NBA players, including Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, who also is in Hawaii.

"We owe it to ourselves and others like the guys who are coming up to have a good deal," Horford said. "I felt like in the past, the players have given up a lot to the owners and I just feel like it's excessive that way they're trying to do it ... At the end of the day, if you look at who's asking for money and all that, it's the owners. They're the ones that want to make all the drastic changes to all these things that haven't really been an issue."

Rose, who turned 23 this month, is the youngest MVP in NBA history and joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls player to earn the honor.

"The most difficult part is, every day you wake up and you see games canceled," he said. "The fans are fiending for it. I know we're itching to play. And I know that it'll hurt the game because our fans are loyal and for us not to be playing, I think it'll hurt them more."

He is coming off a season where he averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists, while leading the Bulls to a league-high 62 wins and the Eastern Conference finals. The Miami Heat overwhelmed the top-seeded Bulls by dominating the fourth quarters, with LeBron James containing the Bulls' point guard.

Rose said he couldn't wait to get back on the court to silence some of his critics and test some of the things he's been working on since the playoffs, such as conditioning, isolation skills, going against bigger players and learning how to get fouled.

"I put a lot of work into my game. I take my basketball life very serious. That's just my life," he said. "For people to still talk negative about you, I think that's just life, period. You just go with it. But I feed off of it."

As far as his first trip to the islands, Rose said he was humbled by his welcome and meeting the troops. Rose and Horford are joined by Atlanta's Joe Johnson, Charlotte's D.J. Augustin, Sacramento's Tyreke Evans, New Jersey's Brook Lopez, Phoenix's Robin Lopez, Washington's JaVale McGee and Miami's Mike Miller. They are scheduled to visit military families, hold clinics and play games at an Army, Navy and Marine Corps bases.

Earlier this week, they met with some soldiers wounded in action.

"They're around my age and younger than I am," Rose said. "Just seeing that they're fighting for us, I just let them know we're not taking them for granted."

Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose wants to do away with NBA salary cap - ESPN Chicago

Personally, a rookie scale needs to stay, maybe not 4-5 years like it is now, but 2-3 years. There are simply too many draft busts.

 

[BNB]

I think every league should have a rookie salary cap. That way a team isn't killed if their high draft pick is a bust.

But I can see why players would be against the salary cap.. more money for them.

 

[97Bulls]

I think every league should have a rookie salary cap. That way a team isn't killed if their high draft pick is a bust.

But I can see why players would be against the salary cap.. more money for them.

Yeah but that goes both ways. Rose making 5.5 mill is a travesty. He's easily worth 25 to 30 mill on the open market.

 

[Scoot26]

Yeah but that goes both ways. Rose making 5.5 mill is a travesty. He's easily worth 25 to 30 mill on the open market.

Well thats why I would modify it to probably 2 years set scale, with a 3rd year option an a size-able increase in salary the 3rd year. That way a team should know what they have by that 3rd year.

Rose is in a way a special case though. He's the youngest MVP ever. Also, were there no lockout, I'm positive the Bulls would have been talking contract extension with him this summer.

 

[BNB]

Yeah but that goes both ways. Rose making 5.5 mill is a travesty. He's easily worth 25 to 30 mill on the open market.

and his money will come.

but it kinda already is coming with all of his endorsements. So it's not like he's struggling.

Look at the NFL and all of those top 10 picks that basically robbed those teams by signing those huge deals before they even stepped foot on the field.

better to have a rookie salary cap

 

[97Bulls]

and his money will come.

but it kinda already is coming with all of his endorsements. So it's not like he's struggling.

Look at the NFL and all of those top 10 picks that basically robbed those teams by signing those huge deals before they even stepped foot on the field.

better to have a rookie salary cap

It is betteer from an owner perspective. But I do feel the owners come out on top as far as paying players. That rookie scale puts a good amount of up front savings to the owners.

Look at gilbert arenas. I use him because he's the poster boy for the people who say the players are overpaid. And they say he's stealing money. Arenas was making just over 8 mill in 05. He avg 25 ppg and was the face of the wizards franchise. He topped out at 29 ppg in 07 and he earned 11mill that year. He was probably at worse a top 8 player. That means he should've been paid around 20 mill per.

 

[y2ktors]

It goes both ways. What about when Jermaine O'Neal makes 21+ million dollars to average 13 ppg? Is this not a travesty?

 

[97Bulls]

It goes both ways. What about when Jermaine O'Neal makes 21+ million dollars to average 13 ppg? Is this not a travesty?

He was also getting paid 6 mill while avg 20/10/3 blocks. As well as being the pacers defensive anchorr and the face of that franchise.

And understand that when I say face of the franchise, I'm referencing the team using his naming right, image etc to make more money outside of basketball.

But your correct. It goes both ways.

 

[clonetrooper264]

I could see scaling it down a couple years, but practically, I think the rookie scales are for the most part a really good thing for teams. Just from a GM perspective, if you're paying this draft bust a ridiculous amount of money, you're seriously hindering your team's ability to get better because you have so much of the cap tied up in a player who sucks. Yes there are going to be players like Rose who come along and are worth the max by year 2 or 3. But these guys are going to get paid the max for near the rest of their careers. It's not like they are desperately in need for that extra 20 million those first couple years.

 

[97Bulls]

I could see scaling it down a couple years, but practically, I think the rookie scales are for the most part a really good thing for teams. Just from a GM perspective, if you're paying this draft bust a ridiculous amount of money, you're seriously hindering your team's ability to get better because you have so much of the cap tied up in a player who sucks. Yes there are going to be players like Rose who come along and are worth the max by year 2 or 3. But these guys are going to get paid the max for near the rest of their careers. It's not like they are desperately in need for that extra 20 million those first couple years.

Lol so its ok for rose to litterally lose 20 million dollars?

This is just amazing to me. Why is it that people expect athletes to take hits like this? Athletes are businessmen too. Their brand is their body and their name. And its only worth money for 10-15 years. Very few players can be like michael jordan and magic johnson. and trust me. These owners are making probably 3 times what a player is worth from a rookie season to retirement. Even the bench players that must host different eveents/charities for the teams.

But I do agree the rookie cap is good for the teams. I just feel there very few players that you can say "steal" money. Off the top, the only twon I can think of is kwame brown and darko milicic.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

There needs to be salary caps or you are playing on a completely unlevel playing field. If you want the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets to be the New York Yankees of the NBA then, by all means, abolish the salary cap.

Rose is dead wrong about this. I sympathize with any person who has a limit on what they earn but these are pro. athletes in a TEAM sport. Derrick should think about the greater good.

 

[clonetrooper264]

Lol so its ok for rose to litterally lose 20 million dollars?

This is just amazing to me. Why is it that people expect athletes to take hits like this? Athletes are businessmen too. Their brand is their body and their name. And its only worth money for 10-15 years. Very few players can be like michael jordan and magic johnson. and trust me. These owners are making probably 3 times what a player is worth from a rookie season to retirement. Even the bench players that must host different eveents/charities for the teams.

But I do agree the rookie cap is good for the teams. I just feel there very few players that you can say "steal" money. Off the top, the only twon I can think of is kwame brown and darko milicic.

Yes it's ok for Rose to lose 20 million the first couple years. Why? Because he'll be making 20 million a year for the rest of his career (approximately). And assuming no freak injuries (which no one can predict, but those aren't anyone's fault) he'll have a pretty long career of at least 14 seasons (probably more like 16-17) during most of which he'll be making that max amount. He's set for life after that if he has any sense of how to save money/has anyone in his circle that can manage it for him (assuming no corruption and all that nonsense). 20 million those first few years won't prevent him from being set for life.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Derrick Rose is making ridiculous money right now from Adidas. He is doing just fine.

 

[97Bulls]

Lol you guys are incrdible.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Anybody who is in-favor of abolishing the salary cap obviously is a player who doesn't care about the greater good of the league as much as he does his paycheck.

Even the lowest salary in the NBA is close to $1,000,000.

 

[BNB]

Lol you guys are incrdible.

why pay a guy a shit load of money when he hasn't proven a thing?

Imagine if the Blazers were paying Greg Oden over 10 million a year when they drafted him.

Prove yourself on your rookie contract so you can get a big one after.

That's how it should work.

 

[nwfisch]

It's not like these players are making $8 an hour....

 

[houheffna]

It is not about whether an athlete is "doing fine" or not. They don't work pro bono or for reduced amounts. However, you can't say how much Rose is worth without looking at how much Garnett and Baron Davis are worth comparable to their pay. Nobody complains about that and the players don't have a problem with it either, because they are getting paid.

By the way, the current system was set up at the demand of the players...after Kevin Garnett's big contract...

 

[97Bulls]

why pay a guy a shit load of money when he hasn't proven a thing?

Imagine if the Blazers were paying Greg Oden over 10 million a year when they drafted him.

Prove yourself on your rookie contract so you can get a big one after.

That's how it should work.

Because the teams are making a shitload of money before the players even prove anything.
So how long does it take to prove yourself? The teams aren't waiting until this happens. They market their top draft picks from the jump, raise ticket prices, make the players go to promotional activities. Even greg oden. And I guarantee they're making a truckload of money off those players.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Because the teams are making a shitload of money before the players even prove anything.
So how long does it take to prove yourself? The teams aren't waiting until this happens. They market their top draft picks from the jump, raise ticket prices, make the players go to promotional activities. Even greg oden. And I guarantee they're making a truckload of money off those players.

How about you suggest a payment system that would work?

Not so easy, is it...

Life is certainly not fair. But these superstar athletes are not the ones who deserve most of our pity. They are making a shit load of money from their commercial deals. Even the last pick of the second round is making a very decent some of money. If they got rid of the rookie pay scale (based on how high you are as a draft pick) then that would put teams who are trying to rebuild at a key disadvantage. You would essentially need to eliminate guaranteed contracts and lower the minimum NBA salary then as well.

These players are making way too much money before they've earned it. Michael Jordan said it himself.