13 Days to NBA Training Camps?
This was the fastest NBA offseason I can remember and i think it was aided by the Redeem Team winning the gold medal. The olympics truly broke up what is usually a long summer away from basketball for me. Training camp brings a lot of promise for teams and individual players alike. Deron Williams is coming off a contract extension that got him 70 million. Gilbert Arenas signed for 100 plus million and then had another knee surgery and is going to be out for a month or two of the season. The Celtics look to repeat in the NBA as the Lakers look to get back to the finals.
But there is another side to training camp and that is the hope that it brings all NBA free agents looking to make a team. For a player who is undrafted and looking to make a squad, the minimum salary is 400k plus. What job can you get where you make that in your first year? Other players try to prove themselves so they can get that one big contract that can set them up for life. A few years ago, the Memphis Grizzlies signed Brian Cardinal to a multimillion dollar deal and nobody knows why to this day other than he is a great teammate and a guy who is willing to do whatever it takes to beat you. That’s what I think of when I think of when I think of training camp. It isn’t about the starting 5 but usually the last 2 spots where the excitement is and where lives are changed. The 12th man knows he isn’t going to play much but he knows his role. He also knows that if he plays his cards right he can have a long career and make great money doing it.
Some teams have 3-4 guys who should be 12th man material. We call those teams the Supersonics and the Clippers.
