Posts Tagged ‘Mark Bartelstein’

Gibson, Bulls Beat Clock With $38M Deal

November 1, 2012  ·  12:42AM





CHICAGO – Taj Gibson tried to answer the first question with a straight face, and failed miserably. Four or five words in, his smile broke through the clouds and spread ear to ear.

From there, the Chicago Bulls forward’s expression told the tale. While he dressed after is team’s 93-87 victory over Sacramento Wednesday at United Center, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, was upstairs with Bulls management. The business at hand: Crossing T’s and dotting I’s on a four-year contract extension worth $38 million, about 50 minutes before the NBA deadline for such deals.

“This is where I want to be,” Gibson said. “Both sides just came together and got it done.”

He added: “I didn’t want to go through [the season without a deal]. To turn down, that’s a lot of money. Especially for the security. I’m relieved.”

Four hours earlier, Gibson looked despondent. The gap in the negotiations was too great, and the fourth-year forward from USC doubted whether it would get done at all. It nagged at him a little as he played — four blocked shots but modest otherwise, with four points and five rebounds in 19 minutes. Then the horn blew, the Bulls won and Gibson knew that the 11 p.m. CT cutoff was fast approaching. (more…)

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Posted in 2012 / Comments (2) /

Bulls’ Gibson, Others Face Deal Cutoff

October 31, 2012  ·  10:49AM





HANG TIME CHICAGO – Maybe, if the Chicago Bulls get a deal done with forward Taj Gibson close to tipoff of their 2012-13 season opener against Sacramento, they can have him sign it at midcourt. Imagine the Opening Night drama of a darkened arena, save for one spotlight on Gibson as he puts pen to paper on the back of Benny The Bull.

Maybe the contract extension talks that still had the player and his team several million dollars apart goes right to the witching hour (midnight ET / 11 p.m. CT) before they’re complete. This is, after all, Halloween.

Or maybe the Bulls and Gibson, their valuable and still-budding big man off the bench, don’t come to terms at all. That would throw yet another looming question over a team already playing under a cloud of uncertainty over Derrick Rose‘s comeback from knee surgery.

Chicago has three options with Gibson. Once the deadline for fourth-year players such as himself, Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans and a few others, Gibson and the Bulls will be down to one:

  • Option 1: Reach an agreement on a four-year, multimillion deal that keeps Gibson in Chicago’s rotation and plans for the long haul. The two sides were said to be about $8 million apart over the contract’s value, the Chicago Tribune reported.
  • Option 2: Hit the deadline without a deal. Gibson would become a restricted free agent in July and the Bulls would be able to match any offer sheets that came his way. This is like signing your guy now, only letting some general manager other than Gar Forman negotiate the price.
  • Option 3: Go all James Harden on Gibson and his agent, Mark Bartelstein.

(more…)

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Gibson Wants To Remain In Chicago

June 8, 2012  ·  10:35AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – If he has his way, Taj Gibson will wear a Chicago Bulls uniform for years to come.

While many of his contemporaries have created ways to exit their particular situations around the league, the Bulls’ power forward is looking to make sure he maintains his with a contract extension. Gibson will be a restricted free agent at the end of next season but has no interest in testing those waters.

Gibson said as much Thursday, telling ESPNChicago.com‘s Nick Friedell that whenever the Bulls get around to it, he’s ready to get something done:

“Really, it doesn’t matter (when it happens),” Gibson said. “I told (general manager) Gar (Forman) and (vice president John Paxson) how committed I am to just being with the Bulls. It’s not a thought in my head to leave Chicago because I love playing for the Bulls.

“I love wearing the Bulls logo across my chest. So that’s the last thing I’m thinking about right now. Right now, I’m just thinking about next year. Just come in and figure out how I can try to help the team better and just let the chips fall in place. A lot of guys tend to worry about that stuff, but I know I have a good agent in Mark Bartelstein and I have a lot of faith in what he does and I know I have a lot of faith in the Bulls organization so I’m just relaxing and practicing.

“I believe my future is here. Either mid-July or next year (for an extension), just have to be patient and just wait and see.”

(more…)

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Labor Talks: Here We Go Again

November 4, 2011  ·  10:36AM

***

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Did you wake up this morning wondering what the first weekend of November has in store for you, NBA fans?

Let us help.

How about another round of “talks,” perhaps even another round of hollow smiles and more posturing about deadlines that move at the whim of the men on both sides of the league’s labor dispute and even a scare tactic or two that threatens to cost us the entire 2011-12 season?

We completely understand if lockout fatigue syndrome is full-blown in your household. It’s choking the life out of things here at the hideout, where every breaking news blast is met with a raised eyebrow and questions about who might be pulling the strings on this latest stunt (the dissolution of the union is coming back to the forefront now).

(SI.com and NBA TV’s legal analyst Michael McCann details all of the particulars for you!)

They’ve met in small groups, larger groups and committees. There have been conference calls, secret ones and not-so-secret alike, news conferences and now threats of the union decertifying and still no sign of the one thing we need … a new collective bargaining agreement!

Substantive talks are one thing and we’d welcome anything in that neighborhood going on this weekend.

But showing up to a Manhattan hotel and sticking around just long enough to tell each other that nothing has changed is not what we’d consider progress.

And we’re not the only ones exhausted by the process …

***

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe captures the mood of many with his column that places the current state of affairs in the proper historical context:

It is very annoying for those of us who still love the sport of professional basketball to see what its custodians are currently doing to harm it. I wish it were as easy to decipher as the NFL madness. It was pretty easy to outfit the combatants in that one.

White Hats: Players

Black Hats: Owners

The NFL lockout was about very rich guys, all making a profit from their teams, wanting more. The players asked for nothing. Status quo was fine with them. There was a $9 billion pie, and there was ample opportunity for everyone to get a nice slice.

The NBA pie is worth “only’’ approximately $4 billion, and, unlike the NFL, not everyone makes a profit. That is clear. But just who is losing what remains unclear, because history teaches us that in these matters, professional sports teams make statements concerning their finances that, while perhaps not outright lies, are, shall we say, substantial stretches of the truth. Make that enormous, stupendous, astonishing stretches of the truth.

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Labor Talks: Tick Tock, Tick Tock …

October 4, 2011  ·  8:07AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – We’ve all known for a while now that the first week of October would serve as a crucial week in these NBA labor talks.

No progress before then and the opening days of this month could be a make-or-break time for both sides, not to mention the millions of us around the world biting our nails hoping that our first love (the NBA) would come back to us … and soon.

It’s hard to categorize the things that have gone on in recent days as true progress. Sure, there have been meetings. Ideas have been exchanged. But no one is talking in a way that suggests that even the loose framework of a deal is under way.

And now comes this crossroads moment, a “very huge day,” according to the words used by union president Derek Fisher in characterizing today’s session.

We won’t know exactly what that means until the sides emerge from that meeting room in New York and explain themselves after yet another day of exhausting conversation about how to close the gap between what the owners want and the players are willing to give.

But if the developments of the past 24 hours are any indication, everyone seems to be digging in and the clock continues to tick …

Agents Urge Players To Stay Strong

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated: In a letter to their clients, Arn Tellem (Wasserman Media Group), Bill Duffy (BDA Sports), Dan Fegan (Lagardère Unlimited), Jeff Schwartz (Excel Sports Management), Leon Rose and Henry Thomas (Creative Artists Agency) and Mark Bartelstein (Priority Sports and Entertainment), outlined what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable going into the biggest day of negotiating yet.

Here are some of the notable demands in the letter, which was obtained by SI.com from a player: (Click here for the full letter in PDF):

• With the National Basketball Players’ Association having already offered to drop the players’ portion of basketball-related income from 57 percent to 52 percent, the agents implore players to insist on “no further reduction of the BRI received by the players. A source close to the union told SI.com recently that any agreed-upon deal in which the players received 51 percent could possibly be ratified but would likely lead to the ousting of Billy Hunter as the NBPA’s executive director, so this is in line with those parameters.

• A system in which the current structure of the Bird and mid-level exceptions remains the same.

• No reduction in salary from existing levels for maximum contract players.

• No changes in unrestricted free agency and improvements on restricted free agency.

• “Refuse any deal that excludes players from the explosive growth of the NBA.” Owners’ proposals that have started with players receiving 46 percent of the BRI have included drastic declines in their percentage of the pie in the later years of the agreement.

(more…)

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Labor: Where Do We Go From Here?

September 14, 2011  ·  11:20AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Stunning is the only way to describe the mood shift here at the hideout in the past 24 hours.

From giddy anticipation for potential progress that could come from the first full bargaining session since the lockout began to the depths of despair in the aftermath of said meeting producing nothing of the sort. I tried to warn folks. No deal would be struck. The two sides were probably not going to move off of their initial positions. They did not.

The owners and players (and their representatives) are as far apart right now as they were when this entire ordeal began. It’s as if the calendar hasn’t moved one bit since July 1.

NBA commissioner David Stern and union executive director Billy Hunter might even agree on that. There is no next bargaining session scheduled. Not even a brief get together for coffee. Nothing.

The labor talks have “Hit a wall,” as our very own Steve Aschburner points out, but he is not the only one shining a light on the hard cap vs. soft cap debate that seems be at the center of the impasse (this week).

You can choose sides all you want, but as far as these eyes can see the only real losers in this entire affair are those of us who love the game and want to see it played as soon as possible.

Still, we have to gauge the reactions from all sides and examine the fine points of each and every argument. More importantly, we have to sort through the rubble now and figure out exactly where we go from here. Because optimism is no longer a part of this equation …

The Union’s Next Test … Decertification

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: When [Hunter] goes to Las Vegas on Wednesday for the most important players meeting of his tenure as executive director, does he find a coup awaiting him?

“Now Billy has to go to Las Vegas with nothing to bring the players,” a prominent agent told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday night.

“He’s chosen a particular path, and there hasn’t been any progress on that path. There was all this false optimism in the last week about how the league was going to come with a new proposal that he could take back to the players, and they came with nothing. Stern wants to stall, and stall until the players start missing paychecks.

“Billy was hoping that he could keep the players engaged, excited that a deal was coming. There was all that rhetoric of good feelings, and today was the day that Stern was going to come with a proposal. He was relying on the fact that Stern would negotiate in good faith with him, that he didn’t want to lose games. He thought that Stern would blink, start to negotiate. He was relying on the fact Stern didn’t want to hurt the game, and he was wrong.”

Yes, there had to be a pit in Hunter’s stomach. Three hours waiting for the owners to debate among themselves, big markets wanting to cut a deal, and small markets willing to lose games – lose the season – to get guaranteed profits and maybe a better chance to chase championships.

There’s a big labor meeting in Las Vegas on Thursday, and Hunter is competing for the hearts and minds of his rank-and-file players. He’s already lost the top agents, who are laying the groundwork for a coup, sources told Yahoo! Sports. The decision to make a move on Hunter could come as soon as this week, agents privately said.

(more…)

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Jordan & Kwame Together Again

August 24, 2010  ·  10:33AM

A high-placed team executive once told this Hang Time substitute teacher that a center typically doesn’t reach his prime until 30.

Looks like Michael Jordan reached on Kwame Brown again.

Almost a decade after Jordan, then the Wizards president, selected Brown, then a high school star, with the first pick of the draft, they’ve renewed vows in Charlotte. Could there be a more unlikely reunion this side of Mel Gibson and Robyn?

Jordan and Brown were forever linked even before news broke that the Bobcats were signing the 28-year-old journeyman to a one-year contract for $1.3 million. This bond began in 2001 and would go on to define the failed MJ Era in Washington.

As Brown’s agent Mark Bartelstein told the Associated Press:

“A really interesting story. Instead of running away from the shadow of Michael Jordan, he kind of embraced it.”

Brown was the first high school player taken No. 1 and Jordan’s first draft pick as an executive. Brown has since been labeled one of the biggest No. 1 busts in history, joining an infamous list that includes Joe Barry Carroll, LaRue Martin, Michael Olowokandi, Pervis Ellison and Kent Benson.

Brown’s biggest NBA contribution is being part of the blockbuster trade that sent Pau Gasol from Memphis to Los Angeles to ignite the Lakers’ latest title run. The Bobcats are Brown’s fifth team. He played sparingly the last two years in Detroit, and owns career averages of just 6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds.

But the Bobcats were looking for depth at center after trading Tyson Chandler to Dallas earlier this summer. Jordan, the first former player to own a team, went back to a familiar well to fill that need.

There probably wasn’t much interest in Brown out there, which is telling in a league short of quality big men. But Brown is also opening up some old wounds by teaming up with Jordan again, though the expectations aren’t nearly what they were nine years ago.

Bartelstein told ESPN.com that his client is ready for the scrutiny:

“He really wanted to take the challenge of playing again for Michael and playing for a top coach like Larry Brown. I think it says a lot about Kwame that he wanted to go to Charlotte.

“The last few years have been difficult for him, but I think he’s really excited to go there and try to create a new chapter in his career. He wants this opportunity to go back and prove something.”

Maybe in the case of Michael Jordan and Kwame Brown, it’s not too late.

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Head considering legal options

July 15, 2010  ·  3:57PM

Posted by Art Garcia

Luther Head‘s agent Mark Bartelstein told NBA.com that they’re investigating legal options in response to New Orleans contending the guard didn’t pass a physical this week. The Hornets then rescinded a contract offer made to Head.

“We’re going to look at the remedies we have because I know that Luther would have no problem passing a physical with any other team,” Bartelstein said today. “And it’s my responsibility to protect my client when I believe he’s been wronged.”

Bartelstein is still gathering information and wasn’t sure what the next step would be at this point, or if the union or league office would be involved.

The Hornets released the following statement today from team president Hugh Weber:

“We can appreciate Mark’s passion for his clients and understand his disappointment. It is our procedure for a player to undergo a thorough physical examination before a contract can be finalized. After consulting with our medical team, the Hornets organization feels that it is not in our best interest to move forward with the signing.”

Bartelstein said a two-year agreement negotiated by former general manager Jeff Bower was in place, but the Hornets backed out after Bower and the team parted ways Tuesday.

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Roger Mason close to new deal

July 6, 2010  ·  11:08AM

Posted by Art Garcia

Roger Mason Jr., one of the free agent steals of two summers ago, could be closing in on a new deal by the end of the week, league sources told NBA.com. Mason spent the last two seasons in San Antonio.

“We’re going through it day by day,” Mason’s agent Mark Bartelstein said Tuesday. “We have to go through the process. There’s a domino factor to all of this.”

Bartelstein added that a number of teams are interested in the shooting guard who enjoyed a career season in 2008-09 before Mason struggled with his shot last season and fell out of Gregg Popovich‘s rotation. Portland, Miami, Chicago and New York are among those who have contacted the six-year veteran. The Spurs have not.

The “domino factor” Bartelstein referred gets back to those top-tier free agents — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, etc. Once they decide where they’re going, roster and salary slots open up. With the Heat, Bulls and Knicks, especially, Mason is could be seen as cost-effective proven vet to complement a few new high-dollar teammates.

Mason is looking for a chance to contribute again. He played a major role with the Spurs in 2008-09, setting career highs for scoring (11.8), minutes (30.4), 3-point field-goal percentage (42.1) and starts (71). Mason took a step back last season, mainly due to injuries and inconsistency plus the return of Manu Ginobili.

“It started with me in the playoffs last year,” Mason said shortly after this past season ended. “That was the first time I had gotten benched by Pop. It’s kinda lasted a while.

“It hasn’t been ideal, but I think I’ve continued to improve as a player, which is weird because most times if you numbers look the way mine do from one year to the next, you think that you’re a worse player. But I actually feel like I’m a better player.”

Mason feels he can be the long-range threat he was that first year in San Antonio again, and a more complete player. He shot just 33.3 percent from beyond the arc last season and averaged 6.3 points.

Still, the Spurs two-year investment of $7.3 million appears to have paid off after Mason out-played his deal the first year. Mason, 29, is looking for another multi-year deal.

On the eve of free agency last week, Mason tweeted (MoneyMase) the following:

“How quickly people forget that I was considered the steal of free agency last year. A talented team, and injuries, got in the way this year.”

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