NBA rumors: Clippers players could become free agents after season
By Josh Sanchez
There has been plenty of discussion about what could be next for the Los Angeles Clippers players in light of the racist comments made by owner Donald Sterling, and it appears that the league is willing to listen to a drastic suggestion that could completely change the landscape of the NBA following the 2014 season.
Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said that the Clippers players should be allowed to hit free agency after the season if they do not want to play for Sterling, and he says that NBA commissioner Adam Silver was willing to listen.
“I thought that there’s got to be a way to disrupt him from owning the team,” Alexander said, via the Houston Chronicle. “I gave [Silver] the sword to deal with this. I said, ‘Let the players become free agents.’ I mentioned that to Adam. I told Adam I don’t think he can be removed because the constitution (of the NBA) only allows him to be removed except for gambling. I’m not sure that legally can be done. But if he loses his players, nobody is going to want to go there. He’ll only be able to get a player that is worth $2 million and will play for $12 (million.) And who is going to want to coach there? If you’re a player in the NBA you don’t want to play for somebody like that. If you worked for a company, you would walk away and say, ‘I’m gone.’ I think the players should have that right.”
“He listened to it,” Alexander added. “He said he hadn’t heard that before. He said to me, ‘You always give me a novel idea that I haven’t heard before.’ He told me he would look at it and see what the professionals around him think.”
It would certainly be an interesting situation if the league were to go with that decision and allow Clippers players to hit the open market, but it is hard to imagine Silver actually deciding to take that route.
It is something that would completely shake up the landscape of the league without giving every team a fair crack and scooping up any of the Clippers players. It would come down to having the right cap space at the right time, without any proper preparation that would have completely altered team’s strategies throughout the past few years.
Do you think Clippers players should be able to be free agents at the end of the year? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts.