Baron Wants His Money
Baron Davis - the awesomely bearded, tomahawk jamming, rockstar of the 2007 NBA Playoffs – wants to sign a long-term extension, and he wants it as soon as possible.
According to Baron, if Warrior management doesn’t step up to the plate in a big way, he’s going to test the market via free agency. From the Boston Globe:
“There hasn’t been too much talking. But in the next two weeks, I’m going to make a decision if I will re-sign or play the season out and be a free agent,” he said.
“I know where I want to be. I know what I want to do. You just have to see if the team that you’re playing for wants you the most. Hopefully, we’ll find out that soon.”
Rumor has it that the 28-year old Baron Davis is looking for an extension in the neighborhood of $50 million. Logically and financially, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for Chris Mullin and the rest of Golden State Warriors braintrust to give him that kind of money. For one, he’s a walking season-ending knee injury waiting to happen, plus, who’s to say that he can ever come close to repeating last year’s magic?
Here’s the catch, though: Baron is arguably the most popular athlete in the entire Bay Area. If the Warriors don’t re-sign him, the Warrior faithful will hunt down Mullin and his family. Having already lost another wildly popular Warrior (Jason Richardson) this summer, do the Warriors - assuming they want to stay competitive in the West - have any other option but resign their point guard to a lucrative deal? Only time will tell.
61 Responses to “Baron Wants His Money”
Sep.24 at 1:50 pm
ken says:
I love Baron. 1st.
Sep.24 at 1:59 pm
beantown's Finest says:
i’m back after be on hiatus mode. B Diddy definately does not deserve 50 mill. just like u guys said, he’s an injury waiting to happen. last years playoff run was phenomenal, but whos to say they’ll even make the playoffs this year? but at the end of the day, they should be resign him to something. somewhere around 20-30 mill i hope. shoot, all i want is amil (before taxes).
Sep.24 at 2:00 pm
bfears12 says:
give him da loot! he needs to finish his career in the bay! go baron….
Sep.24 at 2:12 pm
RV says:
sounds a bit selfish to me, he wants to know who wants HIM the most, he needs to remember teams don’t consist of one player…if he’s ok with never going farther in the playoffs and just getting paid, then i guess he’s going about it the right way
Sep.24 at 2:18 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
if they dont pay him, where could he go next season? cleveland???
Sep.24 at 2:20 pm
Roscoe Grant says:
Give him the money! He is the best player they got and if they release him they aint ganna get even close to last years “magic”.
Sep.24 at 2:20 pm
H to the izzo says:
Russia??
Sep.24 at 2:27 pm
J says:
He’s popular (I’m from the Bay) but we’re also realistic and think he’s out of his mind. Can we pay him on games played?
Sep.24 at 2:28 pm
ken says:
Aren’t the Heat still desperate for a PG?
Sep.24 at 2:29 pm
Rubens says:
Baron deserves better players around him… and there should be a rule that says “Baron can’t shave his beard”
Sep.24 at 2:34 pm
Mike says:
great, now there is news that the warriors are signing troy hudson
Sep.24 at 2:35 pm
bay area says:
It sounds like a lot of money, but then again how much did Mullin pay Foyle and Fisher?
Sep.24 at 2:42 pm
Mikey C says:
They should trade him and Biendris to Boston for the Red Sox
Sep.24 at 2:43 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
^^^ you are correct sir
Sep.24 at 2:46 pm
trueblood says:
baron 2 cleveland!!!
Sep.24 at 2:58 pm
Gerard Himself says:
good point bay area
Sep.24 at 2:59 pm
Gerard Himself says:
I’m still angry that Richardson is gone, by the way, and I’m not even a real Warriors fan.
Sep.24 at 3:03 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
So you compound other mistakes by making more? I love Baron and all, but the Warriors would be smart to wait. It’s not like anyone else will be able to afford to pay him more.
Sep.24 at 3:07 pm
Mo Charlo says:
Unfortunately, sometimes people will play for less pay, especially if the team in question is a contender. I’m not saying that Baron is a ring-gollum yet, but the $50M tag might be his price for Golden State, and the price would be substantially lower for the Lakers, Suns, Cetics, Heat, etc.
Sep.24 at 3:09 pm
riggs says:
baron and the celtics…..would be dope tbh
Sep.24 at 3:23 pm
PG27 says:
Imagine Baron and Lebron in Cleavland.This would probably be what there lineup would look like:
G Baron Davis
G Larry Hughes
F Lebron James
F Drew Gooden
C Zydrunas Illgausgas
This lineup has defense,offense,and 5 awesome beards!
Sep.24 at 3:42 pm
Bryce says:
Monta Ellis is going to make $770,000 this year. Biedrins a mere $2.6 mil and Barnes got some 1-year $3 million deal. But while these numbers may make you scream underpaid, you should probably remember that the only people who knew about these guys before the playoffs were a. from the bay b. playing fantasy basketball c. writing for slam. Baron davis went off in the playoffs and made these dudes look like all-stars. minus injuries davis is worth every penny and the warriors better realize that
Sep.24 at 3:48 pm
Bryce says:
^^^ and PG - that lineup would still get swept by the spurs
Sep.24 at 3:59 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Saying “Baron minus injuries” is like saying “Nate Robinson minus short” or “Ruben Patterson minus sex offender.” You gotta take the bad with the good, and Baron isn’t a guy I want to drop a cap-killing long-term extension on before I have to.
Sep.24 at 4:03 pm
Dyce says:
Trade him now while his value is high….he just has that look of someone who will be hobbling around and icepacks on the knees i.e. Patrick Ewing
Sep.24 at 4:09 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
baron will play 75 games this season. haters hate
Sep.24 at 4:29 pm
josh says:
baorn davis all day … if i was baron i’ll go to boston and witn a chimp wit kg . ray allen and paul
Sep.24 at 5:04 pm
ALX8725 says:
Bryce, it wasn’t Baron that made Monta/Biedrins/Barnes look like allstars. Nellie did. Biedrins has been around (in the Bay)for quite awhile, time was definitely ticking on Andris up until Nellie came. Everyone always knew Monta could put it in the basket, it’s just he was never trusted with enough playing time under Montgomery. And Barnes, well, same thing. Nellie was also solely responsible for Matt Barnes’s growth and improvement.
Sep.24 at 5:17 pm
Bryce says:
I agree, Nellie deserves all the credit in the world for letting them play their style which resulted in a lot of their success but you can’t honestly tell me that team would have won a game against the mavs without davis pouring out his heart and soul everytime he stepped on the court…and Russ - I did a little homework in Baron’s defense - Diddy has a career average of 65.7 games per season while a your posterboy Iverson comes in at 67.9. The warriors aren’t dealing with Grant hill here so don’t throw him into an unfair stereotype
Sep.24 at 5:28 pm
Mo Charlo says:
Baron’s more injury-proof than D-Wade, and D-Wade would get $50M from the warriors. Bryce and Russ both make good points, but I side with Bryce.
Sep.24 at 6:11 pm
albie1kenobi says:
i’m from the Bay but i’m with Russ. the warriors is an Baron injury away from becoming a lottery team again. yeah this may become the ET/spree episode with the wolves the year after they went to conference final (endless distraction by moody star that derailed the season and the team), so it seems like a lose-lose situation afterall.
sigh. it’s tough to be a warriors fan. if ONLY we landed KG.
Sep.24 at 6:23 pm
MoMONEY says:
I may kill myself if he leaves…. Missing out on KG is going to be the downfall of my beloved Warriors
Sep.24 at 6:43 pm
Lil rich says:
Baron go back to Charlotte!
Sep.24 at 7:42 pm
BK says:
If they sign him Baron will have to be sharin’
Sep.24 at 8:17 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Dwyane Wade is damn near a DECADE younger than Baron. And as to the Iverson comparison…so what? AI gets hurt alot, too. And, when healthy, he’s a better player and a bigger draw than Boom Dizzle. Just calling ‘em the way I see ‘em.
Sep.24 at 8:27 pm
John D says:
What the hell are you talking about? Baron is less than 3 years older than Dwyane.
Sep.24 at 9:13 pm
jub_al says:
that beard can be deceiving…
Sep.24 at 10:11 pm
ForzaMilan says:
Baron’s just trying to get his. Can’t blame him; this may be his very last contract. Wouldn’t you want it that way? But really, really, no way should GSW sensibly sign this. The true fans will stay with the franchise, and follow team not player.
Sep.24 at 10:35 pm
AirMax45 says:
without baron davis you can put warriors fans on suicide watch!!
Sep.24 at 11:32 pm
Z says:
@ Russ: Burn.
Sep.25 at 12:11 am
black pino.. says:
50million??? the warriors can get better players that baron for that kind of money…
Sep.25 at 2:03 am
David says:
Russ’ second comment had me laughing out loud. It must be a weird clubhouse there in the Bay when your Hall-of-fame-quality coach and your star player both feel like they have to get really vocal and public in order to get paid the way they think they deserve. Some serious respect issues bubbling away.
Sep.25 at 3:26 am
sarah says:
THEY BETTER GIVE HIM THE MONEY! DAMN I DONT WANT BARON LEAVIN YAY AREA!
Sep.25 at 3:47 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Three years, a decade, same thing. I’ll admit I whiffed on the age difference (I’m still kind of surprised by that, actually). But Baron’s got a heck of a lot more miles on him than D. Wade. I stand by my original statement that giving Baron a long-term extension at this point of his career would be a bad idea. Need I remind everyone that the Warriors made the playoffs by ONE GAME? Had the Mavs played them at full strength towards the end of the regular season, the Clippers would have made the playoffs, the Mavs would have gotten out of the first round, and none of these discussions would be happening. This kind of reminds me of when the Knicks made it to the Finals in ‘99 after barely getting out of the first round–and they rewarded Allan Houston with his ludicrous $100 million contract. A lot of good it did them.
Sep.25 at 4:10 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
i knew russ would find a way to turn this into a whining session about the knicks. that is the one major thing i dont like about slam: too much whining about the knicks. no trying to blame it on isiah or cookieface, this bull$hit has been going on for years. at least lang complains about the hawks in a funny and interesting way. john starks airball 3
Sep.25 at 7:20 am
Bryce says:
I’m going to stop pretending like I know anything about being a GM of a NBA team and let the Warriors decide if Baron Davis and his injury prone knee(s) is worth the lucrative extension he is petitioning for…just needed to vent out some of the frustration caused by a lack of sleep and a paper on the autobiography of benjamin franklin due in a couple hours…writer’s block is a b*tch
Sep.25 at 7:23 am
Bryce says:
But Tarzan has it right…Russ why are you focusing on the shoulda, coulda, woulda…its neither here nor there
Sep.25 at 10:31 am
Roscoe Grant says:
If Baron goes to Cleveland, the team will be the illest.
Sep.25 at 10:40 am
The Best Yet says:
Hey Aren’t the Knicks still paying Houston on that ridiculous contract?
As for Baron and the Warriors, it would not be wise for them to sign him longterm with all the injuries he’s suffered over the years. he is tough as hell, but at 28 he’s stil young, but in bball years he’s way up there and those knees of his are taxed. However, like any pro athlete heading into their 30’s its important to have a sense of security as opposed to 1-2 year deals. With all that said, Go for yours Baron.
Sep.25 at 12:46 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
A sense of security? According to basketball-reference.com, Baron’s made $64 million over the course of his career. I’d hope he’s pretty secure at this point.
Sep.25 at 1:25 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
And how the f*ck am I “whining about the Knicks”? I hate the f*cking Knicks. I only brought up ‘99 and Houston because it seemed like a relevant precedent. Go back to typing “zzzzzzzz” all the time, genius.
Sep.25 at 3:17 pm
albie1kenobi says:
When Ryan isn’t around, Russ picks up the slack. this is fantastic. baron wants his money now the same way that i want to sell my 92 jaguar with 170k miles and a long history of drivetrain problems while it’s still capable of moving (wish i have a jag for real though).
Sep.25 at 3:22 pm
Allenp says:
Russ is right about Baron. Dude needs to sign huge one-year contracts like Jordan did at the end of this career. I would bet that the Warriors would be willing to sign Baron for one year at $20 million. That way, he gets paid, they’re protected for the long term if he gets injured. And if he can’t make it on $20 million, he has some money issues.
Sep.25 at 7:45 pm
Domo says:
ALL THESE DUMB ASSES KEEP SAYING DONT SIGN HIM IF BARON DOES LEAVE WHO’S GONNA B THE BREAD AND BUTTER ? NOT TROY HUDSON. SO MULLIN MIGHT AS WELL GO ON AND GIVE HIM WHAT HE DESERVES BECAUSE HE RESSURUCTED THE WARRIORS SYSTEM AND SET THE TABLE FOR EVERY ONE. WHAT KIND OF PERSON TRADE J-RICH FOR A FRSHMEN OUT OF COLLEGE..? STUPIDITY IS THE ANSWER IM
IM GHOST…!!
Sep.26 at 1:27 am
The Best Yet says:
I hear you Russ, but you know the pro athletes of today dont feel secure with less than $100mil in the bank. Hell, if I made 10% of that I wouldnt complain.
Domo: theres no way that Davis would ever receive a 1-year deal worth $20mil. He’s good and all, but nowhere on MJ’s level. Dont forget dude’s knee(s) aint all they used to be. And can someone please fill me in on my boy Pippen’s plans, cause i’m hearing rumours of Finland.
Say it aint so…sigh.
Sep.26 at 3:47 am
sush says:
pay boom whatever - bay area resident
Sep.26 at 11:44 am
Hoopla says:
Nobody wants an accident prone point gaurd. If he finds himself in the Bay Area with a lot of threats and no counter offers, he had better have the season of his life. Baron in Cleveland=Nobody gets the ball but me. Bad mix. Its amazing how some people get what they want and still complain. The Earl Monroe look a like needs to chill. Don’t worry… Be Happy…
Sep.26 at 6:03 pm
Rod Strickland says:
Remember Baron’s dunk over AK47? Me too. awesome.
Sep.27 at 12:27 am
Juanito says:
He should leave & sign with the Lakers.
!
Sep.29 at 3:31 pm
Walter Olivera says:
Baron, think about your career. If the warriors pay you the money, you think you deserve , then you better bring your A+ game.
He has to average at least 21 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 40% on 2 point shooting, 35% on 3 point shooting, and 78% on free throws.He also has to make the All-star team and can only miss less than 10 games. If he doesn’t come close to that, then everybody is going to call Baron overpaid and overrated,The bay area isn’t going to forgive him, and is probably going to be traded to a bad team.And he’s gonna have to prove himself all over again, this time I don’t think he will.
So, don’t set yourself up Baron! ask for less money.
Apr.16 at 11:13 pm
corey washington says:
If they don’t re-sign Baron Davis, Golden State will be relegated to the status of The Chicago Bulls and The Atlanta Hawks–When dominique and jordan left game over. Not only that but it made players not want to play there in the future.