I think this is exactly how this went down. I would even bet that it was all done without the Clippers and Davis’s agent ever speaking. Falk, Brand and the Clips probably cooked it up, pitched it to Davis, and made it happen.

This is similar to Karl Malone and Gary Payton taking huge pay cuts to join the Lakers. EB is the man. Hope it works out for him.

If this is how it went down, and its certainly likely, EB is central to the situation Maggette finds himself in.

Now that is real drama.

He may have cost his Best Man millions of dollars.

I feel bad when its last call before my round comes up again.

I wonder what the penalties would be if there was some sort of “under the table deal” involving the clippers…

I doubt that though. I agree it was probably brand but I dont know if I’d say he broke the rules… especially after seeing other trades and player movement around the nba in the past year.

I’ve tried to stay out and stay silent and regain my sanity, but it’s all just too rich. Fantastic post, best ever last line. We’re all inspired, and it’s great to see CS show his stuff-that last post is like a rising fastball with that little popswerve just as it crosses the plate. I’m trying to figure out how to get TrueHoop to start checking in over here-his reliance on Clipperblog dates back to the 06 playoff run. But I digress.

One interesting clue is that we have visual and quoted evidence of BD’s whereabouts over the weekend-our new favorite player was all over the web making a big splash in New York playing in Steve Nash’s streetball soccer game. Hmmm-wait a second-wasn’t Dunleavy in New York over the weekend as well, and then he stayed over to meet with Udrih? So someone should start with Marc Stein’s post (also on Truehoop-he played in the game with Baron—maybe Stein is the key man! And put in a word for ClipsNation over there while you’re at it.) and look at the other internet coverage of the game that he links to, and try to find BD’s quote about “going home.” The Dunleavy timetable takes a bit of the beauty out of the Udrih smokescreen

My question is whether it’s okay, or against the rules, for EB to talk to BD about it. Maybe that’s something that our rules specialist John R can work on (we all have our specialities here at ClipsNation-and I must say yesterday was a memorable one for Club Optimism). That’s a thorny and complicated topic. EB can obviously talk to Falk and get his advice-duh, right? And we have the other “cover story” of EB watching Boston in the finals and having the epiphany of trying to build a winning team. (He had to watch the finals to figure that out?) Can Falk talk to BD? Can Falk talk to Ramasar?

I’ll tell you one person nobody talked to: Corey Maggette. Except DTS, of course. I want to do a post nominating Maggette for the Clipper Hall of Fame, and I’m sure we’ll see the final chapter of the Maggettifesto soon enough from CS, although it probably won’t be before Maggs lands somewhere.

The Brand-Maggette relationship needs some analysis at this point. They must have talked to each other about their plans, probably around the end of the season and at some length before that. Brand has had a front row seat for Maggette’s conflicts and issues with Dunleavy and all of his other relationships with the team. They’ve been together for years, and have known each other for much longer. They don’t seem, for whatever reason, to be close friends, but they have both been completely collegial and professional. From what little we know, it seems that Maggette is actually closer to Kobe than he is to Brand, although that doesn’t mean much (unless the Lakers trade Odom and somehow end up with Maggette). At any rate, I think it’s safe to say that Brand seems to have had definite knowledge that Maggette would opt out. It’s harder to tell if Maggette knew what Brand was going to do. My guess is that both of them, in the beginning, were taking the Clippers at their word that they would resign them, and it’s possible that they started out assuming that they would make new deals and be playing together for years to come. It should be noted that Maggette might have had some reservations about this, and Brand could have as well. So they might have been slightly guarded with each other, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they had an understanding that neither would blame the other if they took a better deal somewhere else.

So let’s pick things up with the finals epiphany story, although I think Falk at least, would have been trying to figure out a clearer sense of Brand’s options much earlier. That’s his job, after all. Let’s say that Brand and Falk are conferring, and that at some point they have the same conversation about Baron Davis that we had ourselves for the first time over a month ago. Baron Davis could opt out, but why would he, and leave 17 million on the table, when there aren’t any good teams that need him, that have cap space. The Warriors will resign him, or he’ll play it out and go somewhere next year. End of story.

But watching Garnett and Pierce and Ray on the court together must have clarified and simplified things for Brand, and he could have asked the same thing that we were asking here at ClipsNation after the Gasol trade: just how do you build a superteam anyway? How is it possible to have so many good players. Falk either has John R skills himself (once again, his job), or he has somebody who knows the formula and minutae, and he shows Brand how it works. At some point, Brand learns that the first, essential domino is that Maggette has to opt out. As soon as he does that, the light turns green. Then it can be done.

He also learns at some point, however, that in order to make it work the Clippers have to renounce all rights to Maggette. So Brand is left with the dilemma, which is not just a professional issue, but a moral one: if you want to go after BD, the Clippers will not be able to resign Maggette. You will not be playing with him anymore. Furthermore, he could easily suffer a significant financial loss, because it’s likely that the Clippers will make the best and most generous deal for him.

So that’s how it lays out, Falk tells Brand. If you’re going to talk to BD-and I’m not saying that he is, or he’s able to-you can’t say anything to Maggette. If you think he might not be opting out, then there’s no reason to talk to BD. BD is in good shape. If Maggette doesn’t opt out, BD just stays with the Warriors and makes 17 mil, then becomes a free agent. Don’t worry about BD. If you want to you can leave it up to Maggette, and if you think he’s very likely to opt out, then you can call BD and have a conversation right now (unless that’s against the rules). But this is how it’s going to work, and if you do this, there will be consequences for Maggette.

In the movie version, where is Maggette when he finds out that Baron Davis has opted out? If you’re writing the script, how do you describe the look on his face and his emotions? Remember, show, don’t tell. In my version, the gentlemanly Maggette gets off the phone and walks towards the french windows leading to the backyard and the pool. He sees his wife and child, the good life he leads, his bright future. (At this point in Mike Smith’s version, Smith comments on Maggette’s manly physique.) He takes a breath and dives deeply into his swimming pool, washing himself clean in a baptism of sorts, and then he rises to the surface for the first moment of his new life.

Others are better at pasting than I am.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-382/Marc-Stein-on-his-Time-in-the-Soccer-Spotlight.html

The man of the people: It wasn’t Nash or Kalou or even Henry … and it wasn’t close.

Accounting for everything I just said about Henry’s Jordanesque display, Baron Davis was the clear fan favorite.

It didn’t matter that Baron had never played soccer in his life. He wowed the crowd with his exuberance, attire and flair for the dramatic.

He played in a Dodgers hat with the LA insignia upside down, sported glasses with thick black rims that wouldn’t have looked out of place on celebrity spectator Judah Friedlander from 30 Rock and played in white Reebok Pumps from the Dee Brown era … white with a lot of orange in them.

He also got himself all the way to the far post early on for an easy tap-in goal, dispossessed his buddy Henry at least once - turns out they’ve been pals ever since meeting at Parker’s wedding - and could have been sent off three times for two intentional hand balls resulting in penalty kicks and a playful WWE three-count pin of Fowler after a foul.

Yet it probably didn’t hurt BD’s popularity that there seemed to be numerous hoop fans in attendance, well aware that he had the right to opt of his contract and become a free agent Tuesday.

“Every time I turned around,” Baron said with a laugh, “it was, ‘Come to the Knicks!’”

Nothing in here about “going home,” but I want to go back for the links. Conspiracy theories aside, this gives a glimpse of Baron’s popularity.

http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=KpwA6pfXzcs&rel=1&eurl=http%3A//myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-382/Marc-Stein-on-his-Time-in-the-Soccer-Spotlight.html&iurl=http%3A//i.ytimg.com/vi/KpwA6pfXzcs/default.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskJNnAP1lxA_4oTP0Y46uOcZ

I didn’t see Dunleavy anywhere in this video.

I see him now.

Seems like Maggette should be able to able to get an offer from Philly, maybe for an extra 10 million above the MLE (5 yrs/40-45 million) where he’s a pretty good fit. Without the Clips in the mix, he goes from 9-10 to 8-9. Not too bad, get to start, play in the East, good PG (with no personality) and SG (Iggy). Waiting for Atlanta to do an extension for Josh Smith. Or am I missing something?

Celtics are a good option—chance at title, “all for one” attitude, fun city and crowd, minutes perhaps hard to come by. Spurs are elite organization, great coach and players, title contenders. Starting spot (with Ginobili coming off bench) and lots of minutes available. Pretty good choice.

It’s 7:15 pacific and still no word from EB. I kinda assumed that EB would be quicker for the clippers to negotiate than Baron Davis would be.

I wonder if this whole waiting to announce what team Elton Brand is going to play for is part of the plan to throw suspicion off those rumors of an "under the table" deal. If it is, it’s tremendously effective. I feel like every hour that passes means that it’s not going smoothly or he’s seriously considering golden state… (which I know isn’t likely like you all said on the "100 million" fanpost)

Or could it be that the clippers want to see what the new cap number is going to be and that’s when they’ll announce his new contract so they’re sure to give him the most money possible… in which case we won’t know anything until July 9th?

Corey decided, with the help of his agent, to opt out of the last year of his contract in hopes of testing the free agent market and making even more in a long term deal. If he makes less next year, he and we need to understand that that is the cost of doing business. It’s too bad if he got screwed by his buddy, but they’re all already multi-millionnaires. What’s a few million here and there between friends?

If Elton’s idea was to make sure everyone got a lot of money this year, he did – just not as much as they could have, had they all just stayed in their contracts. If Elton’s idea was to win, he probably made a good decision to replace Corey with Baron Davis, with Corey’s unknowing support. As a Clips fan, I’m just glad he decided to make the win decision over the money decision.

Someone out there will be willing to pay Corey loads and loads for his talent, and Dunleavey and many Clipper fans will be glad it’s not the Clippers. So, don’t feel bad that multi-millionnaire, Corey Maggette is going to make a little less next year than he had hoped. It’s the price of doing business in a game where some care more about winning.