moneyball?

I dont follow the NBA very much, but I was a bit surprised to see this today.

I know Wilcox is athletic and young, but it seems like $8 Million per year is quite a bit for a player with a lot of potential. I checked his stats and saw that in his career he averaged 7.5 points per game. Yes it is true that he scored 14 points per game with Seattle last year, but also played 250% more minutes per game than when he was on the Clippers and averaged 4.5 points. He played in 29 games with Seattle and shot nearly 60%.

I dont know, it just seems like a lot of money for a guy who is unproven. When all he did was score a few points for a bad team at the end of the season when the team had little to play for. Then i checked the Sonics roster and he has the 5th most experience on the team. So you arent paying for proven production, and you arent paying for veteran experience. You are paying for potential. Yet he is entering his 4th season in the NBA.

By no means am I hating on Wilcox, I watched him play at MD and think he could establish himself as a force and go on to have a good career. In NBA world, it might even be a good deal, i have no idea. I was just surprised. And I saw that he earned like over a 100% raise. For what? Wouldnt it be sweet if you got a 100% raise because you didnt disappoint your boss in the first 3 years?

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Since writing thatI have now done some quick research and remembered why I hate the NBA. If this is correct, Allan Houston makes $20.8 million per year? What? More than Kobe and Dirk? With the salaries listed on here, Wilcox kind of looks like a steal. Why are we paying these guys so much?

I sort of could understand why people get pissed about their contracts. Pride is a big thing with big time athletes and for you to be one of the best at your job and be getting paid a fraction of what others are getting paid, while out performing them, you have a semi-legitamite gripe.

Then again you have to just be glad you have a job as a professional athlete. I think the huge range of salaries for athletes is what causes all the problems. How many other unionized jobs are there where in a single year one worker can make 50 times that of another worker? Maybe in some sales or commission positions, but very few trades have that wide of a range. Its especially huge considering the subjectivity in appraising athletes [possibly potential] skill levels.

On a side note, I am sure if I investigated the MLB or NFL (two leagues I MUCH prefer to the NBA) that I would find similiar things. So while there may be some backhanded cheapshots at the NBA in my writing don't think that I am ignorant, just bias.