Following the embarrassing Anderson Varejao episode in Cleveland, Players’ Association director Billy Hunter says it might be time to take a long, hard look at what it means to be a restricted free agent. From the Houston Chronicle:
“To me, that’s one of the things we should talk about going forth in the next round of bargaining, restricted free agency. They aren’t free agents if no one gets an offer because teams believe the offers will be matched. All of the leverage is with the team.
“It makes it difficult for the guy who is not a superstar, for a guy like Varejao who is a very good player, to get a competing offer. It’s something we have to look at.”
Whether the union gets the rules changed or not remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: With greedy agents and the way salaries are presently constructed, we could have another Varejao-esque episode on our hands in the near future, something the League can ill afford.
