Areas of expertise the front office needs

[Kuh]

You're hired. :-)

I'm hoping 'golden' is code for Ujiri. Thanks, man!

[thead]

a food taster in case someone tries to poison our players

[e_wheazhy_]

This is exactly the point: why wouldn't the team be willing to pay the best shooting consultant in the world $500,000 yearly? Why wouldn't you assign a budget of $5M to get 10 top people in every sphere?

If the cap went up another $5M the Raps would happily spend up to the cap ... so why not spend that $5M outside the cap?

And the concept of the team paying for the best is far different than the team handing over a list of 'here are good people you can call, and pay for yourself'.

Let's take the financial advisors for a second. Sure, every agent can put people in touch with financial advisors. And what if the Raptors offered a lifetime 'Guaranteed Income Plan' to all of their players? For every $1M you invest in the plan, you get an inflation-adjusted $50,000 annual income for life. Play for the Raps, and never have to worry about your post-NBA retirement! Heck, make it available to coaches to. The team can pay all the financial planning fees - or at least the first $500K/year in fees - and have a person or small team take care of it. Like a mini-Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. No player would pay $500K/year to manage their money. The team can.

Chefs? I'll bet the team currently has a $60K/year chef who does cool chicken wings or something. What about a team of four chefs led by a $150K/year head chef that prepares specific dishes for each player? Deliver food to your home that you just need to heat up? Who work year-round with the team, including feeding people whenever they are in Toronto in the offseason? Fly to Vegas and feed them during summer camp? All for free with no effort, so the default choice is the healthiest one.

Party planning? There's a big difference between a list of 'here are cool places to check out' and having a team of three people, whose only job is helping you have a fun time. Are you the only player who wants to see great jazz in Oklahoma? No problem, one of the social team will go with you after the game ... and because this is all they have to do, maybe they'll arrange a private concert at 4:00 pm because the band wants to chill with an NBA player, and you can sleep after the game. Your wife want to celebrate the big win with you at a club? No problem, one of the social team will take the kids home and look after them until you come back (in fairness, I think the club is already doing some family stuff - I don't know what their budget is, and how many people they have).

What if you knew as a player that any time you were in Toronto (or wherever the chef and party planning team were - e.g., summer league) you had amazing food, and a guaranteed fun time happening for you and your family? Wouldn't you spend a bit more time here, chilling with your teammates, and having everything you needed to do as a player made really simple for you?


P.S. I think we're a little too used to thinking of the LeBron Jameses of this world, who earn enough to afford their own posse, personal trainer, personal chef, etc. What if you're a Bismack Biyombo, a Bruno or a TRoss? You can't afford all these things while saving for your post-NBA life. If the club offered them to you, it would be one amazing perk.

Most agencies, if not all, have so many services available to the players, and not for a few either, it's completely free. It's a part of the "benefit bundle" of having an agent. It's why so many players switch agencies and most tend to be represented by the same 10-15 guys.

Because think about it: an agent takes 10-15% of the player's salary, right? But what do they do? Negotiate the salary, maybe fetch some endorsements?

A player could pay a Lawyer $500 an hour to negotiate his contract, and even if it took him a 40 hour week, the player would only be out $20,000, or 1% of a $2 million contract. Smaller contracts are even easier to negotiate, and thus take up less time. The 40 hours example is a very extreme case and it definitely wouldn't take that long but just as an illustration. Agencies have PR people, financial advisors, personal trainers, even private investigators and people who's specialty is getting you out of trouble

[Kuh]

Most agencies, if not all, have so many services available to the players, and not for a few either, it's completely free. It's a part of the "benefit bundle" of having an agent. It's why so many players switch agencies and most tend to be represented by the same 10-15 guys.

Because think about it: an agent takes 10-15% of the player's salary, right? But what do they do? Negotiate the salary, maybe fetch some endorsements?

A player could pay a Lawyer $500 an hour to negotiate his contract, and even if it took him a 40 hour week, the player would only be out $20,000, or 1% of a $2 million contract. Smaller contracts are even easier to negotiate, and thus take up less time. The 40 hours example is a very extreme case and it definitely wouldn't take that long but just as an illustration. Agencies have PR people, financial advisors, personal trainers, even private investigators and people who's specialty is getting you out of trouble

How do agencies handle the geography of these services? Do agencies have the league's best personal trainers? And if so, how do they spread these services/talents across so many clients in so many cities?

I would guess that the agency is good for the one-off 'I need out of trouble', but not so useful for the ongoing day-to-day personal training, eating, shot-coaching, etc, which is probably best done in the city you live in.

They could potentially do a good job on the financial services. Part of the challenge is that the agency will always feel a bit fly-by-night. You'd probably feel better having a lifetime pension from 'the Raptors' than from 'Rich Paul & Co'.

[Uncle_Si]

I don't know much about the inner workings of a professional sports franchise. MLSE has made it pretty clear they'll spend the money in the front office if they need to, so I'm pretty sure if Masai tells them he needs something or someone they'll get it.

[draps]

I like the brain training idea, even spending time doing simple things like how rondo plays connect 4, or playing poker, what ever helps to improve decision making, reading your opponent, seeing a couple moves in advance, concentration or whatever it may be.

[DanH]

FYI agents typically get about 3-4% of a player's salary. More on endorsements.

[Puffer]

...they'd rather have the freedom and better financial flexibility to work with various players/teams from all over the world, charging something like $25gs a session rather than make $75gs yearly from one single team (cause I don't think te team would be willing to pay them $500grand yearly)

But this is exactly the area where non-salary cap money can have a huge impact.League average FG% was .449. Top team in FG% was the Golden state warriors at .478, just under 3% points better. Tiny increments of improvement at this level have huge impact. Not to mention that every extra made basket removes a chance for a transition basket by your opponent, so it improves the defensive stats as well.

[e_wheazhy_]

But this is exactly the area where non-salary cap money can have a huge impact.League average FG% was .449. Top team in FG% was the Golden state warriors at .478, just under 3% points better. Tiny increments of improvement at this level have huge impact. Not to mention that every extra made basket removes a chance for a transition basket by your opponent, so it improves the defensive stats as well.

I get that it's a plus from a teams perspective. But if you're the best shooting coach in the world, you don't wanna be held down, you wanna be able to play your trade to everyone and make so much more money.

[Puffer]

I like the brain training idea, even spending time doing simple things like how rondo plays connect 4, or playing poker, what ever helps to improve decision making, reading your opponent, seeing a couple moves in advance, concentration or whatever it may be.

Here you go:
http://www.hardtofindseminars.com/Wh...r_Coaching.htm
http://www.wholebrainpowercoaching.com/

[Puffer]

I get that it's a plus from a teams perspective. But if you're the best shooting coach in the world, you don't wanna be held down, you wanna be able to play your trade to everyone and make so much more money.

Unless one team is willing to pay you more than the rest combined...which has the side effect of removing your influence on the other 29 teams in the league. And you get to make the claim that you were the "Shooting coach who lead the Raptors to an NBA Championship" which should enhance your money making opportunities significantly.

[e_wheazhy_]

Unless one team is willing to pay you more than the rest combined...which has the side effect of removing your influence on the other 29 teams in the league. And you get to make the claim that you were the "Shooting coach who lead the Raptors to an NBA Championship" which should enhance your money making opportunities significantly.

I get where you're coming from. I Just think it'd have to be a huuuuuge number to pry the best coach away, and teams would find that superfluous spending. Plus, the NBA is a big brotherhood, and nobody wants to make enemies at other organizations, I think considering the fact that shooting coaches can be had on part time basis and for specific players, not to mention the fact that working on a player's shot is not something that takes forever. Even with the most raw shooter, eventually working with a coach will get him a (near) perfect shot, at which point his work is done and there's no need to have him on your payroll.

[Puffer]

...Even with the most raw shooter, eventually working with a coach will get him a (near) perfect shot, at which point his work is done and there's no need to have him on your payroll.

I would say that is a huge assumption on your part, considering some of the horrific shooting %'s we see in the game.

[Kuh]

I get where you're coming from. I Just think it'd have to be a huuuuuge number to pry the best coach away, and teams would find that superfluous spending. Plus, the NBA is a big brotherhood, and nobody wants to make enemies at other organizations, I think considering the fact that shooting coaches can be had on part time basis and for specific players, not to mention the fact that working on a player's shot is not something that takes forever. Even with the most raw shooter, eventually working with a coach will get him a (near) perfect shot, at which point his work is done and there's no need to have him on your payroll.

I think Dave Hopla, the Raps former shooting consultant has gone full time at various points, eg with Washington, and now maybe Detroit?

[Kuh]

Here's an article in Grantland which brings one of the Spurs' secret weapons 'out of the shadows': their shooting coach:
http://grantland.com/features/the-shot-doctor/

The article hypothesizes this shooting coach is worth >$1M/year to the Spurs:
... is Engelland responsible for, say, 20 percent of that improvement? That would make Engelland worth more than $1 million to the organization, and that’s solely considering his work with Belinelli. Factor in Leonard’s transformation and the figure starts rising dramatically. Engelland might quietly be one of the most undervalued assets in basketball.

Furthermore, his presence on the staff allows general manager R.C. Buford and the San Antonio player personnel department to pursue players, like Leonard, who are undervalued because of their shooting woes, knowing that they have the league’s best shot doctor on staff to improve things. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Engelland was involved at some level in the target identification process, recommending players he might be able to fix. That creates a perpetual advantage that goes beyond one player and one shot.