Dtowers":26ctpbko said:
Well Hawks had a chance to make sure he never even put his toe in the water. So it changes some things. Adds 31 other teams to the discussion. That wasn't always destined to be the case. Hawks could have just locked him up or franchised him.
The hawks don't franchise players unless they absolutely would have to. It's a respect thing, players hate it and respect that the Hawks don't do that and try to sign guys to longer term contracts or let them go somewhere else to do that. They treat players well and players don't forget that and in turn are willing to come here when perhaps otherwise they wouldn't or maybe take a hometown discount in the case of Tate.
Why would you make an offer to him without knowing what the market is? They could have given him 10m, maybe he signed it but if he went to market, maybe he would only have commanded 8.5 and thus you overspent. JS/PC have proven they're smart with FA and see what the market sets and then they swoop in, they don't overpay.
I also believe he would go to market regardless, this is his last chance at a big pay day and he wants to make sure he's maximizing his potential value and you wouldn't know that unless you see what other teams are willing to do.
Usually with situations such as this where the player likes where he is but wants to get paid top dollar, there will be a gentlemen's agreement that says, "Here's our offer, go to market and see what others will offer but give us the right to match". If another team overpays, they walk, if not, they stay where they're at.
This doesn't change anything, Bennett was always going to test FA. Franchising him would be stupid, we'd get him for next year and then he'd bolt because we pissed him off when we prevented him from getting a long term deal after he proved it on a one year prove it contract.
That's the whole point of a one year prove it contract, to get paid the next year, not prove it again on another one year franchise tag. It's an agreement between the front office and the player and that would be downright scandalous to go back on that after asking a player to prove it, he did and now we're giving him one year again. It's all about long term contracts and guaranteed dollars to these guys.
