Saturday, March 15, 2008

Bird Signed

Sue signs a new two year contract (she shared the length on KJR).

Burse is the last starter remaining to be signed and is expected to sign next week.

Agler says he needs to fill 2-3 more spots, but he may not be done reworking the lineup yet...he is still talking to teams.

I am still trying to figure out how the new core desgination rules work.

Bird and Burse were the maximum number (2) of core players allowed under the current CBA this season. Next year they are allowed a maximum of 1. Bird signed a two year deal and therefore counts towards the maximum of 1 next year. Now, either Burse can only be signed to a one year contract or the league allows a "grandmothering" clause (not specified in the CBA) while current contracts run their length. Trades remove core designations (which other than counting towards the max each year only matter during free agency) and when the original contract expires, allowing contracts to be extended without extending the core designation. For example, according to the CBA, Cash does not count towards the Storm's core count this season or any other under her current contract, despite the fact that Detroit cored her prior to the trade. The trade to Seattle removes the core designation and its impact on the limited number of core players allowed each season.

If you haven't checked out the Storm's new flash video....do so. It will fire you up.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you are mistaken. They only must designate a core player if they are NOT under contract, as in Unrestricted or restricted Free Agents. That's why they didn't need to core LJ this year.
So for next year they won't have to core LJ, Swoopes and Bird for sure. Not sure if Swin signed for more than one year. Another reason to sign multi-year deals!

Patrick said...

You are correct, but once a UFA or RFA signs a designated core player to a contract it counts as one toward the max each season of the original contract unless the player retires or is traded. Sue signed for two years meaning that next year they will not have a core designation available.