More youngsters than ever saw cash-conscious teams pass up on typically no-brainer rookie scale options this fall. Warriors PG Marcus Williams will be a free agent next summer, with guys like former No. 5 pick Shelden Williams. The move is usually reserved for real busts. For overachieving, underpaid kids, the long rookie scale is just a fact of life: you make money in your fifth year, unless you're a second-round pick (then it's the fourth year).Sean Williams doesn't quite fit in any of this talk. As a late first-rounder, he could be locked in for four years at low salary. He's good enough to justify the few million N.J. will spend. But he thinks he's better, and he wants to hit that beloved second contract sooner. How bad does he want it? Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports Williams asked the Nets front office to decline his third-year option, an otherwise guaranteed $1.6 million for the '09-10 season. Williams' logic?
"I told Rod I didn't want him to pick up my option," said Williams, whose third year - 2009-2010 at $1.629 million - was picked up on Thursday. "It had nothing to do with me not wanting to be here as part of this team because I love this team. "It's part of the business. I want to get to my second deal as fast as possible."If Kevin Durant asked Sam Presti to decline his '09-10 option, do you know what Presti -- who without question is doing everything in his power to make Durant as happy as possible in OKC -- would say? He would laugh in Durant's face. The rookie scale might be the greatest tool teams have these days. Utah couldn't afford to be a contender the last two seasons without the rookie scale. New Orleans wouldn't have Peja Stojakovic or Tyson Chandler if it wasn't for the rookie scale. It is sacred, and it is vital.
And a scrub who can't get off the bench is asking his lottery team to give up one of its few contract powers so that he can ... make more money sooner? How much do you think teams are clamoring to pay you exactly, Sean? Unless you do something to change Lawrence Frank's mind in the next few months, you're closer to being out of the NBA than making a $5 million salary.
