Brandon Roy Should Get a Max Deal

This week, as the (tongue-in-cheek) "golden aura" around Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard continues to dissipate, Jason Quick of The Oregonian reportS that contract negotiations with early extension candidates Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge have stalled.

With Aldridge, it's understandable. Quick reports the team wanted to give LMA a $10 million annual salary. Toronto extending Andrea Bargnani at that rate fudged those plans. But Roy ... what on Earth does Portland need to negotiate with Roy about? He's a maximum salary player, no doubt, and Pritchard should sign up for whatever contract length Roy requests -- three years a la LeBron, or the full five. There should be nothing to stall things because Pritchard should be nodding his head during the entire negotiation period.

Oregonian columnist John Canzano suggests the hesitation to throw a max deal at Roy could be based on cost-cutting in Paul Allen's world, keeping the Blazers at something like financial equilibrium. But if you need to cut costs on this team, you don't do it by playing hardball with Brandon Roy. You stay out of the Hedo sweepstakes, you find a cheaper option than Kirk Hinrich, you judge whether you can afford to play chicken with Aldridge by chasing Paul Millsap. Dan Gilbert doesn't tighten LeBron's belt, you know?

Even the Hornets franchise, in such bad financial shape today, tomorrow and maybe forever, did not hesitate to immediately give Chris Paul a maximum salary extension last summer. When you have a young elite, this is what you do. When you have a young elite and you're a team threatening for a title, and you're bankrolled by one of the richest men in America ... I'm sorry, but this is what you do. You pay the superstar.

This could actually be about terms -- perhaps Portland loves Roy so much that the team is trying to lock him up for the full five years allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, while perhaps Roy's agent is angling for the so-called mini-max that leaves Roy an option to enter free agency after just three years. Regardless, no team is ever in a position to play hardball with a future MVP candidate. No team. Kevin Pritchard may be an exceptional GM, but he is not an exception to this rule. Pay the kid.