Little bit of fact checking
Wanted to start a little bit later with this newsletter....but those lies out there need to be exposed.
I know I said I would start this newsletter at the beginning of the Euroleague season, but today I saw something interesting and thought, “Why not? Let's start a little early.”
What caught my attention? The statements made by Ofer Yannay, owner of Hapoel Tel Aviv. Yannay has not been in the basketball world for very long, but since he entered it, it has become quite clear that he belongs to that category of owners who love to make statements to the press.
During the offseason, Yannay gave numerous interviews, revealing all the players he wanted to sign for his club.
He is an extremely ambitious man, but he also seems to have a habit of embellishing the truth.
Nigel Hayes-Davis and his salary
One of the players Ofer Yannay wanted to sign this offseason was Nigel Hayes-Davis, a winner of the EuroLeague with Fenerbahçe last season and generally considered one of the best forwards in European basketball.
The owner of Hapoel Tel Aviv, speaking to the club's official channels, said that the American player was very close to signing with the Israeli club but then the Phoenix Suns' involvement changed the situation.
“We were sure we were bringing Nigel Hayes-Davis. We were sure it was happening”, said Yannay.
“He had an option to go to the NBA, and he basically said, ‘I’ll try to get a contract in the NBA, and if I don’t, I’ll come to you. We talked, and that’s what was supposed to happen — but then Phoenix gave him $7.5 million per season, and promised him 15 minutes per game.”
I understand Yannay's disappointment at not being able to sign a player of Hayes-Davis' caliber, but in his statements, he definitely exaggerated the figures that the former Fenerbahce player will earn in the NBA.
The Suns were among the teams most struggling with salaries during the offseason, hamstrung by the financial constraints imposed by the second apron.
The trade of Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and the decision to cut and stretch Bradley Beal's contract were painful but necessary choices to regain some salary flexibility.
Leaving Fenerbahce to return to the NBA, where he had already played in the 2017-2018 season, Nigel Hayes-Davis will earn significantly less than the figures declared by Ofer Yannay.
The American player has signed a one-year contract at the minimum salary, which, for a player with only one season of NBA experience like Hayes-Davis, is set at $2,048,494 million.
The GM of Fenerbahçe had revealed that Hayes-Davis was receiving interest from several NBA teams and that it would be difficult for the Turkish club to keep him. The American player had never hidden his desire to return to the NBA if the opportunity arose, and in order to do so, Hayes-Davis chose to earn less than he could have earned in Europe.
Why the exaggeration?
So why did Yannay throw out that figure? I'm not really sure. Hapoel Tel Aviv had an extremely positive offseason, signing players such as Vasilije Micic, Chris Jones, Elijah Bryant, and Dan Oturu.
Of course, signing Hayes-Davis would have been another high-profile move, but pretty much everyone in European basketball was aware that the American player would most likely leave Fenerbahce for one reason only: to return to the NBA.
The owner of Hapoel Tel Aviv is on excellent terms with the agency representing Hayes-Davis, Network Sports International. The same agency also represents Dimitris Itoudis, head coach of the Israeli team, as well as several players on the Greek coach's roster: Antonio Blakeney, Dan Oturu, and Collin Malcolm.
Yannay also added that Hayes-Davis, despite signing with an NBA team, is continuing to “flirt” with Dimitris Itoudis, the team's head coach, sending him messages and generally keeping on good terms with the club.
I'm not sure how true this statement is. I can't rule out that Hayes-Davis is preparing the ground for a return to Europe, should things not go well in the NBA, but that he is starting to do so when his NBA experience has not even begun seems unlikely, to say the least.
As mentioned above, Yannay seems to be the type of owner who likes to make sensational statements, even at the cost of embellishing the truth.
His statements generate attention and clicks, and virtually no one felt the need to point out that the statement made by the Israeli club owner regarding Hayes-Davis' NBA salary was untrue.
That's all, folks. EuroBasket is about to start, so most of our attention will be focused on that. See you soon.