MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

With the NBA revealing that yet another investigation is underway regarding salary cap circumvention it makes you wonder. Are these teams really circumventing the salary cap or the league just doesn’t like the deals?

I wouldn’t really blame them if that’s the case. $64 million for Gary Trent is a lot of money…I mean a lot of money for a guy that averaged eight points per game and shot 38 percent from the floor last year for Milwaukee. The Bucks might be a little desperate after trading away Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami but 64 mil? For this guy? It does raise a few red flags.

Kawhi Leonard never earned what he was paid. A great player on occasion but more often than not he was collecting his dough in street clothes on the bench nursing another injury. Leonard took load management to a new level. Again, there was something suspicious about that extension that he signed.

Maybe “salary cap circumvention” is just another way of Adam Silver and the NBA saying “Why are you paying these guys so much money?” What’s really going on? Also the Leonard investigation is still ongoing…no resolution. Interesting. Is it too late to look into the Austin Reaves contract with the Lakers?

I never was the President of the LeBron James fan club but I do get the delay in his decision. Does he want to win a title? Finish where he started? Play with another superstar? There are a lot of things to consider. I think James and the Lakers made the right decision in moving on but here’s something to chew on. If Gary Trent is worth $64 million what is LeBron worth?

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As a fan I don’t mind the players being mic’d up but I can see the players getting sick of it. You have to climb into the batter’s box, figure out what the pitcher is going to throw and then try to hit a 98-mph fastball, all the while hearing some idiot announcer babbling on in your ear about the fans’ reaction to player introductions. Anybody else catch Kyle Schwarber drop an F-bomb while messing with his ear-piece Tuesday night at the All-Star game?

Also when you’re conducting an interview with a mic’d up player ask them something relevant. Does the viewer really care what Pete Crow-Armstrong thinks about the World Cup?

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Speaking of the World Cup it has been entertaining. I’ve watched more soccer in the last month than I have in the last 20 years. Sorry, but it’s just more fun watching Argentina and England go at it with some of the best players in the world, than a regular season clash between the LA Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes. This isn’t MLS.

Lionel Messi couldn’t have handed the ball better to Lautaro Martinez than that pass he made on the last goal against England. It’s just something you don’t see very often. Messi is appointment TV.

That being said I like Spain to beat Argentina Sunday. If they get a lead they won’t sit back.

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Now that the World Cup is coming to an end we can gear up for the High School football season. You got to love the Sierra League in the Mt. SAC area. There’s not an easy out in the bunch. Charter Oak vs. Bonita, Northview vs. Colony, Ayala vs. Glendora, etc….every week is a going to be a clash. With the teams beating each other up it’s going to be a war of attrition. Who will be the last team standing?

I wonder if the players in the Sierra want to get mic’d up?

That’s my principle.

tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com Twitter (X) @tspeterson40 Facebook- Tim Peterson