Nanabijou
Booooooooooone
valid points...personally I want him motivated to keep going, and I feel (my opinion) is that money is his best motivator. We all know the skill is there. I would rather a bridge contract so that in 2 or 3 years we're going thru this again at 24 and he gets "IT" then and is ready to be a leader. I see this being a maturity thing and one that can be fixed...
Well said. I completely agree.
What it comes down to me is what do we stand to gain at the risk of a fractured relationship with our future star player. If we're protecting ourselves in the event that last year was a fluke, then I hope theyve got a backup plan since there's obviously still doubt in their minds. Your star future player isnt one you should generally play games with, especially when theyre still this young and immature; not a good game to assume he'll get it and wont have hard feelings about it.
These bridge contracts are not new and it's on Joey if this fractures the relationship. The CBJ want the 2- or 3-year deal so that they still have some leverage on getting the next long-term contract signed.