It took a little persuading from the big man himself (Kobe), but in the end, the trip to Miami was nothing more than an all expenses paid trip to South Beach. Nice try LeBron. Meeting him at the airport was a nice touch, but did you think that was all it was going to take to get Fisher to leave his family?
When Fisher got off the plane wearing a “Los Angeles Lakers 2009-2010 NBA Champions” hat, you probably knew your fate was sealed. When you knew all you could offer him was the veteran minimum ($1.3M for Fisher) and “a chance for his sixth title”, you probably knew your fate was sealed. Fisher has the best chance in the league at title number six already sitting in his lap, along with 1yr/$2.5M offer from L.A. Granted, this offer from the Lakers wasn’t his ideal contract, in fact it was exactly half of he wanted, both in years and money per year.
Now when I say the trip was “nothing more than an all expenses paid trip to South Beach”, I also mean it was a negotiating tactic for Fisher and his agent Rob Pelinka. The Lakers reportedly upped the offer by $250k in the first year, and the new deal is also a 3-year deal, the final year being a player option.
Fisher and Pelinka played their cards right, even when they had no real leverage, besides the fact that Kobe basically made it law that he must return. After the Lakers signed 30-year-old point guard Steve Blake (@SteveBlake5 ), they had “less need” for Fisher. Which we all know is a load, just look up #BringFishBack on Twitter and you’ll see how Laker Nation feels about the thought of losing Fisher.
Now instead of getting teary-eyed at the departure of Fisher, and pulling a knife out of our back equal to the size of the one LeBron re...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
