The health issue that scuttled Reggie Bullock‘s initial two-year, $21MM deal with the Knicks has been revealed, with the club announcing today (via Twitter) that the veteran swingman underwent surgery in New York for a cervical disc herniation.
The Knicks didn’t provide a specific timetable for Bullock’s recovery, indicating that they’ll issue an update on his progress around the start of training camp. A report on Tuesday suggested that he would likely miss at least the first month of the regular season.
After Bullock’s original agreement with New York fell apart, the two sides struck a new two-year deal that slotted into the team’s room exception rather than using cap space. According to Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights (via Twitter), it’s worth $8.2MM over two seasons, though the second year is only partially guaranteed for $1MM.
It’s not clear if Bullock’s cervical disc issue arose during the offseason or if it was something he played through while he was a member of the Lakers last season.
Here’s the difference between “class” and earlier this week when we saw “no class.
A verbal agreement was made between player and team. Player appears to have a injury that will keep him sidelined longer than expected, but team honors verbal commitment and makes an $$ adjustment and signs him anyway, rather than leave the player out in the cold.
No class earlier this week. Team and player come to verbal agreement but player keeps eye open for better opportunity. Team makes permanent and binding roster moves to accommodate player. Player goes for better opportunity and leaves team out in the cold. Players word meant nothing. So bad even his agent quit.
Very well put man! Couldn’t agree more!
The irony is that the “classy” organization in the Bullock case is the “no class” organization that swiped Morris away. Yes, the player had no class, but the Knicks didn’t exactly look great swooping in and taking him either.
That’s not on the Knicks, that’s on Morris. The Knicks are trying to destroy each team in the league including the Spurs. No love lost there LOL.
Thing is, a player’s contract can be halved, and was… But a player cannot be! Morris was all the way one place or another, 0% or 100%.
The Knicks made a commitment to Bullock then pulled it due to an injury. They came back with 39 cents on the dollar because they had an exception left but Morris got most of Bullock’s money.
I am left with wondering if Bullock should have hidden his injury a few days more, through the moratorium period… because the Knicks turned out to be only 39% classy. I think Bullock is the classy one, if that be honesty.
Moratorium protocol only requires that verbal moratorium deals be honored the same as written contracts. Even written signed contracts are subject to the player passing a physical, which if failed, gives the team the right to vitiate the contract. So the Knicks were 100% business people in rejecting 100% of the original “contract”. What happened later (new deal) could be construed as classy or just expedience.
Nobody seems to be critical of Bullock, who agreed to the original deal knowing of this injury (how could he not). Was he hoping the physical wouldn’t reveal it OR figuring the Knicks would have fewer alternatives once it did-?
Sometimes a guy thinks he can play through it. And especially when considering a job and a paycheck and a fringe player like Bullock he’s just going to fight through the physical exan and play. Not saying that’s unscrupulous, he probably thinks he’s fine and can play as he’s done since he said the discomfort.
Thinking he could play through it is completely irrelevant when it comes to his obligation to disclose it (and any other ailment) to a team he’s about to enter into a 20 mm contract with. Yes, it’s an obligation, and guess what – he knew it (as did his agents, attorneys, etc.). Do you really think with all he has at stake he didn’t have a full exam by his own doctors prior to his physical with the Knicks, who more or less told him the same thing-? Exactly what he told the Knicks before his physical is unclear, but clearly he was less than honest, and played “catch me if you can”.
Yeah everybody does that. Nobody applies for a job listing all their weaknesses. IDK how serious this cervical thing is, or if he had it before and played through it, or if he could again. His ‘obligation’ would depend on these factors. Did the Knicks find it in their physical or did Bullock disclose it before he signed? Is it something even findable?– if not he disclosed, when he could have just had another year like the last for the money.
I’m guessing one thing and DXC another.
Dxc is one of those guys you try to explain proper logic and they always go to a seemingly easy to comprehend discourse that nobody else would think of.
It’s almost lawyer talk that you have to take into consideration because it applies, it’s just that nobody thinks of it.
It’s like the girlfriend you argue with weekly and you just want want her to come to her senses and quit thinking that way. She has her points but it’s like, come on why do you think like that?
Super frustrating.
Morris?
Isn’t there a legendary movie called “The Bad News Bears”? There is, right? Maybe they should start calling this basketball club “The Bad News KNICKS”.
If Marcus Morris was more talented, he would be the most hated person in basketball. Imagine KD pulling that shit.
You’re probably right. I can only think of one other high-profile time this happened and that’s DeAndre Jordan.
But I think he gets a pass because 5 Clippers and his coach flew to Dallas, kind of kidnapped him in a hotel room so to speak, and essentially wouldn’t let him go. That was enough love to convince DeAndre to back out of a verbal agreement.
The Thunder had to blow up their entire team because a player who signed a long term max deal last year wanted out.
What Morris did was polite by comparison.
I’m a Knick fan, but before giving them an Classiest Offseason Award, consider that they (as an organization) violated their commitment to the other teams, players and agents to observe moratorium protocol (i.e., treat verbal deals as signed ones), by being (best case) an enabler of Morris’ refusal to consummate his deal with the Spurs.
Please. The the New York Knicks don’t give one iota about the San Antonio Spurs. They’re trying to fleece them whether it’s a trade or getting a player another way like an opt out etc..
This is 100% on Marcus Morris backing out of a verbal agreement and going back on his word. This whole free agency thing is a time when your word counts, whether it’s a team to Team trade or a player and team free agent signing. Old school: your word is golden. Unless you’re Marcus Morris LOL
You don’t get it. There’s no single “this”. LOL. Morris is 100% responsible for Morris’ actions. The Knicks are 100% responsible for theirs. It’s not a “free agency” ethic, it’s a moratorium ethic, and all teams, players and agents benefit from it, so all tacitly agree to it.
I guess I don’t get it. That’s happened before. I don’t think the New York Knicks violated any Unwritten rule by signing Marcus Morris.
Maybe you disagree with moratoriums.
Maybe the Knicks don’t. But they set themselves up for retribution for the sake of 1 year of a player they don’t even need very much.
Morris hadn’t signed anything. Quit being salty fools. Knicks are a garbage organization, always have been, always will be. Bullock got screwed, likely didn’t know about the issue in his back, and obviously the Lakers didn’t know about it, since they played him. Players owe teams nothing, and until they have signed the dotted line they should do everything they can to improve their situation. Morris and bullock aren’t make or break players anyways, so I really don’t get where the hate is coming from.
It’s because the Spurs reconfigured their roster and payroll to fit Morris in and he backed out. He broke his promise and verbal agreement. Kind of a big deal if you’re the Spurs I think. I guess they can move on, so no big deal…