The moment his name was called out, Julius’s breath whooshed out. He could hear Dave cheering his head off beside him. Congratulations poured in from the side as he hugged Dave and nodded at others sitting near him. His mother hugged him with tears in her eyes.
Among his family members, Julius’s relationship with his mother was extremely good. They have been each other’s pillars for a long time. His father died early after mixing with gangs, leaving Julius’s mother to take care of Julius and his siblings.
Julius was the third of the four children in their family. He had an elder brother who had followed in their father’s footsteps. He was always involved in one conflict or the other. From getting in trouble with the law to engaging in unsavory business, his elder brother had become the problem child of the family.
His elder sister was another headache. She married her boyfriend who didn’t have a stable job or a source of income right out of high school. She and her husband were still residing in their house. That bum was mooching off their family with no shame.
And Julius’s younger sister was a born troublemaker. She was currently in her rebellious teens and acting out has become the norm for her these days. With his brother moving in and out of prison constantly and his elder sister being unreliable, Julius became the responsible one of the family. Thus, the relationship between Julius and his mother was pretty tight.
It was telling that Julius only invited his mother and his close friend to accompany him during this life-changing moment of his.
Patting his mother’s back in a comforting manner, Julius extricated himself and walked out of the stands.
Climbing up the stage, Julius shook David Stern’s hands. With a bright smile, he finished taking pictures on the stage and was ushered outside to meet the media. The staff present gave him a baseball cap with the 76ers logo. As he donned the cap, his agent came up to him and instructed him on what to do.
Julius followed the procedures and acted a bit reserved in front of the media. If he was a hot-headed teenager with no prior life experience, he would have acted without restraint. After going through the bombardment of new-age media, Julius knew how insidious the uncrowned kings were. So, he restrained himself and was very careful in his interview.
As a 20th pick, the attention of the media was not that big. It was just a bunch of routine questions that didn’t burn too many of his brain cells. After some routine shit, he walked out of the media area and his agent.
“What next Jeff?” Julius asked, rubbing his hands.
Dave reached them escorting Julius’s mother. Julius nodded at her and turned his attention to Jeff.
“Next, we wait. The 76ers will contact us and the contract negotiations will begin. Pray that it happens soon,”
“What do you mean? Haven't they already selected Jules?” Dave asked in confusion.
A bit of worry was visible in the eyes of Mrs. Creed as well. However, Julius wasn’t worried too much. He was aware of how things were operated in the NBA. So, reassured his mother with his eyes.
“Sometimes, the teams will select players they don't need and trade them with other teams for the players they need. But, no worries, the 76ers are in need of a point guard. And our Julius is one of the best this year among the rookies. So, the chances of a trade happening are small,” Jeff explained as they walked out of the arena to their hotel room.
“And the 76ers are in the midst of rebuilding,” Julius chimed in timely with a small smile.
“Exactly, that's why they were one of our prime targets. And it worked out. You are the best PG after Jason Kidd in this rookie class. So, the chances of you being not drafted are very minimal. Moreover, your physique isn't bad either. So, our targeted operation is bound to succeed. Now, all that remains is to negotiate the contract and sign it. Then, you will be rich!!”
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Julius didn't react much. Even though Dave was already bouncing beside him in happiness, he remained calm. The word rich is like a trigger to people like Dave and Julius who come from slums. It can trigger extreme emotions in their body depending on the situation. But, Julius remained calm at this moment.
“Don't forget what I said, Jeff,” Julius reminded his agent as they entered Julius’s room.
“Hey, Julius, don't you think about it? Getting a standard rookie contract is easy. You are a first-round pick. You can sign a better contract,” Jeff said aggrievedly.
“Sure, go ahead” Julius smiled, causing Jeff to be happy for a moment. “Negotiate for better salary and all the other stuff. Just keep the years to the standard amount.”
Jeff's smile stiffened a bit upon hearing Julius's words. It was one of the biggest contention points between Julius and Jeff. Jeff wanted Julius to sign an extended contract with more years in his rookie contract. But, Julius stood firm on his decision. This wasn’t a new discussion.
And Julius knew the reason behind Jeff’s insistence on signing an extended contract.
Since his draft prospects were in the late first round and his eventual draft reflected it, it was only natural for Jeff to want to sign an extended contract for him. The number of years he was willing to sign would directly relate to the amount of money that the team would be willing to pay Julius.
Julius was aware of the standards in the NBA. Typically, those who were selected in the middle and later range of the first round are those with some ordinary potential. So, their usual shelf life is not long. At most, they would be able to land another mid-range contract after their rookie years and fade away after that.
It wasn’t an iron-clad trend. There are examples of even undrafted players making a huge impact in the NBA. But, the norm always captures the attention of most people. His agent Jeff was one such person who trusted the formulas more than the people.
After repeated contact with Jeff, Julius understood one thing. In Jeff's professional experience, he could at best be a role player. Jeff never pegged Julius to be a core player of an NBA team. It was a bit disappointing to not have his own agent believe in him. However, Julius didn’t have much of an option when it came to agents.
Jeff was the compromise he had settled on. In a way, Jeff was excellent in his own way. He was the one who planned and operated the entire draft strategy for Julius. Julius just had to follow him along and do his best at the trials.
Jeff was also savvy enough to curry favor with his mother. The first person Jeff contacted was his mother. Only after convincing her did he initiate contact with Julius. By then, Jeff had the strong support of his mother and Julius had to reluctantly agree to sign with him even after knowing that Jeff didn’t think much of him.
Most of the time, Julius bowed down to Jeff’s experience and just followed along. He might have known the general trend of the NBA from his previous life, but he was clueless about the operations that happened behind the scenes. Some of the knowledge he had was from his college coach. So, it wasn’t worth the hassle to argue with Jeff.
But, there were some things he refused to budge on. The contract years in his rookie contract were one such thing. He knew that Jef2f wanted to cash out on him as soon as possible. An extended contract was the best way to squeeze out the value of a role player. Most role players had only 3 or 4 years peak in their career. And most often, that time would start from 3rd or 4th year of their into the NBA.
Julius understood Jeff’s strategy very well. Jeff wanted Julius to sign an extended contract so that when his peak came to an end, he would be primed to be a free agent. Depending upon the situation, Jeff would either drop him or land him another mid-range contract and cash out at that time.
But, Julius had other plans. So, he firmly refused to sign an extended contract.
Julius’s refusal to sign an extended contract meant that Jeff’s commission on Julius’s rookie contract would not be that big. The rookie pay scale might not have been implemented yet in the NBA, but no team would pay a rookie who was chosen in the later stages of the first round some ridiculous amount.
They would offer Julius a standard salary, give or take a few hundred thousand dollars based on his importance to the team, if there was no extension to Julius’s rookie contract period. This would severely undermine the commission that Jeff would get out of it. So, Jeff was quite anxious about it.
Gritting his teeth, Jeff spoke, “Julius, I think you should consider extended contracts. Typically, the amount they pay you will increase with every year. While a standard rookie contract is good, it wouldn't net you any extra benefits. You must cash in on this. If not, you will lose this opportunity to make money.”