Chauncey.."don't claim me off the waiver wire"

I kinda understand Chauncey's position.

"Amnesty is as good for those who give it as for those who receive it. It has the admirable quality of bestowing mercy on both sides." - Victor Hugo

IMO: With the Knicks utillizing the amnesty clause to rid themselves of a player that represents a sizable chunk of cap space, that player should have a bit of freedom to determine where he ends up. If Chauncey would rather retire than play for the Pacers, I don't have a problem with that. If he wants to do some posturing in the media to let his position be known, I also don't have a problem with that.

Buzz: Billups hoping for title frontrunner




By Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports Staff

Veteran guard Chauncey Billups is crossing his fingers in hopes he will clear waivers at 6 p.m. EST Monday to become an unrestricted free agent. If he clears waivers, a Yahoo! source says to keep an eye on the Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat as possible destinations.

In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, the 2004 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player warned teams that they would regret it if they claimed him off waivers. The threat included the Detroit Pistons, who he starred with from 2002-09 and won a title with seven years ago. Billups is currently in his hometown of Denver working out until he joins his new team.

I'm going to give dba some points for stating the obvious. (All of us have called him Mr. Big Head at one point.)

That's what I'm saying...he wants his cake and to eat it too..Rip took the hit in salary to sign with a contender. Chauncey wants all the money and choice of team too. It's not supposed to work that way.

I wonder if CB was offered a buyout. It would have made sense for the Knicks to try that route before exhausing the one-time amnesty.

That's not necessarily the case. If he clears waivers does anyone owe him any money after that? If he's giving bad teams a warning not to pick him up off waivers is he still being paid by the Knicks regardless of where he signs as a FA? If not, then he's clearly NOT looking to have it all seeing as how he wouldn't be paid nearly as much to come on board with a contender.

P.S. I would have provided the answer for you, but considering I'm at work and for all the 'whining' that journalists do about bloggers not being real journalists; I have yet to find an article where the "journalist" explains how the whole thing actually works in all scenarios. ...RANT OFF

Well, that being said...if a competitive team picked him up off waivers, I think he would still play. So I think the question is good team vs. bad team. I'm not sure I could fault him for not wanting to play for a bottom feeder for his last few productive seasons. Since he's being paid either way, the question of him wanting to 'have it all' seems moot.

I think that Chauncey wanting to clear waivers is more about having freedom of choice (blatent DEVO reference) rather than the cheddar. I think he gets the $14 million irregardless of what happens.

This is how I interpreted it:

Suppose the Pacers bid $4 million and the Raptors bid $3 million. The Pacers would get Billups since they bid more. They would pay the $4 million and the Knicks would have to pay the remaining $10 million (of the $14 million contract). Billups will not earn more than $14 million.

If it isn't that way, it should be.
...sounds pretty fair to me.

Chauncy is probably saying to himself....are we not men?....shouldn't we be able to choose where to work?

Chauncey is probably saying.....please let me go to Chicago where I can reunite with Rip.

Maybe a competitor of the Heat should claim CB and force him into retirement?