Andrew Bogut, definitely no King

LAST UPDATE 8:59am PT, Oct 6: "Andrew Bogut's agent David Bauman tells ESPN.com that deal w/Sydney Kings is "off" because of insurance obstacles, not on hold. Link on way". Twitter Marc Stein (ESPN).

"Agent David Bauman said Thursday that a deal to put Bogut on the court with the Sydney Kings is "off" because insuring the nearly $40 million remaining on the 7-footer's contract with the Milwaukee Bucks is not feasible (...) "He's very disappointed because he was hoping to help the profile of the NBL and bring in new fans," Bauman said after speaking to Bogut by phone. "But the risks for his outstanding money were too great.". ESPN article by Marc Stein.

Looks definitive. Huge blow for the Kings and, especially, for the Australian league. A bad ending for a good idea...

UPDATE 9:00pm PT, Oct 5: "Update on @AndrewMBogut. He is committed to the @NBL. He would like to play for @thesydneykings. Insurance is still not finalised."

"As such he will not be playing tomorrow night against Melbourne. We will continue to try and resolve the insurance policy."

Those two tweets come from Andrew Bogut's agency official account (@One_Management), the same day the Australian center was supposed to announce his next team. In fact, One Management Group confirmed here that the Sydney Kings are the Australian franchise chosen by Bogut to play during the lockout... but nothing is as easy as everyone would have wanted to.

As every NBA player who wants to sign a contract overseas during the lockout, Bogut has to get an insurance policy to protect his NBA contract. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, that policy is worth about $500.000. Bruce Kaider, Bogut's agent, has been trying during the last days to strike an agreement between FIBA, an insurance agency in Europe and the Milwaukee Bucks centre's legal team in the USA. But, so far, there has been no results yet.

Therefore, Bogut won't start the season with the Kings, which are scheduled to play in the opening night against the Melbourne Tigers, the new team of Patrick Mills. The expected clash of the Australian NBA players will be delayed, unfortunately for the league, which was hoping some hype with this game.

The good part for the Sydney Kings is that Bogut is a luxury they don't really need. The franchise has already on roster the best center of the league, Julian Khazzouh. This relatively unknown Australian player averaged 17.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last season, being the 2010/11 runner-up by a single vote for the NBL MVP. 

Besides that, the Kings would have two waive some players to sign Bogut. Not because of any payroll issue (Bogut would earn the minimum salary), but because of the "NBL Point System"...

According to the own NBL webpage, "the Player Points Ranking and Total Team Points Systems have been put in place as a strategy to ensure that all clubs have equitable access to the player talent in order to maximise the quality of the competition. It is important that the NBL remain a viable competition that is appealing to both sponsors and fans." The point limit for the 2011-12 season is 70 points.

Bogut's "talent", according to this system, is a "10-pointer", and the Kings are right on the 70-point limit. Therefore, they will have to lose some players to fit Bogut in the roster.

But, hey, let's make it even more complicated. The Kings should have to "preview" which players are going to be waived for next game if they still count on signing Bogut. According to NBL rules, if a player is used in a game, and then is dropped, the team won't be able to re-sign him later. Considering that Bogut will have to return to the NBA as soon the lockout is over, it's not an easy decision for the Kings.

And, apparently, it's not easy either for some insurance company... Australia has also some good basketball soap operas