I flipped over to watch a little Mythbusters during a commercial of the Rockets-Lakers series and for some reason I got to thinking about Robert Swift, as I often do. I have no idea how the Mythbusters building a giant Lego ball got my brain to Robert Swift, but it did. But instead of wondering the usual things like, “Does he know what he looks like?” or “If a small cat ran in front of him, would he be able to jump over it?” or “Did he actually paint his nails or is that just Sharpie?” I started thinking about his current career stats, his free agency and what it has to do with his $3.5 million salary.
How much money did he make per minute? Per point? Per rebound? What about for his prestigious four-year career with this franchise that will undoubtedly come to and end this offseason? Because any time a player is often injured, I think it’s actually law to calculate those things to point out how unproductive and how much of an anti-MVP he was. And this was a contract year for for Big Robert. The good news is this was his second most productive year of his career. But that’s also the bad news.
This season, Swift made $3,579,131. So for 82 games, technically, he would make $43,648 per game if he had played in all of them. But he played in just 26 (the second highest for his career!) so that means he made $137,659 per game this year. If Swift would have been paid on a per game basis, he would have made “just” $1,134,846 this season or just 31 percent of his total salary. (Maybe that’s how teams should pay players. And to provide for the fact an unfortunate injury could sideline you for an extended period, you buy “insurance” from the team on your contract. If you don’t get hurt, just like the rest of us schmoes, you’re out the money. But if you choose not to get the insurance, you don’t get paid for the games you don’t play in. Probably a stupid idea, but just thinking out loud.)
This year he made:
- $41,618 per point (for a little perspective, KD made $2,397 per point; and that’s with making a full million more than Swift)
- $ 40,215 per rebound
- $10,435 per minute (or $996 for every minute spent sitting on the bench)
- $1,193,043 per injury
- $96,733 per made basket
- $397,681 per assist
- $143,165 per time Brian Davis said how high his basketball IQ was
- $210,537 per blocked shot
- $3,579,131 per haircut
I don’t mean to belittle the big guy or mock his stunning lack of production, but the numbers don’t lie. He’s a free agent this year and in four years, the Thunder/Sonics paid him $18,481,433 total and got 97 games, 1,500 minutes (15.5 minutes per game), 416 points and 376 rebounds in return. That’s $190,530 per game, $12,320 per minute, $44,427 per point and $49,153 per rebound for those four years. That’s what you call a poor return on your investment. But he did get 154 hours worth of tattoos. So that’s $120,009 per tattoo hour. Gotta say, pretty good numbers there.
If Swift had played all 82 games in all four seasons (328 total), he would have made $56,436 a game. Which is pretty reasonable (by reasonable I mean completely outrageous, but this is professional sports where a tall guy can make more money in an evening than most do in a year, or even two). But instead, he played in 97 and made $190,530. That’s a little difference of $134,094 a game or $13,007,141 total. That’s right, Swift only “earned” $5,474,292 out of his total $18,481,433. Yikes.
(I think these would be interesting stats to gauge GM performance. For every player, you’d take the difference of their per game total salary and how many games they actually played. Or maybe take their previous career averages and get a per point dollar amount and compare that to what they actually put up per dollar. You see where I’m going with that?Maybe that would work. Maybe not. Someone else do that for every player, because I’m far too lazy to.)
Remember, he was pick 12th overall in the 2004 draft. That’s right, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, Kevin Martin, Beno Udrih, Anderson Varejao, Trevor Ariza and Chris Duhon were all picked behind him. And every single one of those guys has scored more points this season than Swift has in his entire career. Ouch babe.
I really hope it all works out eventually for Swift. (Supposedly) he’s got a bunch of upside. (Supposedly) he’s a really smart player. And from what I’ve heard he’s an incredibly polite and nice young man that has taken his unfortunate setbacks in stride. So I wish the best for him. But maybe he should make like Courtney Paris and pay back some of that salary. Too bad for the Thunder he probably spent it all on that awesome new neck tattoo.
* They should have signed Brandon Kurtz - also from Bakersfield!
I didn't say I'd miss watching him play. He was a good comic relief just as someone wrote earlier, that's all. And, I'm just like that with the teams I love. I'm a huge Orioles fan (it's all Cal Ripken's fault!) and if I saw any one of those pathetic losers, I'd probably pass out (men don't faint).
You know what's really bad about the whole Robert Swift experiment is that the Sonics never even worked him out before the draft! He was high school balling in Bakersfield, and was thinking about going to USC. He was a McDonalds all american I believe and a friend of Wally Walker's (the then team president) who was a high school coach, had to coach against him. The two had a phone conversation and Wally decided to draft him based on that, and that alone. He never got a private workout! Amazing. That was printed in the Seattle papers.
At least Sene worked out for Seattle.
i cannot believe what i'm reading. people will miss him? who in the hell would miss him? oklahoma city has a pro team, and that's great, but i'm not gonna think you're awesome just because you're filling up a roster spot and robbing us of millions. i hope robert swift loses a lot of his money. he made way more than myself or any other average person made, and he did WAY less work than myself or any average person. pro athletes are nauseatingly overpaid in all sports, but if you play as little as robert swift or the many other players like him, you are a thief that doesn't deserve what you're getting. (actually, no one deserves a million dollars to play a child's game.)
Can we never mention Swift and money again? I just bought a lottery ticket because I hate my life...
Joe :
Only first and second year players under contract can play in the D league. He is a four year vet under contract so he is ineligible.
I do think he will get a job somewhere in the NBA next year. He may not hold it all season, but when a big goes down, or maybe a training camp battle. I think he will get some NBA money next year.
What’s really sad Royce is that Russell Westbrook averaged more offensive rebounds per 36 minutes than Big Red did……I think this is because by the time he jogged back from being on defense, the 24 second shot clock was about to expire so we had to shoot, and he of course wasn’t in position to rebound yet.
Really amazing. I could have put numbers together all night on this. Comparing him to just an "average" big man like Erick Dampier or Kendrick Perkins or something per dollar will make you want to cry. The numbers could have gone on forever.
And again, every time Robert Swift put the ball through the hoop, he made almost $100,000. I'm in the fetal position right now.
haha yea ur probably right jax. kyle maynard is an unbelievable story. that kid has heart and determination something that swift has none of.
wow... 18 million... over four years... for Swift... wow...
well, they had him for practice... wow.
@Joe
Some development league...That's a dumb rule...
Baseball does it way better with their minor leagues...
Only first and second year players under contract can play in the D league. He is a four year vet under contract so he is ineligible.
I do think he will get a job somewhere in the NBA next year. He may not hold it all season, but when a big goes down, or maybe a training camp battle. I think he will get some NBA money next year.
What's really sad Royce is that Russell Westbrook averaged more offensive rebounds per 36 minutes than Big Red did......I think this is because by the time he jogged back from being on defense, the 24 second shot clock was about to expire so we had to shoot, and he of course wasn't in position to rebound yet.
If Kyle Maynard can make it, then maybe Robert Swift can.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=mmajunkie-Maynard_road_to_MMA_debut&prov=mmajunkie&type=lgns
Might be a close match though.
Blake :
i heard the other day on the sports animal that swift was pondering a move to mixed martial arts. as many times as he has been hurt in basketball he would get killed in mma. i just thought that was pretty funny.
I know he is extremely into MMA. So that wouldn't surprise me. But like you said... bloodbath.
why didn't they move him to the D-League all year? Is that not allowed after a certain size contract?
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You saved me a lot of time.
i heard the other day on the sports animal that swift was pondering a move to mixed martial arts. as many times as he has been hurt in basketball he would get killed in mma. i just thought that was pretty funny.
MartzMimic :I was going to say something meaningful and profound, then it hit me how Red would look in the Rumble suit.
Basically like this?
http://www.dodgepedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/chewbacca.jpg
I was going to say something meaningful and profound, then it hit me how Red would look in the Rumble suit.
Dustin :Does anyone have a pic of his new neck tattoo?
Oh I just made that up... though it wouldn't surprise me if there was one.
Adam.. That's what made you start thinking about Swift. It had to be the goofy red head similarities.
And Royce, just a personal thought- No more posts talking about money being made by a person that does nooothing. Makes me think my work day/year/career is a little less desireable now.
Does anyone have a pic of his new neck tattoo?
Chas :He needs to go, but I must admit that I saw him walking around Walmart (completely goofy looking in shorts and t-shirt, that should be the first clue, don’t sign goofy looking people) and was speechless. I was talking with my fiancee and once I caught sight of him, I completely lost my train of thought. So, even a guy like him completely rendered me brain dead, all because he’s a Thunder. He will be missed.
On a different note, why is a guy making 3.5 mil shopping at Wal-Mart? That would be my first thing to cross off ever doing again.
(giggling)
He needs to go, but I must admit that I saw him walking around Walmart (completely goofy looking in shorts and t-shirt, that should be the first clue, don't sign goofy looking people) and was speechless. I was talking with my fiancee and once I caught sight of him, I completely lost my train of thought. So, even a guy like him completely rendered me brain dead, all because he's a Thunder. He will be missed.
On a different note, why is a guy making 3.5 mil shopping at Wal-Mart? That would be my first thing to cross off ever doing again.
@Keith
I'd sign him to a one-year deal for that. Give him a chance to show up Rumble. He's always reminded me of Lion-O, so maybe he could throw on a little make up and some tights and skip around.
http://www.queencheetah.com/Thundercats/liono1.jpg
It's been brought up before, but I have to ask it again: does anyone think this kid will be in the NBA next year? We're not talking about just an underachieving big man, we are talking about a guy who is epically bad. We're not talking about a guy who get's hurt every so often, we're talking about someone whose natural state is injured.
Do you think when he inevitably can't find a job that he might be willing to be a Thunder mascot? Think of the halftime or pregame show that could be put on with Robert Swift running around and jumping off trampolines. The ticket office could even have a running prize day whereby everyone at the game gets a free Swift bobblehead on days that he gets hurt.
@Alex
I've always enjoyed the Birdman as well. And for some reason, Robert was kind of this team's comic relief. When he came in, it was strangely entertaining to watch him lumber around.
I'm going to kind of miss Robert, and it makes me want Birdman even more to fill the tattooed white guy void...