Oh, no wonder Z-Bo said he'd be willing to make sacrifices to stay in Memphis for the longterm. The Los Angeles Times published an interesting story on professional athletes using deferred compensation options in contract negotiations, i.e., players that will allow teams to pay part of their contract salary at a later date in time, usually years after the contract has expired.

In 2004, Randolph signed a six-year $84 million-extension with the Portland Trail Blazers, and what did a young, 23-year-old ZBo set up for himself? His contract was designed so that $25 million of the $84 was scheduled to be paid from 2012-2017. That's right, the big guy is currently making over $4 million a year from the Trail Blazers, a team he hasn't played for since 2007.

So before Randolph ever signed his extension with the Grizzlies, he was set up to make millions without it. The quote from Z-Bo about how he's "made all the money in the world" has a present-progressive form that we (at least I) were unaware of until today. Randolph hasn't just "made" it, he's still making it. So yes, it's very understandable for Zach to take a pay cut next season when he's got a cushion the size of his ham-hock shoulders to fall on.

Maybe it's not all about Zach loving the city of Memphis, but the wise decisions (wait, really? how is that possible?) of his youth will allow him some emotional freedom in the latter stage of his career. If the Griz can come to an agreement, I'm all for it. After all, Z-Bo deferred $10 million of his extension with the Grizzlies, so we'll be paying him well into the 2020's anyway.