Making sense of Yogi Ferrell’s change of heart

The change in direction today by Yogi Ferrell was unexpected and frustrating, but the Dallas Mavericks and their fans should not be bitter about the move. This is about more than just backing out of a deal.

It is hard to guess as to why this all happened…again. Yogi Ferrell and the Dallas Mavericks verbally agreed to a deal yesterday for 2 years and $5.3 million, but that deal did not last very long as news came via Shams Charania (of Yahoo! Sports) that Yogi Ferrell would be backing out of the deal and re-entering free agency.

This comes as a shock, especially because of the video that surfaced yesterday of Yogi talking about how he doesn’t want to be anywhere else. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be true today as Yogi’s agent said they were “feeling uncomfortable”.

Here is a short progression of events via Shams Charania:

Obviously this turned around quickly and the Mavs have reason to be shocked, but the actual deal that was agreed to by Yogi Ferrell in the first place did not make any sense. He went from being declined his $2.9 million qualifying offer to a deal that wouldn’t have given him even that much in either of the upcoming years. Add that to the fact that the 2nd year of the deal had some contingencies to it and it makes sense that Yogi was not particularly happy with it.

The question now is: why did Yogi and his agent agree to the deal in the first place? I have a couple theories.

The first theory is a disconnect between player and agent. This would certainly not be the first time that has happened and there is a reason that people hire and fire agents all the time in major league sports. There is a definite possibility that Yogi Ferrell was not fully aware of the deal before verbally agreeing to it.

My next theory is that teams saw how little Dallas offered Yogi and knew they could give him more. A quick phone call to a guy that has not signed a contract yet wouldn’t be outside of the norm in this league and that could very well be what happened. This theory definitely would take a hit on Yogi’s character and professionalism if true, but it is definitely a possibility.

My last theory is a fault on the Mavs organization, who kind of toyed with Yogi and didn’t start contract talks until weeks into free agency. After all that, including rescinding the qualifying offer, they gave him less money than he should’ve been getting anyways. The only saving grace was offering him a spot in the rotation essentially.

Next: Players who must improve for the sake of the team

This is a pretty sad day for Mavs fans who have really come to love the little guard from Indiana. Although this does not mean he is gone for sure, it is disappointing to know that he is back on the market at all. No matter what happens, we will do our best to support Yogi no matter where he goes.