2010 Free Agent: John Salmons

[Bruno]

http://www.nba.com/media/act_john_salmons.jpg
Born: Dec 12, 1979
Height: 6-6 / 1.98
Weight: 207 lbs. / 93.9 kg.
College: Miami
Years Pro: 7

Info (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/john_salmons/career_stats.html)

$5.8M player option for 2010-2011

[ace3g]

still mad the suppose deal that included Salmons for Mason and Bonner didn't happen and fell apart at the last second. We are missing that extra SF which amounts to Pop playing Mason and Bogans more minutes.

but I find it unlikely that the Bucks will let go of Salmons even though he does have that ETO.

[mountainballer]

reportedly will opt out. but might just try to force the Bucks to give him an extension. they like him a lot (and have good reasons to like him) and with Redd being a big question mark (even if he is back healthy next season), I think they give him a nice contract. they are to close to becoming a really good team that they can't afford to again have a big hole at SG. I guess he gets 3-4 years 25-30 million and stays. (he won't get this numbers on the market)

[coyotes_geek]

reportedly will opt out. but might just try to force the Bucks to give him an extension. they like him a lot (and have good reasons to like him) and with Redd being a big question mark (even if he is back healthy next season), I think they give him a nice contract. they are to close to becoming a really good team that they can't afford to again have a big hole at SG. I guess he gets 3-4 years 25-30 million and stays. (he won't get this numbers on the market)

Agreed. Salmons is one of the guys who really stands to benefit by getting himself locked up in a new long term contract before the new CBA gets negotiated. Barring a catastrophic injury between now and his deadline I can't see him not opting out.

[mogrovejo]

Forget him, extension being worked out, just some details to adjust.

I don't like Salmons in good teams. Too much of a ball-stopper.

[duncan228]

John Salmons Will Opt Out of His Contract (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-johnsalmonswilloptou)
SportingNews

Few midseason moves had as much of an acknowledged impact on this season’s playoff race as the Bucks’ decision to trade for wing scorer John Salmons. On a team with a strong defensive pedigree, he provided needed shooting and scoring from the perimeter and became a huge part of the team after Andrew Bogut went down with a serious elbow injury towards the end of the season. At the time, the Salmons trade seemed like a decent move, but it turned out to be one of Executive of the Year John Hammond’s best decisions.

It also helped Salmons’ reputation quite a bit, which factored heavily into his decision to opt out of his contract this summer. Salmons had not yet announced his decision, but we now have the verdict (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/22/salmons-tells-bucks-he-plans-to-opt-out/). From Sam Amick on FanHouse:

The Milwaukee Bucks have been told by guard John Salmons he will opt out of his contract by the June 30 deadline and become an unrestricted free agent.

"He’s given us indications that he will opt out,” Milwaukee general manager John Hammond, named NBA Executive of Year in part because of last February’s acquisition of Salmons from Chicago, said in an interview Tuesday with FanHouse. […]

While Salmons is expected to become a free agent, Hammond hopes to re-sign him. "We’d love to have him back,” Hammond said of Salmons, whose Bucks went 20-8 after the guard first played following his February acquisition from the Bulls. "And he knows it.”

Amick also notes that Michael Redd will not opt out of his gigantic contract, which is the NBA version of a "dog bites man" story if there ever was one.

There are few surprises here. Salmons was a key part of Milwaukee’s playoff run and did himself a world of good, plus he probably does not want to become a free agent during the lockout summer of 2011. This way, he can bypass that mess while setting himself up as either a valuable re-signing for the Bucks or a nice secondary piece in this summer’s free agent lottery.

In the end, though, I’d expect Milwaukee to bring him back. It’s unclear how much Salmons wants, but a reasonable raise seems in line with his performance this spring. It’s the Bucks’ way of showing him that he matters to their future as well as their past.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

After the Maggette trade, Salmons may well be the odd man out in Milwaukee. Personally, I think that is a huge mistake by the Bucks, but Salmons and Delfino play a similar game, so maybe they wanted a slasher to put with Delfino.

Anyway, he's on the market, and I think he'd make a great Spur as long as he doesn't chafe against the system (what happened in Chi-town?), but can't really see how we could sign him since Splitter is a must-happen.