Official: Spurs Re-Sign Richard Jefferson

[Shifty]

From Spurs official website:

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/spurs_resign__jefferson_100721.html

[DesignatedT]

looks like its finally official.

[ThePop]

yeah expected, i want contract details.

[tp2021]

Now the really important question is, what are the terms of the deal?

[Shifty]

yeah expected, i want contract details.

Also as expected the details are not disclosed and non of the usual sources have even noticed so far.

[tdunk21]

good.....what next

[Thompson]

I tried to go to 'the other Spurs fan website' to see if any more information was available (long shot, but I was bored). My computer now blocks that site though as 'dangerous.' I noticed that 'mavtalk' has been like that for over a week now (from several computers). I wonder if this will be the final deathblow to the other site.

[Xolotl]

good.....what next

Expect 8 points on 2/20 shooting with a couple free throws

[LongtimeSpursFan]

Great news! All the pieces are ready for our run at a championship next year. Would be nice to have a back up SF for spot minutes but I'll take the current roster against any other team out there. We are stacked from 1-8 and with Anderson and Bonner as 9 and 10 we have a very deep and talented team.

[Trill Clinton]

Great news! All the pieces are ready for our run at a championship next year. Would be nice to have a back up SF for spot minutes but I'll take the current roster against any other team out there. We are stacked from 1-8 and with Anderson and Bonner as 9 and 10 we have a very deep and talented team.


You serious? I mean, I love the spurs as much as the next fan but I wouldn't say we're stacked.

[Spurs Brazil]

JMcDonald_SAEN
Little slow on the tweet today, but #spurs make Jefferson re-signing official:http://bit.ly/bKLT09 More to come ...

[ohmwrecker]

How can you look at those highlights and think that if RJ can do that on a more consistent level that he is a "bad fit" on this team? How many seasons did you people bitch and complain about the Spurs needing an athletic wing who can dunk and block shots?

[MoSpur]

I just want consistency. I don't want nights where he is 1 for 8 and 3 rebounds. He's shown he can be good and he is. Just wasn't consistent enough. I thought he was overpriced at $15 million for what he was producing. If he can be more consistent and average around 15-16 pts and around 7-8 boards a game, I will be more than happy.

[Shifty]

Great news! All the pieces are ready for our run at a championship next year. Would be nice to have a back up SF for spot minutes but I'll take the current roster against any other team out there. We are stacked from 1-8 and with Anderson and Bonner as 9 and 10 we have a very deep and talented team.

That is one of the things many people here forget. We have 3 all-stars (one of the GPFOAT), 1 former all-star (RJ), 1 great up and coming player (Hill), the best outside the NBA player, a beast waiting to be unleashed when matchups call for it, a serviceable big man who plays his heart out when it counts and has sweet stroke from mid range and rookie scoring wing with chip in his shoulder. On top of that, from 9-15 on the roster we have 40% 3pt stretch 4, several young athletic wings waiting for their chance and a couple of decent emergency PGs with system experience. On top of that we still could get 1 or 2 decent bench players with the LLE and remaining of the MLE. I like our chances.

[FromWayDowntown]

I'm going to choose to be cautiously optimistic that the vaunted "everyone needs a year to learn the Spurs' system" line of thinking will apply to RJ and that better things are to come with increased familiarity.

For the record, though, I don't think it's particularly realistic to be that optimistic . . . .

[FromWayDowntown]

1 former all-star (RJ)

RJ hasn't ever been an All-Star.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jefferi01.html

But the Spurs do have a one-time former All-Star: McDyess:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mcdyean01.html

[Sisk]

I'm thinking 4 years with the 4th year as a team option at around $25.5 total.

[peacemaker885]

I don't think his contract will go past Manu and Tim's. So I think its 3 years.

[DJB]

how can you look at those highlights and think that if rj can do that on a more consistent level that he is a "bad fit" on this team? How many seasons did you people bitch and complain about the spurs needing an athletic wing who can dunk and block shots?

+1

[coyotes_geek]

I just want consistency. I don't want nights where he is 1 for 8 and 3 rebounds. He's shown he can be good and he is. Just wasn't consistent enough. I thought he was overpriced at $15 million for what he was producing. If he can be more consistent and average around 15-16 pts and around 7-8 boards a game, I will be more than happy.

If RJ is putting up numbers like that it means that someone out of the big 3 is hurt. No way that RJ gets those kind of numbers having to share touches with Tim, Tony and Manu all playing.

The 12 & 4 RJ averaged last year would be just fine this year if those numbers came with the following:
- a more consistent scoring where every night he was between 8-16 instead of scoring 20 one night and 4 the next.
- an improvement in his 3pt %
- fewer defensive lapses

[timvp]

I'd set the over/under at $9 million per season for RJ's contract.

I'm hopeful for the under but I'd probably bet on the over.

[Muser]

At least we might get to see a few sweet dunks again...

[MaNu4Tres]

I'd set the over/under at $9 million per season for RJ's contract.

I'm hopeful for the under but I'd probably bet on the over.

Quit showing off your wisdom there chief.

I have to agree.

I hope it's on the under as well, although I can see him getting 9-10 million per on a 3 yr deal. ( The shorter the deal, the more expensive the salary will be per year; vice versa- longer the deal, the less expensive the salary will be per year.)

[Blackjack]

I'd set the over/under at $9 million per season for RJ's contract.

I'm hopeful for the under but I'd probably bet on the over.

Hoping we get Tiago'd . . .

[The Truth #6]

I'd set the over/under at $9 million per season for RJ's contract.

I'm hopeful for the under but I'd probably bet on the over.

Weirdly, I can see that. The signings have been consistently surprising: Bonner getting resigned and with a raise, then Splitter getting signed for peanuts. RJ will probably still be overpaid in most people's eyes.

[Shifty]

In his first season in San Antonio he appeared in 81 games, averaging 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 31.1 minutes while shooting .467 (362-775) from the floor, .316 (59-187) from the three-point line and .735 (208-283) from the free throw line. Jefferson scored in double-figures 54 times, including eight games with 20-or-more points.

I would like to read this by this time next year:

In his second season in San Antonio he appeared in 82 games, averaging 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 31.1 minutes while shooting .516 (400-775) from the floor, .418 (92-220) from the three-point line and .781 (250-320) from the free throw line. Jefferson scored in double-figures 74 times, including eighteen games with 20-or-more points.

Is it too much to ask when considering the second year adjustment and without the baggage of that huge contract?

[Texas_Ranger]

I hope it'll be 3y/15mil :hat

[MaNu4Tres]

I hope it'll be 3y/15mil :hat

I hope it's 3 year/3 million TBH.

[Drom John]

The contract would need to be less than $15M/year but more than $15M total.
$9M for three fits early in the free agency.
But with seemingly no competing offers, I'd predict that the Spurs talk RJ down to
$9M for two or $8M for three.

[coyotes_geek]

I'd set the over/under at $9 million per season for RJ's contract.

I'm hopeful for the under but I'd probably bet on the over.

I'll take the under. If the Spurs were really offering something like 4/$36 I don't think it would have taken this long for him to sign.

[Muser]

I would like to read this by this time next year:


Is it too much to ask when considering the second year adjustment and without the baggage of that huge contract?

Yeah Jefferson won't shoot above. .400 from 3.

[crc21209]

Good news now that it is official. :tu Here's to hoping he improves in his 2nd year ala other guys who took a while to pick up the system..

[Shifty]

Yeah Jefferson won't shoot above. .400 from 3.

That depends where he shoot from. He certainly did 2 years ago:

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3905/jefferson2009.jpg
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/398728/RJ_2010_shotchart.png

[Muser]

If Jefferson could shoot like that for the Spurs it would be awesome but I just don't see it.

[FromWayDowntown]

Yeah Jefferson won't shoot above. .400 from 3.

I think that's true, but he could give the Spurs a similar effect if he could be that guy who gets himself to the line with greater frequency than he did last season.

It's not realistic to think that he can get to the level he occupied a few seasons ago, but if he could make his 3.5 FTA/gm in 2009-10 into something closer to 5.0 FTA/gm in 2010-11 (and maintained the same FT%) he could conceivably make a bigger difference for him and the team than if he improved his 3pt% to something around 40%.

[Canibspur]

Welcome back Puto.

[romsho]

Terms were not disclosed. Translated...opting out did not work out quite as planned.

[Muser]

I think that's true, but he could give the Spurs a similar effect if he could be that guy who gets himself to the line with greater frequency than he did last season.

It's not realistic to think that he can get to the level he occupied a few seasons ago, but if he could make his 3.5 FTA/gm in 2009-10 into something closer to 5.0 FTA/gm in 2010-11 (and maintained the same FT%) he could conceivably make a bigger difference for him and the team than if he improved his 3pt% to something around 40%.

That's what Pop has to drill into him, attack the basket with force. When he's on his game he can get to the line at will we saw that in flashes last year.

[E-RockWill]

Welcome back Puto.

:lmao

[lefty]

My sources say.....

[Muser]

My sources say.....LMAO ITALY

fify

[ohmwrecker]

People here always say that RJ is a poor replacement for Bowen. Defensively, I agree. Although, when properly motivated, Jefferson is a pretty good defender. Honestly, the only perimeter defender in the NBA who is as good as Bowen is Artest.
I see RJ filling a role more like what Sean Elliott did for the Spurs. If he can hit his mid range and 3s just consistently enough to make his defender commit, he can blow by just about anybody on the baseline for a dunk.

[Whisky Dog]

He'll have the same type numbers as last year and will suck defensively. The only difference will be we'll expect it this time. It'll still hurt though.

[MoSpur]

If he becomes good from the corner three, watch out.

[MoSpur]

^^^^big if.

[lefty]

fify
:lmao

[Roger Freemason Jr.]

Let's be honest, aside from the biased opinions of RJ. He was the best available SF on the market, that we could actually afford. He is better than anyone else you people were discussing, such as James Jones, Raja Bell. He will deliver, and most importantly, he is definitely familiar with the Spurs' system, and is already part of the team chemistry. Without RJ, we would have been starting an SF that should have been back-up at best. But now that RJ is signed, The Spurs will make haste to get him a back-up, and they will. & with Pop, it's not about the ppg, it's about how cohesion, which is why Bonner was resigned.

:ihit

[tp2021]

Hopefully, not only will RJ improve within the system as far as understanding what he needs to do, but hopefully Pop now better understands HOW to get RJ to do what he needs him to do.

[Nathan89]

People here always say that RJ is a poor replacement for Bowen. Defensively, I agree. Although, when properly motivated, Jefferson is a pretty good defender. Honestly, the only perimeter defender in the NBA who is as good as Bowen is Artest.
I see RJ filling a role more like what Sean Elliott did for the Spurs. If he can hit his mid range and 3s just consistently enough to make his defender commit, he can blow by just about anybody on the baseline for a dunk.

Artest is not the defender he use to be because he lost a step. Battier is currently a much better defender than Artest and there are probably others that I cant think of.

[Budkin]

God I hope like other Spurs he improves in his second season... he was such a bust after we were so psyched for him last offseason.

[Muser]

A year in the Spurs system won't help you make wide open shots.

[DesignatedT]

A year in the Spurs system won't help you make wide open shots.

feeling more comfortable on the court will.

[Muser]

He's been in the league for 9 years, he should feel comfortable on the court anywhere. I don't buy this whole Pops playbook is so complicated stuff. Didn't he trim it down anyway?

[DPG21920]

Gross.

[howbouthemspurs]

Yaaaayyyyy!!!!

[Brazil]

I'm thinking 4 years with the 4th year as a team option at around $25.5 total.

:lol

[ohmwrecker]

Artest is not the defender he use to be because he lost a step. Battier is currently a much better defender than Artest and there are probably others that I cant think of.

Well, that's certainly debatable. I think the major reason Artest's individual defense appears diminished is because the Lakers' team defense is excellent. When Artest and Battier both played for the Rockets, Artest was clearly the better defender.

[migs21]

Jefferson's opt out pays off in new deal with Spurs

-Sources tells TNT's David Aldridge that forward Richard Jefferson's new contract with the San Antonio Spurs, officially announced on Wednesday, is for four years and $38.8 million, with a player option for the final season at a little more than $11 million.

Jefferson had opted out of the final year of his contract with the Spurs, which would have paid him $15 million next season, in order to test free agency. But most league officials believed the 30-year-old Jefferson would re-sign with the Spurs, who acquired him from Milwaukee last summer in a deal with the Bucks for Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas. Jefferson struggled for much of last season with the Spurs as he learned Gregg Popovich's system, averaging just 12.3 points, his lowest average since his rookie season.

But veteran players usually take at least a year or two to fully pick up the Spurs' complex offensive and defensive systems, and tend to improve greatly in their second or third season. The Spurs anticipate that Jefferson, a career 47 percent shooter, will return to his normal form next season.

Jefferson will make back all of the $15 million he gave up this year -- he will earn more than $27 million in the first three years of the deal -- and now has some security that he will not be a free agent in a summer where the possibility of a lockout by owners to get a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is increasingly likely.

By bringing Jefferson back for almost $7 million less than than he was scheduled the make, the Spurs were also able to bring over their 2007 first-round pick, Brazilian center Tiago Splitter -- considered the best big man in Europe -- and re-sign forward Matt Bonner for less in total than what they would have paid for Jefferson alone under his old deal. Splitter, who should be a significant part of the rotation next season, agreed to a three-year, $10 million deal, and Bonner returned to San Antonio on a four-year deal.

Spurs owner Peter Holt has committed to paying luxury tax again next season and in 2011-12, the final two years of star center Tim Duncan's contract. After that, San Antonio is likely to rebuild around Splitter -- who will be up for a new deal by then -- guards George Hill and Manu Ginobili, whom the team signed to a three-year, $38 million extension last season, and second-year forward DeJuan Blair.

-- posted 7/21/10, 7:35 p.m.