picnroll
10-06-2004, 09:07 AM
Another of Marc Fleisher's boys not handling it publicly quite as well as TP
Kirilenko not happiest of campers
Contract wait: While the All-Star vows to be professional, he's worried about an extension
By Phil Miller
The Salt Lake Tribune
link (http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_2421761)
Andrei Kirilenko didn't look like a player feeling any pressure to earn a big-money contract Monday, not when he was clowning with his teammates or posing for goofy photos at the Utah Jazz's media-day kickoff to training camp.
"I like [that] when you come here, you only think about basketball," he said with a grin.
Yet that's not quite true this season, he admitted. Kirilenko is eligible to sign a multi-year contract with the Jazz this offseason, but if it's not done by Oct. 29, according to NBA rules, it must be put off until he becomes a restricted free agent next July.
Talks between the Jazz and his agent have taken place for two months, and "I'm a little bit unhappy because it's not done before the camp is open," Kirilenko said.
He's not the only one playing for a contract this month, and this season. The Jazz must decide by the last business day of October whether to trigger their option for next season in the contracts of guard Raul Lopez and center Curtis Borchardt. And Raja Bell owns the team's only other guaranteed contract that expires next summer.
As the Jazz embark today on their 2004-05 training camp in St. George with high expectations - "We added the pieces we needed, so I expect us to be stronger this year," Bell said - that foursome will try to solidify contracts for the following year, too.
An All-Star in just his third NBA season, Kirilenko is the most prominent contract situation to sort out, and the trickiest for the Jazz. Kevin O'Connor, senior vice president of basketball operations, undoubtedly realizes that the Russian forward is going to command a contract that will probably exceed the $68 million the Jazz are paying Carlos Boozer over the next six seasons.
The question is, when will Kirilenko get it?
"I want to sign this year, for sure," said Kirilenko, who will earn $1.67 million this season. "I don't want to wait one more year."
O'Connor would not comment on negotiations with Kirilenko's agent, Marc Fleisher, other than to say they are ongoing. But the Jazz, like many NBA teams, are clearly reluctant to award a maximum-salary contract - Kirilenko is eligible for a six-year deal worth roughly $82 million - before they have to, especially since the team would retain the right to match any contract next summer.
Should the Jazz lock themselves into such a huge commitment right now, risking that Kirilenko will remain healthy and productive this season before the extension kicks in?
Absolutely, Kirilenko said. "But I'm a professional player. If I have a one-year contract, it doesn't matter. It doesn't change how I play," he said. "I'm thinking good, but I'm ready for bad."
The Grizzlies signed Pau Gasol to a similar six-year contract last week, which Kirilenko noticed. "Memphis took good care of him," Kirilenko said. "He's one of the best forwards in the world. . . . I don't like to be compared, but it's a good example for the Jazz. I want to be here, but it's a business."
Borchardt, feeling fully healed from the knee and wrist injuries that cost him all but 16 games the past two seasons, also understands the decision isn't necessarily his.
"It's on my mind just a little bit, but I know I'm going to have a great, healthy season no matter what," he said.
If playing for a contract is good motivation, so is actually signing one, asserted new Jazz center Mehmet Okur.
"Everyone dreams of a big contract, and I can say my dream came true," said Okur, who signed for $50 million in July. "It's made me feel a lot better now. It makes me more relaxed, no doubt. I want to do my best for this team, work hard for them."
Kirilenko not happiest of campers
Contract wait: While the All-Star vows to be professional, he's worried about an extension
By Phil Miller
The Salt Lake Tribune
link (http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_2421761)
Andrei Kirilenko didn't look like a player feeling any pressure to earn a big-money contract Monday, not when he was clowning with his teammates or posing for goofy photos at the Utah Jazz's media-day kickoff to training camp.
"I like [that] when you come here, you only think about basketball," he said with a grin.
Yet that's not quite true this season, he admitted. Kirilenko is eligible to sign a multi-year contract with the Jazz this offseason, but if it's not done by Oct. 29, according to NBA rules, it must be put off until he becomes a restricted free agent next July.
Talks between the Jazz and his agent have taken place for two months, and "I'm a little bit unhappy because it's not done before the camp is open," Kirilenko said.
He's not the only one playing for a contract this month, and this season. The Jazz must decide by the last business day of October whether to trigger their option for next season in the contracts of guard Raul Lopez and center Curtis Borchardt. And Raja Bell owns the team's only other guaranteed contract that expires next summer.
As the Jazz embark today on their 2004-05 training camp in St. George with high expectations - "We added the pieces we needed, so I expect us to be stronger this year," Bell said - that foursome will try to solidify contracts for the following year, too.
An All-Star in just his third NBA season, Kirilenko is the most prominent contract situation to sort out, and the trickiest for the Jazz. Kevin O'Connor, senior vice president of basketball operations, undoubtedly realizes that the Russian forward is going to command a contract that will probably exceed the $68 million the Jazz are paying Carlos Boozer over the next six seasons.
The question is, when will Kirilenko get it?
"I want to sign this year, for sure," said Kirilenko, who will earn $1.67 million this season. "I don't want to wait one more year."
O'Connor would not comment on negotiations with Kirilenko's agent, Marc Fleisher, other than to say they are ongoing. But the Jazz, like many NBA teams, are clearly reluctant to award a maximum-salary contract - Kirilenko is eligible for a six-year deal worth roughly $82 million - before they have to, especially since the team would retain the right to match any contract next summer.
Should the Jazz lock themselves into such a huge commitment right now, risking that Kirilenko will remain healthy and productive this season before the extension kicks in?
Absolutely, Kirilenko said. "But I'm a professional player. If I have a one-year contract, it doesn't matter. It doesn't change how I play," he said. "I'm thinking good, but I'm ready for bad."
The Grizzlies signed Pau Gasol to a similar six-year contract last week, which Kirilenko noticed. "Memphis took good care of him," Kirilenko said. "He's one of the best forwards in the world. . . . I don't like to be compared, but it's a good example for the Jazz. I want to be here, but it's a business."
Borchardt, feeling fully healed from the knee and wrist injuries that cost him all but 16 games the past two seasons, also understands the decision isn't necessarily his.
"It's on my mind just a little bit, but I know I'm going to have a great, healthy season no matter what," he said.
If playing for a contract is good motivation, so is actually signing one, asserted new Jazz center Mehmet Okur.
"Everyone dreams of a big contract, and I can say my dream came true," said Okur, who signed for $50 million in July. "It's made me feel a lot better now. It makes me more relaxed, no doubt. I want to do my best for this team, work hard for them."