ducks
06-08-2006, 07:41 PM
Terry's Impending Free Agency Evokes Nash Comparison
Stop us if you've heard this one before: The Dallas Mavericks have a really good point guard, but they might lose him at the end of the season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
And get this: The deciding factor in this case, too, may just be the number of years that point guard wants on his next contract.
Nearly two years after the Mavericks let the eventual two-time MVP walk away, Jason Terry is in a similar place to where Steve Nash was in 2004. And once again, there's no saying for sure what the summer will bring.
"They're very similar situations, and you can't overstate either of their importance to the Mavericks," Terry's agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com Wednesday night on the eve of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. "Jason Terry is going to be one of the very top free agents on the market, and his performance in the playoffs has only cemented that position.
"Jason is two years younger than Steve was at the time, and we fully expect to get a five- or six-year deal," Fegan said.
No one is saying Terry is as good of a player as Nash is, but two years ago no one was quite convinced Nash was the player he turned out to be. The Mavericks were unwilling in 2004 make the same six-year commitment to Nash that the Phoenix Suns had offered, so Nash took the money and ran out of Dallas -- a move that still ranks as easily the most questionable decision Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has made during his six years of ownership of the franchise.
One big difference this time: Fegan promised he and Terry would not make as quick of a decision as Nash did in the summer of 2004, when the bidding war between the Mavericks and Suns began and ended in a span of roughly 24 hours, if not less.
Fegan said Terry will take his time, no matter how many bidders come calling, nor how lucrative any particular offer might be. Cuban did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Fegan's remarks.
"Steve made a quick decision. Who knows what would have happened if he had waited that out a little longer," Fegan said. "I don't anticipate doing anything rashly. We'll field all offers and proceed accordingly."
Of course he says that now, but what'll happen July 1 if the Atlanta Hawks suddenly want Jason back, are offering $9 million in the first year and want an answer in 12 hours? That's what makes the free agent season so unpredictable, and Terry's future will be one of the unsettled questions driving this summer's talent market. At 28, he'll have more long-term value than two of the other top floor generals on the market, Sam Cassell and Mike James, and his body of work in this year's playoffs, however inconsistent it has been, will make Terry a hotter commodity than any of the other free agent PGs, including Speedy Claxton, Bobby Jackson and Marcus Banks.
Stop us if you've heard this one before: The Dallas Mavericks have a really good point guard, but they might lose him at the end of the season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
And get this: The deciding factor in this case, too, may just be the number of years that point guard wants on his next contract.
Nearly two years after the Mavericks let the eventual two-time MVP walk away, Jason Terry is in a similar place to where Steve Nash was in 2004. And once again, there's no saying for sure what the summer will bring.
"They're very similar situations, and you can't overstate either of their importance to the Mavericks," Terry's agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com Wednesday night on the eve of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. "Jason Terry is going to be one of the very top free agents on the market, and his performance in the playoffs has only cemented that position.
"Jason is two years younger than Steve was at the time, and we fully expect to get a five- or six-year deal," Fegan said.
No one is saying Terry is as good of a player as Nash is, but two years ago no one was quite convinced Nash was the player he turned out to be. The Mavericks were unwilling in 2004 make the same six-year commitment to Nash that the Phoenix Suns had offered, so Nash took the money and ran out of Dallas -- a move that still ranks as easily the most questionable decision Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has made during his six years of ownership of the franchise.
One big difference this time: Fegan promised he and Terry would not make as quick of a decision as Nash did in the summer of 2004, when the bidding war between the Mavericks and Suns began and ended in a span of roughly 24 hours, if not less.
Fegan said Terry will take his time, no matter how many bidders come calling, nor how lucrative any particular offer might be. Cuban did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Fegan's remarks.
"Steve made a quick decision. Who knows what would have happened if he had waited that out a little longer," Fegan said. "I don't anticipate doing anything rashly. We'll field all offers and proceed accordingly."
Of course he says that now, but what'll happen July 1 if the Atlanta Hawks suddenly want Jason back, are offering $9 million in the first year and want an answer in 12 hours? That's what makes the free agent season so unpredictable, and Terry's future will be one of the unsettled questions driving this summer's talent market. At 28, he'll have more long-term value than two of the other top floor generals on the market, Sam Cassell and Mike James, and his body of work in this year's playoffs, however inconsistent it has been, will make Terry a hotter commodity than any of the other free agent PGs, including Speedy Claxton, Bobby Jackson and Marcus Banks.