This is very good news indeed. I keep hearing that this guy is a monster when he's playing ball, unfortunately I never got to see him play college hoops. Anybody got and videos of him that I can see?
Now all Blair has to do is stay healthy and deliver on his promise to make the other teams pay.. when the time comes to extend his contract, he'll be a rich young man and Happy will be even happier.
The rules on how many years you're allowed to sign players for has changed over the years so it would be quite a research project to figure that out. Under the current cba 5 years is the most years a team would be allowed to give, but I don't think anyone has done that so I'd assume 4 is the record under the current CBA. I know the suns gave Goran Dragic 4 years just last year so the Spurs would be tying that record with Blair's contract.
Wow...4 years? That is pretty unheard of, but at the same time it is great for the Spurs. In two years they could have a heavy rotation player on the cheap...or maybe as early as next season.
The 4M sounds like a lot but if you take the case of someone like Boozer, for example, you've got him under contract at a real bargain for 4yrs. and don't have to worry about the big payday after 2yrs.
Plus, the good faith the Spurs have exhibited with the guaranteed 3yrs., after no one else was even willing to take a chance for 36 picks, allows Blair to become the good/loyal soldier.
Spurs get Blair under contract (UPDATED with Blair comments)
By Jeff McDonald
Contract in hand, DeJuan Blair is ready to return to summer league action.
The Spurs have come to contract terms with Blair, the No. 37 overall pick in the June draft. Blair announced the completion of the deal on a televised interview with ESPN this morning. Spurs general manager R.C. Buford has confirmed the news.
The Spurs held Blair out of Tuesday's summer-league victory over Denver, in part to allow him to tie up the loose ends on his contract.
According to reports, Blair's deal is guaranteed for three years at a total of $2.7 million. He is expected to sign sometime before 5:30 p.m. Las Vegas time, when the Spurs tip off their next summer league game against Oklahoma City.
UPDATE: See the Spurs' official announcement here.
UPDATE2: Blair said before tonight's summer league game against Oklahoma City said the finalization of his deal was welcome, but expected, news. "It's nice to have it taken care of," Blair said. "I knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of when."
And yes, Spurs fans, Blair is playing against the Thunder. In fact, he's in the starting lineup.
Thanks.. I think the Spurs got the better player though..
based on his summer league stats this is well worth.
I'm guessing that Blair's biggest concern was/is financial security. He would want a deal that would give the most guaranteed dollars - maybe even if it meant taking an extra year or even two at a discounted rate. A guarantee would be worth some potential upside. The only reason I could see him agreeing to any team option would be in exchange for a larger guarantee in the first years.
If the deal is for 4 years, I think all 4 will be guaranteed, for this reason:
A 4-year contract of about $880K, with max raises, would total out to around $4m. But a contract of 4 or more years can be re-negotiated after the end of the third season. (Contracts of 3 or less years cannot be re-negotiated.) So by stretching the deal to 4 years, the Spurs can guarantee Blair $4M, which would give him the security he needs, and still minimize the team's expense this season. At the end of 3 years, if both sides are happy and healthy, the deal could be re-negotiated for more money, and more years.
Blair gets financial security, plus potential upside. The Spurs get a good (and happy) player, at a very good price, without breaking their player budget this year or the next. If this isn't what they are doing, it probably should be.
News 4 did report that they'd confirmed through sources that the contract was a 4yr. 4M dollar contract. Whether that 4th is a TO or not, I'm not sure, but what you suggest is certainly logical.
Basically, Blair gets the security and good faith of an organization on a more than fair contract for a 37th overall pick, and the Spurs make a low-risk/high-reward gamble on a lottery talent's questionable health.
It's a win/win if you ask me.
If he stays healthy, this could be an amazing bargain in a few years.
Yeah, they think he's that good.
I'm glad the Spurs didn't go the cheap and safe route. They could have very easily said that they weren't going to offer him more than the minimum due to his injury concerns. With the restricted free agent rules, they likely wouldn't have lost him even if he had a good season.
But giving him money now keeps the excitement in the situation, keeps the goodwill between the Spurs and Blair high and potentially could lead to a few years of Blair at a bargain basement price. There's risk for the Spurs that they didn't need to take on but this was definitely the right move for many reasons.
Everything the Spurs have done so far with Blair seems to be with the intent of cultivating his loyalty. A passionate young guy with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove seems like an invaluable energy player and exactly what a veteran team needs.
Damn. There might be life after 2012.
Definitely a good investment that I see paying off. The Spurs paid him now and kept him happy and I'm sure it will pay dividends. Blair is a beast who plays with a lot heart. Will be nice to see the spark he will bring off the bench.
Blair is a solid citizen, a down-to-earth kid with a great at ude. Putting him in the Spurs system under Pop's tutelage and learning the game from vets like TD, Big Mac, Manu.. and now with a 4-year contract in hand.. a big WIN-WIN for everyone.
I'm quite torn if a 4 years contract is better than a 3 years contract.
Blair will be locked one more year on the cheap but he will be an UFA instead of a RFA at the end of his rookie deal.
timvp reported deal for McDyess correspond fit with realgm's data and there were a report form yahoo saying that he signed a 2 years/$11.7M contract.
For Blair contract, realgm has a 4 years contract with a starting salary in the $850K area.
Loyalty is pretty valuable to the right people, and is usually returned.
2005
#28 Mahinmi
2007
#28 Splitter
2009
#37 Blair
Spurs have drafted a nice trio of bigman talent with no picks higher than the 28th pick.
What's the possibility of giving him an extension prior to going into the fourth season? You bring up a good point, though.
Interesting. I still haven't verified that his contract is structured that way. But a lot of the puzzle pieces around it seem to fit.
So they could sign Gist, McClinton or another rookie to a slightly above the minimum contract for longer than two years. That's a useful tool to have.
Do we know that the 4th year isn't a TO?
Even if it's guaranteed, though, and he does become a UFA, the Spurs would be able to pay him more than anyone else and will have probably built up enough good faith/loyalty with the Spurs after the commitment they made to him today; a commitment no one else for 36 picks would.
I like that the contract extends 4yrs. on the cheap, especially considering the question-marks of his longevity, so it seems a pretty wise move across the board on the Spurs' behalf..
Outside of extensions for first round picks, the max salary for the first year of an extension is 110.5% of the previous salary.
I doubt Blair will sign an extension with a yearly salary in the $1.2M area.
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