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I told you guys that RJ would improve greatly.... I TOLD YOU!
With Experience and Security, Richard Jefferson Shines for Spurs
By Chris Tomasson
Richard Jefferson had said late last season he might opt out of his lucrative contract and become a free agent. But many believed the likelihood of that was the same as Tim Duncan starring in a rap video.
Well, the only San Antonio Spur appearing in a rap video lately has been DeJuan Blair in P.O.P.'s "2 Hard Living.'' But Jefferson did opt of a contract that would have paid him $15 million this season for the Spurs, and it looks to be a move that has benefited both sides.
The forward re-signed with the Spurs, getting a four-year, $39 million deal. And he's been one of the key reasons San Antonio has an NBA-best 27-4 record.
It all started when Jefferson said in an interview last April with FanHouse he might opt out of his deal because he wanted long-term security and sought to avoid being a free agent in the summer of 2011, when the NBA might have a lockout. It sounded reasonable except that Jefferson was putting the finishing touches on a shaky first season with the Spurs, one in which his scoring average of 12.3 was the lowest since his rookie season of 2001-02.
Jefferson opted out at the June 30 deadline and eventually re-signed for a deal worth about the same as the four-year, $40 million he had speculated about getting in April. It all sounded a bit fishy since the Spurs saved $6.6 million this season by paying Jefferson $8.4 million, which translates to $13.2 million in savings when one considers the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax.
Jefferson said there was no pre-arranged deal. But he had a pretty good idea the Spurs wanted to keep him despite his off year.
"We hadn't discussed (a new contract) before, but they understood my struggles last year weren't for a lack of effort,'' Jefferson said in an interview with FanHouse. "I think they appreciated my work ethic and my professionalism. I never complained that I wasn't starting (for stretches when he was brought off the bench in February and March) or I wasn't shooting the ball (enough). I took it all in stride and said, 'I just needed to do better.' I think they respected that and my ability and being the type of (person) they wanted here.''
Jefferson didn't re-sign with the Spurs until July 21, two weeks into the period where players could do so. He insists there was a chance the Spurs could have gone another direction.
"I didn't know,'' he said. "You never know. If all of a sudden, Chris Bosh (who ended up going as a free agent from Toronto to Miami) said he wanted to come to Texas and said he wanted to play with Tim Duncan, I could have been out in the street looking for a job some place. But you had to look at it that there were a ton of teams with a lot of money and there's only one LeBron (James, who went from Cleveland to the Heat as a free agent) and only one (Dwyane Wade, who re-signed with Miami). So those guys are going to go to certain places.''
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I told you guys that RJ would improve greatly.... I TOLD YOU!
No pre-arranged deal? That's news to me, especially considering how lucrative the contract he eventually received and how little the market for his services was.
Don't remind me that we "could" have had Bosh, RJ.
1st post, great article
Is this for real? Never even heard about that one...
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