Bruce Bowen signed to a contract extension

[SpursWillOwn]

Spurs sign G-F Bowen to contract extension

October 7, 2007
SAN ANTONIO (TICKER) -- The San Antonio Spurs signed Bruce Bowen to a contract extension Sunday, securing the services of one of the NBA's best defensive players.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bowen, 36, has spent his last six seasons with the Spurs and has been an integral member of San Antonio's championship teams in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

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The 6-7 swingman was named to the All-Defensive First Team for the fourth consecutive time this past season and was the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award, finishing second in the voting to Marcus Camby of the Denver Nuggets.

Bowen played in all 82 games with the Spurs last season, averaging 6.2 points and 2.7 rebounds. He will enter the upcoming 2007-08 season with a streak of 436 consecutive games played - the longest active streak in the NBA and a Spurs franchise record.

A lockdown defender, Bowen generally has been assigned with the task of guarding the opposing team's top perimeter player. During San Antonio's postseason exploits over the past five years, Bowen has been engaged in matchups with superstars such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony.

Bowen also has provided the Spurs with a perimeter complement to the All-Star trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. In 100 postseason games with San Antonio, Bowen has connected on 43.9 percent (134-of-305) of his shots from the arc.

Bowen owns career averages of 6.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in parts of 11 seasons with the Spurs, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...v=st&type=lgns

[RobinsontoDuncan]

i wonder how long he's been extended for

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Interesting. I wonder if this might have shifted monies from next season to the back-end.

[timvp]

Nice. He sure earned it with his play in the finals.

I wonder how much he got. Props to Bowen

[Kori Ellis]

I'm guessing they gave him two more years. But that's just a guess.

[exstatic]

Could they have re-done this year as part of the deal to maybe get them under the tax?

[Bruno]

Great news, Duncan is next.

I don't think Bowen extension can be for more than 2 years because of the "over 36" rule.

[Bruno]

Could they have re-done this year as part of the deal to maybe get them under the tax?

No.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Great news.

Nice. He sure earned it with his play in the finals.

He sure did. I've never seen anyone do such a great job as he did. He should've been MVP.

[duncan228]

Great news, Duncan is next.

I'd like to see Duncan's done soon so it's out of the way.

I have faith he's a Spur for life but the distraction of contract years make me nervous. I don't want to go there with Duncan.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

I'd like to see Duncan's done soon so it's out of the way.

I have faith he's a Spur for life but the distraction of contract years make me nervous. I don't want to go there with Duncan.

[boutons_]

BB's jersey retirement is assured (and won't be controversial).

[Spurs Brazil]

Great news

I hope TD is next

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

BB's jersey retirement is assured (and won't be controversial).

Anyone who questions his jersey retirement should be castrated.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Spurs Sign Bowen To Extension


SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have signed Bruce Bowen to a contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Bowen, a 6-7 swingman, is entering his seventh season with the Spurs. Last year he was named to the All-Defensive First Team for the fourth consecutive year and finished second in voting for the Defensive Player of the Year. Bowen has earned a spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive Team in each of the last seven seasons (First Team 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007; Second Team – 2001, 2002, 2003) joining Tim Duncan and Jason Kidd as the only players in the NBA with that distinction. He is also one of just six swingmen in NBA history who have earned All-Defensive Team honors in seven-or-more straight seasons: Scottie Pippen (10 straight from 1991-00), Bobby Jones (nine straight from 1977-85), John Havlicek (eight straight from 1969-76), Michael Cooper (eight straight from 1981-88) and Walt Frazier (seven straight from 1969-75).

Last year Bowen was the only Spur to play in all 82 games and enters this season with a streak of 436 consecutive games played – and started – which is the longest active streak in the NBA and a Spurs franchise record. He is the Spurs all-time playoff leader in three-pointers made with 134 and ranks second on the Spurs all-time regular season list in three-pointers made with 529. Bowen’s .439 (134-305) shooting percentage from three-point range during the playoffs is second on the Spurs all-time playoff list and his .401 (529-1,319) mark from downtown in the regular season ranks fifth among Spurs all-time leaders.

For his career, Bowen has played 11 NBA seasons for four different teams, including the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. He has appeared in 712 regular season games, averaging 6.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 28.2 minutes per game. Bowen has seen action in 113 playoff games, averaging 6.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 31.4 minutes in the postseason. He is also a two-time winner of the NBA’s Community Assist Award.

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/bowen_...on_071007.html

[SenorSpur]

Great news. One of the most well-conditioned athletes in the NBA, let alone on the Spurs. Has shown no sign of slowing down yet.

As far as I'm concerned, he can play as long as he wants.

Maybe he'll finally win DPOY at age 37. They cannot keep denying him this award.

[objective]

i wonder what the chances are of Bowen getting more than people expect, as a reward for his years of service, kind of how Avery in his last deal with the Spurs was actually getting 8 mil a year which he wasn't going to get on the open market.

I suppose if Bowen received something like a 2 year/12 million deal, that would also likely take the Spurs into being slightly over the cap next summer (along with a first round pick salary allocation), allowing them to spend the MLE and they would still be well under the luxury tax.

[SenorSpur]

i wonder what the chances are of Bowen getting more than people expect, as a reward for his years of service, kind of how Avery in his last deal with the Spurs was actually getting 8 mil a year which he wasn't going to get on the open market.

I suppose if Bowen received something like a 2 year/12 million deal, that would also likely take the Spurs into being slightly over the cap next summer (along with a first round pick salary allocation), allowing them to spend the MLE and they would still be well under the luxury tax.

True. Bowen has historically been somewhat underpaid for his value to the team for several seasons. Of course, you could probably say the same for both Manu and TP. It shows to the character of these guys that they are willing to sacrifice NBA market value because of their love and belief in each other and for the organization.

If your assumption is correct, that would be a nice gesture on what will likely be Bowen's last contract.

[Bruno]

Bowen extension must too respect CBA rules. The most Bowen can get is a 2 years extension of $10.4M.

[objective]

Bowen extension must too respect CBA rules. The most Bowen can get is a 2 years extension of $10.4M.

IF he got the 10.4 . . .

That would mean the first year is what, 5.0?

So how close would that put the Spurs to the cap assuming it goes up to 58?

[Bruno]

IF he got the 10.4 . . .

That would mean the first year is what, 5.0?

So how close would that put the Spurs to the cap assuming it goes up to 58?

I've made a mistake, it's $9.55M.
First year : $4.56M and $4.99M for the second year.

However, being slightly over or slightly under the cap isn't a factor at all.
A team under the cap has the choice between using the MLE or cap space to sign free agents.
A team that is $1M under the cap can use the MLE+LLE to sign free agents. This team just won't be able to use his cap space.

[timvp]

Bruno, is there a minimum the extension could be for money-wise? I know it used to be that an extension had to be at least 75% of the final year, but don't know if that's the case any longer. If you don't know, I'll look it up later.

Thanks.

[exstatic]

AJ's "thank you" contract was in the days before the luxury tax was active. As much as they love Bruce, I doubt they would do anything like that now. They're going to have a roster to fill out next year.

[angel_luv]

Glad to hear it. Congrats Bruce.

[objective]

AJ's "thank you" contract was in the days before the luxury tax was active. As much as they love Bruce, I doubt they would do anything like that now. They're going to have a roster to fill out next year.

I don't think the luxury tax fears will apply next season because of the contracts coming off the books like Barry and Horry. Going by HoopsHypes numbers Barry/Horry/Finley/Elson/Udrih combined this year account for nearly 17 million, they will be gone presumably.

for example, from this article on ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2932279

The salary cap for the 2007-08 NBA season will be set at $55,630,000, ESPN.com has learned . . . The mid-level exception for over-the-cap teams is $5,356,000, and the luxury tax threshold will be $67,865,000.

There's about a 12 million dollar float in-between the cap and the tax level. So if I understand things correctly even if the Spurs spent the full MLE and were at cap already they'd be pretty safe from the luxury tax unless they trade expiring contracts like Barry/Udrih for someone whose contract doesn't expire.