Tag: Richard Jefferson

Source: Duncan will not opt out

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

Tim Duncan is not expected to opt out of the final year of his contract, and the Spurs don’t plan to offer him an extension before the collective bargaining agreement expires Thursday, according to a source familiar with talks between the team and the franchise icon.

As such, Duncan will play out the final year of his existing deal, during which he is scheduled to earn $21.2 million, and remains on track to become a free agent after the 2011-12 campaign.

Duncan also faces a Thursday deadline to exercise an early-termination option. His apparent decision not to do so is not surprising in light of the league’s unsure labor climate.

With a contentious fight broiling between the NBA’s owners and players’ union this summer, and with so much uncertainty still surrounding the next CBA, Duncan has apparently determined it is in his best interest to stand pat on what, at age 35, is likely to be his last high-dollar payday.

Should Duncan choose to continue playing after next season, the Spurs would prefer to re-sign him under the new set of salary rules, which are generally expected to be more favorable to small-market clubs.

There had been some speculation Duncan might decide to trigger his early-termination option and renegotiate his contract, in a manner that might give the Spurs payroll flexibility to better fortify their roster next season.

Duncan took a similar approach in signing a four-year extension before the 2007-08 season, accepting less than maximum money and leaving the Spurs room to eventually add Richard Jefferson in the summer of 2009.

A 13-time All-Star, two-time league MVP and three-time Finals MVP, Duncan logged career lows last season in scoring (13.4 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and minutes (28.4 per game).

Though more of a statistical bit player than he was in his prime, Duncan in his 14th NBA season remained the central figure for the Spurs, both on the court and in the locker room.

He’s not going to look like rookie Tim Duncan,” coach Gregg Popovich said in an interview conducted during the season. “Nobody is going to look like they did 14 years ago. He’s still so steady. He’s still our rock out there.”

Blair’s contract hailed as best, RJ’s as worst among Spurs’ players

We likely won’t see much trade action until the looming lockout is settled.

It will be interesting to see how the NBA’s contract unrest impacts the upcoming NBA Draft on June 23.

And it will be particularly intriguing to see if the Spurs are involved in much draft-day dealing.

Jim Mancari of the Bleacher Report had an and their abilities to trade. He looked at the team and ascertained who he thinks has the best and worst contract on the Spurs as far as the team is concerned.

Mancari writes that Blair might have the “best contract in the game.” Blair was paid less than $1 million per year to notch 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

And he opines that Richard Jefferson has the worst contract on the team.

“Jefferson used to be the star in New Jersey and Milwaukee but has found himself as more of a role player in San Antonio,” Mancari said. “He’s adjusted well, but his salary of close to $10 million still mirrors that of a major force.”

Blair and Jefferson were the two biggest disappointments for the Spurs in the playoffs. Jefferson struggled through the worst shooting period of his career in the Memphis series and Blair couldn’t even get off the bench against the Grizzlies.

Both players are in the crosshairs for Spurs Nation after the team’s disappointing finish in the playoffs.

I’m curious. Does Spurs Nation expect either Blair or Jefferson to be on the team’s roster when next season begins?

Buck Harvey: Parker better as a silent partner

Just outside security, on the way to baggage claim in San Antonio’s newest airport terminal, is a large video screen.

“Tony Parker, client,” are the words on it.

Parker is pictured wearing a suit, as well as an expression that suggests he, while wearing the suit, could take Jason Kidd off the dribble. Parker has lent his name to a San Antonio-based business group that handles insurance, mortgages and “wealth management.”

So what if this company suffered a bad quarter? Would Parker be as blunt as he was last week about the Spurs?

Or would he remember he’s being paid by the group?

If anything, what Parker said at a Paris press conference last week is the consensus. “Our team can still perform at the highest level,” he said of the Spurs, “but next year I don’t think we can play for the title.”

Charles Barkley said that during THIS season. Vegas will soon say that about the next.

Parker’s opinion also fits with what he said last September. Then, he announced “this will be our last real chance to win a title.”

Just as his reasoning then was based on Tim Duncan’s age, Parker referred to that again last week. This time, he added Manu Ginobili to the list ? of the elderly.

Those of us who write about the Spurs for a living appreciate Parker’s candor. And if Parker would take that a step further, and tell us what he really thinks about Richard Jefferson, then we’d have something juicy to write about next week, too.

But even while Parker was right, he was also wrong. He distanced himself from failure, and he also distanced himself from those who pay him millions.

Parker likely didn’t mean anything by it. He wasn’t cleverly trying to get traded, as some have suggested. This was Tony being Tony. When he gets in front of the French media, he often acts the part of the country’s biggest NBA star.

He also forgets South Texas can still hear him from across an ocean. Parker talked, after all, as if Game 1 against Memphis never happened.

If Duncan and Ginobili were the ones being candid, they would ask how much age had to do with the Spurs’ failure that night. Had Parker played well in the opener — or if he had merely made an open jumper with 30 seconds left — the Spurs’ postseason might have changed dramatically.

Duncan and Ginobili know they are getting older. They likely wonder, too, if they will ever win another title. But they would sell the other side publicly, that a 61-win team should be able to contend again if management finds some help.

Being competitors, they would never admit they have no chance. They wouldn’t admit that as employees, either, and that is Parker’s disconnect. He’s like a lot of athletes. His guaranteed salary separates him from the business of basketball.

He earned more than $13 million this past season, and less than a year ago, he signed a four-year contract under the terms of the old collective bargaining agreement. He’s set.

His franchise, however, isn’t. The Spurs will not only be trying to sell tickets in a slow economy, they will also be entering a labor impasse that won’t sell a thing. For a small-market team ready to suffer a lockout to get better business conditions, it’s a crossroads.

Parker should empathize, since he owns a piece of a professional French franchise, ASVEL Basket. But he’s nothing more than an investor. He doesn’t make his money in a suit, and the only “wealth management” he knows comes from the checks the Spurs send him.

He’s what the airport signage says he is. A client, a face, a pitchman.

Not a partner.

bharvey@express-news.net