Best News Ever - Wizards sign Dray to extension

[dlts20]

Maybe a bit of an overeaction but I love it. Very smart move for us.


Andray Blatche, Wizards agree to a contract extension

According to a league with knowledge of the situation, the Wizards and forward Andray Blatche have agreed to a contract extension through the 2014-15 season. Blatche had two seasons left on his deal and could've become an unrestricted free agent in 2012, but the Wizards locked him up for the following three years.

The Wizards also picked up the fourth-year option for JaVale McGee worth $2.4 million. More details on each situation to come

[Rafael122]

Maybe a bit of an overeaction but I love it. Very smart move for us.


Andray Blatche, Wizards agree to a contract extension

According to a league with knowledge of the situation, the Wizards and forward Andray Blatche have agreed to a contract extension through the 2014-15 season. Blatche had two seasons left on his deal and could've become an unrestricted free agent in 2012, but the Wizards locked him up for the following three years.

The Wizards also picked up the fourth-year option for JaVale McGee worth $2.4 million. More details on each situation to come

a) Change the title of the thread

b) Great news. This is exactly what I wanted the Wizards to do, lock him up before he got too expensive. So basically, we have the kid for the next 5 years. This was a Ted Leonsis move.

[no D in Hibachi]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/09/andray-blatche-wizards-agree-t.html

[Rafael122]

Wait, link?

Wizards Insider. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a 3 yr/$20 million extension or something close to it.

BTW, no disrespect to the OP, but I thought it was something regarding his foot and not a contract.

[dlts20]

Wait, link?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... ree-t.html

[closg00]

Link please? Great news if-true and I certainly would give Ernie an A for this move

Edit: Ok, saw it on the Blog.

[dlts20]

Wait, link?

Wizards Insider. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a 3 yr/$20 million extension or something close to it.

BTW, no disrespect to the OP, but I thought it was something regarding his foot and not a contract.

well, Ernie yesterday said that Dray has been cleared for full go but they probably still will take it slow the 1st week or 2

[Rafael122]

Link please? Great news if-true and I certainly would give Ernie an A for this move

Pretty sure Ted had something to do with it, and Ernie carried it out. Money will be interesting. He is not a $10 mil per year player.

But Leonsis wants to lock up the young guys long term before they hit the market. He did it with Ovie. If McGee improves by leaps and bounds this year, do not be surprised if he got an extension after this season.

[no D in Hibachi]

Brilliant move by EG--incredibly bright. I believe he's gained a lot of good will with this move. Contingent on the terms of the deal, of course, but I can't see it being a massive deal.

[JonathanJoseph]

Wowsers. So if Mike Lee is right and it amounts to 5 years/$30M, that's the best contract signed this offseason across the entire NBA.

Amir Johnson got 5/$34M
Ty Thomas got 5/$40M
Drew Gooden got 5/$32M

[Rafael122]

Interesting, according to Lee, he got a pay raise this year and next.

[jimij]

Excellent news.

First the unis, now the extension for Blatche at a VERY reasonable price. I'm seriously digging the new Ted Leonsis era.

As long as he doesn't turn in to Vin Baker Dray will easily be worth the money, plus it will definitely earn some goodwill in the locker room to be proactive about a contract extension when players know that the Wiz didn't have to do anything anytime soon.

The added bonus is the structure where we use up some of our current cap to defer part of what would be later salary. I know some on the board may not love this in hopes of keeping some room for the trade deadline but I still think the odds of us getting a big deal are low under Teddy at this point.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Wowsers. So if Mike Lee is right and it amounts to 5 years/$30M, that's the best contract signed this offseason across the entire NBA.

Amir Johnson got 5/$34M
Ty Thomas got 5/$40M
Drew Gooden got 5/$32M

Shortsightedly, this looks good.

However, if that figure is true, Blatche will be considered woefully underpaid if he performs like he did the last half of last season.

[Rafael122]

2 years ago, we heard stories about him sleeping at Verizon Center because he was broke. He shouldn't be complaining about a deal that could pay him $7 million a year towards the end of the contract.

By the time his deal runs out, he'll only be 29, young enough for another big pay day.

[no D in Hibachi]

If Blatche puts up 90% of what he did in the last 32 games last year he'd be a top 10ish power forward in the NBA. Can you believe the Wiz have a potential top 10 PF in his prime at roughly $6M per year?

[nate33]

I have been advocating that EG do this for months now. I can't remember if it was Hoopalotta, SevernHoos or myself that came up with the idea originally. I'm glad EG reads this board and follows our advice. It's an absolutely brilliant move that takes away a lot of uncertainty in 2012.

We don't know the terms yet, but we can be sure that it's a really, really good deal. The Wizards had just $4.7M in cap room prior to this deal. So even if they used all their cap room and then provided max raises, Blatche would only be paid $47M over 5 years. But word is that it's "cap friendly" going forward which implies a flat or decreasing salary.

[nate33]

Assuming we maximized his pay this year and next year, and then maximized his salary decrease in the following 3 years to make it the most cap friendly possible, he would be paid the following over the next 5 years:

$7,800,000
$8,619,000
$7,800,000
$6,981,000
$6,162,000

Total: $37,362,000

This assumes that we used up all of our available cap space to maximize his pay now. Obviously, if we kept some cap room in reserve, then his total salary would be even less.

[LyricalRico]

The first thing I thought of when I saw this was that Blatche is the new Sam Cassell. But he's young enough to go for the big bucks even after this deal is done. Definitely sounds like this is great for the Wiz.

[Ruzious]

Wowsers. So if Mike Lee is right and it amounts to 5 years/$30M, that's the best contract signed this offseason across the entire NBA.

Amir Johnson got 5/$34M
Ty Thomas got 5/$40M
Drew Gooden got 5/$32M

I think Lee said it was over 30 and was likely in line with Amir Johnson's deal. So, say it's 5/34. Dray had 6.78 mil coming to him combined for this season and next. Round up to 7 to make it easier. So, basically, they are adding the difference between 34 and 7 = 27 and adding 3 years, so you could think of it as a 3 year $27 mil extension.

Either way, it's a very good move by the Wiz and gives Dray financial security - a win/win. They avoid the potential huge problem in less than 2 years of having to try to sign both Dray and Jav at the same time.

[GilArenas88]

EG just slapped all the haters in the face with the open-handed backhand.