Wizards close to four-year, $50 million deal with Jamison

[Roy Hobbs]

The Washington Wizards appear to be getting a jump on their offseason business.

A contract extension with Antawn Jamison that would keep the veteran forward off the free-agent market is "imminent," according to NBA front-office sources.

Sources told ESPN.com on Monday that the Wizards and Jamison would soon finalize terms on a four-year extension believed to be worth around $50 million, mere hours before Jamison was to become an unrestricted free agent.

Link.

Good signing for Washington, especially since Jamison will be taking a pretty healthy pay cut.  He's an important piece to that team, and it looks like they're going to have him back at a reasonable deal.

[BudweiserCeltic]

The Washington Wizards appear to be getting a jump on their offseason business.

A contract extension with Antawn Jamison that would keep the veteran forward off the free-agent market is "imminent," according to NBA front-office sources.

Sources told ESPN.com on Monday that the Wizards and Jamison would soon finalize terms on a four-year extension believed to be worth around $50 million, mere hours before Jamison was to become an unrestricted free agent.

Link.

Good signing for Washington, especially since Jamison will be taking a pretty healthy pay cut.  He's an important piece to that team, and it looks like they're going to have him back at a reasonable deal.

Now let's see if Gilbert makes good on his promise.

[Byrdman]

Thanks for the heads up Hobbs. Seems like a fair deal for Jamison given his age.

[Jon]

It ultimately doesn't matter what happens.  The Wizards will never compete for a title with that core group. 

[Mr October]

that's a good deal for both sides. I wonder if the Wiz are better off letting Arenas walk at this point? Does he make the team better? ....to be honest I don't watch their games, so i don't know!! But I do watch the standings when he is out....

[Who]

Mmmm .... Great contract. Roughly $12mil per. So that's Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison signed for about $21mil  for two borderline All-Stars. Pretty good.

Can you imagine how good a team they could build if they weren't bogged down in bad contracts on role players?

[wdleehi]

The Wiz would be best off with a sign and trade with Arenas. 

[nickagneta]

I wonder if Antawn is taking a hometown discount or if he's just taking the best deal he can get.

More and more offseasons there are only one or two teams with cap room enough to give out max type contracts and they tend to be really bad teams.

More and more, especially since the Magic made fools out of themselves by bestowing a max contract on Rashard Lewis, teams aren't going out of their ways on max contract sign and trades either.

Teams aren't going out of their way to give out max contracts to players right out of their rookie contracts either. Deng, Iguodala, Gordon and others can vouch for that.

So, given the market, could Jamison really have gotten anything more out there on the open market than $12.5 million per year?

KG didn't extend at the max. Artest, Marion, Brand and others are probably not going to opt out this offseason because they won't get more than what they are getting now. Teams are trying like hell to get under the cap to give out max contracts to athletes that deserve max contracts like LeBron, Wade and company.

Could it be that the league is entering into a phase of economic sanity?

[Who]

I wonder if Antawn is taking a hometown discount or if he's just taking the best deal he can get.

Definitely the best deal he can get

Horrible summer for a 30+ borderline All Star who doesn't play defense.

Could it be that the league is entering into a phase of economic sanity?

No

If Jamison was 27 everybody would be bending over sideways to sign him to a max contract.

If Rashard Lewis were a free agent again he likely still gets a max contract (remember he had quite a few teams after him all talking max money).

Jamison is just too old and this summer has too few teams with cap space. He was never going to get a big contract. But Washington could have ticked him off playing hard ball and lost him so well done to Washington for signing him to a reasonable deal.

[bostonfan23]

Jaminson isn't that old. Great deal for Wizards, good for Antwan for taking it.

[nickagneta]

Jaminson isn't that old. Great deal for Wizards, good for Antwan for taking it.

Actually Who is right, Jamison just turned 32.

[zerophase]

that's a good deal for both sides. I wonder if the Wiz are better off letting Arenas walk at this point? Does he make the team better? ....to be honest I don't watch their games, so i don't know!! But I do watch the standings when he is out....

they seemed to do pretty well when he was out this year. injured gilbert is no help to their team... however, a healthy allstar gilbert is a help to any team.

[EarthBall]

Do you think Jamison had a good year because it was a contract year? 21 and 10 seems a bit better than he's been playing the last few years, especially the rebounds. Or he is just taking advantage of Arenas's absence? Note he shot a career-worst 43.6% from the field.

I like this deal, but don't love it. Maybe if he was 30 or if he was a legit PF. He seems to play on the perimeter, though he did get 10 rebounds a game. Can't say I've seen any Wizards games recently. He also doesn't seem like a player who can lead his team to a championship. Contribute, sure. But for 12.5M/year, I'd expect more. As BSG would say, he's a  third banana making second banana money. Maybe that's what it takes to win in the NBA (re: Ray Allen).

[JollyGreen17]

Jamison has always been a great player. He's definitely one of the players who earns his money each and every game in the L.