Jefferson had opted out of the final year of his contract with the Spurs, which would have paid him $15 million next season, in order to test free agency. But most league officials believed the 30-year-old Jefferson would re-sign with the Spurs, who acquired him from Milwaukee last summer in a deal with the Bucks for Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas. Jefferson struggled for much of last season with the Spurs as he learned Gregg Popovich's system, averaging just 12.3 points, his lowest average since his rookie season.

But veteran players usually take at least a year or two to fully pick up the Spurs' complex offensive and defensive systems, and tend to improve greatly in their second or third season. The Spurs anticipate that Jefferson, a career 47 percent shooter, will return to his normal form next season.

Jefferson will make back all of the $15 million he gave up this year -- he will earn more than $27 million in the first three years of the deal -- and now has some security that he will not be a free agent in a summer where the possibility of a lockout by owners to get a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is increasingly likely.

i guess that was true.

seems like a lot for RJ at this stage.

Solace wrote:Well, obviously he knew what he was doing. The Spurs got better and he got a pretty significant pay boost. A win-win for both parties, I would say.

I don't know about the Spurs getting better since they had him last year! I don't think he's the kind of player now who would make a team much better anyway--a few years ago he was but that's not the RJ they just signed.

Solace wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

Solace wrote:Well, obviously he knew what he was doing. The Spurs got better and he got a pretty significant pay boost. A win-win for both parties, I would say.

I don't know about the Spurs getting better since they had him last year!

I'm talking about the fact that him opting out let them get Tiago Splitter, silly. If he didn't opt out, no Splitter this year.

Oh, I see. Makes sense then.