Michael Lee breaks some pretty big news here on the Wizards deciding to give Andray Blatche a three-year extension that ke. No word yet on the terms, which obviously will dictate how I feel about this.
More to come:
UPDATE: The Wizards just made it official. Still no word on terms.
UPDATE: Lee has the terms, and they're interesting.
Basically, the Wizards will pay Blatche a little more in the final two years of his contract, then add three more years at a lower cap figure. Here's how it works.
Blatche, who signed a five-year deal worth $15 million in the summer of 2007, was slated to earn $3.26 million this season and $3.52 million next season. But the deal is structured in a complicated manner that allows the Wizards to give him a slight salary boost this season and next season, using some of their available salary cap space. So, this basically works out to being a five-year contract with Blatche is expected to earn more than $30 million between now and the end of this deal.
Getting Andray Blatche for what basically amounts to the value of the mid-level exception? Wow. That's a flippin' steal, regardless of the new CBA. The fact that they've restructured it to lower the cap hit in the post-CBA years makes it even better. Ernie Grunfeld and his team deserve major kudos for this one.
UPDATE: Some quick thoughts on SB Nation D.C. I noted how this is similar to what Ernie did with Brendan Haywood in 2004 and Caron Butler in 2005. Both of those moves worked out great.
UPDATE: Lee confirms it's a five-year, $35 million extension, with incentives that could push it a bit more. Ultimately, that's an additional three years and $28 million to his existing contract, albeit now all spread out differently over the five years. Still seems more than fair.