Veteran big man David Lee is expected to opt out of his contract with the Spurs this summer, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (via Twitter). Lee has a player option worth the minimum salary for 2017/18, and would have earned a guaranteed $2.33MM salary if he had opted in, but he’ll head back to the free agent market instead.
News of Lee’s decision comes on the heels of a report indicating that teammate Pau Gasol will also turn down his ’17/18 player option with the Spurs. However, Gasol is expected to work out a new deal that allows him to remain in San Antonio, perhaps for multiple seasons. It’s not clear yet if Lee will be back with the club.
[RELATED: NBA Player Option Decisions For 2017/18]
Lee, 34, had a nice season as a role player in San Antonio, averaging 7.3 PPG and 5.6 RPG in 79 games (18.7 MPG). His .590 FG% was also his best mark in a decade.
Given his respectable showing last season, Lee’s decision to opt out isn’t a surprising one. Even if he’s not able to land more than the minimum as a free agent this summer, he won’t lose out on any money, and he could tack on an extra year of security.
Steven A. Smith just said the Knicks are looking into buying out Carmelo on First Take FYI.
you realize actual credible sports reporters have reported that over a week ago…..and I didn’t realize people still use ESPN for sports news, isn’t that like using Wikipedia and a source for a paper these days? Steven A. Hasn’t broken new news in years….just takes others reports and says them louder. Lol
Haha ik I just hadn’t seen it reported elsewhere yet. And I just like watching his show when I can. Which isn’t often since it’s weekdays, but I was sick today. It was so much better with Skip Bayless though.
Same. No offense to max because he’s not insane, but it was better when skip and Stephen were screaming at each other stupidly. Max is actually civil and it’s not as good.
First Take is trash, but saying that ESPN isn’t legit source for NBA news is completely wrong. Marc Stein, Zach Lowe, Kevin Arnovitz, Kevin Pelton to name a few. Oh yeah and Woj soon. Get with it man
ESPN fired most of their actual sports reporters to keep their sports personalities, they had to knee some in order to have actual news. But their legitimacy has been going down hill for a long time. I get more news following a few people on twitter than I do from espn. And I don’t have to pay for it.
I’m sure none of the people you get info from off Twitter work for ESPN…If you don’t pay attention to Woj as a resource then you’re seriously behind
So they will have one guy who can give breaking news……starting sometime in July. And not counting woj pretty sure the only nonlaidoff epsn person I follow is Todd mcshay….so you got me….smh
Oh, and Adam Schefter