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Pro Sports BLOG |
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July 2008
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After some tense negotiations, the Lakers and restricted guard Sasha Vujacic agreed to a deal Friday afternoon. Vujacic agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal, an anonymous sources close to the 6-7 guard said. He'll earn $5 million per season. The Lakers original offer was three years, $12 million, a deal worth $4 million per season. Vujacic and his representatives rejected the offer and threaten to accept an offer from a European team instead. But Vujacic, who was planning on taking a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Europe Friday, never left Los Angeles and will start his fifth season with the Lakers. Vujacic, 24, and his representatives actually sought a four-year, $24 million deal, but the Lakers weren't willing to go that long or that high. It was similar to what Jason Kapono (4 years, $24 million from Toronto), James Posey (4 years, $25 million from New Orleans) and Mickael Pietrus (4 years, $25.1 million from Orlando) got. Vujacic averaged a career-high 8.8 points last season and made 45.4 percent of his field goals, 43.7 percent of his three-pointers, earning him the nicknamed ``The Machine'' because of his prolific shooting. The Lakers extended Vujacic, who earned $1.76 million last season, a qualifying offer of about $2.6 million this summer to make him a restricted free agent. The Lakers already had lost restricted free agent Ronny Turiaf when they declined to match the four-year, $17-million deal he signed with the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers didn't want to lose Vujacic, whom they considered a vital part of the success they had in reaching the NBA Finals and in their future. Both sides continued to negotiate and were able to get the deal done. Both the Lakers and Vujacic and his representatives are to be commended for continuing to work until the deal was completed. -- Broderick Turner |
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