Andrew Bynum will be entering the final year of his rookie contract next season, one that will pay him about $3.7M. League rules allow the Lakers to negotiate an extension this summer, and although Bynum himself said he would take less than a max deal, not surprisingly, his agent is saying otherwise.
"He was talking as a 20-year-old," Lee said in a telephone interview Monday. "He had not consulted with his representatives. I think the Lakers know how we feel about this."
They've got a decision to make. The question is whether they believe in him the way I believe in him. It's their decision to make if they want him there for the future."
This is a bit of a dilemma for the Lakers, no? Sure, Bynum looked like he was beginning to live up to his potential before going down with that knee injury this season. But a maximum contract extension would mean the Lakers signing young Andrew for five more years and a total of $80M. Personally, I think there's no way you can make that kind of commitment to Bynum at this point, and really, it isn't necessary for the Lakers to do so.
Bynum is still under contract for one more year, so there's no need for the team to roll the dice like this without seeing how Andrew will hold up once he comes back from his knee injury. Remember, this is an injury that was supposed to have Bynum back on the court in eight weeks; instead, it kept him out of action for the rest of the season: over four months. The Lakers can offer a more reasonable extension as a show of good faith to Bynum, if the 20-year old really wants to secure some more guaranteed dollars before next season. But offering a max deal to a player who hasn't shown what he can do yet over a full season could potentially be salary cap suicide, and with Bynum under contract through next year, it's a move that the Lakers really don't need to make.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-01-2008 @ 3:16PM
Scott said...
This just in from Phoenix : hahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha
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7-01-2008 @ 3:16PM
MarkD said...
They absolutely have got to wait and see if he can recover from this injury. I wouldn't even give him a short extension. The Lakers made it to the finals without him so why risk this?
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7-01-2008 @ 3:18PM
MarkD said...
Oh and I'm sure Shaq is loving this. Maybe he can diss Bynum in his next rap.
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7-01-2008 @ 3:35PM
john said...
^ +1
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7-01-2008 @ 5:35PM
Martin said...
He's a restricted free agent after next year, so the Lakers can keep him by matching any offer from another team. So there is no substantial incentive for the Lakers to agree to a maximum extension at this time. However, neither Bynum nor the Lakers know how his knee will hold up, and thus there is good reason for Bynum to agree to an extension for less than maximum amount, as this would still guarantee him a lot of money if it turns out he can't play well. Similarly, the Lakers may also be willing to roll the dice and agree to an extension if it is for substantially less than the maximum.
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7-02-2008 @ 12:34AM
kate said...
the Laker organization has already shown they believe in Bynum by not trading him for Kidd. Bynum's agent needs to shut up. the kid hasn't proved anything. he played well for HALF of a season. if he wants the big bucks, do it for a whole season.
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7-02-2008 @ 6:08AM
I-Win said...
So there is no substantial incentive for the Lakers to agree to a maximum extension at this time.
Posted at 5:35PM on Jul 1st 2008 by Martin
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Look at what happened to the Bulls with Luol Deng and Ben Gordon.
A lot of people (not me) had them as a lock for the ECF and they wound up in the lottery. The lack of a deal frustrated Luol Deng and Ben Gordon and they performed below average the entire season.
A lot of people are putting the Lakers' title hopes on how well Bynum performs next year. Bynum and his agent know this and that puts a lot of pressure on the Lakers to get a deal done.
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7-02-2008 @ 9:54AM
Martin said...
I-Win - The fact that Deng and Gordon had less than stellar years may hinge on a lot of factors, but I doubt their salary was one of them. In fact, they are examples for why you may not want to go out and pay big bucks to a player after only one good year, as they may not continue to play that well. This is evidenced by so many mediocre players with big contracts which the teams then try to get rid of by trades. Can you say Kwame Brown?
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