NBA Free Agents Rumors: Anthony Davis To Get Maximum Five-Year Deal From New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are looking to get a long-term commitment from Anthony Davis as reports revealed the team is preparing to offer a maximum five-year deal to the All-Star forward.
Davis, who led the Pelicans to their first playoff stint since the 2010 season, will be eligible to sign a contract extension after the 2014-15 NBA season.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Pelicans have already made up their mind and will offer a five-year deal to Davis as their designated player. NBA teams are allowed to offer a five-year contract to one player, who will be considered as their designated player.
The exact numbers will not be determined this summer as it will depend on how much the salary cap will be for the 2016-17 season, which will be the first season under the contract extension. Previous reports indicated that salary cap is expected to increase dramatically starting 2016 because of the new NBA television deal.
But according to Stein, the Pelicans could offer a contract that will start with a salary equal to 30 percent of the total cap instead of the 25-percent limit because Davis became an All-Star starter and is expected to be named into the 2015 All-NBA first team this season.
Barring any dramatic changes, Stein expects Davis' yearly salary to exceed $30 million per year and the entire deal could be as high as $140 million.
However, Stein also pointed out that Davis, who averaged 24.4 points to go along with 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this season, could also decide to sign a short extension to keep his options open in the future.
Following their loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday that ended their season, Davis said that he is not ready to talk about his contract situation and will only talk about it when he receives an offer from the Pelicans, but he also hinted that he will do what is best for him based on business reasons.
"If they are here or they are not here or something doesn't go a certain way, it's the business of basketball," Davis said via The Times-Picayune. "But at the same time, I know what I have to do to be a great player they know how to be a great GM and Coach. So we're all men, and we have to take it as that."
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