Blake Griffin accepts contract extension by Los Angeles Clippers but Chris Paul declines – NBA News
Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin has informed his team that he is ready to sign a five year contract extension with them, sources close to the situation have told ESPNLosAngeles.com.
Griffin cannot officially sign the contract until July 11, but the negotiations between his agent and the team management are going to be smooth sailing as the player has already made up his mind about signing the extension.
The Clippers called the representatives of Griffin shortly after free agency officially began on July 1st to let them know of their offer.
Griffin can earn up to $95 million through the course of his 5 year contract if he is selected as an All Star starter or makes it to the All NBA team next season under a rule in the newly signed collective bargaining agreement
known as the “Derrick Rose” rule.
His new contract would take effect in the 2013-2014 regular season, as he still has 1 year left in his current contract. The dunking sensation has the option to opt out of his final year, but if he doesn’t, he is booked to be a
Clipper all the way to 2018.
Griffin was drafted number 1 in the 2009 NBA Draft and since then, the Clippers have put different players around him in order to make the franchise formidable. They found the most success last season after the addition of Chris
Paul and Chauncey Billups. The Clippers finished 5th in the Western Conference and reached the 2nd round of the playoffs.
“I can guarantee you he will only ever be a Clipper. If (Oklahoma City Thunder general manager) Sam Presti arrived on Kevin Durant's doorstep at midnight on July 1 with an extension, understand that Blake Griffin lives two blocks
away from me in Manhattan Beach so it's going to be a much shorter commute for me,” said former Clippers General Manager Neil Olshey back in December 2010.
Olshey is now the General Manager of the Portland Trail Blazers but the sentiment he felt is shared by the Clippers front office which is why they wasted no time in handing him a contract extension.
On the other hand, Chris Paul declined a three year $60 million contract extension on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Paul is also on the final year of his contract and decided to wait and become a free agent next summer, when he can sign with the Clippers for a 5 year max deal that will pay him $108 million. Paul knew that and hence did not accept
the extension, which was said to be only a formality as everyone knew he would decline.
However, Paul seems quite happy in the new team and the new setup and is now eying a better performance in the NBA playoffs.
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