From CNNSI.COM NEW YORK (AP) -- Chris Webber is having second thoughts about returning to the Sacramento Kings, his agent said Tuesday just hours before the NBA's 2 1/2-week moratorium on free agent signings was to expire. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, free agents could sign with the teams of their choosing. Webber was widely expected to sign a seven-year deal with the Kings, but his newly rehired agent, Fallasha Erwin, said Webber changed his mind Tuesday. "He's having second thoughts. He's going back and forth, and he's not sure what he wants to do," Erwin said. If Webber decides he does not want to return to the Kings, his options would be limited. The Detroit Pistons, who met with Webber two weeks ago and have more than $13 million in salary cap space, can offer him a six-year contract worth $95.7 million. The Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers can offer Webber similar deals, but neither team is considered a viable option. The Indiana Pacers are eager to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Kings, but they could do so only if Webber forced the Kings' hand by telling them he will sign with the Pistons unless he is traded to the team of his choosing. "I think he's interested in us, but it's a long shot because this is a hard thing to pull off," Pacers president Donnie Walsh said. "It's all up to Chris and the Kings. The bottom line is I don't know, but I can afford to wait." Pistons president Joe Dumars and Sacramento general manager Geoff Petrie did not return phone calls. The New York Knicks and Orlando Magic had been interested in acquiring Webber through a sign-and-trade, but both teams opted to pursue other free agents rather than wait for Webber to make up his mind. Webber, who has said little publicly since becoming a free agent July 1, was not available for comment, Erwin said. If the salary cap is set at $42.5 million next season, Webber will be eligible to receive a starting salary equaling 30 percent of the cap, or about $12.75 million. With 12.5 percent annual raises, his contract with the Kings would be worth $123 million over seven years -- making it the second-largest contract in NBA history in terms of total dollars, ranking only behind the six-year, $126 million extension signed by Minnesota's Kevin Garnett in 1998. Most prominent free agents reached agreements on new contracts during the moratorium, and several of those deals are expected to be officially announced Wednesday. ------------------ I voted YES!
Man, I wish Peter Vescey could jump in and with the confidence born of a head permanently lodged up his ass tell us where Chris is going. ------------------ It was the time of the preacher, in the year of '01 Now the preachin' is over, and the lessons begun . . .
Sounds more like Webber's agent is having fun being in the limelight throwing out bits and pieces for the media (and fans) to grab after. Old School ------------------ I voted YES!
And forcing Sacramento to sweat and other teams to make a move. ------------------ How the hell should I know why God would allow the Holocaust. I don't even know how the electric can opener works. - from Hannah and Her Sisters
I don't know about Webber... but ever since Mo used the Rockets to get out of that hit & run and Dream stopped shopping at HEB like an elitist, I just don't know what other options the Rockets have.
I saw Peter Vescey talking with Isiah Thomas off camera at the Pacers game on ESPN2, so he may have some news regarding the situation. ------------------ "I would like to live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were ever supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever." -Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss Universe contest
C-WEB might be going to H_Town after all. I mean a trade to the East is a long shot and it's either us or SAC. ------------------ Your best? Loser whine about thier best.
More Webber stuff: Talk cheap, Webber mum By Martin McNeal Bee Staff Writer (Published July 18, 2001) Nobody knew who or what to believe Tuesday. And that included some of the most integral members of the Chris Webber sweepstakes/soap opera. Late Tuesday on the East Coast, that still was the case for Indiana coach Isiah Thomas, who said he'd been fielding calls telling him the Pacers were the winners of the biggest prize among this season's free-agents. "I know I'm going to bed," Thomas said from Boston, where the Pacers were playing in the Shaw's Summer Pro League, "and I don't know a thing." Today is the first day teams can sign free agents to contracts, as the Kings will do with guard Doug Christie. The consensus around the league was that Webber's final decision was coming down to re-signing with the Kings or attempting to work a sign-and-trade deal through Sacramento that would re-locate him in Indiana and also allow him to sign the biggest allowable contract. It is possible Webber will make that decision known today, according to his consultant, Fallasha Erwin. Webber reportedly spoke with the Kings' co-owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, Tuesday. Erwin said Tuesday from Detroit that he expected to speak again with Webber before the night was over. "It looks like it's probably going to be (today)," Erwin said of the long-awaited announcement, "if Chris gives the go-ahead." If Webber opts to re-sign with the Kings, and the NBA's 2001-02 salary cap is $42.5 million as expected, Sacramento's leading scorer for the past three seasons figures to sign a deal beginning at 30 percent of the team's salary cap. Webber likely would choose to sign a seven-year contract that would be worth $12.75 million the first year and escalate at 12 1/2 percent of that first season's salary or $1.593 million per year. That translates to a nearly $123 million deal that would rank as the second-highest in league history, second only to that signed by Minnesota's Kevin Garnett. The Kings organization, whose president, Geoff Petrie, did not return phone calls to The Bee on Tuesday, spent the day attempting to separate fact from fiction. At one point, they heard Webber was ready to go to Indiana. Then Erwin told the Associated Press that his client was having second thoughts about returning to Sacramento. It was on to another member of Webber's negotiating team, Jeffrey Webber, who said that it was difficult to imagine that his brother was having second thoughts. "He hasn't even had first thoughts yet," Jeffrey Webber said. "How is he going to have second thoughts? "This is the biggest decision of his life, and he wants to take all the time he can to make sure he makes the right decision. He wants to make sure he makes the decision he wants to make. Not one he is forced to make or one his family wants him to make. "I think as long as the Kings are patient and other teams are patient, then things will be good for him. Didn't the Minnesota coach (Flip Saunders) go out to Portland and check things out before he came back and decided to stay with the Timberwolves? "This is a decision that not only affects Chris but the organization that he decides to join, and he wants to make sure he makes the right decision." Late Tuesday, Jeffrey Webber said he had not heard from his brother, but also thought his brother would have something to say today. "My opinion is that he's still considering the (Detroit) Pistons, the Kings and the Pacers," Jeffrey Webber said. Webber reportedly was called by Pistons president Joe Dumars last week and did not return the phone call. The Pistons also brought in free-agent forward Marc Jackson on Monday and appeared to be well-prepared to deal in case they were out of the running for Webber. Jeffrey Webber said he and his family were impressed by both Thomas and Pacers president Donnie Walsh, who met the Webber negotiating team in Detroit on Saturday. Webber was not present at the meeting but has long been held in high esteem by Thomas and Indiana guard and fellow Detroit native Jalen Rose. ------------------ I voted YES!
