ESPN: Divac says he's leaving Kings....for the Fakers?!?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=1842289

Vlade Divac's six-year stay with the Sacramento Kings is apparently over ... and the veteran center told ESPN.com on Sunday night that he's leaning toward a return to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers brought Divac to the United States from the former Yugoslavia as the No. 26 overall pick in the 1989 draft. They traded him to Charlotte in 1996 for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant in a move also aimed at creating some of the salary-cap space that led to the signing of Shaquille O'Neal. Eight years later, L.A. is courting Divac to team with Bryant and help fill the mammoth void created by last week's trade of O'Neal to Miami.


"It looks like right now I'm definitely leaving Sacramento," Divac said in a phone interview, after a meeting with Kings officials earlier Sunday confirmed to the 36-year-old that his current team won't be increasing its offer of $2.5 million for next season.


"After the season, if you asked me who's the favorite, I would always say the Kings. In my mind I thought I was going to stay here. The town and the fans ... it's been a beautiful six years. I feel sad leaving, but [the Kings] didn't show any kind of interest to keep me here. I was ready to come back to stay here for less, but a little bit [less], not such a big difference."


"If you ask me right now," Divac added, "it's going to be the Lakers."


Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie could not be immediately reached, but team sources said Sacramento had hoped to bring back Divac at a pay cut of nearly $10 million and then sign multiple players with its $4.9 million mid-level exception to fill out its roster.


With the Lakers, Divac can nearly double the $2.5 million offered by the Kings if L.A. presents all or the bulk of its $4.9 million exception. He can likely make even more if he chooses instead to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, who have the salary-cap room to far exceed the $4.9 million.


It's believed the Lakers have reserved that $4.9 million slot for either Divac or bringing back Karl Malone, who has said he wants to make a decision about next season later in the summer after undergoing knee surgery. Miami or San Antonio are also options for Malone if Divac lands the Lakers' exception.


Phoenix would also love to sign Divac and has chased him before, but Divac said he hopes to make a decision as soon as Monday or Tuesday. The Suns' remaining free-agent funds are tied up through July 29 for having signed Clippers restricted free agent Quentin Richardson to an offer sheet.


Sacramento co-owner Joe Maloof told ESPN.com last week that he feared losing Divac to the Lakers because the Kings, for the second successive summer, are trying to reduce payroll to avoid future luxury-tax payments. The strategy, however, could backfire if there is no luxury tax after next season, as some teams are forecasting.


Maloof insisted that the Kings don't want to part with Divac, a fan favorite who doubles as Sacramento's locker-room glue and as a surrogate brother to star forward Peja Stojakovic. Yet Sacramento is reluctant to offer more than $2.5 million as it tries to gets its payroll as far below $60 million as it can. The Kings carried a payroll of nearly $65 million last season, resulting in nearly $10 million in luxury tax. Divac earned $12.1 million last season in completing a six-year pact worth nearly $63 million.


Divac concedes that rejoining the Lakers now after so many bitter Sacramento-L.A. battles in recent seasons won't be the easiest move. "I know how people here feel about the Lakers," he said.


He quickly adds, though, that playing in Los Angeles for his original team is the most comfortable decision for his family, although Divac said the Clippers remain a consideration.


"I played for the Lakers for seven years and for the Kings for six years," Divac said. "Both teams have a special place in my heart."


Divac averaged 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 28.6 minutes per game last season before his playoff minutes were cut in a run-and-gun series with Dallas in the first round. He has flirted with the idea of finishing his career with one season at a top European club in Italy or Spain -- so his kids can experience a bit of full-time European life -- but Divac insists that "I know I can be productive [in the NBA] for one or two more years."


"A friend of mine said it would be kind of nice to finish with the team I started with," Divac said. "If I do go back to the Lakers, it will be because of Dr. [Jerry] Buss. We've always had a great relationship."


Since returning from Europe late last week, Divac said he has been approached by numerous Kings fans pleading with him to stay. As for Stojakovic's reaction, Divac said: "He's sad, but so am I."

 

Looks like Divac's might be joining the Fakers after all:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-lakers-divac&prov=ap&type=lgns

Source: Divac headed back to Lakers

Vlade Divac has reached an agreement to rejoin the Los Angeles Lakers, leaving the Sacramento Kings after six seasons, an NBA source told The Associated Press.

The deal with the 36-year-old Serbian center was expected to be finalized by Tuesday, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Earlier in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, Divac said he was leaving the Kings.

``It was a great six years in Sacramento,'' he said. ``I'm sad that I'm leaving, but the Kings did not show any interest to keep me.''

The Lakers would not confirm the deal with the unrestricted free agent, but said a player announcement was expected Tuesday.

The Lakers drafted Divac in 1989, and he spent seven years in Los Angeles until the team traded him to Charlotte for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant. Divac still has a home in Los Angeles, and the Lakers were desperate to sign a center after trading Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat last week.

The source told the AP that Sacramento made an offer to Divac, but wouldn't match the Lakers' offer of the midlevel salary cap exemption, worth nearly $5 million next season, for a player entering his 16th year in the NBA. For the second straight season, the Kings want to avoid the luxury tax, even if it means losing one of their most popular players.

Divac joined the Kings in 1998 -- at the same time as Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and coach Rick Adelman. They transformed one of the NBA's worst franchises into a perennial championship contender. Sacramento has made six straight playoff appearances with Divac as its starting center.

But Divac lost significant playing time last season when the Kings acquired All-Star center Brad Miller from Indiana. Divac averaged just 6.6 points last season, the lowest of his career.

Divac will bring superb passing, solid defense and leadership to the Lakers, whose frontcourt was terribly thin behind O'Neal last season. Divac and Brian Grant will see playing time at center as the Lakers inevitably change their style of play without Shaq.

And after six years angering Lakers fans with his flopping style of defense against O'Neal, it will be interesting to see Divac's reception at Staples Center.

The Kings once had one of the NBA's deepest frontcourts, but Divac's departure leaves Miller as the only center on the roster. Still, Sacramento's top six scorers and promising reserve forward Darius Songaila will return.