By Compiled from Times wires
Published July 1, 2003
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Tim Duncan plans to sign a long-term contract with the 2003 NBA champion Spurs, his agent said Monday.
Duncan, the league's MVP the past two seasons, decided not to exercise a player option in his current four-year contract, meaning he will become a free agent.
But that doesn't mean the 7-foot forward is thinking about going anywhere.
"He will enter into discussions with the Spurs as soon as he is able to," Lon Babby, Duncan's agent, said. "Tim intends to re-sign with the Spurs once the details of a long-term deal can be finalized."
Babby said Duncan does not expect to talk to other teams. Under NBA rules, teams were not permitted to negotiate with free agents until today, and contracts cannot be signed before July 16.
As a free agent, Duncan, 27, is eligible for a deal of up to seven years and $122-million.
His last contract, signed in the summer of 2000, was a three-year deal valued at $32.6-million, with the fourth-year option worth an additional $13.3-million.
Duncan, who has played six seasons, averaged 24.7 points, 15.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots in the playoffs.
GRUNFELD JOINS WIZARDS: Ernie Grunfeld was hired as president of basketball operations, taking the job that Michael Jordan held the past two seasons in Washington. He inherits a team that went 37-45 in the two years Jordan held that position while playing in the NBA. The hiring came a day after Grunfeld was released from his contract as general manager of the Bucks.
HEAT: LaPhonso Ellis was waived, ending the 11-year veteran's two-year stint with Miami. Ellis averaged 6.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 20.4 minutes in two seasons. The team picked up the contract options on forwards Rasual Butler and Sean Lampley.
HORNETS: Former NBA coach Alvin Gentry was hired as an assistant to first-year coach Tim Floyd.
LAKERS: Los Angeles did not exercise its $5.3-million option for next season on forward Robert Horry's contract. Horry, who turns 33 in August, becomes a free agent, meaning he can negotiate with any team, including the Lakers. They could offer him a contract closer to the veteran's minimum salary of $1.4-million. Horry spent 61/2 seasons with the Lakers and helped them win three consecutive championships. But he struggled last season, averaging 6.5 points and missing 36 of 38 3-pointers in the postseason.
ROCKETS: Former coach Rudy Tomjanovich has shown great improvement after six weeks of treatment for bladder cancer, his doctors said.
"We are pleased with the results," Dr. Rick Goldfarb, deputy chief of urology at Methodist Hospital in Houston, said. "We are optimistic that with continued treatment he will do very well.
"We really are encouraged that the cancer regressed, and I know that Rudy is going to be fine."
SEATTLE 83, CHARLOTTE 71: Lauren Jackson, cleared to play earlier in the day after missing a game with an injured foot, scored 22 to lead the Storm. Jackson, the WNBA's leading scorer with a 19.1 average, missed Saturday's loss to Indiana with a sore right foot. She was cleared to play after an MRI was negative. She scored 18 in the second half, including six in a 17-5 run that gave Seattle a 75-62 lead with 2:30 to go. The Storm committed a franchise-record five turnovers against Charlotte, the league's best defense that allows an average of 61.8 points. Charlotte had its two-game winning streak and its six-game home winning streak snapped.
