Reports: Knicks sign Wizards F Jeffries to offer sheet (AP) Updated: 2006-07-31 09:56
NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks signed Washington forward Jared Jeffries to
an offer sheet believed to be for about $30 million over five years, according
to published reports Saturday.
The Knicks gave Jeffries, a restricted free agent, the maximum midlevel
salary-cap exception Friday night. The Wizards will have seven days to match the
offer and keep the former Indiana star, who averaged 6.4 points and 4.9 rebounds
in 77 games last season.
"We recognize they have a right to match," Jeffries' agent Andy Miller told
the New York Times. "But hopefully, they take into consideration some of the
human factors of it. In Jared's mind, he'd be better suited to playing in New
York and for the Knicks."
Washington's window doesn't begin until the Knicks submit the offer sheet to
the league -- expected to be on Monday, according to the Times and New York
Post.
"We have not received an offer, and if or when we do, we will have a week to
explore all our options to determine our course of action," Wizards president of
basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld told the Post.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Jeffries, selected by Washington with the 11th
overall pick in the 2002 draft, has averaged 6.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in four
seasons with the Wizards.
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