James picks up option for 2009-'10 season
By: Craig Stouffer
Examiner Staff Writer
May 28, 2009
Guard will earn $6.7M
Washington Wizards guard Mike James picked up his player option for the 2009-10 season, according to his agent, Bernie Lee.
James will earn $6.7 million, but because it is the final year of his current contract, the veteran point guard could very well be included in a package should Wizards try to deal their fifth overall pick in 2009 NBA Draft next month.
James averaged 9.6 points and 3.6 assists in 53 games (50 starts) for the Wizards last season after being acquired eight games into the year from New Orleans. The three-team deal also garnered Javaris Crittenton from Memphis in exchange for sending the Hornets guard Antonio Daniels and a second-round draft pick, while the Grizzlies picked up a conditional draft pick that the Wizards had originally acquired in the deal that gave Memphis Juan Carlos Navarro.
"Mike greatly enjoyed his time in Washington after the trade in December of last year," said Lee. "The trade was exactly the re-energization that Mike's career needed, and with a summer of preparation and a full training camp, Mike looks forward to an even better season next year, filling whatever role Flip Saunders asks of him."
James' family was also the subject of a December episode of the ABC television series "SuperNanny."
