JULY 10TH, 1:50pm: The Pacers have officially re-signed West, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 2ND, 12:01pm: West and the Pacers have agreed to terms, according to TNT's David Aldridge, who says the deal will be worth slightly more than $36MM (Twitter link).
11:46am: The Pacers are working to finalize a three-year contract agreement to bring David West back to Indiana, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). In recent weeks, Pacers brass had frequently referred to West as the team's top offseason priority, and there appeared to be a mutual interest in a new deal.
West, who is represented by Octagon Sports, is coming off a two-year, $20MM deal with the Pacers, and will be in line for an increased annual salary after two successful seasons in Indiana. According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the two sides are discussing a three-year, $36MM pact, which figures to include a third-year player option.
West, who will turn 33 in August, averaged 17.1 PPG and 7.7 RPG to go along with a 20.1 PER in 2012/13, anchoring a Pacers team that pushed the Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals this spring.
We heard yesterday that the Pacers don't plan to become a taxpaying team "for any reason." The team headed into July with about $50MM in salary commitments for 2013/14, so assuming the club finalizes a deal with West that will pay him $11MM+ next season, and agreed to a modest salary for C.J. Watson (perhaps in the neighborhood of $2MM), the club should have about $7-8MM in wiggle room below the tax line.