JUNE 5TH: Jefferson has officially exercised his 2013/14 option, according to RealGM's transactions log. Although we've heard plenty of reports on players who will pick up or turn down options, Jefferson becomes just the fourth player to make his decision official so far this offseason. Aaron Gray, Linas Kleiza, and Charlie Villanueva have also exercised their respective player options.
MAY 29TH: Richard Jefferson will exercise his player option for 2013/14, opting into the final year of his contract, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The decision, which comes as no surprise, comes about a month in advance of the June 30th deadline, with agent Todd Eley of Stratosphere Sports suggesting it may already be official.
"Richard has exercised his option to include the 2013/14 season in his current contract," according to Eley.
The option will pay Jefferson $11,046,000 next season, which is an exponentially higher annual salary than he'd find on the open market. The veteran forward is coming off the worst season of his 12-year NBA career, having averaged just 3.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and a 10.3 PER in 10.1 minutes per game. All of those marks were career-lows for the 32-year-old.
With Jefferson and Andris Biedrins both under contract for 2013/14, the Warriors will be paying more than $20MM to a duo that didn't play or produce much last season. Neither player is eligible to be amnestied, but both deals will be expiring, and will come off the club's books in the summer of '14.