8:51 pm: The Bobcats have officially announced in a press release that they have exercised their 2014/15 options on Biyombo, Walker and Kidd-Gilchrist.
3:15 pm: The Bobcats have exercised their 2014/15 options on Bismack Biyombo, Kemba Walker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter). Biyombo and Walker are now locked up on fully guaranteed deals through 2015, while the team will hold one more option on Kidd-Gilchrist in ’15/16.
Kidd-Gilchrist’s option is for his third year, as opposed to Biyombo’s and Walker’s fourth-year options, but the Kentucky product will be in line for the largest ’14/15 salary due to his draft position. Kidd-Gilchrist will earn a little over $5MM next season, while Biyombo will make about $3.87MM and Walker will earn about $3.27MM. Biyombo and Walker will be extension-eligible next summer.
As our rookie contract option tracker shows, with tonight’s deadline looming, only a couple more teams still need to make decisions on whether to exercise or decline 2014/15 rookie contract options.