With the October 16 deadline barely a week away, it’s not clear why Timberwolves star Andrew Wiggins hasn’t signed a five-year, $148MM extension, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.
Minnesota made the offer two months ago in hopes of securing the former No. 1 pick for the long term. Wiggins mysteriously fired agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports two weeks later when the deal appeared to be complete and has yet to finalize the extension.
“I’m just taking it day by day, you know?” Wiggins said today. “There’s no rush to do it, yet. I’ve still got some time before the day before that first game.”
There appears to be no concern that Wiggins is pondering a future somewhere else, as he has said Minnesota is “definitely where I want to be.” The Timberwolves made serious upgrades to their roster over the offseason and are expected to compete for a playoff spot in the West for the first time since Wiggins joined the team.
Wiggins and the Wolves will wrap up a trip to China with a game against the Warriors on Sunday, and it sounds like he will wait until he returns home before addressing the extension.
“I’m just going to take it day by day,” he said. “There’s no rush to do it. We’re going through preseason and I’m all the way here in China.”
This is starting to get weird. God forbid he suffers a major injury… What could be the hold up? Something to do with compensation of his prior GM or somethin?
What exactly is the deadline? The contract offer can’t be signed after it?
The first day of the season is the deadline and no
This is kind of weird, but I guess if I was gallivanting around the Far East I probably wouldn’t sign contracts either.
Just wondering, what is the benefit for the player to sign an extension? Will he not be able to find bigger contracts on the open market?
No, the Timberwolves have his bird rights. Which allow them to go over the cap to sign him, offer him the most money, and an extra year on his contract.
Why wouldn’t he wait until he becomes a UFA？
For the same reasons listed above. Nba has by far the most confusing contracts and the worst system of all the major sports
So he loses bird rights if he doesn’t sign extension? I thought bird rights work on UFAs.
The NFL and their non guaranteed contracts say hello
And franchise tag
Things can go wrong in one year and he may not want to continue playing, although that is unlikely.
Perhaps this has something to do with a dispute over his former agents cut regarding the contract he negotiated.
Wiggins’ attorney(s) could be looking into his legal obligations or any way to reallocate that money to a new agent (because I doubt he can keep it).