Wizards shooting guard Jodie Meeks has opted in for the 2018/19 season, exercising the second-year player option on his contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
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Meeks’ option is worth $3,454,500, though he won’t earn that full amount since he still has to serve the remaining 19 games on his 25-game suspension. The veteran sharpshooter received the 25-game ban at the end of the regular season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. As a result, he sat out the Wizards’ six-game playoff series against Toronto.
The league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls for a player who receives a suspension of 20 or more games to forfeit 1/110th of his salary per game. As such, Meeks’ 2018/19 salary will be reduced by nearly $600K.
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Meeks, 30, signed a two-year contract with the Wizards last summer, as the team hoped he could provide some outside shooting off the bench following Bojan Bogdanovic‘s departure. While Meeks was a regular rotation piece throughout the season, averaging 14.5 MPG in 77 contests, he struggled a little with his three-point shot. His 0.9 threes per game and .343 3PT% were the lowest marks he had posted since his rookie season.
Meeks is the second Wizards to pick up a player option this offseason, with Jason Smith also exercising his $5.45MM option. Combined with Washington’s guaranteed contracts, those options take the club’s total team salary above $124MM for next season. A taxpaying team in 2017/18, the Wizards will likely have to trim some salary to avoid being in the tax again in 2018/19.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wondered why he took so long to grab the money.