West Coast Connection Forum
Lifestyle => Sports & Entertainment => Topic started by: PLANT on August 11, 2003, 09:50:01 AM
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Power forward Kenyon Martin is putting pressure on the New Jersey Nets for a maximum contract extension despite failing the team with the NBA championship on the line just months ago.
The New York Daily News reported that Martin broke off talks with the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions and asked to be traded after the team offered a six-year contract extension worth roughly $66 million.
The Oregonian reported that the Portland Trail Blazers were considering a multiplayer deal that would feature Rasheed Wallace going to New Jersey for Martin.
"I don't have any comment on any discussions that I have with [Nets president] Rod Thorn," Brian Dyke, Martin's agent, said in a telephone call.
Martin, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft, is scheduled to be paid $5.1 million in the final year of his contract.
"Kenyon loves New Jersey, the Nets fans, his teammates and the staff," Dyke said. "This should be fairly obvious by his actions and his charitable works in the community. He has been a valuable part of the Nets' success and wants to feel secure about his future."
The maximum the Nets can give Martin is a six-year, $87 million extension.
Whether Martin deserves that much is debatable.
One of the league's top defensive players, Martin averaged 16.7 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds in the regular season. He averaged 18.9 points and 9.4 rebounds in 20 postseason games, but he struggled in Games 5 and 6.
He scored a season-low four points on 2 of 7 shooting while playing with the flu in a Game 5 loss. He was 3-for-23 in Game 6 when the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA championships.
The Nets and Martin can continue talks on an extension until Oct. 31.
The reported Nets-Trail Blazers deal would have Portland sending Wallace and Ruben Patterson to New Jersey for Martin and center Dikembe Mutombo.
"There have been some discussions, but there is not a trade on the table at this moment," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks told the newspaper.
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pretty good trade if it falls thru. Kenyon has more of an upside than Rasheed, but of course Rasheed is the best player in this deal.
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good for both teams
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hmmmmm interesting
Rasheed has more game at this point but martin can get better
this deal works out for the nets now but helps portland in the future
i dont know bout rasheed though cause we all know his reputation but thats what the nets need, some toughness, i like patterson being throw in too
as for the blazers, they may get a younger Kenyon Martin BUT they aint doing nothing in the west, they still need that FRANCHISE player they have never had since Clyde Drexler, they have too much of a disfunktional team, Mutumbo is a nice addition, he needs more playing time, byron scott did a terrible job of using mutumbo in the playoffs but portland needs somebody else cause sabonis is too old
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good for both teams
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i wonder if wallace is gonna bring his attitude with him. i think they should keep martin...he's gonna just gonna get better.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Kenyon Martin of the New Jersey Nets did not demand a trade, according to teammate Jason Kidd.
"I don't think K-Mart ever said ‘Pay me or trade me.' He told me he never said that," Kidd said Wednesday, suggesting that the leaked trade demand was an ill-advised negotiating ploy.
"Sometimes people say things to get attention or probably thought they were handling it the right way, and unfortunately that wasn't the way to handle that situation," Kidd said.
Martin reportedly issued a trade demand after the Nets offered him a $66 million, six-year extension -- about $21 million less than the maximum allowable amount sought by Martin's agent, Brian Dyke.
Martin, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft, is scheduled to be paid $5.1 million next season in the final year of his contract. He would then become a restricted free agent, with New Jersey able to match any offer he receives. Martin could choose to sign a one-year extension and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2005.
"He can't do anything. What can he do?" Kidd said. "The Nets hold all the cards. He's playing with a false hand. He doesn't have anything. He can't bluff. Ask Elton Brand."
Brand was a restricted free agent earlier this summer and signed a six-year, $82.2 million offer sheet with the Miami Heat. The Los Angeles Clippers matched the offer.
The Oregonian reported the Portland Trail Blazers were considering sending Rasheed Wallace and the expiring contract of Arvydas Sabonis to New Jersey for Martin and Dikembe Mutombo. A source with knowledge of the talks, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that deal would not happen.
"I'm not the GM," Kidd said. "K-Mart can play at a high level. Rasheed can play at a high level. I think the rumors, that's all they are -- rumors. A lot of things in this league are rumors, and nothing's true until it comes from the horse's mouth or it happens."
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thats good to hear :)