http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/14274132p-15084031c.html
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 7:31 pm PDT Saturday, July 1, 2006
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[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The bidding for Bonzi Wells has begun. Now the wait begins to see if it becomes a bidding war.
OAS_AD('Button20'); Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said he made an offer to Wells, the shooting guard who earned $8 million last season. The offer is believed to be for above the midlevel exception of approximately $5 million, though the length of the offer is not known. Wells' agent, William Phillips, did not return numerous calls for comment.
"I'm not going to get in the specifics of any particular offer at this point, but we did make him a proposal," Petrie said. "I talked to William again today briefly. It's an ongoing negotiation. That's about where it is."
The Kings went to great lengths to get their payroll under the luxury tax, finally getting there when they traded center Brian Skinner to Portland in the deal that brought center Vitaly Potapenko and swingman Sergei Monia to Sacramento. Should the Kings resign Wells, they would again be over the tax, a price they are apparently willing to pay for the scoring and defensive punch he brings.
While Detroit and Denver are reportedly hoping to bring Wells their way for the midlevel exception, there are five teams with salary cap room who could offer more. Chief among them is Charlotte, followed by Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, and Toronto.
Petrie said Wells has unquestionable value. It's just a question of how much value.
"We'll both keep working at it until something gets resolved," Petrie said. "And there's only three things that can happen here. He will sign with us. He will sign with something else. And there's the outside chance down the road that it gets into a sign and trade thing, which isn't even in the mix at the moment."
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By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 7:31 pm PDT Saturday, July 1, 2006
Print | E-Mail | Comments (0)
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The bidding for Bonzi Wells has begun. Now the wait begins to see if it becomes a bidding war.
OAS_AD('Button20'); Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said he made an offer to Wells, the shooting guard who earned $8 million last season. The offer is believed to be for above the midlevel exception of approximately $5 million, though the length of the offer is not known. Wells' agent, William Phillips, did not return numerous calls for comment.
"I'm not going to get in the specifics of any particular offer at this point, but we did make him a proposal," Petrie said. "I talked to William again today briefly. It's an ongoing negotiation. That's about where it is."
The Kings went to great lengths to get their payroll under the luxury tax, finally getting there when they traded center Brian Skinner to Portland in the deal that brought center Vitaly Potapenko and swingman Sergei Monia to Sacramento. Should the Kings resign Wells, they would again be over the tax, a price they are apparently willing to pay for the scoring and defensive punch he brings.
While Detroit and Denver are reportedly hoping to bring Wells their way for the midlevel exception, there are five teams with salary cap room who could offer more. Chief among them is Charlotte, followed by Atlanta, Chicago, New Orleans, and Toronto.
Petrie said Wells has unquestionable value. It's just a question of how much value.
"We'll both keep working at it until something gets resolved," Petrie said. "And there's only three things that can happen here. He will sign with us. He will sign with something else. And there's the outside chance down the road that it gets into a sign and trade thing, which isn't even in the mix at the moment."
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