"Point guard
Sam Cassell plans to discuss his contract situation with the Clippers before joining the team that acquired him from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a sign-and-trade deal last week, his agent said Thursday. Through his representative, Charles Tucker, the 12-year veteran expressed "overall concerns" about the Clippers, who sent guards Marko Jaric and Lionel Chalmers to Minnesota for Cassell and a lottery-protected first-round pick in next year's draft."
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Cassell's outspokenness in his desire for an extension, his steep decline in production in the 2004-05 season after having been an All-Star two seasons ago and his age (he turns 36 on Nov. 18) spurred the Timberwolves to end their up-and-down two-year relationship. The Clippers signed Jaric to a six-year, $37.9-million contract and packaged him with Chalmers for Cassell, who has a $6.1 million salary in the final year of his deal."
"Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement,
Cassell has no rights to force the Clippers to offer him an extension or demand another trade. He is scheduled to undergo a physical Tuesday in Los Angeles, and the Clippers have already made things clear to Cassell: No extension discussions now."
"Players have one week to report and undergo physicals with their new teams after trades, so Cassell should have technically reported no later than today, but the Clippers extended Cassell's report date to Tuesday to accommodate his schedule.
The delay stirred media speculation that Cassell had refused to report. "Scheduling issues have been the only reason for any delay," Baylor said."
"Glen Taylor said he didn't set out to trade Sam Cassell this offseason. But when the opportunity presented itself, Taylor didn't oppose the move, either.
The Timberwolves' owner said he wanted his team to enter October's training camp free of distractions and didn't like the "threat" he received within the last month from Cassell and his agent. "They actually came to us and said re-sign him or trade him," Taylor said Thursday. "My response was I should wait until (Cassell) comes into camp and see what kind of shape he's in and go from there."
"Taylor said the trade was made to help the Wolves improve defensively and get younger and more athletic on the perimeter. Any friction with Cassell was not the impetus for the trade, Taylor said, but it certainly didn't endear the player to the owner. "I didn't like that we were already kind of doing the little threat thing," said Taylor,
referring to the implication that Cassell might hold out if not given a contract extension."
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Said Cassell's agent, Charles Tucker: "I certainly never threatened Glen. We talked. If Sam is part of your future, he'd love to be here. If not, then he has the right to move on."
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Cassell was quoted as saying Wolves star Kevin Garnett was upset about the trade. Taylor refuted that notion. Taylor said Garnett likes to be informed of the team's philosophy and the reasons behind changes."
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Wolves free-agent forward Eddie Griffin's signed contract has been sent to the NBA offices for approval. The team is expected to officially announce the signing soon. Griffin signed a three-year deal. He holds a player option for the final season."
