Janny Hu of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Warriors guard Kelenna Azubuike has elected to opt out of his contract, making him a restricted free agent.

Azubuike opts out: Guard Kelenna Azubuike has joined Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins in the restricted free-agent market after opting out of his contract. Azubuike, who would have made the league minimum of $797,581 next season, is in line to receive a modest salary bump after averaging 8.5 points and 4 rebounds.

“I think everybody would hope that it would get done early,” said Mike Higgins, who represents Azubuike and Watson. “But I don’t envy them, because they have a lot on their plate. Just like with any team, they only have a certain amount of dollars to spend, and a lot of guys to sign.”

With the way he has exceeded original expectations, it would have been foolish to believe that Azubuike would have done otherwise. This past season, the second-year guard produced career highs in scoring (8.5 PPG), rebounding (4.0 RPG), assists (0.9 APG), steals (0.6 SPG), blocks (0.4 BPG), and minutes (21.4) per game. In addition, he appeared in all but one game for the Warriors this past season, as opposed to only playing in 41 games throughout the 2006-2007 season.

It is uncertain as to what figure Azubuike and his agent will ask for, but it sure as heck is going to be well beyond the $797,581 he would have earned, had he picked up his option.

.

Posted By: Dustin Chapman

Leave a Reply