Bucks ink Bogut to multiyear contract
The Milwaukee Bucks signed No. 1 overall pick Andrew Bogut to a multiyear contract Friday.
The 20-year-old Australian, who earned college player of the year awards at Utah, will participate in the Bucks’ summer camp workouts and play in the Minnesota Summer League July 15-19, general manager Larry Harris said.
Terms of the contract weren’t disclosed, but Bogut’s agent, David Bauman, previously said he expected the 7-foot center to get around $4.2 million in his first year, $4.55 million the second year and $4.85 million the third year.
Bogut joins a team coming off its worst record (30-52) in nearly a decade.
Harris will focus on re-signing top scorer Michael Redd and hiring a replacement for fired coach Terry Porter.
Sonics give McMillan deadline
While Nate McMillan is being wooed by the Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle SuperSonics CEO Wally Walker confirmed that the team has given McMillan a deadline of next week to make a decision about where he wants to coach next season.
Though the Sonics have denied McMillan the opportunity to speak with other teams during the past few months, Walker said he told McMillan on Wednesday, when it became clear that McMillan was going to visit other organizations, that he could begin speaking with them a few days early if he chose.
Contractually, McMillan was bound to the Sonics through Thursday midnight.
Meanwhile, Seattle’s Antonio Daniels, someone the Los Angeles Lakers envision as a more athletic version of guards Ron Harper and Brian Shaw from past years, has been identified as a primary focus of the club’s free-agent search.
Daniels, 30, might wind up with a more lucrative offer from Cleveland. He has also suggested he might re-sign with the Sonics.
Head signs with Houston
The Houston Rockets signed first-round pick Luther Head, the 24th overall pick in Tuesday’s draft.
“It’s always great when you can come to an agreement early with your draft pick,” Rockets GM Carroll Dawson said in a statement. “Now that Luther is on board, we can begin getting him acquainted with our system and give him a jump start in preparing for the start of training camp in October.”
The 6-3, 185-pound guard averaged 15.2 points and 3.8 assists to help Illinois, the top-ranked team for much of last season, to a 37-2 record. The Illini lost to North Carolina in the NCAA championship.
Brown’s future in Motown still up in air
Larry Brown’s visit to the Mayo Clinic hasn’t cleared up his future with Detroit.
Doctors apparently could not give Brown a definite timetable for alleviating his bladder problem, which developed after hip surgery early this past season.
Joe Dumars, the Pistons’ president of basketball operations, and Joel Glass, Brown’s agent, have scheduled an appointment for Monday to discuss Brown’s status.
Brown, 64, has said repeatedly that if he couldn’t find a solution to his bladder problem, which caused discomfort while traveling and sitting on the bench, he did not want to return as Pistons coach. Dumars has said repeatedly that if Brown wanted to coach, he would be the Pistons’ coach.
The behind-the-scenes maneuvering, however, is much less cut and dried. It’s why many observers think Brown’s outstanding two-year run in Detroit is winding down.
Lakers postpone Divac decision
The Los Angeles Lakers and Vlade Divac have agreed to postpone a decision on the veteran center’s contract status until just before the start of training camp.
The Lakers have the option of picking up a one-year, $5.4 million contract option or buying Divac out for $2 million. The decision was originally to be made today, but the parties agreed to defer it until Sept. 30.
Divac, 37, who signed with the Lakers last summer, underwent back surgery in January and played in only 15 games last season.
Hawks pass on Drobnjak
The Atlanta Hawks declined to pick up the option on Predrag Drobnjak’s contract, making the 6-11 center an unrestricted free agent. Drobnjak, who also played with the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle, averaged 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds last season.