Sports
NBA Rumors: P.J. Washington, Hornets 'Far Apart' on 4-Year Contract Talks – Bleacher Report
As negotiations continue between restricted free agent P.J. Washington and the Charlotte Hornets, the two sides still appear to be far away from completing an extension, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer.
Fischer also indicated that the Hornets have not offered Washington an extension in the ballpark of Isaiah Stewart’s recent four-year, $64 million deal with the Detroit Pistons.
Washington is reportedly considering signing his $8.5 million qualifying offer, according to Heavy’s Sean Deveney, which would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. That’d be a big blow, as Miles Bridges is also set to become an unrestricted free agent after signing his $7.9 million qualifying offer. However, his negotiations were complicated because of his domestic violence case that caused him to miss all of last season.
If Washington does sign his qualifying offer, the Hornets would be at risk of losing two of their young, talented building blocks next offseason for nothing. It’s also rare for a player like Washington to opt for a qualifying offer over long-term security when he has other options.
What seems to be hurting Washington in negotiations is that other teams aren’t helping to drive the price up on Charlotte. He doesn’t have much leverage in this situation.
Few teams can offer Washington more than the $12.4 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception as the starting salary on a new deal. He could only get more by re-signing with the Hornets or through a sign-and-trade.
At this point, Charlotte would rather go with the sign-and-trade route than have Washington take the qualifying offer, per Fischer.
Washington, 25, is coming off the best season of his career. He averaged a career-high 15.7 points on 44.4 percent shooting along with 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.