Deron Williams and the Utah Jazz are close to settled on a long-term contract. The deal is for $70 million over three years with an option for a fourth season.
Once the deal is complete, Williams will be locked up until the summer of 2012. The team had hoped for a five-year extension, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Now 24, Williams averaged 18.8 points and 10.5 assists last season, both career highs, and was second-team All-NBA. He will play for Team USA in the Beijing Olympics. Williams is 6-3, 205 pounds and played college ball at Illinois. He is from Texas.
He was the third overall pick in the 2005 draft and has shown steady improvement.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Special feature |
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
Knicks, Lin still streaking Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and point guard Jeremy Lin discuss the team and Lin's recent success. |
Slideshow |
more photos |
Special feature |
Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com |
Slideshow |
more photos |