Jeff Pendergraph Contract Details

by Ben Golliver on Sep 16, 2009 10:04 AM PDT in News

Last week it was announced that the Blazers had signed second round draft pick Jeff Pendergraph but, as always, the terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Thanks to Sham Sports for disclosing those terms today.

Pendergraph signed a 3 year minimum deal.

Year 1 Salary: $457,588
Year 2 Salary: $762,195
Year 3 Salary: $884,293

Before you start freaking out and wondering why the Blazers signed an injured second round draft pick to a 3 year contract, please see Sham's salary notes.

Jeff Pendergraph: Signed a three year minimum salary contract in September 2009. First year is fully guaranteed. Second year fully unguaranteed, but becomes fully guaranteed if:

a) Pendergraph plays in 10 or more regular season games in 2009/10
b) Pendergraph plays in at least 50% of the team's postseason games in 2009/10
c) Pendergraph is not waived on or before July 25th 2010.

Third year is also fully unguaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed if:

a) Pendergraph plays in 41 or more regular season games in 2010/11
b) Pendergraph is not waived on or before June 30th 2011.

The Blazers did the right thing by signing Pendergraph despite his hip injury, which was suffered during off-season work preparing for the season. Past that, though, this deal doesn't get much better for the organization, which is no surprise. It's at the minimum (rookie) commitment so a warm body for the roster literally doesn't come any cheaper. And the team has also carefully hedged its bets: if for some reason Pendergraph's injury turns out to be difficult to recover from or if questions about whether Pendergraph can handle NBA bigs from an athletic standpoint turn out to be true, the Blazers can cut and run after this season with very little difficulty.

To boil it down, the non-guaranteed 2nd and 3rd years of the deal allow the Blazers to be as committed -- or un-committed -- to Pendergraph as they desire next off-season. The message to Pendergraph: every day over the next 9 or 10 months you're fighting to earn the second year of your contract.

In case you missed it, Sham also recently revealed Dante Cunningham's contract details and shed light on some very interesting Brandon Roy contract incentives. If only Sham had played for the mid-1990s Sonics, he'd be the Blazers Assistant GM right now.

-- Ben (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com)

Poll

Will Jeff Pendergraph trigger the 2nd year guarantee in his contract by playing in 10 games next year?

Yes

631 votes

No

161 votes

Dante is the future

160 votes

952 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I also noticed

the “waive” deadline next summer is July 25th. That means we can trade him next off-season if it helps to match salaries and the receiving team can cut him and save his salary. So it gives a little extra flexibility by having that option for three weeks of the free agent signing period, which may help with a sign and trade or something.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 16, 2009 10:19 AM PDT reply actions

You also renounced Shavlik (again) to get this done

Which means absolutely nothing at all.

by Sham-onnnnnnnnnnna on Sep 16, 2009 10:20 AM PDT reply actions

Unless you are Shavlik ;) Thanks for the info. Do you know if the Blazers still have the rights to our long-ago second round picks?

Doron Sheffer, Federico Kammerichs, Nedzad Sinanovic, Marcelo Nicola

There's Gotta Be More To Life

by Norsktroll on Sep 16, 2009 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions

It doesn't mean anything to Shavlik either, really

As for the other question, yes, because they don’t cost anything to have. Nicola retired back in February 2007 so you shouldn’t have his any more, yet you seem to still do. Have been meaning to look into that.

by Sham-onnnnnnnnnnna on Sep 16, 2009 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks again. That’s what I thought. Sheffer is really old but still dabbling a bit in Israel, and Nicola is an assistant coach now and no longer has a pro-contract, so after a season that should come off the books but somehow nobody knows specifics. The other two are still pros and I was pretty sure would be kept for whatever opportunity arises.

There's Gotta Be More To Life

by Norsktroll on Sep 16, 2009 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions

It doesn't mean anything to Shavlik either, really

by Sham-onnnnnnnnnnna on Sep 16, 2009 10:26 AM PDT reply actions

Hey Ben,

on courtside the guys were talking about either Pendergraph or Cunningham has really bulked up since summer league, but I don’t remember which one it was.
Any insight?

by FrenchieFan on Sep 16, 2009 2:48 PM PDT reply actions

i think it was MB talking about cunningham. haven’t seen him since summer league so i can’t comment. given his frame, i would be surprised if he added THAT much bulk. he does need to get stronger — coaching staff talked to him about that — to play against 4s. he’s not quick enough to guard 3s. not sure that the strength will really come with bulk though. he’s just a lanky guy. he was already pretty strong, by the way.

Blazers Edge.com

by Ben Golliver on Sep 16, 2009 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks Ben

I guess we’ll see soon, strength would be another advantage he has over Travis. As much as I hate to admit that.

by FrenchieFan on Sep 16, 2009 3:32 PM PDT up reply actions

MB was talking about Dante

I’m not surprised the staff talked to him, or that he put in the time to bulk up

just like Oden after his knee surgery dedicated himself to working on his upper body, good nutrition and strength coach can do a lot in a hurry with 20 year olds

look at how kids come back from 6 weeks at boot camp, for example

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 16, 2009 6:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Money

You know, I was just thinking about how $457,588 is chump change for a salary, how the Blazers got a bargain and all.
Then I was thinking about how large of a number even 457,000 is. They could hire a software development team and release their own Blazer-related game with that, or do any number of other really awesome, expensive things with that bit of “chump change.”

Obviously their budget doesn’t really work that way, but still!

In conclusion, where is my 400,000 contract?

A beard on a blind man! Too much, I say.

by isaacjoe on Sep 16, 2009 4:21 PM PDT reply actions

Your contract is waiting for you to grow 15 inches taller.

by MiledAnimal on Sep 16, 2009 6:14 PM PDT up reply actions

The budget for a top-notch video game is much higher

Take Two, maker of the 2k series, is valued at over $2 billion. At least multiply your number by ten.

There's Gotta Be More To Life

by Norsktroll on Sep 17, 2009 2:12 AM PDT up reply actions

Blazers too Talented

The Blazers are a great team, and very deep. They have a lot of young talent at every position and an All-Star in Brandon Roy to build their team around. To develop young talent, you have to give playing time, and with a roster jam-packed with developing players such as Bayless, Batum, Oden, Fernandez, and a still improving (though immensely talented) LaMarcus Aldridge to name a few, chances are slim that Pendergraph will get the opportunity to play in 10 games.

Unless he plays very well in practice and recovers soon, Pendergraph probably won’t receive the second year of his contract, which is sad because he is such a talented prospect.

In conclusion,
LONG LIVE THE BLAZERS!

-CheeseIsYellow

by Cheese Is Yellow on Sep 16, 2009 4:50 PM PDT reply actions

No worries, JP has talent and plays a position of need.

And, his teammates will make sure he gets in at least 10. The big men will take matters into their own hands!

Chop! Bang! Hack! NEXT!
Trip! Grab! Choke! NEXT!
KIck! Bite! Scratch! NEXT!
Scream! Yell! Point! (with middle finger) NEXT!
You get the picture.

There is more to an athlete than how fast they can run, they also better be able to see what they are doing and know why they are doing it.

by KINGofMACct on Sep 16, 2009 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions

So, while others do a Salary Dump

the Blazers will have to do a Talent Dump?

Of course consolidation make sense if you can find someone willing to give up All-Star talent for a group of very talented could-be All-Stars, like the trade someone else suggested of Rudy/Outlaw/Bayless for Chris Paul, which won’t work salary wise for most of our underpaid talent. Blake and Outlaw have the highest but still only combine for $9Mil. Can’t give up Joel. There has to be some forcing reason they would give up that star, no matter how good the incoming mix. Anything short of All-Star level in-coming talent is a waste of time and talent.

More likely on a sign and trade where the team is going to lose their star and better get something out of it, which also requires that the star want to come here. Still, matching salaries seems nearly impossible. So you become limited to $10 -11 mil per year, for a good but not great, back-up power forward or “starting” small forward.

I think a smart consolidation trade would be great, but I wonder is it more likely that we just have to grow our own stars. Nic / Rudy / Martell / Bayless / Dante / Victor /even Outlaw, give us a shot at a significant impact player. Since we already have 4 positions covered, maybe it would be best just to play out the existing bench and see how the garden grows… besides, the NBA reality is that ALL teams have injuries so too much talent is a rather good problem to have…

by Sashland on Sep 16, 2009 10:28 PM PDT up reply actions

I like growing our own stars

The playing time might be slim for some, but unless they demand to be traded why not keep them. Getting a good but not great back-up PF is not much different then using one of ours, since a great probably won’t settle for back- up playing time.

by BBK on Sep 17, 2009 1:08 AM PDT up reply actions