With Calvin Booth and Predrag Drobnjak, the Sonics surely weren't going to go out of their way to bring back Jerome James, right?
Wrong.
The Associated Press reports that James re-signed with Seattle Thursday night. The Sonics gave the restricted free agent a three-year contract. No terms were disclosed but a source close to the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said James would receive between $4.5 million and $5 million per season.
Since James was a Non-Bird free agent, the Sonics could not offer much to James without using a salary cap exception. The Mid Level Exception is worth $4,540,000 this season.
``I think it's good because it helps solidify our center position,'' general manager Rick Sund said. ``We have three centers and all three play a different game.''