Divac to sign with Lakers
Bee Sports staff and Associated Press
Published 12:26 pm PDT Monday, July 19, 2004
[Updated at 5:22 p.m. July 19] Vlade Divac has made his decision:
Monday morning he told The Bee's Martin McNeal that he will sign
with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Divac, who made $12 million with the Kings last season, was offered
approximately $2.5 million by the Kings to return for this season.
He had said that the Lakers and the Clippers each had offered twice
as much.
Divac, 36, had been with the Kings since signing as a free agent
in 1999. Before that, he had played for Charlotte for two seasons.
He had been traded to Charlotte by the Lakers in 1996. Divac had
been a Laker for seven seasons before that. The Lakers traded Divac
to Charlotte in order to acquire the draft rights to Kobe Bryant.
Now, they will both be on the Lakers' roster.
Divac joined the Kings at the same time as Chris Webber, Peja
Stojakovic and coach Rick Adelman. They transformed one of the NBA's
worst franchises into a perennial championship contender. Sacramento
has made six straight playoff appearances with Divac as its starting
center.
But Divac lost significant playing time last season when the Kings
acquired All-Star center Brad Miller from Indiana. Divac averaged
just 6.6 points last season, the lowest of his career. Divac will
bring superb passing, solid defense and leadership to the Lakers,
whose frontcourt was terribly thin behind Shaquille O'Neal last
season. Divac and Brian Grant will see playing time at center as
the Lakers inevitably change their style of play without Shaq.
And after six years angering Lakers fans with his flopping style of
defense against O'Neal, it will be interesting to see Divac's
reception at Staples Center.
The Kings once had one of the NBA's deepest frontcourts, but Divac's
departure leaves Miller as the only center on the roster. Still,
Sacramento's top six scorers and promising reserve forward Darius
Songaila will return.
For more details, see Tuesday's Bee.
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