Henderson returns to Charlotte following the best season of his career.
According to Yahoo Sports, Gerald Henderson has agreed to resign with the Charlotte Bobcats for 3 years, $18 million. The third year of the deal is a player option, and Henderson took roughly a million dollar pay cut per season to add the player option.
For the Bobcats, bravo. Before we get into contract details, consider that in the history of the Bobcats organization, the only player drafted by Charlotte to resign with the team was Emeka Okafor. Now Charlotte’s draft history has been far from perfect; Sean May and Adam Morrison never exactly warranted contract extensions. However, both Raymond Felton and DJ Augustin turned down more money and multi-year contracts from Charlotte to play elsewhere. Part of changing the culture in Charlotte is retaining players past their rookie deals, and giving them an enough incentive to return. Felton and Augustin both felt their careers were better off elsewhere, so to see Henderson take less money, albeit at the addition of a player option, indicates there is at least enough incentive to play in Charlotte.
Now lets examine the contract. $6 million a year for Henderson is a fair bargin considering similar players (Mayo, Derozan, Evans) signed contracts between $7-8 million. The kicker here is the 3rd year player option. Taking a million dollar pay cut to add on the player option signals Henderson feels his value could be higher in two years. Consider that in two seasons Charlotte could be a playoff team, and should Henderson show his value in the playoffs he now has leverage with the team to warrant an increased deal. On the other hand, should things go really bad, the player option is a way out.
We must also consider the market. Strangely, there was not a lot of interest for Henderson beyond what the Bobcats were offering. Resigning was Henderson’s first choice, but a bigger offer from elsewhere would have forced Charlotte to up their offer. With no bigger offer, and accepting the $4.3 million qualifying offer too much risk, resigning at Charlotte’s price became the only viable option.
Ultimately, this a good deal for the player and organization. Henderson wanted to be part of the solution in Charlotte, and team agreed. He doesn’t score as much as other shooting guards comparable to him (averaged 15.5 a game last season) but he did average nearly 19 points a game after the All-Star break. His shooting has improved each season, but he also excels at driving to the hoop and drawing fouls, averaging 4.6 attempts per game and more importantly, averaging 82% at the foul line. Defensively he is strong as a perimeter defender, and averaging a little over two fouls a game he stays out of foul trouble.
With this, Charlotte’s biggest offseason priority is taken care of. The team has shown a clear intent to improve this summer, signing Al Jefferson and resigning Josh McRoberts. Its too early to predict whether the Bobcats have enough talent to make the playoffs, but the team should be vastly improved from last season.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
