Wizards, Jeffries Are at Crossroads

According to his agent, Jared Jeffries wants to play in New York and hopes the Wizards do not match the Knicks' $30 million offer sheet for the restricted free agent. (John McDonnell - Post File Photo)

The Washington Wizards will receive a copy today of the five-year, $30 million offer sheet restricted free agent guard-forward Jared Jeffries signed with the New York Knicks on Friday. The team will have until next Monday to decide whether to match.

Jeffries's agent, Andy Miller, said Jeffries wants to play with the Knicks and hopes the Wizards do not match.

"We signed the offer sheet with the intention of playing with the New York Knicks," Miller said. "We hope that the Wizards respect Jared's wishes and allow him to move on with his career."

According to sources, the New York offer contains a couple of provisions that could make it more difficult for the Wizards to match, including an up-front payout of $6.5 million and a hefty trade kicker if Jeffries is traded.

Wizards owner Abe Pollin, President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld and Coach Eddie Jordan have all indicated a desire to retain Jeffries.

According to sources, the team made several offers, including a six-year, $33 million deal, that Jeffries turned down. Also, the Wizards have room under the league's luxury tax threshold ($65.4 million) to match the Knicks' offer.

The Wizards have 13 players under contract after the recent signing of forward Darius Songaila to a five-year, $21 million deal but only 11 contracts are guaranteed. Second-year guard Donell Taylor and third-year center Peter John Ramos have non-guaranteed contracts and either player could be released if the team needs to free up money.

Pollin said he is willing to spend up to, but not over the luxury tax threshold. Teams with payrolls over the threshold have to pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on the amount of payroll that exceeds $65.4 million.

Should the team not match the New York offer, the acquisition of Songaila and the continued development of second-year forward Andray Blatche should help alleviate the loss.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Songaila could start at power forward in a lineup that includes Brendan Haywood at center, Antawn Jamison at small forward, Caron Butler at shooting guard and Gilbert Arenas at point guard. The team was pleased with the progress Blatche showed during summer league and believes he may be ready for a larger role in Jordan's playing rotation.

Also, Grunfeld said the team is confident that shooting guard Jarvis Hayes will bounce back after missing huge portions of the last two seasons with a right knee injury. There is also a possibility that the Wizards could sign free agent shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who emerged as a solid perimeter defender with the Orlando Magic last season.

Stevenson turned down a three-year, $10 million offer from the Magic earlier in the summer and is reportedly seeking a four-year contract worth $16 million.