New Orleans Hornets forward David West confirmed Monday morning he'll opt out of the final year of his contract with the team and test NBA free agency.
In a phone conversation, West said he's not ruling out re-signing with the Hornets, but said "I want to win and win big." West said his decision to walk away from $7.5 million in he last year of his contract was in his mind all along, even before tearing the ACL in his left knee on March 24.
He had reconstructive surgery on April 12 and has been re-habbing the knee twice daily at his off-season home Raleigh, N.C.
The Hornets could still offer West an extension before the current collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight on Thursday. And West did not rule out the possibility he'd consider signing one.
No other NBA team could pursue West, however, until the league's free-agency period began. Because of the expiring CBA, though, that date has yet to be determined.
"We just felt like this is the best thing for me, to go forward, and I made the decision based on where I was since the the knee (surgery) and all those other things and I felt it was the right time for me to make a good decision," West said Monday morning.
"We'll have to talk to them, obviously, and see where Dell (Demps, Hornets general manager) is. The Hornets have an opportunity. But I'm looking for an opportunity to win, honestly. We'll see how things work out, and what the Hornets do to make our situation better. That's really all it came down to. At this point in my career, I want to win, and I want to win big."
Demps said in a text message he'd still not heard anything from West.
West's agent, Lance Young, informed Demps of the decison Monday morning, according to Demps.
"David has been a tremendous player and person for us on and off the court during his eight-years with the Hornets," Demps said in a statement released by the team. "We have had open communication with David this entire season about his option and knew with either decision that our intention is to pursue David so he can finish his career as a Hornet."
Demps was traveling back to New Orleans on Monday and said the team would have a statement later in the day.
Last week, Demps said it was the team's intention and hope that West would retire as a Hornet.
West, the senior member of the Hornets' who joined the team as a first-round draft choice in 2003, said he'd told long-time teammate Chris Paul of his decision. Paul is currently vacationing in the Dominican Republic.
West, a two-time All-Star, was the Hornets' leading scorer at the time of his injury in a game at Salt Lake City against Utah. He began rehabalitating the injury prior to the April 12 surgery in New York by Dr. David Altchek, and has worked diligently since to strengthen the knee. It was the first major injury of West's career.
The uncertainty surrounding the health of his knee, and the NBA's labor situation beyond Thursday, did not dissuade West from decided to walk away from a guaranteed $7.5 million for the next season.
Opting out, he said, had always been his plan though he said he's not closing the door on a return to New Orleans.
"Definitely not, definitely not," West said. "When I signed the original (contract), my intention was always to opt out. With knee, I had to examine things a little more closely. But after going through the re-hab and feeling good about where my knee will be, we decided to stay on course with what I originally intended to do.
"That's just the way it is. This is what we felt I needed to do at this time."
The current CBA between the league and players expires at midnight on Thursday. And there is great uncertainty over the future landscape of free agency because of the demands of the owners that the league's economic model be radically restructured.
That could mean veteran free agents might not reap the financial rewards in a new system they could under the old.
But West said he is unconcerned.
"As a player," he said. "I feel we're going to get a deal, whatever the time or moment is. We'll get a deal done but we want something that's fair. I feel I'll be fine as long as the deal we get is fair. That's what we're working for."
