Andrew's Answer

Andrew Bogut signed a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors yesterday. That answered the question posed by Zach Lowe of Grantland.com in an excellent article on October 17th. How does the deal compare with Lowe's predictions? The team and the player wanted to have the deal done prior to the start of the season; they reached an agreement the day after the preseason wrapped up. Under the new collective bargaining agreement Bogut's extension could run for three years at the most; it's reported to be a three year deal. Lowe set the baseline at $24 million and the ceiling at $45 million, but stated finding the middle ground would be tricky. ESPN.com reports that the Warriors are giving Bogut $36 million plus another $6 million in incentives. If the Warriors had allowed Bogut to explore free agency he would have taken the best offer, leaving Golden State to go after the likes of Marcin Gortat and Emeka Okafor, two players who just swapped teams. Lowe was of the opinion that Golden State needs Bogut's defense at the rim to succeed, which seems prescient according to the comments made by general manager Bob Myers. If Bogut's free throw shooting was as accurate as Lowe's analysis, he would be a real asset down the stretch!