Payton Looks For New Place To Play After Season

Seattle SuperSonics all-star point guard Gary Payton is no longer seeking a contract extension.

According to his agent, Aaron Goodwin, Payton plans to allow his contract to expire after this season. Then he’ll become an unrestricted free agent, eligible to negotiate with the all NBA teams, including the Sonics.

“We’ll play the year out and see what happens,” Goodwin said. “Gary deserves to recoup his market value.

Goodwin came up empty-handed in his search for a loophole in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which limits contract extensions to 20 percent increases. Payton will earn $2.7 million this season and would be limited to $3.4 million in 1996-97.

Under the old collective bargaining agreement, Payton could have negotiated for a higher-paying extension, similar to the deals accepted last year by fellow all-stars Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf.

Kemp’s seven-year, $25.4 million deal includes a $14.6 million balloon payment in 2002-2003, a $2.1 million loan from Sonics owner Barry Ackerley and $3.6 million in incentives. Schrempf signed for $20 million over five years.In the meantime, Payton won’t allow his lack of security in Seattle to affect him, according to Goodwin.”Gary plans to lead Seattle to a championship season and then he’ll orry about where he’ll be next year,” Goodwin said.As such, Payton plans to be in camp when it opens Oct. 6.”We have no reason not to be there,” Goodwin said.

Notes

Payton filmed a Nike commercial Monday in Portland and signed off on a new pair of shoes, replete with the Sonics new color scheme.

First-round draft pick Sherell Ford met with the Seattle media for the first time early this week and expressed confidence in his ability to earn playing time as a rookie. If he does, he’ll reverse a four-year-old trend. Since Payton amassed 2,244 minutes in 1990-91, all Sonics rookies have combined for 404 minutes in their inaugural seasons.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself to work as hard as I can to improve my game,” Ford said. “I plan on becoming a superstar in the NBA.”

The 6-foot-7 swingman from Illinois-Chicago will be competing for playing time against a corp of veterans who’ve averaged 58.3 wins the past three seasons.

“I hope he surprises us and puts us in a predicament where we have to find time for him,” said Sonics coach George Karl. “I think that would be very difficult to do, but you’re always hoping for surprises.”

General manager Wally Walker said the key for Ford will be mastering the Sonics’ complex defensive schemes.