Prior to last season, there was talk from David West about possibly retiring.
The veteran forward now simply wants a realistic chance at winning—West, 34, has reportedly elected not to exercise his $12.6 million player option with the Indiana Pacers, and is said to be looking for another opportunity.
Pacers Prez Larry Bird: “I haven’t been in touch with David or his agent, Jeff Austin. So, until then he’s a member of our team."
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) June 24, 2015
Per the Indy Star:
West, who turns 35 in August, averaged 11.7 points and 5.2 rebounds last year. West played four seasons in Indiana and has been considered as a cornerstone in the franchise since arriving in 2011. During those years, the Pacers made back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference finals but during the injury-plagued 2014-15 season – in which West also missed the first 15 games with a sprained right ankle – the team struggled to a 38-44 record and fell into the draft lottery.
On Wednesday morning, general manager Kevin Pritchard addressed the situation with West and Roy Hibbert, who also has a player option for next season. Hibbert’s deadline to exercise the option or opt-out of the contract is Monday.
“We have to model it out different ways. We have to model out that they both opt in or they both opt out, one or the other,” Pritchard said. “So we’ve worked on those models, it’s not like we’re not prepared for all of it.”
