Al Jefferson to Charlotte: Bobcats Sign Veteran Center to 3-Year Deal

Al Jefferson, one of best available talents on the open market this summer, has signed a deal with the Charlotte Bobcats.

UPDATE: Wednesday, July 10, at 1:33 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford

Jefferson signed his official contract on Wednesday, per the Bobcats' Twitter:

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Original Text

According to ESPN's Marc Stein on Twitter, the veteran big man signed a three-year, $40.5 million deal, with an option for the third year. 

TNT's David Aldridge was quick to correct Stein's contract figures. 

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports on how the deal will work under the salary cap. 

The power forward/center holds career averages of 16.4 points, 50 percent shooting, 9.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.4 blocks and 0.7 steals per game. He spent the past three seasons with the Utah Jazz, and had prior three-year stints with both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics, the latter of which selected him No. 15 overall in the 2004 draft.

At 28 years old, Jefferson is actually one of the more experienced players on the Bobcats' roster, and should offer the team some much-needed offensive firepower.

Jefferson is generally regarded as one of the league’s worst interior defenders, but he more than makes up for it with his ability to command a double-team at the other end of the floor.

ESPN Stats and Info provides us with a bit more insight into the logic behind this deal: 

While he’s never been selected to an All-Star team or garnered any other significant honors during his nine-year career, Jefferson has been a steady performer in the paint for much of the past decade.

Since landing in Utah, Jefferson has improved his passing capabilities tremendously—a vastly underrated aspect of his game considering he’s a can’t-miss scorer on the left block.

Having learned to pass out of double-teams in the post in recent years, Jefferson has put up some of his most well-rounded numbers. Over the past three seasons, Big Al has averaged 2.0 assists and 1.2 turnovers per game compared to his six previous years where he averaged more turnovers (1.6) than assists (1.2).

He also helped his club to the playoffs in 2012, while barely missing the postseason in 2013.

While he is not a particularly high-percentage shooter, and tends to avoid contact like the plague, Jefferson is going to be a franchise pillar for a young team that finished in the bottom five in scoring last season (93.4). 

Whether he's piling up points, pulling down boards, or even setting up teammates, Jefferson represents an upper-echelon big man that the Bobcats will be banking on his prime. Charlotte knows what it's getting here and paid a fair price to shore up its hole in the middle.