NBA Rumors: Bismack Biyombo Exercises $17M Hornets Contract Option

Charlotte Hornets center Bismack Biyombo has exercised his $17 million option for the 2019-20 season, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

Biyombo was acquired in July 2018 in a three-team deal that landed Charlotte a pair of second-round picks.

The 26-year-old said at the conclusion of the regular season, per the Associated Press' Steve Reed, that he wasn't sure if he would exercise his option.

Biyombo is coming off a season in which he averaged 4.4 points on 57.1 percent shooting while adding 4.6 rebounds per game. He made a career-low 54 appearances in 2018-19, and his 14.5 minutes per game were the second-lowest of his career.

The 6'9", 255-pound center reached double figures in scoring just five times this past season.

The seventh overall pick in 2011, Biyombo spent the first four years of his career in Charlotte. He signed with the Toronto Raptors during the 2015 offseason and would cash in one year later in the form of a four-year deal with the Orlando Magic in 2016.

He made $17 million in each of the first three years of the pact. That deal was part of the free-agency boom of 2016, as NBC's Tommy Beer pointed out:

Biyombo averaged 5.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the season before he signed his deal with the Magic.