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TORONTO -- Vince Carter, deciding there was no sense leaving
a city where he is so comfortable, agreed on Wednesday to a
six-year contract extension worth approximately $94 million.
The announcement came on Vince Carter Day, as decreed by Toronto
Mayor Mel Lastman, and came several hours before the Raptors agreed to acquire center Hakeem Olajuwon in a sign-and-trade deal from the Houston Rockets.
"I'd hate to take the chance to move elsewhere and it's not
like here where I feel loved and supported," said Carter, who led
the Raptors to a seventh game in the Eastern Conference semifinals
last season. "You never know if it's greener on the other side."
With one year left on his existing deal, the extension should
keep Carter in the city he said feels like home until he is 31.
"I feel comfortable here," Carter said. "It's like home. I
think Dorothy said there's no place like home, and when I come here
that's what I feel like."
Before dealing with Carter, Raptors general manager Glen
Grunwald signed three key free agents -- Antonio Davis, Jerome
Williams and Alvin Williams -- to long-term contracts, spending more
than $140 million on the trio.
"That was big for me and for this organization because I
believe if you want to build a dynasty ... you have to keep a club
there for more than one or two years if you're going to have a
chance of winning a championship," Carter said.
"This is a start for us. We've built something special last
year by making it to Game 7 in the second round."
Carter has been Toronto's most prolific player in its six-year
history, averaging 24.6 points a game in his first three seasons
with the club.
"It's obvious that Vince is certainly a player that qualifies
for whatever the maximum allows," said Grunwald, who pumped his
fists when Carter thanked him for giving him time to decide.
"We've been talking about Vince, about his desire to make sure
that he's happy here. We want him to be a Raptor for life."
Wednesday was the first day of the three-month window under the
NBA's collective bargaining agreement during which the Raptors
could negotiate an extension with Carter. If he had not signed an
extension by Oct. 31, Carter would have become a restricted free
agent next summer.
"I just wanted to get it over with," Carter said. "A lot of
fans wanted to know."
Carter, the leading vote-getter for the All-Star game the last
two years, said Toronto fans played a part in his decision. He said
he couldn't believe his charity basketball game in Toronto on
Friday night is a sellout.
"We're selling out a charity game, which is unheard of to me,"
Carter said. "We sell out the playoffs and games during the
regular season. Usually, teams sell out when the Lakers or Sixers
come to town, but we sell out when the teams that aren't that good
come to town."
Carter's mother, Michelle, knew Carter would stay in Toronto when he purchased a lakefront condo earlier this summer and offered his old one to her.
"I think that was a subconscious thing where he said he really
wanted to stay," Michelle said.
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