Orange County Register

By ART THOMPSON III

The Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO - In casual encounters with Lakers fans over the past month, guard Sasha Vujacic heard a repeated plea, “Please, don’t leave us.”

At a point, it became a dilemma, when Vujacic was being courted by a first-division Russian professional team, whom his agent Rob Pelinka politely declined to identify.

“You can’t let emotions get in the way of business and I almost did that,” Vujacic said Monday.

Now, he does not have to worry about that. Following nearly a month of negotiations, the 24-year old Vujacic signed a three-year contract to remain with the Lakers. Terms were not released by the club but it is believed that the deal is worth $15 million.

Playing in 72 games during the 2007-2008 season, Vujacic averaged 8.8 points per game. He established a franchise record by making .437 percent of his 3-point field-goal attempts.

“I thought that he had a wonderful year this (past season) and hope that he continues to develop and work, which he will,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said.

Vujacic was one of the more intriguing guards on the free agent market this summer. But because he was a restricted free agent - with the Lakers holding his rights - other NBA teams were cautious about signing him to an offer sheet, which would stall their pursuit of other free agents for at least a week, while waiting to see whether the Lakers would match the offer.

Kupchack said there was genuine concern that Vujacic would spurn the Lakers and sign to play in Europe, which several players, including Atlanta’s Josh Childress have done this summer.

 Vujacic has a European passport, which would have made the transition easy, and he initially came to the Lakers in 2004, after playing three seasons for Snaidero Udine, which plays in Italy’s top professional league.

It was little doubt that the Lakers would have matched an offer sheet from another NBA team, however, because Kupchak let it be known that his two priorities this summer were to re-sign Vujacic and forward Ronny Turiaf.

When Turiaf was signed to a four-year, $17 million offer sheet by the Golden State Warriors, which the Lakers deemed too high and which they declined to match, it was clear that Vujacic would be re-signed. The only question was, when?

Vujacic described the past several weeks as a long waiting game and acknowledged that it was difficult remaining patient throughout the process.

But the negotiations between Pelinka - whom Vujacic hired this summer to replace his former agent, Bill Duffy - and Kupchak proceeded smoothly, although excruciatingly slow for Vujacic’s tastes.

During the past several weeks, Vujacic said he got consultation from teammate Kobe Bryant, who shares the same agent.

“It was tough on me,” Vujacic said. “Mitch called it a waiting game.”

With the business part behind him, Vujacic - the self-described gym rat - plans to rev up his workouts and add more repertoire to his game, which presently consists of him being primarily a catch-and-shoot combo guard.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Vujacic said. “It’s been a tough month.”

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