THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220536
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 41 lines
J.R. Reid's 7-year NBA career may be coming to an end - at least temporarily.
Reid, an unrestricted free agent, is considering several offers to play overseas, according to his agent, Lee Fentress.
``He may go for a year and then come back,'' Fentress said. ``He would really like to go overseas and be a dominant player, and increase his market value.''
Reid's current market value seems to be at an all-time low. In this, the busiest summer for free-agent activity in NBA history, he remains unsigned.
What's more, with the top, high-priced free agents already signed, most teams have little money to spend under the league's salary cap. Reid, who made about $2.6 million last year, would probably have to settle for much less.
Fentress said Reid would play in either Greece or France. Players in top European leagues can make $1 million or more per season.
Reid, 28, a graduate of Kempsville High, finished last season with the New York Knicks. The Knicks picked him up from San Antonio largely because he was in the last year of his contract, and they could clear salary cap room by not re-signing him. The Knicks renounced the rights to Reid July 14.
Reid averaged 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 66 games for the Knicks. But he got off the bench just once in eight playoff games, for seven minutes.
Reid could not be reached for comment, but in an interview after the regular season, he said playing time would be his main consideration in choosing a new team.
``I want to go somewhere I can contribute every night,'' he said.
The 6-foot-9 Reid left the University of North Carolina after his junior year, and was the first pick of the expansion Charlotte Hornets in 1989. Reid spent three years in Charlotte, before being traded to San Antonio early in the 1992-93 season. He was acquired by New York in February. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
After stops in Charlotte, San Antonio and New York, J.R. Reid
appears headed for either Greece or France. by CNB