A return engagement July 20, 2003 BY LACY J. BANKS Staff Reporter Advertisement Scottie Pippen signed a two-year, $10 million contract Saturday as a free agent and will rejoin the Bulls after a five-year absence. "Yes, I'm coming back to the Bulls,'' Pippen said Saturday evening. "I don't want to say much more because I'm sending out a press release [today] and probably will have a news conference next week. I'm looking forward to playing for the Bulls and helping them make the playoffs. But my wife is really happy about it because this is her hometown.'' Operations chief John Paxson, Pippen's teammate on the Bulls' first three championship teams, had been very patient in his negotiations with the seven-time All-Star. Paxson had given Pippen until next week to decide, even though the delay cost the Bulls the chance to sign a younger, more athletic but less talented free agent in Ira Newble. But as it turned out, Pippen didn't need all that time. Pippen was hoping that he'd receive the same $4.9 million mid-level exception the Bulls offered from the San Antonio Spurs. But Spurs general manager R.C. Buford expressed an unwillingness to make such an offer to a 37-year-old player who had missed at least 18 games each of the last three seasons because of injuries. Nevertheless, Pippen remained Paxson's top priority. After John Nash, the new operations chief of the Portland Trail Blazers, for whom Pippen played the last four years, announced he would not re-sign Pippen, it improved the Bulls' chances. "I don't know how the Spurs or anybody else was looking at Scottie and how he'd fit with them,'' Paxson said. "But for our situation, Scottie would be perfect for what we need and what he can provide. He would be a real plus to our team. His experience and knowledge about the game will be very valuable to us.'' Bulls coach Bill Cartwright, another Pippen teammate on the first three title teams, especially likes the leadership and experience Pippen will bring, and Cartwright disagrees with the contention that Pippen and Jalen Rose will bump into each other too much trying to lead the team. "I believe Jalen and Scottie will enjoy playing together because they will both be productive and will teach our younger players a lot,'' Cartwright said. "We were the third-youngest team in the league last year, and our guys need to know and learn how to be NBA players. It entails addressing all parts of your life. It's showing up on time. It's practicing hard every day. And more important, it's getting on the floor and being competitive for your job and playing at a high level night in and night out. Pippen can bring us all those things.'' As for Pippen's advancing age and increasing injuries, Cartwright says he intends to monitor Pippen closely and not play him killer minutes early in the season. The emphasis is to have Pippen ready for the playoffs, which now are a real possibility for the Bulls. "Everything about Scottie is positive,'' Cartwright said. "But we're going to have to be careful with him in terms of his health. We don't want to work him too hard in practice [and during busy stretches like four games in five nights]. We can't put an exact number of games and minutes per game. But if we can get at least 64 solid games out of him, I believe we will be greatly helped.'' Last season, Pippen averaged 10.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals playing 30 minutes a game. For his 15-year career, Pippen has averaged 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists and two steals. -- 唉... 現在也只能祝福他了， John Nash 不想簽他，我們又能有什麼辦法 我相信他的第一志願是留在波特蘭，Mo 也希望他能繼續帶領小老弟們，無 奈球隊高層沒辦法像 John Paxson 那樣承諾讓老皮退休後加入制服組，覺 得心情好複雜 >_< --

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