Ramon Sessions, acquired to add speed to the Los Angeles Lakers’ backcourt, hardly did that, and now he is forcing the Lakers to commit to him as their point guard of the future.
Sessions chose against exercising the final year of his contract to stay with the Lakers next season and will explore the free-agency market, his agent said Tuesday.
“Ramon has carefully considered this decision,” said Sessions’ agent, Jared Karnes, in a statement. “He had to make a career decision and ultimately decided to do what was best in providing stability and longevity for him in the NBA, and this could only be achieved through a multi-year contract.”
Sessions, 26, was acquired by the Lakers at the trade deadline from Cleveland to replace 37-year-old Derek Fisher, who was moved to Houston.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound point Sessions averaged 12.7 points, 6.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds on 47.9 percent shooting from the field and 48.6 percent shooting on 3-pointers in 23 regular season games with the Lakers. Sessions’ numbers plummeted in the playoffs, however, as he averaged just 6.8 points and 3.0 assists while shooting 35.3 percent in the Western Conference semifinals against Oklahoma City.
It was his first trip to the postseason in his five-year career after starting off with cellar-dwelling teams in Milwaukee, Minnesota and Cleveland.
Sessions would have made $4.55 million next season had he opted in to the final year remaining on his contract. Free agency begins on July 1st. Steve Blake, who has two years remaining on his deal, paying him $4 million annually, is the only Lakers point guard under contract.
