FRA - French stars Diaw, Petro sign new deals in United States

PHOENIX (NBA) - The Phoenix Suns have confirmed that France international Boris Diaw, winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player award last season, has signed a new five-year contract extension with the team.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the extension is believed to be worth about $8 million per season.

Diaw, 24, is scheduled to make $1.795 million this season. Had he not been given an extension by October 31, he would have become a restricted free agent next summer, with the Suns holding the right to match any offer he received from another team.

"We are very happy as an organisation," Suns coach and general manager Mike D'Antoni said. "Boris is definitely an up-and-comer and one of the more versatile players in the league. I'm glad to get it done. We've got him tied up for a long time."

After two sluggish seasons in Atlanta, the 6ft 8in Diaw was acquired in the deal that sent Joe Johnson to the Hawks on August 19, 2005.

Diaw flourished in Phoenix's up-tempo attack. Playing primarily as an undersized center, he created matchup problems and served as a facilitator in the offense.

Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists while shooting nearly 53% from the field. In the postseason, he averaged 18.7 points in 20 games.

Also on Friday, Diaw’s international team-mate Johan Pedro secured a new deal with Seattle SuperSonics.

The Sonics exercised their third-year option on the 7ft center, giving him a slight raise on his $1 million salary in 2007-08 under the terms of the rookie salary scale.

Petro averaged 5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in 68 contests last season.

The team also extended the contract of Robert Swift.

"We're very excited about the futures of both these young men," Sonics general manager Rick Sund said. "Both Robert and Johan have shown improvement each season they have been with the team and they continue to use their individual talents to make their team-mates better."

PA Sport