Sessions ponders possible destinations as NBA free agency looms

It’s pretty certain Ramon Sessions will have his cellphone charged up Thursday night.

Whether it maintains that charge throughout the night remains to be seen.

The Myrtle Beach native is expecting to be busy on the phone during his third trek through NBA free agency, which opens the minute the clock hits 12 a.m. Friday.

“We will get a phone call at midnight,” Sessions said during his annual youth basketball camp, which this year was held at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center after previous years at Myrtle Beach High School. “Who will it be? There’s a few teams interested. I don’t really want to speak on it because in time it will take place. But there are a few teams interested and my phone will ring at midnight.”

The nine-year veteran is coming off a season in which he averaged 9.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 20.3 minutes per game as the Washington Wizards’ backup point guard. It was Sessions’ highest-scoring season since averaging 12.3 points per game combined during stints in Charlotte and Milwaukee in 2013-14.

However, it was a disappointing year for the Wizards, who entered the season expected to be a contender in the Eastern Conference before missing the playoffs.

Despite the struggles, Sessions said “Washington is one of the teams [I’m considering], I will say that.”

“We didn’t live up to what we wanted to. Coming into the season we thought for sure we was a playoff team, if not [in the] top five teams in the East,” said Sessions, who played in all 82 games this past season. “That’s the one thing about the NBA, you’ve got to play all 82 games and anything is liable to happen. For us, we knew what we needed to do better, but it’s one of those things that the year is gone now and if I’m back there next year – you know, they got [new] coach [Scott] Brooks, a great, proven coach – that the team will be going in the right direction.”

There are other logical options, including Houston, a squad Sessions and Co. went into deep negotiations with two years ago before signing with Sacramento when he was last a free agent. There’s the added plus of potentially playing for new Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, the brother of longtime Socastee coach Dan D’Antoni, now the head coach at Marshall who coached Sessions in AAU ball during his high school years in Myrtle Beach.

“To be honest, to me in my eye, he’s the kind of guy that started this spread-the-floor, pick-and-roll, play-fast [style], so it would be an honor to play for a guy like that, and the system he has is fit for my game – push the ball, pick and rolls,” Sessions said. “And I know his brother. I know Mike real well. I’ve grown to know Mike well throughout the years so I’m happy to see him back on the sideline.”

Then there’s the enticement of playing at “home.” It’s plausible Atlanta – where Sessions owns a home – could be looking to add depth at point guard after trading Jeff Teague to Indiana.

“With Atlanta, it’s home. It’s one of those things that in the back of my mind that I hope one day – I’m not sure when – that I can play where I live at, where I built my house at,” Sessions said. “So we’ll see how it plays out.”

Sessions, 30, said while there’s several factors that will weigh into where he winds up, winning is the biggest priority.

“At the end of the day, you want to win. For me, I’ve been blessed enough to be around this game for a while. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a great life, live a great life, but at the end of the day I want to win,” he said. “You know, it’s all business at the same point so you’ve got to get what your worth. I feel like for me, kind of throughout my career, people kind of didn’t appreciate some of the things I’ve brought to the game in a way. So at the end of the day I want to be paid the way I was supposed to be paid at the end of the day too.”

While his ultimate destination is uncertain at this point, it is certain there is going to be plenty of money floating around thanks to the impending substantial rise in the league’s salary cap in connection with a new TV deal.

“Ramon and I had this conversation … the sweet thing about the NBA now is the contracts, money, everything is going up,” said Akeem Hemingway, Sessions’ cousin and personal trainer. “So I don’t know if this has happened to anyone in their career before, but he’s liable to make more money on the back end of his career than the front. That’s a beautiful thing. And you get to pick the team you want to go to. You can’t beat that, man. That’s pretty sweet. You’re talking about the top league in the world. That’s pretty sweet.”

For a player who has been traded four times in his career, the free agency process is a breath of fresh air.

“It’s fun. That’s the fun part about it because you’re not restricted. You know, I’m free,” Sessions said. “I can wake up Thursday and [someone] could say ‘Let’s try to figure something out. Let’s sign a deal.’ So it’s one of those things that it’s going to be exciting, I don’t have to sit back and wait. I can kind of be more aggressive and kind of pick where I want to go.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Sessions ponders possible destinations as NBA free agency looms."