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Detroit Free Press: DREW SHARP: More Pistons win, more they risk losing Okur
May 28, 2004
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
The Guarantee and The Block already have taken high places in Pistons playoff lore, but when the pixie dust dissipates at season's end, attention will shift to The Gamble.
By definition, that implies a cost for losing.
How does a price tag of around $7 million a year sound?
That's how much the Pistons might have to pay Mehmet Okur to keep him this summer.
"I'm excited about my future," said Okur, an impending restricted free agent. "I'm not nervous about what might happen this summer. I know that if we do well and keep playing that people will pay attention. Everything will be OK."
Why shouldn't this just-turned-25-year-old maintain a cool outlook?
There's no pressure on him. The one sweating profusely is Joe Dumars.
The Pistons president of basketball operations doesn't have the luxury of tunnel vision. He can't afford Larry Brown's obsession with winning now regardless of the consequences. Success has a short shelf life.
Dumars must balance the euphoria over the Pistons' run toward their first NBA Finals berth in 14 years against the realities of maintaining a quality product several years down the road. And Okur is as important as Rasheed Wallace in that equilibrium.
Is Dumars the equal of the Red Wings' Ken Holland as a master juggler?
The Pistons can't keep Okur for the salary slot they thought they would have when Dumars green-lighted the trade for Wallace. The no-risk rationale spun from Auburn Hills after the trade is now exposed as wishful thinking.
League sources say Okur will receive offers for a minimum of $6 million a year and perhaps as much as $8.5 million in a multiyear deal.
Phoenix supposedly rates first among suitors. The Suns think Okur's perimeter skills would be the perfect complement to Amare Stoudemire's talents in the low post.
Denver and Utah also are projected as key players in the bidding for Okur.
The cost will be outrageous for a promising second-year player who doesn't start, but the hypnotic lure of a young 7-footer often overwhelms common sense. Or have you forgotten about Darko Milicic?
"I'm happy here," Okur said. "This is where I started. My friends are here. I'm happy with coaches and my teammates. I have a good time with them. It's a lot of fun. I don't want to talk about (free agency) because we're doing well, and that's what's important right now."
Okur sounds as though he's as good as gone.
Brown is two victories shy of taking the Pistons to the NBA Finals. If the Pistons make it that far, he will have won more influence with personnel decisions. And Brown wouldn't lose a second's sleep sacrificing Okur for the sake of bringing back Wallace at any price if it means improving his chances of winning his first NBA championship.
Commit long term to Wallace -- anything beyond three years at $27 million would be insane -- and you're gambling that his exemplary behavior the last three months reflects a genuine rehabilitation and not smoke and mirrors in a season his contract is up.
But the Pistons can't afford to lose Okur because there's little confidence among the brain trust that Milicic could contribute consistently before the 2005-06 season. Watching Okur emerge as a reliable 18-point, 10-rebound player elsewhere would only inflame the sting of the Darko miscalculation.
There comes a time when a franchise must not only nurture and develop its nucleus but invest in it as well. If Okur bolts, what message does that send to Carlos Delfino? Why should he bother buying out his contract with Italian team Skipper Bologna if he thinks he won't like it here or will sit at the end of the bench next season?
The courtship with Okur requires the usual coddling and stroking. Okur's agent, Mark Fleischer, attended Game 7 against New Jersey, and Dumars frequently assures Okur that he will become a key part of a championship contender.
Lost along the periphery of Game 2 at Indiana was Okur's nine-point effort in the first half, which kept the Pistons close to the Pacers with Ben Wallace on the bench. There he was banging for position in that previously foreign terrain -- the low post.
Despite the appearance of conflict with Okur, Brown has made him a better-rounded offensive player. Brown pushed, prodded and punished, and now we're seeing a slightly more refined fruit of his labor.
Inconsistencies remain. Okur still hasn't grasped the concept that defense requires moving his feet, but understand that those size-19s are quick enough to seize a pile of money when it becomes available.
And it will come this summer.
May 28, 2004
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
The Guarantee and The Block already have taken high places in Pistons playoff lore, but when the pixie dust dissipates at season's end, attention will shift to The Gamble.
By definition, that implies a cost for losing.
How does a price tag of around $7 million a year sound?
That's how much the Pistons might have to pay Mehmet Okur to keep him this summer.
"I'm excited about my future," said Okur, an impending restricted free agent. "I'm not nervous about what might happen this summer. I know that if we do well and keep playing that people will pay attention. Everything will be OK."
Why shouldn't this just-turned-25-year-old maintain a cool outlook?
There's no pressure on him. The one sweating profusely is Joe Dumars.
The Pistons president of basketball operations doesn't have the luxury of tunnel vision. He can't afford Larry Brown's obsession with winning now regardless of the consequences. Success has a short shelf life.
Dumars must balance the euphoria over the Pistons' run toward their first NBA Finals berth in 14 years against the realities of maintaining a quality product several years down the road. And Okur is as important as Rasheed Wallace in that equilibrium.
Is Dumars the equal of the Red Wings' Ken Holland as a master juggler?
The Pistons can't keep Okur for the salary slot they thought they would have when Dumars green-lighted the trade for Wallace. The no-risk rationale spun from Auburn Hills after the trade is now exposed as wishful thinking.
League sources say Okur will receive offers for a minimum of $6 million a year and perhaps as much as $8.5 million in a multiyear deal.
Phoenix supposedly rates first among suitors. The Suns think Okur's perimeter skills would be the perfect complement to Amare Stoudemire's talents in the low post.
Denver and Utah also are projected as key players in the bidding for Okur.
The cost will be outrageous for a promising second-year player who doesn't start, but the hypnotic lure of a young 7-footer often overwhelms common sense. Or have you forgotten about Darko Milicic?
"I'm happy here," Okur said. "This is where I started. My friends are here. I'm happy with coaches and my teammates. I have a good time with them. It's a lot of fun. I don't want to talk about (free agency) because we're doing well, and that's what's important right now."
Okur sounds as though he's as good as gone.
Brown is two victories shy of taking the Pistons to the NBA Finals. If the Pistons make it that far, he will have won more influence with personnel decisions. And Brown wouldn't lose a second's sleep sacrificing Okur for the sake of bringing back Wallace at any price if it means improving his chances of winning his first NBA championship.
Commit long term to Wallace -- anything beyond three years at $27 million would be insane -- and you're gambling that his exemplary behavior the last three months reflects a genuine rehabilitation and not smoke and mirrors in a season his contract is up.
But the Pistons can't afford to lose Okur because there's little confidence among the brain trust that Milicic could contribute consistently before the 2005-06 season. Watching Okur emerge as a reliable 18-point, 10-rebound player elsewhere would only inflame the sting of the Darko miscalculation.
There comes a time when a franchise must not only nurture and develop its nucleus but invest in it as well. If Okur bolts, what message does that send to Carlos Delfino? Why should he bother buying out his contract with Italian team Skipper Bologna if he thinks he won't like it here or will sit at the end of the bench next season?
The courtship with Okur requires the usual coddling and stroking. Okur's agent, Mark Fleischer, attended Game 7 against New Jersey, and Dumars frequently assures Okur that he will become a key part of a championship contender.
Lost along the periphery of Game 2 at Indiana was Okur's nine-point effort in the first half, which kept the Pistons close to the Pacers with Ben Wallace on the bench. There he was banging for position in that previously foreign terrain -- the low post.
Despite the appearance of conflict with Okur, Brown has made him a better-rounded offensive player. Brown pushed, prodded and punished, and now we're seeing a slightly more refined fruit of his labor.
Inconsistencies remain. Okur still hasn't grasped the concept that defense requires moving his feet, but understand that those size-19s are quick enough to seize a pile of money when it becomes available.
And it will come this summer.
