OT: Nikola Pekovic gets 5yr/$60Mil deal

[ASUCHRIS]

Yeah, they were offering around 12 to begin with supposedly, yes bigs get overpaid, and yeah, he is a solid player.

I'm not expecting he would have signed for peas since the market dried up, but why up their offer? especially by adding another year onto it. As a general rule I would want to limit my exposure of paying lumbering big men 8 figures into their 30s. I just dont get why they bid against themselves.

I don't think I'd pay him over 10 mil per, but 12 isn't insane.

 

[SirStefan32]

Neo:

Why give him the opportunity of hurting our draft position next year? Its not like Hornacek is going to let him sit when the team needs some offense from the frontcourt players. As I've been saying all summer, we need to get rid of him even if we don't get anything in return - I don't imagine McD quite agrees with that since it would be a blot on his resume. Five more wins could make a world of difference - in order to be sure be of drafting in the top 5 we need to have one of the three worst records.

At the moment it looks like Philly and Milwaukee are the only two teams that are tanking, besides us, but as soon as Wash, Cleve, NO, and Charlotte see they aren't competitive for the playoffs they'll try to dive - and they have lots of experience at being bad.

Gortat or no Gortat, the Suns are one of the worst teams in the league. I really don't think Gortat will win any games. Don't get me wrong- I think they should get rid of him as quickly as possible, but I also think you are overestimating how big of an impact he's going to have.

I also think that there is a lot of value in a large expiring contract. Gortat, Butler, and Brown are gone after the season, thus giving them $20M of cap room to work with next summer. I am sure Bledsoe is going to get a nice chunk of that, but letting Gortat's contract expire vs. Trading him for something may be the difference between being able to sign a max free agent or not.

 

[Neo]

Gortat or no Gortat, the Suns are one of the worst teams in the league. I really don't think Gortat will win any games. Don't get me wrong- I think they should get rid of him as quickly as possible, but I also think you are overestimating how big of an impact he's going to have.

I also think that there is a lot of value in a large expiring contract. Gortat, Butler, and Brown are gone after the season, thus giving them $20M of cap room to work with next summer. I am sure Bledsoe is going to get a nice chunk of that, but letting Gortat's contract expire vs. Trading him for something may be the difference between being able to sign a max free agent or not.

I agree whole heartedly. Gortat had a Win Share/48 of .085 last season. That puts him in the very elite position of being the 221st best player in the league. By PER he was much better. His 15.4 PER puts him at the league's 141st best player.

Gortat is a servicable big man. But he is not going to cost us too many ping pong balls. I'd rather have cap space to sign a FA in the future than overpay for a mediocre center with a big mouth.

Wow! Talking about PER and bashing Gortat. I am sounding like Slinslin.

 

[sunsfan88]

Yea we are definitely not going to be able to afford Gortat this pace.

 

[sunsfan88]

I agree whole heartedly. Gortat had a Win Share/48 of .085 last season. That puts him in the very elite position of being the 221st best player in the league. By PER he was much better. His 15.4 PER puts him at the league's 141st best player.

Gortat is a servicable big man. But he is not going to cost us too many ping pong balls. I'd rather have cap space to sign a FA in the future than overpay for a mediocre center with a big mouth.

Wow! Talking about PER and bashing Gortat. I am sounding like Slinslin.

Lol.

 

[sunsfan88]

I can't believe 28 year old Pekovic got a bigger deal than Larry Sanders

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--center-larry-sanders-nearing-extension-with-bucks-160455075.html

 

[Superbone]

I can't believe 28 year old Pekovic got a bigger deal than Larry Sanders

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--center-larry-sanders-nearing-extension-with-bucks-160455075.html

Hey now!

 

[Errntknght]

We all seem to be agreed that we don't want Gortat long term - for me the biggest thing is his lack of stamina over the season, so he'd be at his worst in the playoffs. But if he gets his foot fixed and playing for his big contract as he will be, he could be quite good for a few months - all he has to do is play hard consistently and be more aggressive.

Last year he was definitely lackluster but the team still did worse when he went out - and we had Scola and Jermaine. Next year, if he's here, he'd the lone veteran in the frontcourt and I can see him holding it somewhat together. Without him the mantle falls on Markieff who's pretty well established that he is well below average in the NBA. Our big fear then is that Len comes on too quickly in spite of his injuries.

The reason for worrying about the frontcourt so much is that our back court is going to significantly improved over last year - and if Goodwin gets himself sorted out it could be much better. Something has to get significantly worse or we'll be above 25 wins. Thankfully, Scola and O'Neal are gone but I won't sleep easy until Gortat is not a factor.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Hey now!

nice.

 

[Superbone]

nice.

Loved that show.

 

[sunsfan88]

Hey now!

http://youtu.be/4AdHpQW-pEs

 

[SirStefan32]

I can't believe 28 year old Pekovic got a bigger deal than Larry Sanders

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--center-larry-sanders-nearing-extension-with-bucks-160455075.html

I can. Sanders is a good defender, shot-blocker, and is extremely athletic, but has absolutely no low-post or mid-range game (or any offensive game, for that matter.) Pekovic is a very good offensive player and he is not a bad defender either. In my opinion, he is a more complete player than Sanders.

 

[SunsTzu]

I can. Sanders is a good defender, shot-blocker, and is extremely athletic, but has absolutely no low-post or mid-range game (or any offensive game, for that matter.) Pekovic is a very good offensive player and he is not a bad defender either. In my opinion, he is a more complete player than Sanders.

He's also a lock to miss about 20 games a year. I'd rather have Sanders personally.

 

[leclerc]

Neo:

Why give him the opportunity of hurting our draft position next year? Its not like Hornacek is going to let him sit when the team needs some offense from the frontcourt players. As I've been saying all summer, we need to get rid of him even if we don't get anything in return - I don't imagine McD quite agrees with that since it would be a blot on his resume. Five more wins could make a world of difference - in order to be sure be of drafting in the top 5 we need to have one of the three worst records.

At the moment it looks like Philly and Milwaukee are the only two teams that are tanking, besides us, but as soon as Wash, Cleve, NO, and Charlotte see they aren't competitive for the playoffs they'll try to dive - and they have lots of experience at being bad.

It's sort of funny that we're in this situation to have to compete with the losers. But it's almost necessary to get good again, to grab a Durant and a Westbrook, or have some superstar/super douche decide to build his legacy in a low-tax town. At least with McD we have someone to trust and put our hope on.

On the topic of overpaying Gortat I say get what you can for him, as long as we don't keep him.

Go Suns!

 

[Phrazbit]

I'd take Sanders every day over Pek and by a huge margin. Sanders is a true difference maker defensively, the guy is a monster at protecting the rim and altering shots all around the paint. He also is a lot younger and a lot more athletic.

Here is a handy and humorous chart that shows the enormous impact Sanders has as a defender.

You must be registered for see images

 

[sunsfan88]

I can. Sanders is a good defender, shot-blocker, and is extremely athletic, but has absolutely no low-post or mid-range game (or any offensive game, for that matter.) Pekovic is a very good offensive player and he is not a bad defender either. In my opinion, he is a more complete player than Sanders.

Sanders is still developing though. It's not absurd to think that he can easily develop an offensive game like Ibaka in a year or two.

Pekovic is 28 and pretty much what you see now is what you get.

Sanders is young with lots of potential and is elite defensively. Pekovic is pretty much all developed and a decent offensive player and a decent defensive player.

Other than Howard and Ibaka, I'm not sure there's another big man who alters the way the opposing offense plays more than Sanders.

 

[sunsfan88]

"Ricky has been training hard," said Flip Saunders. "He hasn’t been locked away, not answering phone calls and hiding from everyone like Pek (Nikola Pekovic). He’s doing more cross-training, going on 25-mile bike rides into the mountains around Barcelona and getting out kayaking on the ocean."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/220292021.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue

What the hell lol.

 

[SirStefan32]

What the hell lol.

I am not sure what the problem is. It's normal for an agent/ manager to tell the client to not talk to anyone during the negotiation.

 

[Phrazbit]

I am not sure what the problem is. It's normal for an agent/ manager to tell the client to not talk to anyone during the negotiation.

But is he STILL locked away not answering anyone? I agree with SF88, that is a bizarre statement for a coach to make. There certainly seems to be a lot of animosity towards a guy he just got married to... metaphorically speaking.