Pietrus Likely To Remain With Golden State

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

 By Tim Kawakami
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 8:45 pm in Warriors, NBA.

I’m putting this up almost solely because I just did a Q&A with the Warriorsworld.net forum and in the middle of it talked about something I haven’t written yet (*added correction to one of my Q&A answers below):

I’ve heard that Mickael Pietrus, lacking other realistic options, has all but decided to come back to the Warriors this season either for the one-year, $3.4-million qualifying offer or possibly for a two-year deal at about the same terms.

I’ve heard that the Warriors are fine with that. I’m not saying the deal is done–and you never know what could screw something up until it is actually done–but I’ve heard both sides understand what the terms will be.

I don’t know what’s delaying the announcement/signing, but if you’re thinking Chris Mullin is keeping things in his back pocket while waiting for further Kevin Garnett developments, you might not be incorrect.

The Warriors played this one tough with Pietrus, but very correctly:

*  Pietrus was a restricted free agent and even if it hurt his feelings, Mullin had no incentive to toss out a long-term deal unless and until Pietrus landed a big offer (which Mullin probably would’ve matched or moved in a sign-and-trade);

* Pietrus isn’t that valuable to the Warriors, by the way. He does something no other Warrior wingman does, yes–play physical defense, at times, and get some rebounds in bunches.

Don Nelson likes him just for that. He played Pietrus through some incredibly rough patches because Pietrus ran the floor every night and occasionally really helped out on defense/rebounding.

But Pietrus has always been incredibly erratic, and he seemed to think he was on the verge of landing $40M. Which he was most certainly not.

(The Warriors keep talking about how well Toby Bailey shot the ball in Las Vegas. He’ll surely be brought to Hawaii for camp in October. What Bailey brings, if he keeps shooting it, isn’t that far down from what Pietrus could bring.)

Pietrus definitely wasn’t going to hit the F/A lotto as a restricted free agent. There was no reason for the Warriors to pretend that he was.

I guess Miami, Dallas and a few other teams had some interest, but not if Mullin was going to match and not if they had to give up players in a sign-and-trade.

If Pietrus signs the one-year deal with the GSWs, then plays his butt off this season, he can hit unrestricted F/A as a rising player next summer. If he believes in himself, he has to do it this way–not the most fun way, but the way the NBA has set up.

Nobody was willing to bet it all on him this summer. So there’s his value on the market, and the Warriors played it right, and VERY differently than they played the same situation a few years ago with Troy Murphy and Jason Richardson.

This is better. And if Pietrus is mad about it? He should use that to focus his game and figure out to become a player worth $40M instead of a player who thinks he’s worth $40M.

(Note: Yes, I screwed up the language on the amnesty clause in one of my long-winded answers in the Q & A. It’s already mentioned by commenters on the site–players waived in the amnesty two years ago still count against the cap but NOT AGAINST THE LUXURY TAX. Duh.

(I erroneously typed that it didn’t count against the cap at all, which surely was a figment of the pain-pills I’m on thanks to dental mayhem this morning. That’s my excuse, at least. One molar extracted: One free mis-type.)


http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/47334/20070726/pietrus_likely_to_remain_with_golden_state/

good news.   

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Yea, heard this earlier...Pietrus is an underachiever though.

[Bay Area Jat]

i like him i think he meshes well on this team and hes a good on the ball defender