For the second time in two weeks, one of my posts has become mildly irrelevant just hours after I posted it. Tim Kawakami has reported that Mickael Pietrus will be back for either one or two years at something around $3.4 million a year (the qualifying offer extended at the beginning of the summer), making my call to look at James White somewhat inconsequential. My immediate reaction: good deal, largely because of its short length.
Kawakami does an excellent job of outlining the reasons why this is a smart move by Mullin, but I'll expand on some of them. As I said above, the best part of this contract is that it seems to only be for one year. Pietrus just isn't good enough to warrant a multiyear contract. Mullin played the negotiation correctly. At the same time, his rebounding and defense are worth something, so picking him up for another year -- particularly when there isn't anyone obvious available -- seems like a good idea.
(Update: Looks like Kawakami may have spoken too soon: the Pietrus camp says he has other options. Might be agentspeak, might be true. Only time will tell if I've written another instantly irrelevant post. Stay tuned.)
In the same post, Kawakami says that the Warriors will probably give Toby Bailey a camp invite based on his excellent shooting during summer league. As an ex-UCLA fan, I can get behind that move. Wouldn't expect it too pay many dividends, but it's worth a shot.
So what do the Warriors do the next? As a qualifying offer, it's my understanding that Pietrus's deal does not count against the mid-level exception, meaning that they can go after Matt Barnes with a portion of it. As I've said before, at this point in the summer I think he's the best option out there.
As for White, I still think it's worth giving him a look. If they can get away with just a camp invite (which seems fairly likely), I think it'd be a phenomenal move. He has far too many intriguing qualities not to get a look. Like I said in my last post, though, I really just hope he gets a chance with someone who lets him play his kind of game.
On an unrelated note, I wanted to pass along my condolensces to the family and friends of Skip Prosser and everyone at Wake Forest. Prosser died of a heart attack this morning while jogging.
2 comments:
The instant post irrelevance is getting spooky ... how about next writing a piece on--say--what the Warriors should do assuming they aren't re-signing Barnes for half of the mid-level?
(And is that TD in the Pietrus photo?)
I fear the mysterious cosmic force. This trick could've come in handy when we were negotiating with Dunleavy and Murphy.
I think that is Donaghy, although I didn't even notice him when I found the picture. Somewhat fitting that he's out of focus given that we have no desire to talk about him right now.
Thanks for linking to us in your response to Henry Abbott's Donaghy question yesterday, by the way. Didn't notice that until today.
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