Apparently wants 10 million over three seasons. Went undrafted out of Maryland, but tormented the USA at the Athens Olympics and recently won the Euroleague championship with Maccabi, also winning MVP honours. He is 29, any interest in looking his way if AD does leave and we need a back-up point guard to Luke? Or does it spark memories of Ibo Kutluay?
I would not be opposed to it. AD will probably command twice that, Sarunas is a deadly outside shooter. Would love to see him in a backcourt with Ray or a re-signed Flip (while Lukey is sitting of course ). Won't bring the tenacity of AD, but it will be up to the existing guards to pick up that slack.
I would be ecstatic to get Jasikevicius as a back up point guard. This guy wins wherever he goes and is a true leader. Normally I'd be opposed to bringing superstars in Europe over to the NBA in a reserve role but Jasikevicius played college ball in the states and is, in my opinion, better than Luke Ridnour. That is not a knock on Luke, but I guarantee that Ridnour wouldn't have had the same success that Sarunas had in Athens or in the Euroleague last year (I do think Luke was a much better college player than Jasikevicius was). Sarunas' only knock is his on the ball defense, and with zones and good help defense we could mask those deficiencies. I know that we'd be the last team to pick him up considering what happened with "Ibo" last season, but he'd be an ideal back up at a manageable cost. His reputation is stellar and we would only benefit from his winning attitude. "Ibo" couldn't accept being a third string player. That wouldn't be a problem for Jasikevicius b/c he isn't a third string talent.
I think in the end with Kutluay - the only role he could play in the pros was as a spot up shooter. In Europe you can get away with a lack of athleticism or speed if you are strong in one particular area. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of Richie Frahms around the States, so Kutluay really didn't stand out and wasn't a lot of us. Sarunas excels in more than one area and has the pace to play in the NBA game, which I think is the difference.
10 million for 3 seasons?..Forget that, we can do it with someone who we know will be good, we dont know if this guy will be a bust or a good player..and we shouldnt test our luck because 3 seasons for a bust will be bad for us.
It's a risk, but IMO it's a measured risk. If AD isn't back, and it looks like he isn't going to be, it's preferential to have someone with experience backing up Luke. This is a guy who has gone to the pinnacle of the sport in Europe, tormented the USA on the international level, and has plenty of big game experience. True, it's not at NBA level, but at the end of the day it's two teams of five on a wooden floor trying to put the ball in the hoop. Guys like Kutluay fail at this level because they're expected to sit on the bench and fill in where needed - they don't get a chance to learn the NBA game. If we're bringing in a guy like Sarunas over three seasons, he's going to play some of AD's minutes. My only qualm would be the length of the deal, but as Shiek said, the guy is a winner and has been a winner his entire professional and international career.
