LAS VEGAS -- The Warriors are ratcheting up the pressure on free agent forwards Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus by putting a solid backup plan in place. Swingman Kelenna Azubuike, who made his NBA debut with Golden State in January after leading the NBA Development League in scoring, has reached an agreement with the team on a two-year deal worth a potential $1.5 million. Azubuike will receive the league minimum of $687,456 for this season, a team source said, and holds the option on a second year worth $797,581. The papers have been drawn up and are just awaiting Azubuike's signature. "I'm very excited," Azubuike said. "This is where I want to be. I was just hoping they would bring me back." Azubuike averaged 7.1 points per game and shot 43.0 percent from 3-point range, the best figure on the team. (Al Harrington shot 43.3 percent on treys for the season, but only 41.7 percent after coming to the Warriors in January.) Azubuike outscored both Barnes and Pietrus on a per-minute basis, and the bulk of their minutes at small forward likely would fall to Azubuike if they do not return. http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_63...?nclick_check=1 Now this is more like the deal i would offer BArnes....possibly slightly higher. Az will prove to be far more valuable this season than barnsey fife. What a steal this move is.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Now this is more like the deal i would offer BArnes....possibly slightly higher. Az will prove to be far more valuable this season than barnsey fife. What a steal this move is.</div> Mullin finally gets it. You gotta love how he's actually learned from his past mistakes. Now he holds the cards. Both Barnes and Pietrus realize that the Warriors have wrapped up a decent, inexpensive option in their place.
What a STEAL! Man, that's a great signing right there. Azibuike for the league minimum? At times he was FAR better than Pietrus or Barnes in certain areas. The BIG thing? He doesn't make brain-fart mistakes like those two. Great job Mullin, and welcome back AZ!!!
We sign him for the league min last season... now we get him for 2 years at basically the league min per year LOL. I like Azubuike a lot, I think he has a lot of talent, great athleticism, solid shot, good penetration, and a solid personality. EXCELLENT!!!
Just a prediction...... pietrus accepts our qualifying offer..... further screwing barnes ..... and barnes with no offers reluctantly signs a 3 year 6.5 million deal... Now this deal has set the bar for the value of barnes and MP.... the qualifying offer is just about right for MP..... and BArnes should get a dollar more than AZ Barnes should sign with the kings
Excellent signing, he and Powell are just the type of young, cheap players that the Warriors will need during the regular season. As for Barnes and Pietrus, if he can get either one of them to sign for below $2.5 mil in the first year of the deal, I'll be happy. I doubt Pietrus would take that since it'd be a pay cut and some other team will probably give him something starting at around $4 or $5 mil in his first year. But, I'd bet Barnes would sign a three year, $8-9 mil deal. That's still A LOT of money for a guy who was considering giving up basketball and trying out for an NFL team, which is a fact not lost on Azubuike.
Yeah, and with the roster situation, and the addition of Belinelli at G and the good summer performances of Pierce, Bailey, and others, we'll have some filler at the G position and losing Barnes/Pietrus won't be a huge deal. Now, if we get them both back at cheap prices because no one wanted to go big on them, all the better for GS. Win win either way (just don't overpay). The stingy contract to AZ tells me Mullin has learned from some past mistakes and won't be grossly overpaying (Foyle, Fisher, Dunmurphy) again.
Yeah. Mullin ver. 1 would probably jumped the gun and gave Azu 15 mils for 5 years, 20 mils/4 years for Pietrus, 35 mils/5 years for Barnes and gave max extension to Foyle for next 6 years. Instead, Mullin ver. 2 has managed salary situation very well and never hurried to overpay our assets till the end of earth. Also, since our system allows most athletic scorer to excel, Mullin may relax and let the market dictate the price of FAs. Because, now we can find replacements for Pietrus and Barnes relatively easily. Very nice signing for both of them. We will get to keep Azu for at least one more year for minimum, and Azu will get a chance now since Richardson is gone...
It's good for AZ, too, because it's a player option for next year, so he gets to prove himself this year and either earn more $$ next year or fall back on the option. I would think that will motivate him to excel, though AZ doesn't sem to be the type of guy who needs exterior motivation. PS -- remember, AZ was the guy who was DOMINATING the D-League, leading it in scoring while being on fire from downtown. Honestly, I'm not certain Pietrus OR Barnes could lead the D-League in scoring the way AZ did.
