http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5567423 Gotta like this move. I love the fact that we can bench Beans or Lee and bring this guy in and the rebounding rate will continue to be insane. Wright can't be relied on to stay healthy and we just flat out needed another big man who can play. Amundson is a good role player, not a huge guy but hes got some bulk, hes not afraid to bang down low, and he boards and blocks shots. Kind of nice to see us outbid some other teams for a player too. Wonder how his salary will affect our cap situation next summer.
Steinmentz article: http://www.csnbayarea.com/09/13/10/...id-fo/landing.html?blockID=309656&feedID=2539 He makes a great point that Amundson is our new Ronny.
[video=youtube;T0qehfdgTLA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0qehfdgTLA&feature=fvst[/video] [video=youtube;BWtINoiim60]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWtINoiim60[/video] [video=youtube;Bkmj9kGawds]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkmj9kGawds&feature=related[/video] [video=youtube;z0hQxQZneRI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0hQxQZneRI[/video]
Great signing. He replaces Turiaf (for less) and brings, IMO, more to the table. While he doesn't have the high-post passing ability Turiaf has, Amundson can run very well. He's going to help out in the transition offense a lot. But most importantly, he's going to help with rebounding and defense. I like how this forces Gadzuric to be the 3rd C and gives Udoh more time to heal and transition into the rotation. All these little moves that Riley (and Lacob) are doing is going to add up into meaningful results. Solid pick-up.
Also may free us up to move Wright in a potential "third core player" trade. Assuming by that point Udoh is playing and Amundson continues to be a good reserve behind Lee we can move Beans/Monta plus Wright, Lin, whoever the hell else for another key piece. The bench on the W's all of a sudden doesn't look half bad. I have confidence in Reggie Williams. B. Wright has played decently in stretches when healthy but now we have another good reserve there should he get injured yet again. Carney is a nice 3rd swingman. Bell could give us something with his defense and scoring punch. Gadzuric is a nice 3rd string C IMO. We still have a roster spot too right? We could keep it open with an unguaranteed young player or vet and/or add a D-Leaguer. At this point I think that last spot should go to a guy who can play some PG. Maybe Pargo but I might be happier with an elite level D-Leaguer.
It's okay if Lou stays for one year. This year we need him because of not being sure how AB will do and the injury to Udoh. It's a good pickup for the Warriors. It's not like BWright is someone you can count on for a good stretch. I wonder if AB and Lou will bet with each other on who the better free throw shooter will be .
The player option is back-loaded. It's like $500 K the first year, with a player option of $4.5 mils the second year (from what I heard). If that's the case, it's unlikely Lou would opt out unless he has a career year. Even so, if he opts out, we can still bring him back with a new deal.
Thanks Oop. One of the things I've noticed, is that there's no more ("Terms of the signing are undisclosed", nonsense) which is refreshing.
If that's the case, that's really smart of the Warriors (presuming Lou has a productive, healthy first season).
That's what I heard on the KNBR ticker... but who knows their source. It does make sense, though. Personally, I LOVE this signing. I think the kid is extremely underrated, and other than having no jumpshot, he's otherwise perfect for Nellie. He's also perfect for Curry, so when Nellie goes, Lou will still fit perfectly. Having him paired with Lee will be a lot of fun to watch. That's going to be a pick-n-roll, dive cut nightmare for the other team. Just like with Nash, Lou will THRIVE with Curry to penetrate holes and allow the energizer bunny to clean up shop.
A smart guy on GSoM said this about those figures (500k first year, 4M second year [player option]: "I can confirm that those numbers aren’t at all possible. “Backloading” contracts as is common in football and baseball is not legal in the NBA. The raises for free agent signees is capped at 8% of the initial salary. While there’s ways around this structure if your team is under the cap and not using an exception for the signing (the details are more than I care to go into right now) this doesn’t apply for Amundson. Further 500k is less than the vet minimum for a player with his NBA experience, so I’m sure that the initial salary can’t be right."
yeah, it's just what I remember KNBR reporting. It doesn't make too much sense in retrospect. edit: Sorry for the misinformation. I just double checked, the deal is 2 years, 4.8 mils, PO second year, 2.25 mils first year,, 2.55 mils second year
