<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OAKLAND - When Warriors coach Don Nelson barks at forward Mickael Pietrus, his tirades don't pack the same wallop as they do for most players. "He doesn't understand my swear words anyway," Nelson said. "He just looks at me like I'm saying something nice to him." Perhaps Pietrus is imagining the sweet nothings of NBA general managers being whispered in his ear. In what essentially has become a season-long job interview, Pietrus has succeeded at sticking with the role he's been given by Nelson -- that of a defender and rebounder -- rather than attempt to mold himself into a featured scorer. In response, Nelson has given Pietrus the most playing time of his career, an average of 31.5 minutes per game, and has stuck him at small forward, power forward and shooting guard. The 24-year-old native of Guadeloupe is thus averaging career bests across the board, including scoring (14.2 points per contest), rebounding (5.5) and shooting (51.4 percent from the floor). Wednesday, returning after missing two games with the stomach flu, Pietrus provided 12 points, four boards, three blocks and two steals in 37 minutes. "Wherever he has played, he's done well," Nelson said. "He'll stretch the defense with that corner shot. The guy's incredible. Incredible." The question is, will that be enough to secure a big-money, long-term deal such as the ones Pietrus has watched teammates Troy Murphy, Jason Richardson and Mike Dunleavy sign in recent years? After failing to reach an agreement on a contract extension by Oct. 31, the Warriors are forbidden from conducting any talks with Pietrus or his agent, Herb Rudoy, until July 1, when all teams can discuss a deal with the 6-foot-6 forward. Assuming Golden State makes a one-year qualifying offer of $3.47 million (a figure determined by Pietrus' status as the 11th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft) by June 30, Pietrus will be a restricted free agent. In that case, the Warriors will have the right to match any offer made by another team. Then, if Pietrus fails to find a suitor among the 29 other NBA teams and doesn't re-sign with Golden State, he can play out the 2007-08 season under the terms of the qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent the following summer. The Warriors can tighten the screws in that situation, as teams often do, by including an Oct. 1 expiration clause to their qualifying offer. At this point, it's not clear what kind of market exists for a player whose resume has been longer on potential than actual results before this season. Earlier this month, for example, when ESPN.com analyst John Hollinger ranked the most enticing free agents-to-be for next summer, Pietrus was lumped in with fellow small forwards Chuck Hayes of the Houston Rockets and Ruben Patterson of the Milwaukee Bucks in a tie for 25th. Other swingmen ranked ahead of them included the Chicago Bulls' Andres Nocioni, the Los Angeles Lakers' Luke Walton and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets' Desmond Mason. Pietrus is doing his best to increase his market value, even though he strenuously avoids talking about personal numbers, bending every conversation with reporters back to the Warriors' 9-7 start. "I'm just trying to be as efficient as I can for my team, and then we will win a higher percentage," Pietrus said. "It's all about focus and it's all about winning. Those are the big things for me this year." At the defensive end, Pietrus is already only three blocks away from setting a personal best for an entire NBA season, and his athleticism could easily allow him to be a disruptive force at the top of the Warriors' recently unveiled 1-2-2 zone. "I think that he's at the point in his career where he's able to accept the things he does well. There are some basic things that he does well, but I think he shrank away from them in the past, like being a really good defensive player," said Warriors center Adonal Foyle, who's watched Pietrus' progress over four seasons. "It's not as glamorous as other things." Pietrus hopes, in the end, it'll be just as lucrative.</div> Source
Warriors probably will hope the best offer out there is in the $6-7 mill area. The tendency now is teams are capped. Those who got a little fresh cap space will be looking at a handful of FA candidates. Tying up their options with a bid on a restricted won't be the usual strategy. So far,Pietrus has implied he expects to be a Warrior. He's very much the type Nellieball needs. He won't be cheap,he won't break the bank either.
I like Pietrus to stay, but he's not a building block is he? Plus, I can't stand his lack of basketball instincts as a shooting guard or small forward, but he's been very effective on the glass and on D. He should be starting over the alternatives we have at small forward. Maybe we could have re-signed Pietrus last year if Dunleavy wasn't locked up, but would we have wanted him to occupy Dunleavy's current salary? Man, the guy is just not a smart basketball player and that is frustrating for any coach who has to rely on this guy because the smarter basketball players aren't very good, strong or quick enough to handle their own position matchups. Plus, Pietrus outside of his current role would blow a lot of plays and cause the offensive flow to be disrupted IMO. We get our power forward back or get another one, the less of that we have to do with Pietrus playing PF.
