What a waste. He is going to be hating his agent next year when the best offer he gets is part of an MLE. SOURCE
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Roland Hood:</div><div class="quote_post">Vlad is an idiot.</div> I second that. I highly doubt that he's gonna get anywhere near the money the sonics put on the table.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Roland Hood:</div><div class="quote_post">Vlad is an idiot.</div> Agree. His only hope for a bigger offer is if Lewis is out most of the year and he steps in and plays terrific basketball, or if he has a JJ like performance in the playoffs and blows everone out of the water seconds before hitting the FA market. The magic 8-ball is saying...not likely.
Honestly, if they start him, i will take the year off. I live in Colorado now so it is just as easy to root for the Nugs for a year. It's difficult to be a fan when you truly dislike players on your team and hope that they lose every game they play for the rest of thier career.
For Vlad to stay long term he would have wanted assurances that he would be the #2 guy behind Ray Allen. For that he would have to unseat Sweet Lew and he didn't feel the Sonics would ever give him that opportunity. He obviously is turning down a lot of money to have the opportunity to pick the team of his choice, and although I think he is foolish for doing this, I understand why he choosing to do it. Rick Sund is cementing himself as one of the top GM's in sport because of his foresight. He knew that Vlad wasn't interested in being a Sonic long term so he locked up the next best thing, Damien Wilkins, for a third of what the Soncs were willing to offer Vlad. Had Vlad signed the long term contract I'm sure that either Sweet Lew, Vlad, or Damien would have eventually been traded, but even in that scenario the ball is in Seattle's court. It's not always about money with athletes, but Vlad is dilllusional if he thinks that he is one of the premier small forwards in this league. I would have taken the extension, but I guess Vlad is sick of coming off of the bench and playing multiple positions on the frontline. I hope that Bob is able to bring out the best in a guy who is auditioning for another job this season.
I agree completely that financially Radmanovic made a bad move. However, I dont see as to why people are getting so upset by it. If he comes in and demands to shoot more and play more and start, ect then sure get mad. But he hasnt done anything out of line yet. Hes decided hes worth more then what the Sonics were offering. hes decided he really really wants to start. I think thats his choice and I dont see it as that bad of a thing (yet) from the Sonics standpoint that he did this. And if he starts this year I wholeheartely believe it will only be because Weiss and the staff thinks he deserves it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Coolguy777:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree completely that financially Radmanovic made a bad move. However, I dont see as to why people are getting so upset by it. If he comes in and demands to shoot more and play more and start, ect then sure get mad. But he hasnt done anything out of line yet. Hes decided hes worth more then what the Sonics were offering. hes decided he really really wants to start. I think thats his choice and I dont see it as that bad of a thing (yet) from the Sonics standpoint that he did this. And if he starts this year I wholeheartely believe it will only be because Weiss and the staff thinks he deserves it.</div> I'm not mad. I just think it's a shame they couldn't sign him for a longer deal. I think the Sonics benefit from his length and shooting. He has improved his game (though only slightly) each season by adding a new dimension to his game. The reason he isn't worth more, is that something else in his game ALWAYS suffered when he added something new. He never seemed to be able to rebound AND hit the three AND drive to the basket AND pull up for a midrange jumper. He could usually do two of those. His perimeter defense looked a little (like maybe a centimeter) better, but his post defense was useless at the 4 and only valuable at the 3 when matched up against a "soft" 3 which was generally shorter than him. The stronger ones muscled him out of the way. Mostly he was a liability on defense. He isn't worth big FA money now, and won't be next year either. Teams seem to be throwing less REALLY big money around at the midlevel players. His best bet is to pull an AD or a JJ, but he has a better chance of pulling a JJ, since I don't think he has AD's consistency, and certainly not his ability to get to the hoop for fouls and trips to the FT line.
I'll be interested to see where his head's at this coming year - let's face it Vlad's not exactly known for his intestinal fortitude and laser focus. Will he continue his improvement and do the little things that took his game up a notch last year or will he sulk when given less minutes than his agent expects and fling up 3 pointers without discretion, or maybe worse, pass up shots in an Arenas-like silent protest?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Vlade's Agent:</div><div class="quote_post">?If he were an unrestricted free agent, the Sonics probably would have treated him more fairly . Now, this evens the playing field. It allows us to control our own destiny.?</div> Vlade and Danny are both idoits. Somebody, ANYBODY, tell me what was unfair about the Sonics offer. Thats right! NOTHING! If anything it was too generous.
