Another Sarunas Update...

[ChicagoCavFan]

RE: Sarunas and Hotlanta...(would've responded there, but twas correctly locked - nice work Infante)

They offered him 3 yrs, 15 mil - I read this last week. That is almost equivalent to the MLE. That is all. I think it was even posted here (maybe the official board). Media can be a bastard.

 

[Rimage]

Well according to this writer in San Antonio, Sarunas already has a verbal agreement with the Cavs.

The Cavaliers have made the greatest improvement. General manager Danny Ferry proved that he learned a lot from his Spurs mentors — Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford — when he convinced owner Dan Gilbert it was important to bring back center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and then got Ilgauskas to agree to return for relatively modest money ($55 million over five seasons). This was after Ferry got a commitment from Wizards' guard Larry Hughes on a five-year deal, at a reported $70 million.

Ferry also had courted the Bucks' Michael Redd, but got lucky when the Bucks made Redd a maximum offer that Redd accepted. The Cavs are better off with Hughes. When Ferry got an agreement from Lithuanian guard Sarunas Jasekevicius, he made the Cavs one of the top three teams in the East.

Don't know if this is true or the writer is just assuming things. Don't know why a SA writer would know before anyone else.

 

[Pioneer10]

Until I hear some real news i'm not getting my hopes up any longer. The Cavs have already had a very offseason IMO and a Sarunas signing would be the icing on the cake.

However, even if we don't get Sarunas we should have enough money to add quality role players at the PG and PF position. Look at a team like SA they have a bunch of role players surrounding a good player (Parker), a very good one (Manu), and a great one (Duncan). We have a young perimeter core (Hughes, Lebron) with three very good prospects (Sasha, Luke, and AV) and an All-Star C locked up for the rest of his career( Z). Not much more you can ask for in one offseason.

Adding him would solve our shooting concern and would make the offseason go from very good to great. But I still feel we've addressed our two biggest needs (a running mate for Lebron, resigning of Z) and Sarunas still has question marks (age, defenses, lenght of time to adjust to the NBA game - even Ginobili who was younger took a 2 years to reach his potential). So I'm refusing to get worked up anymore or post about Sarunas till I hear some hard news about where he's going

 

[FlyerTE]

Did sarunas agree to join the cavs?

I found this on the browns message board...I don't think anyone knows whats going on with this guy.

http://mb8.scout.com/fbrownsinsiderfrm15.showMessage?topicID=43885.topic

 

[TheAdmin]

Re: Did sarunas agree to join the cavs?

this has already been posted in the actual Saras thread.

 

[Maximus]

Here is an interesting areticle that says the Pacers may not have the funds to get Saras - http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050717/SPORTS04/507170425

I'm guessing he wants MLE money and neither the Cavs nor the Pacers are biting. The Cavs want to add another big and sign Saras. Problem is getting the money to work for both. I'm guessing they have there sights set on someone like Marshall who wants MLE type money, that doesn't leave much left for Saras. I think we'll know in a couple days one way or another.

 

[ColumbusCavsFan5]

Overpaying Sarunas would be a huge mistake... I hope your right Maximus.

 

[LyXo]

The only fear I have of Saras not coming here would be his love for money. But time and time again he has stated he wants only a certain amount of money: 3 year 10 million. Furthermore, his most concerns are joining a team with NBA-title contention and meaningful minutes.

The Cavaliers can offer those three. In addition, we can offer him a starting position and the opportunity to play with Z, his best friend.

If Indiana doesn't offer more than 3 yr 10 mil, I doubt he goes anywhere else than the Cavs. We seem to be very solid with our offer and I think only the green will sway him in another direction.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

I wondering if Sarunas was trying to attract some nibbles by claiming "all it'll take is 3 years and 10 million." I would be fired up if I was his agent. He got his nibbles, now he's gonna play hardball. I hope that it is his agent driving this game.....I think we all believe that HE wants to play in Cleveland......it's just that his agent is trying to get him more dollars, and using other teams to drive it up.

I would be very surprised to see him anywhere but Cleveland or Europe next year.

 

[cdt]

Indiana is a for real contender for his services bird went over there several times to kiss his ass which wasn't easy for him to kiss his ass...have you ever seen that beak? plain and simple if he wants to get minutes and be with friends on a serious contending team then he can come here if he wants to ride pine and compete with anthony johnson for playing time then be my guest..atlanta has absolutely no chance in hell of landing Sarunas, they are going nowhere and it would be career suicide going from lithuanian hero to the atlanta sideshow.

 

[aaronr]

I'm beginning to have second thoughts about Sarunas and the Cavs. The downside is his defense. If he were a starter for the Cavs, then four out of our five starters--Hughes excepted--would be subpar defensively (unless Mike Brown is a wizard as a defensive coach). The upsides are said to be his passing and three-point shooting ability, but my recollection of some data I saw recently is that he didn't average many assists and shot about 40% from beyond the arc. Granted, that's better than any other Cavs, but 40% certainly doesn't make him a top three-point shooter in the NBA. Are we overhyping him?

 

[Troy Wingate]

I won't be overly disappointed if we don't sign Sarunas, coz there are still some good solid FA PG's out in the market who could fill the hole quite well. It would be very nice if we could find a 'defensive' minded PG who can hit the 3.

We don't need guys who are deadly 3 point shooters, just guys who can knock down an open 3.

 

[KI4MVP]

With Reggie retiring, Indy needs a shooter.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

but 40% certainly doesn't make him a top three-point shooter in the NBA. Are we overhyping him?

AD is a career 33% shooter from 3 and he will command at least 5.5 mil. 3.5 to 4 mil per season is a reasonable gamble for an unproven NBA player, and the "stated" best player in Europe. I think the reason we haven't heard anything yet is because 5 mil can easily be achieved, and we won't up the ante.

 

[LyXo]

Another thing to note about Saras and his % is the 3-point arc in Europe. It's actually 2' closer to the hoop (20.6' to 23') than in the NBA. So the # should be a tad inflated.

As everyone's been saying, we don't need a dead-eye sniper assassin dude from behind the arc. Those guys tend to be the Jason Kaponos, Wally Szerbiaks, Michael Redds: guys that spend most of their days on the wing. The PG we need would be one that can handle the ball, pass it around, play decent defense to prevent penetration, and to hit open jumpers.

I think Saras, despite his lower FG%, will be able to deliver these things. He's experienced and has been shooting all his life. He won't be like Eric Snow on offense: he's been offensive oriented all his life and is a big-time player. I guess the worst he can be though is a Shane Heal, that one guy that lit up the United States VS the Dream Team back in the day, signed a contract with an NBA team as a shooter, and didn't last long. But I have more faith in Saras that he can do much more than shoot, as evident by his MVP award in the Euroleague Championships. Chosen over Dirk Nowitzkis, Tony Parkers, Andrei Kirilenkos.