Rumor: Sarunas Jasikevicius for Bob Sura

by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 2, 2007 12:39 PM PDT in Rumors Comment 14 comments

It looks like the Warriors are are working on a little contract dump a la Derek Fisher to the Utah Jazz last summer. According to Frank Hughes of The News Tribune:

They [Houston Rockets] also are attempting to send the expiring contract of retired guard Bob Sura to the Golden State Warriors for little-used guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, a move that would save the Warriors almost $3 million.

Bobby Sura probably won't even play for the Warriors if this trade goes down, but this would actually be his second go around with the Dubs. If you remember, Sura was a key energy guy off Muss's bench when he was healthy.

Sura sure was tough.

In his best season with the Warriors in 2000-2001 Sura was good for 11.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, a steal, and some tough D. Unfortunately he probably doesn't have anything left in the tank, but he'd be a fun addition to the Warriors' bench in the unlikely event he became healthy again. For a trip down memory lane check out Bob Sura 2002-2003 [Warriors.com].

Sura sure was athletic.

Do you think the Warriors can get more for Sarunas Jasikevicius than an expiring contract or should they be satisfied with a trade like this one?

If the Warriors move Sarunas, I'll sure miss my spellchecker going nuts every time I type "Jasikevicius".

Thanks to GSoM friend Preetom Bhattacharya of Basketball News Services for passing along this rumor earlier this morning. For more discussion on this rumor head on over to Pree' diary Jasikevicius to Houston?.

Also see Rumor: Sarunas Jasikevicius to Opt Out and Return to Europe

99% of rumors never happen, but 99% of them are fun to talk about!

UPDATE (6/3/07): Here's more on this rumor from Jonathan Feigen of Chron.com:

As far as Bob Sura for Sarunas Jasikevicius, that's a deal they [Houston Rockets] could have had last season, and probably still can. But they have much, much bigger hopes for the Sura contract than that. I don't think the Rockets prefer Jasikevicius to Vassilis Spanoulis. They want speed. Actually, they want a lot of things. But speed is high on the list, and it's not one of Jasikevicius' talents.

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Comments

It would be a minor move

Because our real problem is being over the cap NEXT year when Ellis/Biedrins' extensions kick in. Saras was expiring anyways, so he wasn't a problem.

Saving $3M with Sura would help us re-sign Barnes or outside help this year, but we need to be careful. We don't need MORE long term contracts pushing us farther over the cap in the future.

The contracts of Harrington, Jackson, and Foyle are bigger issues that need to be addressed, unfortunately

by OptionZero on Jun 2, 2007 1:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i guess

the first ever warriors game i went to there was guys behind me saying " dude i hate sura he suck so bad" lol nuff said

by stevenro59 on Jun 2, 2007 1:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

sura is raw

r-a-w

by djchuckdeez on Jun 2, 2007 2:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Why Not?

Unless there is another team coveting Cabbage as part of a larger trade to make the numbers work, why wouldn't we move him and save $4Mil? Clearly he won't play for Nellie so I see no down-side. Do you?

by commish on Jun 2, 2007 3:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i like it

even if sura doesn't play it saves us some $$$. this is probably as good as it can get unless we package rooney as part of a bigger trade

by AJC3317 on Jun 2, 2007 3:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Bobby Sura?

TRIPLE DOUBLE BOBBY SURA?

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh yeeeeeeeeeez

by BTT on Jun 2, 2007 4:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I like Sura

I would actually like this move. Then, there would be 5 Warriors I would like. And I could make a team.

C- O'Bryant
PF- Foyle
SF- Cabarkapa
SG- Azubuike
PG- Sura

by Zorgon on Jun 2, 2007 4:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Bogus rumor?

That quoted line is either missing something (the article didn't mention anything else) or it was BS by a sportswriter in dire need to make something up.

I can't see how the move saves us money. Jassy will make $4mil next year and then his contract expires. Sura is due $3.85 over the same time. They have contracts that expire at the same time. Does nothing for us on the cap, save the $150k next year. Sura's contract can't expire sooner, because if it did, it would already have expired. Unless there's some buyout clause that terminates Sura sooner that hasn't been made public, it's bogus.

by jae on Jun 2, 2007 4:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not sure

I'm not as well-versed on the cap as you are. I was just passing along what was written.

But you do have to wonder- if it's only saving $150k like you say, in NBA terms why even bother? Sura probably won't even play again. Sarunas will at least be extra insurance off the bench in case Baron gets injured.

There's most likely a buyout clause on Sura or else it doesn't make much sense.

by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 2, 2007 5:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Sura's unable to play physically...

He can potentially be bought out. That means we might be able to save 40% of the remaining value on his contract since he's physically unable to perform. And since it expires in a year, theoretically we could shave another 40% off his salary. But I'm not sure why Sura would agree to be bought out. Again that's just from what I understand from NBA buyout rules...I may be off base

by ThermoElectro on Jun 2, 2007 7:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Retirement

I believe Sura's retiring, that's why it reports $3M in savings. IIRC when a player retires, you only pick up part of the remaining contract...don't remember the rules.

This is the reason why a buncha teams wanted Bison Dele's contract, he had retired and it would have been like getting a fat chunk of cap space back for free.

by OptionZero on Jun 2, 2007 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

retirement

When a player retires, their entire salary counts against the cap and the lux tax. You do not have to pay their salary (though with injury retirements, the player usually gets the dough via the insurance policies taken out on all players through the league), but you cannot get rid of their cap hit because they've retired. Trading for him could save the Warriors money if indeed his contract had moved on to insurance payout, but it wouldn't help their cap situation. You cannot petition for a cap exception for retired players either.

I am not sure what the rules were at the time vis a vis Dele, but it is not presently possible to get immediate cap space by trading for a retired player. See: "http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#53"
and
"http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#58"
It's pretty clear on that point.

by jae on Jun 3, 2007 10:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If there's no cap savings

Then there is little incentive for the Warriors to trade Sarunas, still a healthy body and IMHO, probably servicable as a backup PG, for a broken Bobby Sura who eats the same cap space.

Long term it won't matter since they both expire, but for next season, Saras is more useful.

Now, if the Rockets actually want a healthy body in return, maybe we can leverage their late, late first round pick in exchange (#26).

by OptionZero on Jun 3, 2007 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The funny thing is...

as bad as Sarunas was for the Warriors, i still think that he could become a big contributer to another team. If the right team picks him up and gives him sufficient minutes he could show that is a very skilled player.

He was not long ago known as the best player in Europe or something like that. His role as 3rd pg in GS's rotation didn't really help him to establish a rythm on the team. Granted, he didn't make the most of his minutes every time, but Warriors history teaches us that players that leave GS often find greater success elsewhere (ie Donyell Marshall, Larry Hughes, Tyrone Hill, etc.)