The weight on Mickael Pietrus’ shoulders hasn’t been this heavy since the two missed free throws in Utah this past playoffs. It appears that the fate of NBA Free Agency for the rest of summer 2007 depends on what happens to Pietrus this off-season. At least Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News seems to believe so:
Teams have been reluctant to commit to other big guards or small forwards until Pietrus and Pavlovic sign.
As many very helpful folks that hang out here on our blog have reported, several NBA playoff teams have sought the services of Pietrus in addition to Mohawk Barnes (who will be this years Warriors bargain bin replacement? See below).
Is this to say that Pietrus is now the premier (restricted) free agent left in this summer’s pool? Apparently not as the Warriors have now officially signed Austin Croshere to the league 10 year veteran minimum wage, but don't even owe him the whole thing. A few members of our blog community have documented this earlier in previous diaries (shout out to Streetballer et al. for the diaries earlier).
Is it safe to say that the KG chase that the Warriors were linked to was just a smokescreen for the Warriors true intentions of signing Croshere? Did the Warriors just use KG as a foil (or Foyle??? Bu-dum-ching!) to thwart Western conference rivals plans of getting at perhaps the most prized forward of this off-season?
Croshere can bang with former elite forwards of the eastern conference! By the way, what's up with those shorts?
If the post-season was any indication of how thin the team was beyond the starting-five, its evident that the Warriors nation, at least those that commented in Streetballer’s diary, are ambivalent about the new addition. Ironically, Croshere was a key piece in the Mav's game two victory of the Warriors, hitting three of four from downtown. Surprisingly, the formerly b-rate player, once making b-rate (at least by this age of NBA ball standards) money, will be playing for minimum wage in the NBA (which is minimum wage for less than 1 percent of the whole world…). On the bright side, you got to give it up for Mullin and Nellie; for that price, they could have done worse. They could have gotten this guy instead. How is he still in the league?