Chris Mullin and the Golden State Warriors have played some serious hardball with the always goofy and entertaining multipurpose guard/ forward Mickael Pietrus this past offseason. They have refused to give him anything more than the 1 year qualifying offer of $3.47 million, which would leave him as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Additionally, the Warriors have shown that will not cave into any trade demands, no matter how HEATed they may get.
Media Day for the Warriors is coming up this Monday (stay tuned for some real deal GSoM coverage of the event!) and it doesn't look like MP2 will even be there. No, he's not partying with Thunder at Dave & Buster's, he's actually still in France [SFGate]:
Two years ago, Mickael Pietrus stirred up the Warriors' annual Media Day festivities by declaring his desire for a bigger, more important role.
This year, he might stir things again by not showing up at all.
Pietrus is in France without any travel plans as his representatives make their final push for a sign-and-trade deal with the Warriors. The restricted free agent has until Monday to accept the team's qualifying offer of $3.47 million for this season, but plans to exhaust all other options before doing so.
How long with Air France be stuck in the hangar?
Use your hops to make the jump for more on the Pietrus contract situation.
One of MP2's agents (how does he have multiple agents? haha) Happy Walters also seemed to be hinting at some news that doesn't exactly live up to his joyful first name:
I was seriously expecting better news from a guy named Happy, but anyhow let's not forget there's a reason LL Cool P:
Normally I'm all for anyone including all pro athletes to get paid that dolla-dolla (actually, I don't have a problem with college athletes getting paid either even if it's under the table). Particularly in football I typically side with the player during the holdouts- the NFL player's union is weak and the players get treated like interchangeable parts in a machine that are tossed to the side once they are worn out or hit 30 (the end of most running back's careers). But, I just don't see a holdout for Pietrus really helping his cause. The Warriors aren't stupid (anymore!)- they aren't going to budge on their 1 year qualifying offer and they aren't going to make a silly trade just to appease the man (see Jasikevicius , Sarunas). The Warriors are firmly planted in the driver's seat right now.
Given his inconsistent career and failure to even come close to the 2003 draft day French Air Jordan hype, I just don't see Pietrus doing better than playing out the year with the Dubs. The best case scenario for the good man is he finds some consistency in his game and showcases himself for the 2008 free agent market as a more athletic Bruce Bowen by being a shutdown defender and knocking down treys at a high clip. MP2 would be happy, we'd be happy, and most importantly Happy would be happy.
When it's all said and done will Mickael Pietrus be sporting a Warriors' jersey on opening night (GSoM Night 2)?
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