The Serbian Gangster?

[ziggy]

If ( hopefully its when ) we get Gerald Wallace signed, will we have enough cap space to make a run at Darko "The Serbian Gangster" Milicic? Since the Magic just gave Rashard Lewis a max deal, I really don't see them having the space to sign Darko.

He would be a step up from Primoz (who wouldn't), hes young, relatively athletic.... and he already has a great nickname :biggrin:

[Mustachio]

i look at it as not just signing him for this year. he is only 22 and showing improvement quickly. he would be good to lock down for a while.

however, he still is not there yet, and i wouldnt pay him more than 7 million. what you think we should pay?

[x2pacalypse]

lol there are a reported 25 teams after him...we'd have to spend way too much money

[pree]

He isn't completely out of the Magic's plan - the Magic want to do a sign-and-trade because they tendered him an offer and as of now cannot give him the $15-million because Darko's qualifying offer is $3-million. Basically, the Magic would like to do a sign-and-trade to free up some space for Darko by trimming salaries elsewhere.

There's no guarantee that the Magic can pull it off and the Bobcats would have to spend everything they have to get him, which is silly when you consider the extensions due for Okafor and Felton in addition to Wallace.

[Grandmama]

I am suprised at the amount of run a potential Darko signing has gotten (how many people are in favor, but i guess if you are going to speculate this is the place to do it. I just don't think it can be justified (especially to Bob Johnson) tying up long term serious money on someone still going on potential and flashes.

[dav7z]

Pree i agree he will be hard to land if at all . I think he will get Wallace type money. Its some crazy things coming down now.
25 teams are interested in him
http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/46877/20070703/agent_darko_has_interest_from_25_teams/

[Dead_Real]

i look at it as not just signing him for this year. he is only 22 and showing improvement quickly. he would be good to lock down for a while.

however, he still is not there yet, and i wouldnt pay him more than 7 million. what you think we should pay?

I heard he was looking for 10 mil per contract I'd go as high as 8 to get a line up of Felton, Richardson, Wallace, Okafor and Darko.

Also would us picking up Darko hurt the chances of us resigning Carroll?

[Mustachio]

i agree eaton id give up 8 million maybe...

maybe we could do a sign and trade involving Carroll and Brezec?

and how many of those reported 25 teams can actually afford to sign him at 10 milper.

[dav7z]

Must , mabe 2 or three .Teams are going crazy i hope we hurry up and get Wallce signed.

[spectre]

This is an interesting situation. In order to sign Lewis outright they will have to renounce Darko making him an unrestricted FA unless they can talk Seattle into a S&T...and I wouldn't take the crap they're wanting to give up if I were them.

So, say Darko makes it to UFA status. He wants 10 per...but the only teams with that kind of space who could sign him outright is Milwaukee and us. Memphis has approx. 8-9 million but they just offered Varajao 8 million per...so out they go. Milwaukee has Charlie V, Bogut and now Yi...so Darko's not a need.

Who does that leave as the ONLY team who can give Darko a contract over a 6 million MLE deal? Us!

Offer him 7.5-8 and a starting gig. That's better than he can get anywhere else...assuming it plays out like I just wrote.

[ziggy]

With the way Spectre laid it out, I think that its a legitimate possibility.

[twebb]

The news is that a S&T is very possible for Shard

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070703.wsptlewis3/GSStory/GlobeSportsBasketball/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070703.wsptlewis3

[ziggy]

The Orlando Magic just withdrew their qualifying offer to Darko (http://www.nba.com/magic/news/Magic_Withdraw_Qualifying_Offe-230661-800.html). He is now officially an unrestricted free agent.

[Dunk]

If the Bucks can't sign Yi then Darko would be an option. It seems like a possibility based on what I've heard about China really not wanting him to play there.

[Mustachio]

damn... Orlando has gotten good enough as it is with Lewis. i dont want them to keep darko and or get Yi....

we have enough trouble beating them without Lewis... figures we make moves good enough to get us in the playoffs in the Eastern conference... and then the East goes and gets better.

[Keetch]

I don't know, I'm just not a fan of Rashard Lewis. He seems like an underachiever to me. Actually, I think this deal will ultimately make the Magic worse off.

[spectre]

Neither am I really, and if they lose Darko without a viable replacement (and there isn't any out there really) I see them being much worse.

The plot thickens:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-milicic0307jul03,0,1454189.story?coll=orl_tab01_la yout

Cornstein: Milicic will never play for Magic w/ Otis as GM

Heh, if Michael's still intrigued by Darko it looks like he's got a shot.

[dvdbumpus]

I'd look into Spectre's deal as soon as Wallace is taken care of. I'd personally take a risk on Darko instead of resigning Matt; as much as I have mad respect for him, a 22 year old big man like that doesn't come around often. We also have Adam and Walter that can do similar things. Dudley also frees them up so they could ease the loss.

[TheBeagle]

I have absolutely no interest in this guy. For whatever reason, he looks as if he is the most listless person on the planet while playing basketball. He looked sullen while on the bench in Detroit, and his attitude hasn't improved much from what I can tell. I'll defer to others who are more familiar with the guy, but if it were up to me, I'd rather have Carroll and Voskuhl than Darko. Like Pree said, instead of throwing money at the first shiny thing that you see (okay, Pree didn't say this, but I like my metaphors), we need to keep in mind Okafor and Felton (if he pans out this year, like we're hoping) and their impending contracts.

[dvdbumpus]

I'd still prefer Jamison.

[TheBeagle]

I'd still prefer Jamison.
You and me both, Bump!!

[spectre]

Yeah, me too...but Jamison isn't an option this year. Besides, if we're able to take Darko it would have the added advantage of screwing a division rival...and I'm always for that!!!

Paying Darko 10 per would be stupid. He's not shown he's worth it and like some of you guys said his attitude and his motor would definitely keep me from doing it.

But say for 7 or 8...we'd be getting a pissed off Darko (esp. at Orlando) who'd be under a very easily traded contract if it didn't work out. There's always going to be a market for a young legit 7 ftr who can block shots and has good post moves.

So far as the cap, remember we finally get rid of that fatass Harrington next year as well as a couple others (heard we'd clear about 8 million in salary, but not sure)...and regardless we can sign all our guys to new deals regardless of the salary. Remember there's a difference between the cap and the luxury limit; we're limited to around 55 in bringing in new guys but we can go to around 65 and not be hit with a luxury tax in re-upping our guys.

[thebigabd]

I saw on NBA.com that Darko Milicic is now an unrestricted free agent... The Bobcats could use Darko next to Okafor in the starting lineup. He could be a perfect fit.

Do the Bobcats have the money to resign Wallace/Carroll and also bring in another player like Darko?

[jpf_v2.0]

I don't think we'd be in the running for the 10 mill a year Darko is rumored to be wanting.

[Dead_Real]

Not sure like I said in the Ziggy's Darko thread if he was willing to take 8 mil I wouldn't mind us picking him up he's not worth 10 at the moment IMO.

[twebb]

Darko is >>>>>>> than Primoz and I think they are both listed at 7'1. I think with

Felts
JRich
Crash
Okafor
Darko

We would have a serious upgrade over Primo.
And people would look at the Cats and they wouldn't see any obvious holes like we had in years past

[DaFlameking]

lol. 25 teams after the chic. damn!

get our FA signed first

[123together]

if we don't have to overpay for him i wouldn't mind having him on the squad

[Alex]

Milicic would be a great signing for us. He would definitely offer more muscle than Primoz.

[Mustachio]

can darko run at all... im just saying, if he doesnt run the floor well even a little bit, its a worthless signing. hed be like an anchor to this new back court we got going.

even okafor worries me a little, as he is more of a post up slow it down kind of a guy. he can run, im not real worried about it, but it might hurt his production a little if he cant ever get his rythmn down low.

[Mustachio]

i think that we are pulling the Bird rights on Crash.

i feel like we are tryin to make a deal for Darko, and then signing Crash on birds rights.

Pree or someone IN THE KNOW... whatta ya think.

[tamburello]

Always sounds good, but firstly we have to reach a verbal agreement with Gerald Wallace as soon as possible. Also defining Darko's value is very tricky. He may easily blossom to a great center or darken our future with his huge contract. His market is generally around MLE, if we could afford 8 mil/year, we have a pretty chance to land him. But if we sign Wallace first, we'd require a S&T for Darko.

[spectre]

Hah...just saw something that totally busted my reasoning on getting Darko; cap holds. Hoopshype, where I've been getting salaries, does NOT take cap holds for FAs into account. Even though Crash is a FA our salary still has approx. 8 million dedicated to him and will stay there until he's either released or we re-sign him.

It's the exact same thing Orlando ran into trying to sign Lewis straight up...Darko's cap hold put them over so they had to release his rights. I'm pretty sure we could do the same with a "wink wink" at Crash and THEN be able to offer Darko a salary over the MLE, but that's getting into the shady areas. I imagine it's doable (looks like that's what Orlando's attempting anyway), but I don't know that I'd risk it.

Sorry guys...don't think it's going to happen.

[tamburello]

But Orlando not just rescinded the qualifying offer, but they should also have renounced his rights, which means they cannot sign him over MLE either. If we renounce Wallace, Bucks should jump on him in a second. Also in this case we cannot sign him to a 6 year deal which Wallace should probably want badly.

Which looks me the most likely is Darko going to a real contender for a one-year deal on MLE. Then he can sign a longer deal in 2008(that situation is very similar to that infamous Joe Smith Case).

[spectre]

From what I can gather reading the Magic boards they just pulled their QO but somehow retained their bird rights. It certainly sounds like they would have to waive that too, but the way it reads it sounds like they are playing in the gray areas of the rules.

I dunno. Hopefully Bernie/Jordan does and acts accordingly. I'd really like to screw Orlando out of Darko (not to mention plug a weakness on our end).

[tamburello]

Orlando has 39 million guaranteed money on table without Darko. If they didn't renounce him, that means Darko still fills at least 8 millions on the cap. If that's the case, they cannot sign Rashard Lewis, without sending Darko to somewhere or renouncing him. That looks quite complicated, though.

[spectre]

Tam I think I see what's going on now. The Magic only jerked the qualifying offer so Darko couldn't accept it and then kill the Lewis trade; right now they still control his Bird Rights. They're trying hard to get Seattle to do a S&T so they can basically not take a cap hit and then offer Darko around a 8 million dollar deal. IF they can't get the Sonics to do a S&T, then they'll renounce Darko making him a UFA and getting rid of the cap hold. If it comes to that then Orlando can only offer the MLE as well. Darko will be a player with no team...and pretty much be screwed.

They do have an unlikely chance of trading players and getting no salary back...but that's got to be slim.

[tamburello]

Yes, that makes sense. But they've already tried to arrange a S&T, but they failed. Sonics didn't want extra salaries. But as you said, Darko's fate will be determined beyond June 11.

[dnbman]

Tam I think I see what's going on now. The Magic only jerked the qualifying offer so Darko couldn't accept it and then kill the Lewis trade; right now they still control his Bird Rights. They're trying hard to get Seattle to do a S&T so they can basically not take a cap hit and then offer Darko around a 8 million dollar deal. IF they can't get the Sonics to do a S&T, then they'll renounce Darko making him a UFA and getting rid of the cap hold. If it comes to that then Orlando can only offer the MLE as well. Darko will be a player with no team...and pretty much be screwed.

They do have an unlikely chance of trading players and getting no salary back...but that's got to be slim.


I think they have to drop Bird Rights until next year. Check this:

"As detailed in question number 30, free agents continue to be included in team salary. By renouncing a player, a team gives up its right until the following June 30 to use the Larry Bird, Early Bird, or Non-Bird exceptions (see question number 19) to re-sign that player. A renounced player no longer counts toward team salary, so teams use renouncement to gain additional cap room. After renouncing a player, the team is still permitted to re-sign that player, but they must either have enough cap room to fit the salary, or sign the player using the Minimum Salary exception. The exception to this is in the case of an Early Bird free agent who is coming off the second season of his rookie scale contract. Such players, when renounced, are treated as Non-Bird free agents. After renouncing a player, a team can still trade the player in a sign-and-trade agreement (see question number 76)."

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm

[ALong13]

I honestly don't think we should worry about Darko, sure he's a good player, but he has a while to go, resign Wallace is the main priority, after that depending on how much we have left we need to sign a back-up PG over a center, he's not really needed on this team, and I really don't see him coming.

[dvdbumpus]

I doubt MJ has any interest in him. Memphis will probably get him.