http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/marty_burns/07/22/big.three/index.html Jasikevicius Could Join Cavs When it comes to this year's free agent crop, the Cavs have been the most active. They added two of the bigger names on the market in Larry Hughes and Donyell Marshall and re-signed center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Now they appear ready to add another piece in and effort to keep LeBron James happy. Sarunas Jasikevicius, a 6-4 point guard from Lithuania, considered the best player in Europe, is said to be nearing agreement on a three-year $10 million deal with the Cavs. Jasikevicius, 29, who played college ball at Maryland, is an excellent 3-point shooter and competitor. He led his Maccabi Tel Aviv team to the past two Euroleague titles and last summer helped Lithuania upset Team USA at the Athens Olympics. The Pacers, Jazz, Blazers, Rockets, Mavs and Sonics, among others, all courted Jasikevicius. However, he apparently felt most comfortable with Cleveland, which has fellow Lithuanians Ilgauskas and Martynas Andriuskevicius. All three players hail from the same town in Lithuanian (Kaunas), and Jasikevicius and Ilgauskas are said to be good friends. Jasikevicius was best man at Ilgauskas' wedding last summer. With Jasikevicius and Marshall, the Cavs boast two more outside shooters to take some pressure off James. Marshall's arrival, meanwhile, also frees up Cleveland to entertain offers for power forward Drew Gooden. The Mavs have reportedly expressed interest in Gooden, and the former Kansas standout will likely be traded there or elsewhere before the summer is complete. Sorry if this has already been discussed, I'm new to the board. From most of the rumors I've heard, the Cavs have locked him up. If you watched the summer olympics then you saw him play and know his skill level. Although the Cavs can pay more and offer the friendship of Ilgauskas, he would be a great fit for the Rockets. I don't remember much about his defense but his passing and 3-point shooting was phenomenal. Anyone know how much he actually considered us?
Showing once again that just because the Rockets brass does not tell us what they are doing, it doesn't mean they are not doing anything.
I'd rather pick up 1 that has been in the league for a while. We're a championship caliber team with an experienced 1. We've got plenty of backups, and that's what SJ would be.
You're absolutely right. It's not much money for him, the problem is, we CAN'T give him that money. It's impossible. You obviously can't sign and trade for him with a european team. Our MLE is going to Swift. We have the LLE and the minimum to offer. That's all. It doesn't matter if we have Bill Gates as an owner, we still have to abide by the league rules.
Ok, S&T Stoudamire and Darius Miles for James and expiring deal. Miles can be the backup 3 and 4, and even give us minutes at the 2.
Hmmmm, interesting. I thought I had read a rumor somewhere that Bird was intent on breaking up the Jermaine-Artest-Stephen Jackson clique. Artest and O'neal aren't goin anywhere. I would think that Jackson would be on the block. That would mean they have Bender, Jackson, and possible Croshere and Tinsley on the block. I can see how Tinsley would help us but I don't think we have much that would benefit Indy unless we are willing to take on some of those players as well and give them a draft pick on top of expirings. I don't see Stephen Jackson being our answer at the 2. But I'd take him if they threw in Fred Jones. Maybe some combo including Tinsley and Fred Jones and taking back one of their bad contracts for our expirings and a pick or two.
Where did you see that the Pacers signed Sarunas? If that is true and we could make an offer for Tinsley, I would support it. He's strong and athletic enough to play decent defense and can definitely hit the open 3. Main problem with him is that he always seems to get injured. I don't know if Bird is intent on splitting up the Jackson-Artest-O'Neal trio because he played Artest at the 4 spot in the summer league some. That would give them a possible starting five of Tinsley-Granger-Jackson-Artest-O'Neal.
He won't be nearly that bad....but I do believe all this hype is rather undeserved. He's not going to turn a team around, and on a lot of teams, he may not even start. He's a deft outside shooter and can handle the ball relatively well. That's about it. I am not sure what all the excitement is about.
