He is still raw, young, and maturing. We could get him at a decent price. Risk vs. Reward............it would be well worth it. Better then spending all of our money on a over rated small forward that can't play D. It would be a good move.
I would spend the MLE on him, hes the best FA PF out there along with Webber. This is really a bad year for FA power forwards
In complete and total agreement. Darko is Eddie Griffin on the court (without the the p*rn, alcohol and guns....)
I agree with this statement but don't think EG is very good on the court either. Darko is probably going to get more than the MLE, and if the rox landed him for that, he would be a whipping boy for the entire length of the contract similar to how Juwan has been for almost the entire time he was here.
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I dont know about Darko. He has motivation issues now. He did improve this past year. IMO, he will not be motivated once he is guaranteed his millions.
I'd take him so we could have some twin towers again. He can run up and down the court. He's young and could be bettter than Howard, especially being 7 foot playing next to Yao. At least we could finally clog the lanes and he showed some glimpses of talent in Orlando.
Our next PF should be Lawrence Roberts from the Grizzlies. they declined to make qualifying offers to them, so we need to make an offer. They supposedly are not going to match any offers. Roberts has looked good against the Rockets in the past, and will look even better next to Yao, and even coming off the bench as a back up center. Mainly PF though. GET HIM!
I think Darko would be ideal, just would take some time. Darko has all the tools to be a hell of a defensive force. He could provide the defense inside and outside at PF that Yao needs. Plus he can hit that 12-15 foot jumper.
If it's a choice, take Rashard over Darko David Whitley SPORTS COMMENTARY June 27, 2007 It's late June, which means it's time for everybody to start telling Otis Smith how to run his business. The first item on the agenda is Thursday's draft. The advice here is to take the 44th and 54th picks and try to sell them on eBay and buy Police tickets. The real item of business is free agency. It starts at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, but the game plan is already in place. "I want it all," Smith said. By all, he means he'd like to sign a top-shelf scorer like Rashard Lewis and re-sign Darko Milicic. It also would be nice if Grant Hill returned, Jameer Nelson grew six inches and the Lakers traded Kobe Bryant for Fran Vazquez. In the real world, a few people have it all. None of them is an NBA general manager. So the Magic may well face a critical question: Potential or performance? Milicic or Lewis? You have to go with Rashard, who is letting it be known he'd like to be here. But first, why can't the Magic have it all? They could if there were no salary cap and Rich DeVos felt like gambling big on a 7-foot Serb. Milicic will start entertaining offers on Sunday. He'd love to get $10 million-plus a season, which hopefully would include a Breathalyzer test for whatever general manager who offered it. The only thing crazier than Darko getting that kind of money would be the Magic matching it. But even if he gets a $6 million-a-year offer, Orlando will have a hard time keeping him. That's because Lewis comes with the NBA maximum price tag of approximately $15 million per season. (Don't stop to ponder how unreal that amount is. It only will depress you.) There are ways to clear enough money for both players. Imagine a starting front line of Milicic, Lewis and Dwight Howard in the watered-down Eastern Conference. Billy Donovan might change his mind again and ask for his old/new job back. There are ways it can happen, the foremost being to move Hedo Turkoglu and his $6 million contract. But a lot of unlikely things have to fall into place. "Anything can be done," Smith said. "It might not be easy, but it can be done." If it can't, the Magic should invest in Lewis for a lot of reasons, the least of which being he was named after Ahmad Rashad. We're not sure who Darko was named after, but if it's a Serbian sportscaster, the guy is probably Bob Costas one night and tongue-tied the next. You just never know what you're going to get with Darko, other than teased by his potential. Stan Van Gundy recited the facts Tuesday. Milicic's a 7-footer. He just turned 22. He can shoot, block shots and rebound. You don't let an asset like that go unless doing it leads to something better. At 27, Lewis is entering his prime. He averaged 22.4 points a game last season, which is one point better than Milicic's one-game career high. And he wants to come to Orlando, where his outside skills would complement Howard's talents. Sure, Milicic could turn into a Serbian Jermaine O'Neal for another team. Or he could remain the Darko Mystery. "Showing flashes to getting the job done every night -- that's what sets guys apart," Van Gundy said. "Everybody in this league is capable of having a great night. It's the guys that do it night in and night out that are valued." Lewis would do it every night. If you can't have it all, that's the guy you take. David Whitley can be reached at dwhitley@orlandosentinel.com.
If Lawrence Roberts will take the LLE, he'd be a good pick up. He's a good, strong 10-12 min/game guy.
He'll take anything if he gets a chance to come back to houston. The grizzlies don't want him anymore, so we need to move in on this. He'll be more than a 10-12 min. guy, If we signed him and had Hayes and Landry, Roberts would be the starter
Yeah he is but the Grizzlies have said that they won't match anything. It was in their news article today and on ESPN Insider
Our only shot at Darko is if the Sonics won't do a sign and trade with the Magic and let Rashard walk (which is a real possibility). Then the Magic would have to renounce Darko to have the space to sign Lewis. Then Darko could probably be had for a MLE max deal. If I were the Rockets, I would offer it. Of course, there will be other teams offering the same deal, no doubt, so even then it would not be a lock to get him.
