Johan Petro vs. Chris Wilcox

[wiff]

Money "Crunch Time".

At the end of next season Chris Wilcox will be an unrestricted free agent. Johan Petro will be a restricted free agent.

And just for arguements sake lets say they are both asking for 8mil a year for 3 years. But the Sonics can only afford one of them, who are you handing over the bullion to?



Chris Wilcox aka Weezy


or French Chocolate Thunder Johan Petro.


Coming out of the draft Wilcox was busting out with potential. Now 5 years into his pro career some of us are still waiting for him to hit his ceiling because the guy has all the physical tools it takes to be an All-Star. But unfortunately he is missing the "mental" tool it takes to be an All-Star.

Personally I simply think he lacks the drive to be an elite player. But none the less, the guy can still get you 15pts and 8rebs. I think there is room for more production if a coach happens to fall in love with the guy and makes him a focal point of the offense. At the end of his contract he would be just 26 so another three years he'd only be 29 hardly over the hill.



Johan Petro


Drafted by the Sonics with the 25th pick in the draft. I think it's safe to say Petro was pretty much an unknown commodity coming out of the draft to the average fan. However there were a couple YouTube clips.

After watching him start on opening night you could at least see that the guy can run the floor like a SF.

In the previous two seasons he has shown sparks of solid play. Running the floor getting the block and going the other way for the alley-oop and finish. He has a nice steady jumper from the elbow. Looks like he has logged in a lot of hours on his game to improve his footwork considerably. He seemed to have been lost in rotation this season until about two or three weeks ago and all of a sudden he has made it impossible to not want to give him more minutes. He playing with good energy, has improved his defense and seems to have a little more patience on the offensive end. But again those are two places he still needs more work. Petro has the quickness to play the PF but has also shown in spurts to be effective at center. At the end of next year he'll be 23 so at the end of the third year he'd be 26 at the front end of his prime.

I have had visions of Petro on the floor the same time as Robert Swift. Now I'm talking crazy talk but just for a second imagine a line up of Sene at C, Swift at PF, and Petro at SF with Durant at SG. Yeah will never happen.



Not quite the player Chris Wilcox is today but the Sonics aren't playing for today they are playing for tomorrow.

So who are you giving all that coin too?


Wilcox or Petro?

[D5150]

i think petro is best suited at power forward. i think he has shown great strides the past few weeks and i think he will continue to improve. the question for both of these guys is what is their celling? i think wilcox has show he has all of the tools to be a top power forward in this league, the problem is consitency. petro, once he learns to play a little more under control shoud be a top of the rotation player but likely off the bench, since he can play the 4 and 5. i like em both. but if the question is which one would you choose if you had to pick one then i would say wheezy.

[asdf1223]

Keep both... I would personally keep 2 in house talent then overpay for some mediocre talent in free agency... and both are perfect for a run and gun offense..

But if i had to choose one petro would be my answer because he would be easier to keep and wheezy is our biggest trading chip. Some team would definitely throw a large amount of wheezy in which case let him go.

[Det the Threat]

Good Thread, wiff.

Though, i really don't see how both would ask for 8 mil a year(over 3 years, that is), as Wilcox nearly earns that amount of money and surely will shoot for more and as Petro will have to play out of his mind for the next 1 1/2 years to justify asking for such an amount of money.

As far as whom to keep:

I believe that we'll have to free some more minutes in the front court, as Durant surely will be moved to small forward within a year or two, which would create problems to find minutes for fellow 2007 1st round pick, Jeff Green, who can also play at power forward. Kick in Collison, who's also around and very able to play that spot, and it looks more and more like Wheezy is the odd man out, cause he's very valuable around the league, could net us something nice in a trade and most likely would just be too expensive to keep around after his contract is up.

Therefore, i'll vote for Petro as the guy to keep, if i'm picking between the young frenchman and Wilcox.

[Ex-hippie]

In my mind I tried to finesse the question like Det did, but instead I'll just answer the question that was asked: to whom would I rather give $8 million? Until Petro proves to be a solid rotation guy, the answer is: certainly not Petro.

If the question is something more subtle, like which player I would prefer to keep under all the facts and circumstances, including different salary expectations in two years and current trade value, the answer might be different.

[Dick Tate]

Where's option C: Other?

[AbdicatedReign]

Both? Petro has grown into a defensive presence, something I doubt Wilcox will ever be. Wilcox possess a refined ability to score almost at will (provided he touches the ball, an entirely different issue), which is something I doubt Petro will ever have. Combined, they form a hell of a PF tandem.

[FARMERMAN10]

based on what we know right now (including Petros hot streak), I still say Wilcox

Petro has teased us like this before... I want him to keep it up for the rest of the season.

Wilcox, as inconsistent as he is, is right now the better player. The age difference isn't a huge factor for the length/size of contract we are discussing.

Therefore, I say Wilcox.



ask me when they are both free agents, I may think completely differently. A lot can happen before then.

[wiff]

Sure I understand the question "how Petro going to be worth 8mil a season'?

I figured Wilcox after being traded to Seattle averaged 14pts and 8reb in 30 minutes for 29 games, received a new three year deal worth 21mil plus some incentives.

Now since the first of the year Petro is averaging around 15minutes a game and is putting up numbers of 6pts and 4.5 rebs and 1blk.

Ok now double that to 30 minutes and you are looking at 12pts, 9rebs and 2blks a game.

Now I know that doubling the minutes doesn't tell the whole story and stats are only a small part of it. But if Petro gets Wilcox like minutes is 12pts and 9 boards that big of a stretch?

So with that in mind and Wilcox's previous contract being at 7mil I figured Wilcox will be asking for more but his numbers don't really justify it. So I simply added an additional mil for the sake of debate. Plus what guy asks for less money when he is hitting his prime?

Personally I think Petro brings more energy on a regular basis. I think his offense is only going to grow. He has a pretty solid jumper from the elbow and if the kid can just take a breath before he goes into the spin cycle on the low block I think he'd be much more effective. But a lot of that comes with more experience.

So in my mind if Petro gets Wilcoxs minutes I think he is more likely to average 15pts and 8rebs.

So I voted for Petro.

(Plus I think you can get him cheaper than Wilcox too)

[Dick Tate]

I think it's quite likely that neither player will be here before the start of the 09-10 season. Management preaches about building a defensive team. Neither Wilcox nor Petro show much promise on that end of the floor.

[sonic-ben]

I disagree

Petro is showing much improvement in rebounding and block shots this year

[djthesonicsfan]

I think it's an interesting question, but I'm not sure it's an either or situation. A scenario exists where R Swift just doesn't make it all the way back & J Petro becomes the center. Hopefully with M Sene pushing for earned court time.

Also, I'm not sure the decision on whether or not to keep C Wilcox needs to be addressed now. Maybe this summer. The negotiation of C Wilcox's contract a couple of years ago had a wrinkles that needed to be ironed smooth. He thought he had earned a bigger payday. So the compromised on a mid sized deal for only three years with a promise of "if you continue to improve so will your next contract". The problem is what's the definition of continue to improve? In the end the market will decide.

But I think, what would C Wilcox average with J Kidd or S Nash at PG? Ya. Huge. Maybe that's how it'll become with D Rose.

D Rose, K Durant, J Green, C Wilcox & J Petro would be an interesting starting lineup.

[D5150]

yep. point guard is the key. for a lot of these guys. wilcox needs touches to be productive. the suns game is a perfect example of that.