Yahoo: Raps sign Linas Kleiza to 4 year 18.8M offer sheet

[raptorschick]

Just because this guy was on one of the toughest teams in the NBA doesn't make him a tough guy. Anyone that goes to the Raptors age 25 and up won't give a fck cause we ain't making the playoffs. Hell we were suppose to make it last season and nobody gave a fck either. This will be another Turkoglu trust me. He will average 2-3 less points and his FG% will go down. Just watch.

Bingo

[TDotRep]

Not what we really need right now (last year would have been ideal) but for the price we got him at I think it was a very good deal, especially what people are making in the FA market. This guy instantly becomes an asset for us so I don't think anyone can really complain. He might even have bloated stats this year to increase his value even more.

[blizzah]

I wanna know who you were planning on signing for 5 Mil per year


This is the same contract DARKO got. You want Darko instead?

Kleiza is a good piece on a managable contract. He will have value if you want to move him next year, just like how Jarrett Jack has value now

No one? We should be stripping this damn team apart right now and focusing on the youngsters.

Kleiza is 25. Is that too old?

Whats it matter how much he is being paid. You aren't the one paying for him. As long as the player has a contract capable of being moved (NOT hedo), you aren't putting yourself into a bad position either way.

[Shevy]

I just realized it... This move means that Colangelo is actually hoping to get the 8th playoff spot instead of tanking and rebuilding...

[JJWong17]

I doubt Denver will match. They're already 5 million above the luxury tax level (even dropping their two unguaranteed contracts will still have them at 3.5 million above) so that means Kleiza will cost them double this coming year. If he gets 5 million the first year, then it'll be another 5 million in tax for them. Assuming they don't manage to dump salary anywhere.

[whysoserious]

But if this is just about obtaining a player for the MLE, then why not just not spend the MLE this year and save some money.

Exactly. What's the whole point of this move? Will anybody be pleased if Toronto wins 35 games instead of 31?

I don't wanna hear any crap about "toughness" or "grit" - you can get that from NBADL guys. You don't spend $20 mil (on top of all the other stupid contracts) on grit when you don't have a star.

Get star players first, bench players second - it's not that effin' hard to understand.

Are you expecting a top pick with a 31 win team? Is 35 wins going to change that lotter pick you want? Is tanking going to guarantee that star player?

DIdn't we draft a star player and tried getting bench players after? How'd that work out with Bosh? Again, we are a young team and our young players will be playing heavy minutes, this signing hasn't changed that.

[brownbobcat]

Get star players first, bench players second - it's not that effin' hard to understand.

Where are you planning on getting this star player?

Maybe Lebron will choose Toronto tonight????

Christ, do I have to really spell it out for some of you?

If you can't get a star player this year, don't sign a bench guy for $20 mil.

You see how simple that is?

[TDotRep]

Just because this guy was on one of the toughest teams in the NBA doesn't make him a tough guy. Anyone that goes to the Raptors age 25 and up won't give a fck cause we ain't making the playoffs. Hell we were suppose to make it last season and nobody gave a fck either. This will be another Turkoglu trust me. He will average 2-3 less points and his FG% will go down. Just watch.

Bingo

How the **** can you compare turk to kleiza, their personalities are polar opposites. Jesus SVG had to be on turks ass 24/7 to make him play hard. Kleiza is always in your face, a hustle guy. I can't see him skip a game to go clubbing, give me a break.

[MrBojangelz71]

Just because this guy was on one of the toughest teams in the NBA doesn't make him a tough guy. Anyone that goes to the Raptors age 25 and up won't give a fck cause we ain't making the playoffs. Hell we were suppose to make it last season and nobody gave a fck either. This will be another Turkoglu trust me. He will average 2-3 less points and his FG% will go down. Just watch.

That's amazing insight, so thought out and based on factual information. RealGM is lucky to have posters such as yourself that add these amazingly in depth and informative posts. Well Done.

[TDotRep]

Isn't jack over the age of 25? HMMMM........

[filsor]

He will take all of Hedo's minutes. He actually plays hard.

Hes prob on of the only Raps who could score 40 in a game
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Np8WO4Qx2g&feature=related[/youtube]

This was fun. Should fit the bill because im not sure who is shooting the threes on the team. DD?

[EventHorizon]

People have clearly never seen this guy play. He can play the 2, 3 and 4. Is tough as nails and has a temper on court. He has an Oakley type persona on court I guess.

Present both sides of the story. He is also inconsistent and disappears during stretches. A key reason why the Nuggets were reluctant to resign him.

I thought they were under tax pressure? He was probably their best player off the bench.

That too. They felt his contributions did not warrant going more into the tax. I doubt they will match the offer sheet as they still are in the tax although he would improve their bench.

[99 Problems]

The right direction is to tank for more lottery balls, so it makes perfect sense. If you haven't noticed, there's a huge difference between a top 3 pick and the 14th overall pick. You collect enough young cheap players with potential and some of them might actually develop into a star player. Klieza is the type of player you sign to add depth to a contender... not when you are lottery bound.

Kwame Brown and Darko were selected in the top 3 of the draft, top 3 picks don't guarantee anything either. Kleiza doesn't change this team much. The Nets tanked and still didn't get their top pick and target and still haven't signed anyone.

Getting as many lottery balls doesn't guarantee a top pick. You can pick anywhere in the draft and get good young players, it's about scouting. You may be looking for a franchise but by tanking you could lose guys on your current team sick of losing too and it's not like people are lining up to sign in Toronto.

Your theory of tanking has no more guaranteed level of success. At the end of the day, we are still in rebuild mode and Kleiza signing makes no difference to that. In fact it could help because he's an expiring around the same time we are hoping these young guys are ready to make a move and thus can be traded with some other expirings we have that come up around the same time. And you haven't even seen if we're moving Turk and Jose yet.

The problem is that we have no franchise player... And the draft is just about the only way to acquire one, especially in our situation.. Continuously adding mid level players will do absolutely nothing for us... Depth does not equal talent, we need 2 to 3 high impact, high potential players, and the best way of acquiring them is through top 10 draft picks..

[blizzah]

Get star players first, bench players second - it's not that effin' hard to understand.

Where are you planning on getting this star player?

Maybe Lebron will choose Toronto tonight????

Christ, do I have to really spell it out for some of you?

If you can't get a star player this year, don't sign a bench guy for $20 mil.

You see how simple that is?

So lets go into next year with POB and Evans as the starting front court!

You accumulate assets, and see where that takes you.

Look at the teams who have tanked in the NBA (NJ, Clippers, Minnesota) and look where thats taken them.

You need luck to get that #1 or high pick, Washington, Seattle, Cleveland, Chicago, and it has to be in a year with a legit ready made superstar. Tanking doesn't work in the NBA, or any other sport really.

[Dr Positivity]

BC likes to spend so much, after his contract runs out he's going to join the US government

[victor page]

There are at least a dozen references to the Kleiza signing paving the way for Hedo trade.

I don't understand why a Hedo trade continues to be floated as a possibility. What team would take on Turkeyglue's contract at 4 more years and roughly 44M?

The only way you do that is if you're shipping back an equally useless cancer, or if the Raptors are throwing in something valuable to make it work (and what the hell would that be? Bargnani?).

BC's best bet is to send Turko back to Europe and hope he impresses over there and sometime in the last 2 years of his deal, attracts some trade value as an expiring contract. He's an anchor on the Raptors squad and they'll never go anywhere if Hedo is within a 500 mile radius of Southern Ontario.

[Korr]

Well maybe we have a trade for Hedo if we get Kleiza. Who knows? We may be bad, but do you really want to be Nets esque bad? That doesn't even guarentee #1 pick. We need some respectable talent to win like 25-30 games. Kleiza is a good piece to add and his hustle will rub off on others as well.

What? Yes? Of course! The Nets may not have gotten that 1st pick, but they couldn't slip past 3rd as well... That's a huge difference. There's nothing wrong with absolutely tanking it, especially when you need an infusion of high-level talent into your roster. Continually getting in that 7-14 range is giving yourself guaranteed treadmill status.

And to be clear, my beef isn't with Kleiza the player, as I know all about him from his time in Denver. He's an okay, rugged player, who can be a good guy off the bench for a contender... but my eyes exploded at that contract. You can get guys on the cheap who can deliver perhaps a little less than what he can off the bench. And he should be coming off the bench, I swear BC shouldn't sell him as the answer @ the 3.

As the worst team in the league you would have a higher chance of getting the 4th pick (36%) than any other pick. And even then, getting a top 4 pick is never a guarantee for anything.

Attendance drops when your team is tanking and basketball isn't an automatic sell in this town. There's no way in hell MLSE would approve tanking unless a draft class similar to 2003 is coming.

Maybe BC is working to move Hedo with this signing. Maybe he's got other moves he's working on. Always reserve judgement until the offseason is over. There's no point picking on details before seeing the whole picture.

[blizzah]

Also, if Sonny Weems can be part of the young guns, Kleiza is only one year older, better, more proven and consistent.

[basketball royalty]

Get star players first, bench players second - it's not that effin' hard to understand.

Where are you planning on getting this star player?

Maybe Lebron will choose Toronto tonight????

Christ, do I have to really spell it out for some of you?

If you can't get a star player this year, don't sign a bench guy for $20 mil.

You see how simple that is?

You guys act like this isn't the NBA and players don't make that kind of money.

[Brinbe]

I wanna know who you were planning on signing for 5 Mil per year


This is the same contract DARKO got. You want Darko instead?

Kleiza is a good piece on a managable contract. He will have value if you want to move him next year, just like how Jarrett Jack has value now

No one? We should be stripping this damn team apart right now and focusing on the youngsters.

Kleiza is 25. Is that too old?

Whats it matter how much he is being paid. You aren't the one paying for him. As long as the player has a contract capable of being moved (NOT hedo), you aren't putting yourself into a bad position either way.

What? That's a stupid argument. I can criticize wastes of money as I see fit. This isn't the MLB where you can spend to your heart's content. Moves like this, however small, do add up! Especially if the new CBA is as stringent as people think.