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

[The Nutz]

The constant whining and backseat GM'ing by 80% of the posters on this board is unreal. You have no idea what the big picture is or what other deals are in place. You have no idea what is happening behind the scenes, or how negotiations play out. BUT, you always seem to know better, and would certainly be able to run an NBA team much better than any current GM. Right.

[johnny]

Linas is the best euro we've ever had a chance to sign
so STFU

[TheDoctor]

Its all been said. Not my favourite signing, but not the worst. Would be a better if we were closer to being a better team. Would have been a better fit than Turk last year, but less of a sexy splash for Bosh, more of seemingly the same.

But he IS 25.
He does play D - he's just not great on athletic guys
Plays tough
Can score in a few different ways
Is international like Andrew Bogut is international - US high school and college
Lead Euroleague in scoring

The same ignorant people who are knee-jerking against him right now will be his biggest fans come December. He's more Garbo or Nocioni than any typical Euro.

[Crane08]

How has tanking worked for the Nets so far? All that capspace and they missed out on the prize prospect of the draft. They got a solid player in Favors who could turn out to be really good but we all know everyone wanted Wall.

And how has *not* tanking worked out for the Raptors so far? Let's go through the checklist:
- no playoffs
- no top lotto picks
- no Bosh
- very little cap space

I'd rather be NJ right now.

Go Ahead, We don't need you!!

[rapsrealm]

Why is it that no other team in the league is taking a flyer on him when is he available for free?

[OlFlashy]

lol
i like kleiza, but what direction is this franchise going? BC still trying to make a run for the 8th seed
and the 13th pick for next years lottery, do we not have enough PF's on this team

i don't see the point of rebuilding from scratch, and even less now that miami is stocking up w/ lebron, wade and bosh. since nobody else has a chance at winning it all, you may as well go for that playoff spot!

also, signing these mid-level contracts is not a bad thing imo. if one day you want to TRADE for a bigger player, you need some pieces.

i just don't understand people's logic to rebuild from scratch, only to have players leave after they've reached their potential. you guys make no sense at all

[basketball royalty]

Career high 41 pnts against Utah on January 2008


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZtol08eEbY&NR=1[/youtube]

I remember watching that game live. That is why I don't doubt that he is a good signing, if he can be had. He has a solid all around offensive game and is tough. Still not sure about the defense but I see him as a very good 6th man.

[ahson]

Press Conference at 1pm!

The pc can't be for this(just an offer sheet). I guess it's for Amir?? Or maybe something else

I guess it's for Amir, not the free agency announcement that we'll waiting for. Things aren't final until LBJ shows his face and spell out the team he wants to play tonight @ 9pm.

[MrBojangelz71]

Ask Denver who they would rather have. Sure they would take Kleiza in a heartbeat over Beas.

[Unknownone]

Cool mix, thanks. I think we should be open-minded about this deal...the contract is extremely small. Could easily work out very well.

He's serviceable, can get trigger happy w/ his offense at times - lateral move at best/worst; filling out the roster, if you will.

Not sure if this signing merits a 21 (and counting) page thread.

[TMMC]

I think alot of you are still ticked at losing Bosh and the next player signed has to be your target to spew venom at...

By the end of the day Bryan Colangelo will likely be where he expected to be which is large TPE, first round picks, Kleiza and Johnson... I would say this is where most of us thought we would be as well and it will be just the beginning of the firework show if that TPE comes back...

[Condi Rice]

Those are probably secondary players you are getting so great, we're gonna get capspace to trade for guys in the Turkoglu tier of players to add. Yippee!

Again, tanking does not guarantee anything. Again, the key guys for this teams future are Derozan, Davis, Alabi, Bargnani....all young and will be playing major minutes. Does Kleiza change the outlook of the team? No but he fills a spot on the team.

Picks or young players is the value we get back. Whatever crap attached to them would be 1 or 2 year contracts that are quickly off the books.

Kleiza hurts the ability to do what I described... unless he starts playing like the serbian Lebron or something. It's just BC trying to save face (and possibly his job)... just like Smitch played Bosh 40+ minutes to save his job (and thus Bosh's bad knees), BC is screwing us long term for the 9th seed.

[J-Roc]

I think it's a good question.

[raptorschick]

Why this ? what for?

[Crane08]

Its all been said. Not my favourite signing, but not the worst. Would be a better if we were closer to being a better team. Would have been a better fit than Turk last year, but less of a sexy splash for Bosh, more of seemingly the same.

But he IS 25.
He does play D - he's just not great on athletic guys
Plays tough
Can score in a few different ways
Is international like Andrew Bogut is international - US high school and college
Lead Euroleague in scoring

The same ignorant people who are knee-jerking against him right now will be his biggest fans come December. He's more Garbo or Nocioni than any typical Euro.

+1 Has anyone watched the playoffs couple years back? Denver's starting five were non-chalant They played Kleiza off the bench and he torched the Lakers at the end they won the game.

[whysoserious]

lol
i like kleiza, but what direction is this franchise going? BC still trying to make a run for the 8th seed
and the 13th pick for next years lottery, do we not have enough PF's on this team

i don't see the point of rebuilding from scratch, and even less now that miami is stocking up w/ lebron, wade and bosh. since nobody else has a chance at winning it all, you may as well go for that playoff spot!

also, signing these mid-level contracts is not a bad thing imo. if one day you want to TRADE for a bigger player, you need some pieces.

i just don't understand people's logic to rebuild from scratch, only to have players leave after they've reached their potential. you guys make no sense at all

You need two star players to really contend in this league so tanking for one year to get a franchise player in the draft won't be enough and that player is likely to leave. We'd have to go to the top of the lottery mulitple times and hope to land two guys with potential to be stars that also develop in the first two years and there's team success. Otherwise we're just going in the same cycle, develp that one guy only to see him leave again.

Right now, we have a lot of youth that is going to play a lot. That is a rebuild, we're likely not that good so Kleize signing doesn't change the team outlook which means we are likely still in the lottery.

[raptorschick]

Why this ? what for?

[appel]

hey guys, i hope im not the only one that realized this but if colangelo signs Kleiza that means the raptors will be paying him 5 million a year for the next FOUR years....

Beasley on the other hand is a young player, a SECOND pick for crying out loud, with a huge amount of potential....

..and a crazy head
No thanks

p.s. i remeber his first game in pre-season (was in Europe, Paris if i remember good)

Spoelstra call time-out and speak with the players
Beasley wasn't listening, watching the cherrleaders smiling
I tought "This boy is a idiot, he can't have a brilliant career"

[[SJJ]]

Cool mix, thanks. I think we should be open-minded about this deal...the contract is extremely small. Could easily work out very well.

He's serviceable, can get trigger happy w/ his offense at times - lateral move at best/worst; filling out the roster, if you will.

Not sure if this signing merits a 21 (and counting) page thread.

This is the raps board, don't be surprised if it reaches 75pages...

When we traded for Delfino... didn't that go to 100+???

[ahson]

Kleiza is a nice player but I just don't like the signing from BC. BC is just doing signing here and there to make the team looks more interesting. I rather the team just play our young guns and close my eyes for the final score.