Mickael Pietrus has been available for about a full two years now, having clashed with Nellieball and the Golden State front office during his term with the Warriors. This summer, Pietrus finally became an unrestricted free agent, which allowed him to choose his own adventure. And he found a team today, reports John Denton of Florida Today, with the Orlando Magic (via BallHype).Denton says the contract starts at about $5.2 million, and the San Francisco Chronicle's Janny Hu reports a four-year term for the deal. That puts us at roughly $24 million for four years, which doesn't seem too worthy of a harrumph or hiss. Pietrus needs to perform better to justify that grub, certainly, but he's a good player and a tenacious defender who should get along with Stan Van Gundy just fine. (And hey, Orlando's not that far from Guadeloupe.)
The thing that's most baffling, in retrospect, about Pietrus' career to date: how does he not like Nellieball?! He's a rangy, hyperathletic beast who would seem to be best served in a role as maniac on the floor. And at his best, that's what he was. The Magic's system is definitely different, and if Pietrus is seriously serious that he can perform at a higher level within more static basketball parameters than Don Nelson can offer, then let's believe him and hope for the best.


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-08-2008 @ 8:37PM
Ryne Nelson said...
I can't wait to see this guy in a Magic uniform this season. This, most likely, will be considered one of off-season's best acquisitions.
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7-08-2008 @ 11:23PM
Ryan said...
Good pickup, but will he really be better than Dooling/Bogans/ Evans?
http://www.collegefastbreak.com/
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7-09-2008 @ 10:00AM
jesse said...
The Hornets need an athletic shooting guard, why were they not ALL over this guy. Wow im not exhaggerating when i say with a piece like this they could go all the way. New Orleans has a PERFECTLY built team. With their team they can play the game the way its supposed to be played- the ONLY thing we need is an athletic 2 and this is the guy ( corey m. was my first choice this offseason but mickael would really work). damn we missed out...
DIE HARD HORNETS FAN!!!!!!
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