[外電] Hornets improve with Peja, but is he worth it？
Hornets improve with Peja, but is he worth it?
Mike Kahn / Special to FOXSports.com
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5750768
The first shot was fired on the opening day of 2006 NBA free agent negotiation
period, but it would be difficult to say it was right on the money.
In a stunning announcement, Dave Bauman, the agent for free agent forward Peja
Stojakovic, said his client was leaving the Indiana Pacers and had agreed to a
five-year, $64 million contract with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
Although no deals can be officially signed until July 12, the accord was a bold
move by the Hornets, still slated to play in Oklahoma City for the bulk of
their 2006-07 home games as New Orleans continues to find its way back from
Hurricane Katrina.
Coming off a great draft, in which they landed two fine power players in
Connecticut's Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons from North Carolina State,
this keeps the Hornets' momentum going. And coach Byron Scott just signed a
three-year extension in the wake of a surprise season behind rookie of the year
point guard Chris Paul that unfortunately fizzled late for a 38-44 final mark.
Nonetheless, the Hornets clearly will be in a great position to make a stronger
move toward the playoffs with the addition of Stojakovic — one of the great
perimeter shooters in the game.
It isn't likely the move caught the Pacers off-guard, because they weren't
about to pay Stojakovic that kind of money anyway. Still only 29, the 6-9,
230-pound forward is coming off his worst shooting percentage (.437) since he
was a rookie out of Yugoslavia for the Sacramento Kings during the truncated
1998-99 season. And his 18.2 points per game in 71 games combined for the
Pacers and the Kings, who swapped him for Ron Artest on Jan. 25, are the least
since his second year with the Kings.
Moreover, poor post-season performances continue to haunt Stojakovic. A sore
knee relegated him to just over 50 minutes and 22 points combined in two games
during the Pacers six-game loss to the Nets in the opening round of the 2006
playoffs. It also took Stojakovic awhile to gain any semblance of consistency
following the controversial trade until late when managed to raise his scoring
average to 19.5 in 40 games for the Pacers after struggling to just 16.5 in 31
games for the Kings.
Pacers president Larry Bird made it clear changes were coming in the wake of
their mediocre 41-41 regular season and opening round playoff exit. While
rumblings of star Jermaine O'Neal's availability continue to be ambiguous and
the future of point guard Jamaal Tinsley even more dubious, the exit of
Stojakovic is not confusing at all. It is clearly a positive message to last
year's first round pick Danny Granger, coming off a fine rookie season; and the
very young and gifted Shawne Williams, their top pick in the draft last week
out of Memphis.
Both players are very athletic, run the floor and pressure the ball, whereas
Stojakovic is essentially a jump shooter who can run the floor and go to the
basket. He has clearly lost a lot of his fire in recent seasons — particularly
after his superb 2003-04 regular season when teammate Chris Webber took some
not-so-veiled shots at him after a poor playoff performance.
And yet, this doesn't make it any less significant for the Hornets, even if
they did have to overpay him. This translates into them allowing free agents
Rasual Butler and Speedy Claxton to walk if they are so inclined, while moving
fine young forward David West to sixth man or to power forward. Desmond Mason
and Kirk Snyder will duke it out for the starting shooting guard spot, giving
them depth they haven't had in years. More importantly, they're now stocked
enough, they could maybe even orchestrate a sign-and-trade with Butler or
Claxton with immature and problematic J.R. Smith if they are so inclined.
But now, they don't even have to do anything. Sure, Armstrong is young and raw,
but will spell undersized P.J. Brown at center and even allow him to slide over
to his natural power forward position occasionally. What everybody really
envisions, of course, is the indefatigable Paul barreling up the floor and
kicking it out to Stojakovic stroking 3-pointers all day long.
That will happen. If Stojakovic stays healthy, he'll be back over 20 points a
game and then some in the up-tempo offense Scott wants to run.
Nonetheless, the question remains how committed is he?
Unlike most players who sparkle in contract years, Stojakovic continued to
descend from stardom when he should have been hitting his stride. He is not a
malcontent, nor a whiner. He just stopped playing in the summers after the
Webber incident and seems to have lost a large dose of his zeal for the game
over the past couple seasons.
Maybe playing with the infectious Paul will get it back. Perhaps it will help
being reunited with Scott, who was an assistant coach with the Kings during
Stojakovic's first two years in the NBA, and knows him well.
All we know for sure is the Hornets are ecstatic.
That leaves the Pacers relieved they didn't have to come up with anywhere near
that kind of dough for a guy they have too many questions about.
The good news is he'll always be able to shoot. But 10 months from now is
Hornets owner George Shinn going to be happy he committed five years to
Stojakovic?
That is the $64 million question.
Veteran NBA writer Mike Kahn is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
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