The Real Decision Time For Calathes: Greece or Minnesota?
by mlmintampa on Jun 26, 2009 12:05 AM EDT
in Florida Basketball
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PrintNick Calathes was selected 45th by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Draft. But if Calathes wants to purify himself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, instead of the Aegean Sea, the T-Wolves will have to hand over $500,000 for a buyout in addition to probably matching the $2 million deal in Greece.
Calathes also has himself in a clusterf, if he is not committed to one or the other. The Greek team signed a former Indiana Pacer to play the point, possibly sticking Calathes on the bench. The T-Wolves drafted three point guards before they even got to Calathes. (This is like the Detroit Lions with wide receivers.) The T-Wolves will hold Calathes rights, so it does not make sense for Calathes to leave for the NBA now. In Greece, he is a backup at worst. In Minnesota, he's behind draft picks Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson and veteran Sebastian Telfair. Unless he wants precious summer league minutes, he will stay in Greece.
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Actually...
I believe the T’Wolves immediately traded Lawson to Denver and the simple fact that they picked 3 PGs for themselves tells you exactly what they think of Telfair. Part of the Calathes pick’s logic is that he will go to Europe, therefore releaving their PG logjam temporarily while the sort out the rest. Also, there are whispers that they will deal either Rubio or Flynn for a vet sooner rather than later (personally, I like Flynn and change to the Knicks for David Lee). The Lions kept picking WRs year after year because they were at least smart enough to identify their own busts rather quickly, by the way.
Bottomline: Nick goes to Greece with the full blessing of (and perhaps some urging from) the T’Wolves.
"A player who conjugates a verb in the first person singular cannot be part of the squad, he has to conjugate the verb in the first person plural. We. We want to conquer. We are going to conquer. Using the word 'I' when you're in a group makes things complicated." ~ Wanderley Luxemburgo, 1999
When I wrote it, I had Lawson with Minny. There’s also the possibility Minny took Rubio as trade bait.
mlmintampa
UF C/O 06
Yeah.
I was surprised they didn’t take Curry at #6 so they could have both of the kids that the Knicks loved and they could theoretically play together better than Flynn/Rubio. That said, my guess is they really liked Flynn as their PG and they’ll flip Rubio soon.
"A player who conjugates a verb in the first person singular cannot be part of the squad, he has to conjugate the verb in the first person plural. We. We want to conquer. We are going to conquer. Using the word 'I' when you're in a group makes things complicated." ~ Wanderley Luxemburgo, 1999
Dallas???
Nick has apparently been traded to Dallas…
"A player who conjugates a verb in the first person singular cannot be part of the squad, he has to conjugate the verb in the first person plural. We. We want to conquer. We are going to conquer. Using the word 'I' when you're in a group makes things complicated." ~ Wanderley Luxemburgo, 1999
I was in Greece last year...
…and saw a Panathinaikos vs. Olympiakos game on television. It was insane. Easily the most hyped up crowd I’ve ever seen at a basketball game. I’d go to Greece if I were him. Plus, having never been to Minneapolis/St. Paul, I’d still bet Athens is roughly a million times more awesome.
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