WTF Were You Doing Pax?

Gasol + Darko is flipping scary.

Damn, I really wanted the Bulls to get him. But, if it's any consolation (for me anyway), I'm glad he went to the Grizz b/c they really needed a shot in the arm like this signing. If he continues to develop into the player he could be, him and Pau are gonna be awesome together down low. Throw in the 3 pt. shooting of Mike Miller and Conley running the point, and this team could be pretty good very soon. I'm sure I'll be able to see him play a few times this year, and it will make me wish Pax had traded Noc for him, but oh well...

Thank God we didn't sign him


21 mil for one of the biggest busts in recent memory is something I would pass on. Noah will be the same player for half the money. Use the money on locking our young guys up.

Don't forget that he just turned 22 a few weeks ago, so he still has plenty of time to develop. Jermaine O'Neal didn't become the player he is (when healthy) until after his 5th year in the league. Darko is as talented as he ever was and looked to finally be putting it together when he got out of Detroit. His 2 1/2 years there were basically a waste since they never gave him a chance to play and develop. In 23 mpg last year, he averaged 8 pts, 5.5 reb, and 2 blks per game. After a summer of improvement and playing in an up-tempo offense, he could realistically average 14 pts, 8 rebs, and 3 blks in ~30 minutes per game this year as a 22 year old. That's pretty damn good.

Have you ever even watched Darko Milicic play? Or have you just taken that crap that ESPN spews about him not playing in Detroit and just ran with it?

Ive seen him play, Im not overly impressed. I don't think he is worth 21 mil . Maybe 3 years 10-12 mil would be good for the bulls situation.

If Darko was so awesome, he would have not been waived. I don't think Orlando is that stupid, they may know something.
Comparing him to Jermaine Oneal is just fine and Easy to do, but remember, people can make Kwame Brown comparisons too. What's the biggest comparison of both of them? No HEART.

Well, he wasn't exactly waived. They renounced his rights as a restricted free agent b/c they couldn't afford to re-sign him after giving Rashard Lewis a $110 million deal. If Orlando couldn't have gotten Lewis, then they would have most certainly matched any offer made to Darko b/c he was their #1 option until it became apparent Lewis would be available. And, the difference b/t him and Kwame is that Kwame was given a legit chance to prove himself (i.e. Kwame started more games as a rookie than Darko did in his 2 1/2 years with the Pistons), whereas Darko was buried on the bench of a championship team and sometimes not even given a chance to play in blowouts. Now, the "no heart" issue could have been a reason why he fell in Larry Brown's dog house as a rookie and was never given a fair chance, but if you saw him play last year, it seems as if he's more confident and does care.

They couldn't afford him.

Good I'm glad the Bulls didn't sign him. Mihm is alot like him and cheaper.

Except you won't get nearly the defensive presence or the youth. It is truly scary that Darko is only 22.

Think about Nene Hilario and how he bust on the scene this year. He was 24 I believe. Darko has a good 2-5 years to develop before he really becomes the player he is going to be.

He'll be better than Mihm ever has a chance to be. He'll be better than Kwame but offensively he'll probably never match Jermaine O'neal. But then again, O'neal didn't even get a chance to play until really his 5th season and it wasn't until his 6th season that his scoring when up to 19 ppg. He was 23 that year I believe. It was his second year as as a starter. Darko just turned 22. He has never been given the starter's role. He's learning the game after spending 3 years watching it averaging less than 7mpg. Give the guy a break.

He's going to average or be close to averaging a double double this year and 2.5+ bpg. Just wait. Then everyone on this site will wonder why John Paxson fell asleep on this kid.

I suppose that's possible, not sure he'll get enough minutes though. The points are definitely possible, the boards are probably a bit of a stretch, and the blocks are probably somewhere in between (he did average 1.8 last year, but 2.5 would put him in the top 5 in the league, I'm not sure he's THAT good at it...).

I definitely would have liked to have seen him in a Bulls' jersey, the finances didn't really work though...