Jannero Pargo signs with Russian team

[WayOutWest]

Pargo signs with Russian team

NEW YORK (AP) -- New Orleans Hornets guard Jannero Pargo is the latest player to turn his back on the NBA for Europe.

Pargo signed a one-year deal with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian League, agent Mark Bartelstein told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday.

The one-year deal is worth nearly $4 million and is about twice what Pargo made for the Hornets last season, Bartelstein said. Pargo joins a growing defection of NBA players lured overseas by higher salaries.

"Jannero's probably one of the higher profile players to go over," Bartelstein said.

Josh Childress began the exodus of role players in July when he spurned the Atlanta Hawks and signed a three-year deal with Greek club Olympiakos worth about $20 million after taxes. Earl Boykins, Carlos Arroyo, Nenad Krstic, Carlos Delfino and Jorge Garbajosa have since left the NBA for European teams.

Dynamo also signed Bostjan Nachbar, who averaged 9.8 points for the New Jersey Nets last season.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Pargo is a six-year NBA veteran out of Arkansas. He averaged 8.1 points and 18 minutes a game as a reserve for the Hornets last season, and was the team's fourth-leading scorer in the playoffs with 10.2 points per game.

New Orleans attempted to re-sign Pargo after he opted out of the final year of his contract in hopes of getting a more lucrative deal. Bartelstein said he had a handful of offers from the NBA, and the short length of the contract means the 28-year-old backup point guard has some future flexibility.

"We had a couple of interesting offers," Bartelstein said. "We just thought it was a great opportunity. He expects to do this for a year, take a deep breath and decide what to do next year. By no means does this mean we're saying goodbye to the NBA."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[SPURSX3]

Yup, we were waiting to see if he was going to join the Spurs, and he is yet another player the Spurs lost to europe this summer...

[Reality]

^^ Yep, this was a week or so ago:

Pargo's agent, Mark Bartelstein, acknowledged ongoing talks with the Spurs, but said his client has yet to agree to a deal with anyone.

"The Spurs speak for themselves," Bartelstein said Monday. "It's a great place to play. They are limited in what they can do financially, but we are definitely talking to them"

The Spurs spent the lion's share of their mid-level exception to sign former Washington guard Roger Mason Jr. -- another Bartelstein client -- earlier this summer.

The Spurs' apparent pursuit of Pargo is a bit surprising, given the glut of backup point-guards that ought to grace their opening day roster. The Spurs used their first-round draft choice on George Hill, with designs on having him compete with veteran Jacque Vaughn for minutes behind Tony Parker. They signed Mason in part because of his ability to play some point guard in a pinch.

The Spurs are one of a handful of teams in the hunt for Pargo, who still has not ruled out a return to New Orleans.

"We're trying to get to a decision, no question," Bartelstein said. "We're working on it, but no decision has come as of yet."

The Pargo-to-San-Antonio rumors remain just rumors, for now.

[Reality]

SpursXs3,
I think we can have a RealSpur discussion on a WoW thread.  But maybe not.

Anyway, what do you think of this take?:

"This is bad news for (2008 draftee) Hill. When drafted, Pop thought he could step right in and be the backup point guard. If the Spurs are pursuing Pargo, that means the Spurs don't believe Hill is ready. Perhaps the Spurs think Hill needs a few years in Austin. Or it could mean the Spurs think Hill just plain sucks. Either way, something happened for the Spurs to like Hill a whole lot less than when they drafted him."

[WayOutWest]

Yup, we were waiting to see if he was going to join the Spurs, and he is yet another player the Spurs lost to europe this summer...

It's not like the Spurs had any rights to the guy anyway.  Still, it's not looking good for the Spurs off season results.  The Spurs would probably be happy to have their core come back healthy but that may be tough considering the guy who needed the most rest is playing in the Olympics in a "lost cause".

Do you think a HEALTHY Spurs team can handle the tougher WC with the current roster?  The "every other year" thing is really going to be put to the test next year.

[SPURSX3]

SpursXs3,
I think we can have a RealSpur discussion on a WoW thread.  But maybe not.

Anyway, what do you think of this take?:

"This is bad news for (2008 draftee) Hill. When drafted, Pop thought he could step right in and be the backup point guard. If the Spurs are pursuing Pargo, that means the Spurs don't believe Hill is ready. Perhaps the Spurs think Hill needs a few years in Austin. Or it could mean the Spurs think Hill just plain sucks. Either way, something happened for the Spurs to like Hill a whole lot less than when they drafted him."

The Spurs will always go for the better player no matter what, if they felt Pargo was seasoned enough to be the second option of course they would place him before the rookie.  this kid has not played NBA ball, Pargo has, and it would only benefit hill to learn as much at his position as he can coming into the NBA, I don't see this as an insult as it is a learning process - we tried it with Beno - he didn't figure it out until we finally got rid of him. 

[SPURSX3]

Yup, we were waiting to see if he was going to join the Spurs, and he is yet another player the Spurs lost to europe this summer...

It's not like the Spurs had any rights to the guy anyway.  Still, it's not looking good for the Spurs off season results.  The Spurs would probably be happy to have their core come back healthy but that may be tough considering the guy who needed the most rest is playing in the Olympics in a "lost cause".

Do you think a HEALTHY Spurs team can handle the tougher WC with the current roster?  The "every other year" thing is really going to be put to the test next year.

the way thing are shaping up I say we go second round and out, we have not picked up anyone that looks like they can really make a difference for us. 

[westkoast]

SpursXs3,
I think we can have a RealSpur discussion on a WoW thread.  But maybe not.

Anyway, what do you think of this take?:

"This is bad news for (2008 draftee) Hill. When drafted, Pop thought he could step right in and be the backup point guard. If the Spurs are pursuing Pargo, that means the Spurs don't believe Hill is ready. Perhaps the Spurs think Hill needs a few years in Austin. Or it could mean the Spurs think Hill just plain sucks. Either way, something happened for the Spurs to like Hill a whole lot less than when they drafted him."

The Spurs will always go for the better player no matter what, if they felt Pargo was seasoned enough to be the second option of course they would place him before the rookie.  this kid has not played NBA ball, Pargo has, and it would only benefit hill to learn as much at his position as he can coming into the NBA, I don't see this as an insult as it is a learning process - we tried it with Beno - he didn't figure it out until we finally got rid of him. 

Not to mention he has been on multiple teams who have made it to the finals...one of which resulted in a ring.