Peja's girlfriend has his baby.....

[JoMal]

Peja's girlfriend, Greek uberbeauty, Aleka Kamila, had a son yesterday, which they named Andrej.

Meanwhile, Peja (and his agent) are apparently waiting patiently by their phones for the Maloofs to call him to discuss why he wants to be traded. He has not changed his mind, but would like to talk over his reasons with the brother Maloof to explain his motives. Peja has left messages for them to call him, leaving a number where he can be reached, but the Maloofs have been busy hosting the wedding nuptials for Nikki Hilton at their Palms Resort Hotel in Las Vegas and have had little time between the backslapping and celebrity elbow nudgings to apparently be bothered about Peja, though they were elated with the news of the birth.

When asked about Peja, all Joe Maloof would say was "We have no intentions of trading Peja. I just don't see us without Peja Stojakovic.

Peja's Washington based agent, David Bauman, said they have not backed off their demand and would prefer a trade to happen sooner rather then later.

"They haven't talked with Peja, and I don't understand that," Bauman said on Monday. "Peja called (the Maloof's) and left the number. He's getting really upset about that. I guess if he was McGrady or Marbury or Webber, they would have called."

It looks like the Kings' management are going to let this sit for at least the month of August before delving into it. Likely, they feel a patient approach, to let matters cool off, will lead to a more substantial discussion over what went wrong with their star player last year. Peja's post-season play and the ouster of the Kings in the second round for the second year in a row brought the first serious criticism to Stojakovic since he has joined Sacramento. It clearly bothered him, and then to hear it from Webber, who should talk, that Peja doesn't have the 'hood mentally that I guess leads you to get blown out by the likes of Puerto Rico by twenty points, probably irks the Serb as much as the Kings letting buddy Divac go to the Lakers, of all teams.

We fans are going to need more then a month to cool off over what is looking to be a badly written soap opera.

[Guest]

Real smart.  The second best player on your team is pissed and wants to talk, so you go out and decide its much more important to make sure Nikki Hilton is taken care of than a key to your team.  Great ownership skills  :rolleyes:  

[westkoast]

Wow.  How could waiting possibly make this situation any better?

[JoMal]

I would think because the King's management can let Peja have time to rethink his trade demands, broker a better trade for him, and work out a harder stance in dealing with him otherwise. There is little to gain from dumping him immediately for bench fodder, or whatever the initial offers may entail, especially since the Artest deal looks to be dead.

Considering the emotional levels the Maloof's have displayed in the past, I doubt very much they wanted the first words spoken to Peja after his trade demand to be dripping with vitriol. Better to not say anything and letting him wonder then to say something you can never retrieve.

[westkoast]

I would think because the King's management can let Peja have time to rethink his trade demands, broker a better trade for him, and work out a harder stance in dealing with him otherwise. There is little to gain from dumping him immediately for bench fodder, or whatever the initial offers may entail, especially since the Artest deal looks to be dead.

Considering the emotional levels the Maloof's have displayed in the past, I doubt very much they wanted the first words spoken to Peja after his trade demand to be dripping with vitriol. Better to not say anything and letting him wonder then to say something you can never retrieve.

I understand they need time to do their side BUT they could at least call him.  A simple return phone call with a set date on when they will address these problems would be nice dont ya think?  They dont need to make any decisions, just at least acknowledge Peja as an all-star player on their squad.  To top it off the news has been covering what they did for Nikki Hilton like no other.  Im sure that adds a little fuel to the fire.

[JoMal]

I understand they need time to do their side BUT they could at least call him. A simple return phone call with a set date on when they will address these problems would be nice dont ya think? They dont need to make any decisions, just at least acknowledge Peja as an all-star player on their squad. To top it off the news has been covering what they did for Nikki Hilton like no other. Im sure that adds a little fuel to the fire.

Considering the contributions Peja has done for the team's image and success the last six years, he certainly should have been called by the Maloof's by now, no arguement from me. All I was stating is why they probably have NOT called him, though how the hell would I really know.

Peja's agent certainly is using the news copy of what the Maloofs have been up to since Peja left a message for them to call him, to show how the owners appear to be discourteous toward his client, though you really have to take what an agent says to the media with a grain of salt when discussing their clients and negotiations with management.

[westkoast]

I understand they need time to do their side BUT they could at least call him. A simple return phone call with a set date on when they will address these problems would be nice dont ya think? They dont need to make any decisions, just at least acknowledge Peja as an all-star player on their squad. To top it off the news has been covering what they did for Nikki Hilton like no other. Im sure that adds a little fuel to the fire.

Considering the contributions Peja has done for the team's image and success the last six years, he certainly should have been called by the Maloof's by now, no arguement from me. All I was stating is why they probably have NOT called him, though how the hell would I really know.

Peja's agent certainly is using the news copy of what the Maloofs have been up to since Peja left a message for them to call him, to show how the owners appear to be discourteous toward his client, though you really have to take what an agent says to the media with a grain of salt when discussing their clients and negotiations with management.

Of course I take anything an agent says to the media and push 90% of it out the other ear.  However, really how much twisting does he really need to do when every damn station feels the need to talk about Nikki's wedding in LV.

Im not a Kings fan but Im pretty pissed about the situation.  Here is a guy who not only is the best shooter in the league but a clean cut i-come-to-work-hard kinda guy and hes getting pushed aside.  To top it off the people he is getting pushed aside for is bumknee-Pac Shakur and Nikki Hilton.

I heard his lackluster play in the playoffs being brought up.  Do I think that needs to be addressed?  Damn right.  He was a ghost.  Still does not mean he should be treated like a 8th man comming off the bench for 10 minutes a game.  We are talking about one of the important pieces to this franchise.  The Kings may not have won a title but they are considered one of the very best teams in the whole league each year.  A chunk of that has to do with Peja and what he brings to the team.