FanPost

Sergio's Plans


It appears that El Matador ( of the Matador D that is) has not been waiting around for Donnie Walsh to call.

Sergio has been actively speaking with European teams and may very well play in Europe next year. It is being reported in the Spanish press that Sergio already has firm offers from Real Madrid and Caja Laboral, and a third Spanish team Power Electronics Valencia, which will play in Euroleague next year also has been talking with Sergio's agent. There are also reports that he has also been approached by Olympiacos of Greece and Treviso of Italy. Apparently Sergio has not signed with any European team, and states that his first priority is to return to the Knicks. He claims to love playing in NY, and that Mike D'Antoni and he developed a good relationship and that D'Antoni told him that he wants him back next year, but that he has to do the work this summer to put himself in position to have a good year. That D'Antoni told him that the goal is for the Knicks to be one of the top teams in the league next year and in order for that to happen he and several other players are going to have to play better. Another interesting tidbit, is that Sergio says that D'Antoni told him that he is going to play uptempo regardless of who is on the team next year, and that Sergio has to get in better shape and improve his focus on the basketball court in order to cut down his turnovers. He also apparently gave Sergio footage of Steve Nash running the offense and told him to study the film and understand that is how efficient he wants him to be.

Now the problem may be how much Sergio wants to play for the Knicks. the Knicks have to decide whether or not to make him a qualifying offer. However depending on what Walsh wants to do he may not want to have that 2.8 million cap hold in place before the free agent period. Sergio has already indicated that he would sign the qualifying offer when the Knicks make it. Now if the Knicks make a qualifying offer and Sergio plays in Europe, the Knicks retain his rights and would have first shot to sign him should he come back to the NBA. That might be a good idea. Let him go to Europe where he would play 30 minutes a night, work on his game and then come back in say 2 years when he is more polished. The primary impediment to his development in the NBA has been his inconsistent playing time.

So what do you folks think. Should the Knicks:

A) Deny the qualifying offer and allow Sergio to sign with a Euro team and kiss the Knicks goodbye

B) Give him the Qualifying offer and re-sign him

C.) Give him a qualifying offer but then encourage him to stay in Europe for let's say 2 years to work on his game.