Webber has offer from Olympiacos of Greece

By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
Updated: September 28, 2007, 4:24 PM ET

Chris Webber has a multi-million dollar contract offer on the table from Olympiacos of Greece, and he plans to decide by this weekend whether to accept it or wait on the sidelines for another chance at playing in the NBA.

Two sources familiar with the offer told ESPN.com that Olympiacos was offering a two-year deal that would net Webber between $10 million and $12 million, which would make him the highest-paid American player in Europe.

Webber has said he is leaning toward returning to the Detroit Pistons, although signing Webber prior to training camp, even for the veterans' minimum, would have cap ramifications that the Pistons want to avoid. Webber is said to be comfortable with the idea of waiting at least a month or two for the Pistons' roster issues to work themselves out, which would allow him to join them in midseason as he did in 2005-06.

Webber also spoke over the summer with the Dallas Mavericks, who believed he would be a good fit for their system. But the Mavs failed to hear anything resembling a commitment from Webber (or from P.J. Brown), and they've let Webber drop off their radar -- at least for the time being.

Now, the offer from Olympiakos is giving Webber something to think about as he prepared to fly back to the United States from Europe, where he attended a gala for Vlade Divac in Belgrade, Serbia, last weekend.

Olympiakos, based in Athens, currently has three American players on its roster: NBA veterans Qyntel Woods, Lynn Greer and Lawrence Roberts, one of whom would have to be released if Webber signed. Also on the roster is Roderick Blakney of South Carolina State, who holds dual American and Bulgarian citizenship. Olympiacos is also home to former NBA players Jake Tsakalidis and Arvydas Macijauskas, along with Greek center Sofaklis Schortsianitis, whose NBA rights are held by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Olympiacos' rival in Athens, defending Euroleague and Greek League champion Panathinakos, recently outbid Olympiacos to sign Sarunas Jasikevicius to a financial deal considered extraordinary by European standards, since it reportedly contained money to help Jasikevicius absorb the cost of a buyout he agreed to with the Golden State Warriors. Panathinaikos has also recently added shooting guard Vassilis Spanoulis, who spent last season with the Houston Rockets and was released by the San Antonio Spurs earlier this summer.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3040997

I think he would fit in well in Greece, being a statue and all.

I think he would fit in well in Greece, being a statue and all.

He's still mobile enough to defend the Kraken in stop-motion one on one.

I think he would fit in well in Greece, being a statue and all.

NICE.

LOL wtfmich

He won't do it. He's going to wait it out 'til we dump Flip Murray, and then we'll sign up to be one of our stiffs on the bench. It'll be nice to have a stiff who can still put the ball in the bucket.

$12m for two years is a lot to turn down to take the vet's minimum from us

Does C-Webb really want to experience the feeling of crying butt naked in the shower with a guy nicknamed "Rip" again?

He's still mobile enough to defend the Kraken in stop-motion one on one.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x147/dspiewak/emot-kraken.gif

I love it when the Kraken makes an appearance in a thread.

Maybe he'd get a chance to play against the Italian baller who ex-gf Tyra had been dating.

He turned it down. Says he's only playing for the Pistons if he plays at all.

:stein:

You better appreciate that Glenn

Here's what Fool was too lazy to post.


Webber says he's not accepting Greece offer, only wants to be a Piston

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

Chris Webber said Monday that he will not be accepting a lucrative offer to finish his career in Greece and revealed that the Detroit Pistons are the only team he can see himself playing for this season.

Webber also told ESPN.com in a phone interview that he's still "weighing all my options," which include the possibility of retirement at age 34 if he doesn't return to the Pistons.

Yet it's believed that Detroit remains intent on re-signing Webber, provided it can shed a salary or two by trading away Flip Murray and/or Nazr Mohammed.

ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan reported Friday that Webber had received a two-year offer from perennial Greek power Olympiacos worth between $10 million and $12 million tax-free. Webber declined to discuss specific amounts he's been presented with but insists that he's not paying very close attention anyway.

"I'm not going to Greece," Webber said. "It's no disrespect to [Olympiacos], but I can't do that. I'm an NBA guy. I don't want to just chase money. I want to make sure I respect the game.

"To tell you the truth, it's kind of stupid in a way to turn down stupid money, as my dad would call it, but I can't just do it for the money. If I'm going to play, I'm only going to play as a Piston ... unless something crazy happens."

After a half-season of mixed success in his long-awaited homecoming with Detroit, ending with the disappointment of the Pistons' loss to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals, Webber was also pursued in the offseason by Dallas, Orlando and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Magic are expected to come after Webber hard again after losing Tony Battie to a long-term shoulder injury -- Webber and Dwight Howard share Aaron Goodwin as an agent -- but Webber has only seriously considered Detroit and Dallas, hoping for one last shot at the ring that has eluded him for 14 seasons.

"At this point in my life," Webber said, "I only want to play for a championship contender."

Negotiations with the Mavericks stalled in part over contract length. Even without such obstacles, though, moving to Dallas would represent a bigger life change than Webber seems willing to take on.

He prefers to wait for the Pistons to sort out their roster and payroll issues while remaining heavily involved in various business and philanthropic activities. If an opening with the Pistons doesn't materialize and he decides to retire, Webber appears content to shift to those pursuits full-time, much like former Sacramento teammate Vlade Divac.

Webber insists that his growing interest in his business and charitable pursuits -- which include aspirations of owning an NBA team someday -- would be the main motivation to stop playing as opposed to the knee troubles that have plagued him since the 2003 playoffs. Webber maintains that he's healthy enough to play on and Detroit, in spite of any health concerns, is prepared to invite Webber to rejoin the Pistons if they can create the roster room, even if it doesn't happen until or a month or two into the season.

Olympiacos, based in Athens and coached by Israel's Pini Gershon, targeted Webber as its big-name answer to rival Panathinaikos' recent signings of Sarunas Jasikevicius (bought out by Golden State) and Vassilis Spanoulis (waived by San Antonio after being acquired from Houston in the Luis Scola trade). Gershon would have been forced to release one of his American players -- Qyntel Woods, Lynn Greer and Lawrence Roberts, all of whom have NBA experience -- if Webber had accepted.

Never using those fucking face smilies again.

Never using those fucking face smilies again.

If they all looked like that, I'd agree with you. Guy looks like he got hit in the face with a burrito.

How effective can Webber be off the bench, assuming we keep Dice as a starter? My concern is that he'll steal time from Max and Amir, even if it's only 10 min a game combined. i'd rather we commit to the youngins and live or die by them.

I can't believe how they're playing my boy. Someone in the front office, grow a pair and make the phone call you're dreading. You know he ain't coming back, the longer this drags out the more you look like idiots.

:mccosky:


The deal about Webber

Everybody has picked up on the 'news' that Chris Webber still wants to play for the Pistons. That's not really news. He has said all along that if he played, he wanted to play for the Pistons. Late in August, he met with Joe Dumars to let him know he wanted to return and he didn't care what role he played. But, he said that last year, and he absolutely cared about his role. Remember in the middle of Game 5 against Cleveland, him yelling at the bench to "Let me play my game!" Then, after the Pistons were eliminated in Game 6, Webber lashed out in the locker room at Flip Saunders. So, it's hard to take Webber at his word when he says he would accept a limited role.

Regardless, Dumars is committed to injecting some youth into the mix this season. He made it clear that he would not bring back four veteran big men. Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Nazr Mohammed are under contract. The only way the Pistons would consider Webber is if they could move Mohammed. They are no longer actively trying to move Mohammed. So, Webber remains on the outside. Could it change? Yes. Like I have said repeatedly, the Pistons roster could look different after the trade deadline in February. Dumars isn't going to stop looking for ways to improve the team. They are hopeful that McDyess starting will plug the hole in the middle. They are hopeful Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson can take a step up. They are hopeful Mohammed can give them solid play against the bigger centers. None of those things are guaranteed and Dumars knows it. So, stayed tuned on that. But if you are thinking that Webber will eventually be called in to save the day, forget it. That scenario played out last year -- unsuccessfully.