I Call Your Bluff: Where Will Pietrus Go?

From Tim Kawakami's site:

I heard from a member of the Mickael Pietrus camp a few hours ago, and he calmly but firmly thwacked at my conclusion that his client inevitably will have to accept the facts and sign the Warriors’ $3.47M qualifying offer.

And he really protested my stance (blogged last night) that the Pietrus camp realizes it has zero realistic option and is resigned to accepting the one-year contract with the Warriors.

Pietrus’ agent said that there has been outside interest, that the Warriors have turned down sign-and-trade deals that would’ve helped them, and that there could still be interest out there in his client–Miami and Cleveland (and possibly Dallas) being the teams at the forefront of that situation, I believe.

Now I'm not sure if Happy Walters is telling the truth or saving face. It seems much more likely that Pietrus has not received any offers, or at least lukewarm ones that are not unlike what the Warriors are offering him. Miami and Dallas would be hitting the lux tax if they offered Pietrus what he wants.

The Warriors, especially Mullin, deserve to be commended for taking a stance on a 1 year, $3.5 million offer. This is taking into account the past blunders (re: Dunleavy, Mike; Murphy, Troy; Foyle, Adonal) Mullin has made. Nellie has taught him well, and it looks like he could be one of the shrewdest GMs in the game. Well, maybe we won't go that far yet, but at least he's playing his way, instead of letting the players play him.

The offer sums up what Mullin expects/gets:

• Pietrus has to improve. Otherwise, he'd look like a bum on the FA market next year.
• The Warriors get an cheap, expiring contract as trade bait.
• Rebounding is a slightly lesser problem, perimeter defending is strengthened, and offense off the bench.

It's a win-win situation for the Warriors.