Quote:
Sarunas Jasikevicius, widely considered the top point guard in Europe, signed a three-year, 12 million deal with the Pacers, his agent Doug Neusted told ESPN Insider Chad Ford.
"It really came down to who he could win a championship with next year," Neusted told ESPN. "He saw a chance to contribute and win and couldn't pass it up."
Jasikevicius also had offers from the Jazz and Cavs.
The point guard, who played for the last three Euroleague champions, played collegiately at Maryland from 1994-'98. He most recently played for Maccabi Tel Aviv from 2003-2005 and F.C. Barcelona from 2000-2003.
|
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2115697
The Pacers were the best team in the East the past two seasons, in 2003-04, then in 04-05 before the brawl. I felt they'd have to be considered the favorite heading into next season after Granger fell to them in the draft. I've never actually seen Jasikevicius play, but he's been hyped up a lot and it sounds like he's a real good player. I'd have to say, at this point, the early picks for the 2006 Finals are Indiana and San Antonio, and at this point, I'm not sure if there's anyone out there on the free agency market that we can add to still be considering equal to the Pacers on paper.