Two way street

PARIS (The Monday International Show) - As we approach media day which signals the start of NBA training camps, contract talk picks up steam as several international players must decide their immediate future-players like Mike Pietrus in Golden State or Cleveand teammates and NBA finalists, Pavlovic and Varejao.

It's interesting to note that these players and other restricted free agents who must accept or refuse their clubs qualifying offers before becoming totally unrestricted free agents next summer are realistically looking at Europe as a viable second option.

This is somewhat of a recruiting revolution fuelled by the strong euro currency and the financial competitiveness of several mega-rich euroleague clubs like Pana, Moscow or Barcelone.

In the past, the tradition was for NBA stars at the end of their careers like Bob Macadoo and Dominique Wilkins, to pick up a last fat contract in Europe before retiring but now we have some players in their primes who are no longer turning up their noses at European offers!

Tsakilidis and Macijauskas have left the NBA for Olympiakos and Jasikevicius should have joined them and offensive wizard Pini Gershon but the Pana offer was too good to refuse.

Pana, with a billionaire owner through pharmaceuticals, has the deepest pockets in the euroleague as attests their unreal proposition to one-legged semi-retiree Chris Webber who, and this is even more unbelievable, seems to prefer waiting for a minimum deal in mid-season with Detroit!

Pana is using an old tactic of rich soccer clubs-signing everyone in sight in order to avoid meeting those players as opponents during the season- even if this means benching a lot of rich players with hurt egos!

Pana will have enough talent to build TWO euroleague champs with one roster and are big-time favourites to keep their euroleague crown in Madrid in may.

As for Saras, he seems to be making another in a short series of bad career choices starting with his first NBA contract in Indiana where he was seduced by Bird's winning aura before being reduced to a trade throw-in(to Golden State) by slow-it-down, defensive coach Rick Carlisle.

He should have chosen Cleveland at the time where feeding the rock to Lebron, running the pick and roll with his buddy Igauskas and hitting spot- up threes could have given him a more major role.

His skills are comparable to Steve Nash and like the Canadian he needs to have the ball in his hands, the coach's full confidence in his savvy leadership of an uptempo offense and defensive help from his teammates.

Now he chooses to leave an NBA team with too many guards for a euroleague team with too many guards and a coach, Obradovic, who is all about defense and long practices which probably are not Saras' cup of tea at the age of 31! Please explain this to me!

OK, I realize the money is good but seeing Saras' intense thirst to be on the court with Lithuania at the Euro made me think he'd be chomping at the bit for playing time with his new club after mostly sitting for two seasons in the NBA!

Anyway, bring on the NBA Europe Live Tour presented by EA Sports(boy that's a long name for a short event!), so we can stop talking about contracts, luxury taxes and unhappy divas (Marion, Kobe Kirilenko etc.) and start talking about games, performances and X's and O's!

I guess I show my age because I haven't been bitten by the fantasy league bug where the ultimate dream job is general manager.

Look's to me like more of a mathematical and public relations nightmare!

George Eddy