Sabonis Still Wants To Play For Blazers

The Lithuanian center must wait for the lockout to end, but his
agent says a contract should come soon after

Arvydas Sabonis has no vote on decertification. But he can and 
apparently has elected to wait out the NBA labor crisis.

It has been almost three months since Sabonis announced that he 
was ready to play for Portland, the team that drafted him in 
1986.

The NBA lockout has kept the Trail Blazers from signing the 
7-foot-3 Lithuanian, who has played in Spain the last six years. 
The lockout has not stopped other European clubs from waving 
big money at him, however.

"We have a very good offer from Panathinaikos in Greece, but in 
my opinion he has decided to wait for the NBA," Arturo Ortega, 
Sabonis' agent in Madrid, said Monday. "If nothing gets resolved, 
I don't know. He might make another decision. But he already 
has made a commitment with himself to play for the Trail 
Blazers next season, and it's difficult to make Arvydas change
his mind."

In an interview with the Spanish media on July 7, one week into 
the lockout, Sabonis said he was eager to test his game against 
NBA competition.

"I am 30 years old, and I don't want to regret not doing 
something I could have done if I had wanted to," he said. "I 
don't want that remorse to stay in me."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution sportswriter Ailene Voisin, who 
watched Lithuania place second in the European Championships a 
few weeks ago, also got the impression that Sabonis was headed 
for Portland as soon as possible. "I think he's excited about 
playing there," Voisin said. "He feels this is his final 
opportunity, and he wants to play against the best."

Playing in Greece would be far less appealing to Sabonis. He 
has indicated that he does not hold the Greek league, its 
referees and its incredibly rowdy fans in high regard.

"Things happen there that do not happen in any other place in 
the world," he said recently.

Sabonis' stance might have softened some when the Greeks 
cheered wildly for Lithuania in its European Championships 
final loss to Yugoslavia July 2 in Athens.

But it is noteworthy that Alexander Volkov, who played with 
Sabonis on the Soviet Union's 1988 Olympic gold-medal team and 
is one of Sabonis' best friends, has decided to leave Greece. 
Volkov played for Panathinaikos after two seasons with the 
Atlanta Hawks. Panathinaikos also has been trying to lure aging 
NBA star Dominique Wilkins. Volkov recently told Voisin that
he would advise Wilkins to "forget about it" and "stay in the 
NBA."

If Sabonis becomes a Blazer, it is thought that the 6-10 Volkov 
might accompany him to Portland and help him make the 
transition to America and the NBA.

The 31-year-old Volkov, who is trying to rehabilitate a chronic 
back problem, speaks much better English than Sabonis.

Money also should not prevent Sabonis from joining the Blazers.

The Blazers cannot talk to Sabonis during the lockout, but they 
can talk to his agents, and you can be sure the two sides keep 
in touch.

"As soon as the lockout is finalized, I'm sure we will be able 
to work out a contract very quickly," Ortega said. "I think the 
Blazers want Sabonis bad enough that they will pay him enough 
money."

NBA owners and players are expected to agree eventually on a 
rookie salary cap, but previous years' draft choices probably 
will be exempt. That would be a big break for the Blazers, 
because under a rookie cap Sabonis, who was a No. 24 pick, 
could not earn anything close to his multi-million dollar 
market value. The cap would base starting salaries on how much 
players drafted in the same slots made in previous years. The 
last three No. 24 picks had an average starting salary of only 
$617,000.

In the European Championships, Sabonis was an all-tournament 
selection who helped Lithuania achieve its main goal -- to 
qualify for the 1996 Olympics. Sabonis ranked fourth in 
tournament scoring with 21.8 points per game and led all 
rebounders with 14.5 per game (11.0 defensive, 3.5 offensive).

He played in eight of nine games, missing one due to a sore 
mouth. He averaged 32.1 minutes out of a regulation 40.

Sabonis made 61 of 106 field goals, 57.5 percent, a higher mark 
than any Blazer finished with last season. He was 6 of 18, 33.3 
percent, from 3-point range. From the free-throw line, he made 
46 of 57, 80.7 percent, which would have ranked second only to 
Steve Henson among those who finished the 1994-95 regular 
season with the Blazers.

Sabonis also had 11 assists, 20 turnovers, 7 steals and 11 
blocked shots.

"As we've seen through the years," Voisin said, "he's got 
extraordinary skills -- he can pass, shoot, rebound, block 
shots -- but probably because of the previous injuries to his 
Achilles, he is much slower than you'd like a starting center 
to be.

"He was virtually unstoppable against the teams that didn't 
have good big men, but he had some problems against physical 
players in the low post. And he'll have trouble against the 
quicker centers in the NBA. He still has a tendency to get into 
foul trouble.

Overall, Voisin said, "He looks like a very good backup center 
who could play 18-20 minutes a night."

Ortega, naturally, said Blazers fans should get much more than 
that from Sabonis.

"He was better than Vlade Divac in the European Championships," 
Ortega said. "He will have no problem at all in the NBA. He is 
going to be one of the best centers in the league."