# Koponen signs with Virtus Bologna



## el_Diablo (May 15, 2003)

Four year deal with "reasonable" buy-out option after each season..


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## MrJayremmie (Dec 29, 2007)

woah awesome. Might wanna put a link in there though, bro.

Great news for him and the blazers, imo.


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## el_Diablo (May 15, 2003)

it's in finnish, so you guys won't do much with it..

it's the finnish basketball association website, so you can't really find more reliable confirmation of this.


according to the article:

- 4-year deal with a reasonable buyout option after each season

- financially as good as what an nba contract would have been

- other nba teams were interested (about ten teams according to petteri's agent marc cornstein) but portland didn't want to give up koponen's rights

- pritchard though playing in italy would be a better option than sitting on the bench at portland or playing in d-league

- bologna plays in italian top league and fiba euro cup

- bologna just signed earl boykins


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## yuyuza1 (May 24, 2006)

I wonder if he will get any playing time. Earl Boykins and Will Conroy (from UW) already play PG for Virtus.


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## BBert (Dec 30, 2004)

Thanks El Diablo. That's good news.


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## SodaPopinski (Aug 10, 2004)

I had some virtus bologna with swiss on rye a couple years ago. Highly recommended.

-Pop


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Congrats to Kop, he did whats best for him and in the long run, best for the team.


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## B_&_B (Feb 19, 2004)

*
My Bologna has a first name,
It's O-S-C-A-R.
My bologna has a second name,
It's M-A-Y-E-R.
Oh I love to eat it everyday,
And if you ask me why say,
Cause' Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A!!!! 
*


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## meru (Jul 2, 2003)

Notable past players for Virtus Bologna:

Micheal Ray Richardson 3 seasons: '88-'91
Bill Wennington 2 seasons: '91-'93
Predrag Danilović 6 seasons: '92-'95, '97-'00
Orlando Woolridge 1 season: '95-'96
Antoine Rigaudeau 6 seasons: '97-'03
Radoslav Nesterovic 2 seasons: '97-'99
John Amaechi 1 season: '97-'98
David Andersen 4 seasons: '99-'03
*Manu Ginóbili *2 seasons: '00-'02
Marko Jarić 2 seasons: '00-'02
Rashard Griffith 2 seasons: '00-'02
Charlie Bell 1 season: '02-'03
Vonteego Cummings 1 season: '03-'04
Marko Milič 1 season: '05-'06
Travis Best 1 season: '06-'07


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## Perfection (May 10, 2004)

meru said:


> Notable past players for Virtus Bologna:
> 
> Micheal Ray Richardson 3 seasons: '88-'91
> Bill Wennington 2 seasons: '91-'93
> ...




Bill Wennington is nothing to sneeze at either...dude has 3 NBA championships. :biggrin:


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## meru (Jul 2, 2003)

BlazersEdge has the translation up. I didn't like this part:



> "Portland GM Kevin Pritchard saw moving to Europe as a better option than getting little playing time in the NBA and also playing perhaps in the D-league. On the other hand, my agent told me that more than ten NBA teams would've signed me, if I would've been able to leave", Koponen said.


Hmm. If my lifelong goal was to get to the NBA, then I wouldn't be feeling too fond of Pritchard right now.


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## #10 (Jul 23, 2004)

then he should've waited to enter the draft


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## Ed O (Dec 30, 2002)

Dan said:


> Congrats to Kop, he did whats best for him and in the long run, best for the team.


I agree... this is best for the team and best for him.

Hopefully he gets minutes and can earn a spot on the roster next year!

Ed O.


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## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

Hopefully they can bring this kid over and let him play within a year or two.


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## dkap (May 13, 2003)

meru said:


> If my lifelong goal was to get to the NBA, then I wouldn't be feeling too fond of Pritchard right now.


The fact that his contract is structured with easy opt outs each year should be reassurance enough that the Blazers want him over here as soon as he is ready to contribute.

Dan


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## BBert (Dec 30, 2004)

I agree that this is great news all around. He's still considered part of the Blazers plans, and he can be brought over easily when the time comes. Regardless of the PGs ahead of him in Bologna, he'll still have a better chance of getting court time there than in Portland. And it's a very good team in a very good league -- I've heard better than the league Rudy played in. He needs more development before he joins the Blazers (or another NBA team) anyway. I'm pretty happy about this development.


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## Masbee (Dec 31, 2002)

meru said:


> BlazersEdge has the translation up. I didn't like this part:
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm. If my lifelong goal was to get to the NBA, then I wouldn't be feeling too fond of Pritchard right now.


Ha!

After a couple of months of living la dolce vita in Italy he will soon forget that is was his dream to be signed by the Oklahoma City ThunderButts - and actually have to spend time living there.

This contract is perfect for the Blazers AND Koppenen. The kid wasn't anywhere close to ready to get burn on an NBA court.


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## World B. Free (Mar 28, 2008)

I hope he isn't mad at KP!!! I really like this kid.


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## Minstrel (Dec 31, 2002)

I hope the flying Fin becomes a good contributor to the Blazers down the line. Good news that he'll play in a good, competitive league.


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## STOMP (Jan 1, 2003)

dkap said:


> The fact that his contract is structured with easy opt outs each year should be reassurance enough that the Blazers want him over here as soon as he is ready to contribute...


...maybe more likely when several roster spots open up next year.

STOMP


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## Hector (Nov 15, 2004)

dkap said:


> The fact that his contract is structured with easy opt outs each year should be reassurance enough that the Blazers want him over here as soon as he is ready to contribute.


The fact that he structured his contract with easy opt outs each year should be reassurance enough that he wants to come over here as soon as the Blazers feel he is ready to contribute.


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## taikaviitta (May 28, 2007)

I will shed a light from a Finnish point of view and how people here are reacting to all this:

Most people here believe that the move made by Koponen is the best possible by far. Some how ever feel like he busted. I do not know why, since Koponen is at the age 20 the best prospect out of Finland since Hanno Möttölä, and Koponen might be even better. It's a little hard to compare since they have such a different careers and play different positions.

I can't say about Koponen, but the general thoughts in Finland right now are that KP treated Koponen badly and disrispectfully by postponing and postponing the decision on the final 15th player. Koponen wanted to come over to the NBA already this season and he was denied that possibility, so I would not be surprised if Koponen will one day play his first NBA-game in another uniform. The rumors about "multiple NBA-teams being interested in Koponen" started right after Summer League, when it was first realized that the TrailBlazers are not likely to offer Koponen a contract.

How ever, NBA is now Koponens dream and it looks like all he is doing right now is aiming towards that goal.

Things might change. The euro is strong compared to the dollar and every player in Europe now-a-days prefers a good pay and big minutes in Europe over the 12th spot in the NBA bench. Portland took a risk here, but that is something they might have been forced to do anyways.

The best bargain chip the Blazers currently have is that Koponen really, really wants to play in the NBA.

And that is all they have.

With the current CBA limiting the wages of first rounders, Koponen might soon be earning more money than he will in the NBA. I highly doubt that he has a steady salary. Most Euro teams offer an increasing salary for young players. It is now reported that Koponen will earn the same as in tha NBA, but what is he stays there longer that one or two seasons? I believe he will then earn more.
Then, what about playingtime? Koponen will get more of it in Italy than in the NBA for the first seasons. Nothing there that would lure him to the NBA.
Then there is also fame, if he becomes a house-hold name or even a semi-one in Italy, will he want to give that up?
One thing is playingstyle. Italian teams play a lot different style of basketball than the NBA-teams. They are much more organized. Bologna will start implementing Koponen to their style of basketball and he will adapt it. Then the question is, will he adapt to NBA if he come over later in his career?

Just to throw my 2 cents to the end to awake some thoughts...


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

Thanks for the info taik, but the Blazers bet bargaining point is we own his rights.


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## taikaviitta (May 28, 2007)

Dan said:


> Thanks for the info taik, but the Blazers bet bargaining point is we own his rights.


Not in Europe...

Oh, and your welcome!


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

taikaviitta said:


> Not in Europe...


I know, but if he wants to play in the NBA, it depends more on what we want to do with him than him (since he's already shown his cards at wanting to play).

It makes no difference if other teams want him on their team, he doesn't have a choice in what teams he can sign with. It might piss him off, but if he's not good enough to play in the NBA this year, it's the Blazers choice, not his.

Why they signed Batum and not him, though, I don't know. Maybe they figure Batum is in more need for NBA "training". 

I wish they had signed Kop (my own nickname for him), but he's pretty much at the mercy of the Blazers. If they don't want him to play in the NBA in the next 3 years, he won't, no matter how badly he wants to.

It's not the best way to handle a player in this situation, in fact I'm not too keen on how they waited (or at least, how it was presented to us as fans) but it's well within their contractual rights.

Not that I'm saying anything you (or others) didn't already know.


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## taikaviitta (May 28, 2007)

All very true... All of my speculations at the end all pointed out to "Petsku" () possibly wanting to stay in Europe. All in all, if you think of it, Koponen played his cards pretty badly, and the Blazers just sat back and watched. Then when it was their time to make a decision, it took pretty long.

If Koponen wants to play in the NBA, then Portland has the cards, but if the cards are bad (smaller salary, less playingtime, etc), he might just decide to pull off a Tiago Splitter.

Both parties can start blackmailing each other, but eventually it will cost more to Portland than to Koponen if it ever comes down to it. But I am pretty sure Paul Allen can afford the 3 mil they paid for the pick (and possibly Koponens salary). I really believe that it will not go down to that.

Blake has one season remaining and Sergio has a team option. Koponen has a reasonable buyout (rumored to be 500k dollars). You do the math.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

No matter when he comes over, it'll cost the Blazers the same in salary. It's mandated that his salary is based on his position in the draft. It might become more difficult for the team to offer him as much compensation as he is getting currently, and therefore he'll stay overseas, but the amount they can offer him won't increase anymore no matter how good he gets. 

The most they can offer him is already decided.


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

taikaviitta said:


> All very true... All of my speculations at the end all pointed out to "Petsku" () possibly wanting to stay in Europe. All in all, if you think of it, Koponen played his cards pretty badly, and the Blazers just sat back and watched. Then when it was their time to make a decision, it took pretty long.
> 
> If Koponen wants to play in the NBA, then Portland has the cards, but if the cards are bad (smaller salary, less playingtime, etc), he might just decide to pull off a Tiago Splitter.
> 
> ...


It's really hard to say who'll pay the most, the Blazers losing their investment or Koponen not realizing his dream to play in the NBA.


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## MrJayremmie (Dec 29, 2007)

> Blake has one season remaining and Sergio has a team option. Koponen has a reasonable buyout (rumored to be 500k dollars). You do the math.


I think that is what it comes down to. I think we lose Sergio on the team option for cap space, and I also think that we don't resign Diogu but do re-sign Webster and Frye.

That leaves our roster at...

1. Oden
2. Roy
3. Aldridge
4. Bayless
5. Rudy
6. Pryzbilla
7. Outlaw
8. Webster
9. Blake (i think we will probably re-sign him later, but maybe not if Koponen comes in and is solid as a backup)
10. Frye
11. Batum

(Diogu (team option), LaFrentz (expiring), Sergio (team option))

Thats an 11 man roster. That leaves plenty of room for Koponen. I think that is why they really wanted 1 more year. It also gives Koponen the 3rd string PG instead of the 4th. I think the 3rd might get a little playing time in certain situations also, which would be a plus. I wouldn't mind signing Steven Hill and Petteri Koponen for the 12th and 13th roster spots, and then that still leaves 2 spaces (lets say we keep 1 open for flexibility like KP originally said he liked) for that FA signing which we would have about 10 mil free to use up (If Miles comes back).

That is just my reasoning. I think we will sign Petteri in 1 year. That will still leave us with money and roster space for a FA.


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## Hector (Nov 15, 2004)

Petteri said he was willing to play all season in the NBDL, where he would have learned as much as he will in a year in Italy. Rookie Ramon Sessions spent his rookie year in the NBDL last season, was called up to the Bucks, and look at his assists.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=3231


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

Hector said:


> Petteri said he was willing to play all season in the NBDL, where he would have learned as much as he will in a year in Italy.


Yes, but learning cow tipping won't do him any good, long-term.

barfo


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## STOMP (Jan 1, 2003)

taikaviitta said:


> All very true... All of my speculations at the end all pointed out to "Petsku" () possibly wanting to stay in Europe. All in all, if you think of it, Koponen played his cards pretty badly, and the Blazers just sat back and watched. Then when it was their time to make a decision, it took pretty long.


I'd speculate that while it might have seemed that Portland was taking their time to PK's fans, that he and his agent were probably fully in the loop as to what Blazer managements plan was all along. Prior to camp this year he was a loooong shot to make the team because of the same reasons he didn't make it. They already have 3 guys under contract that play his position and whats the best path for him to take to develop fully?

After this season, 2 of the 3 PGs ahead of him in Portland's rotation have outs in their contracts and are likely to be gone. Italy is amazing, the competition is a step up and he can dictate that his contract has outs to keep his options open. It's likely PK and his agent discussed this situation thoroughly prior to camp this year and probably with KP too. 

Here's hoping he has a big year in Bologna

STOMP


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## taikaviitta (May 28, 2007)

It all truly does seem like Koponen is on the Blazers' long-term plans, but not in the sjort-term plans. I like to see him in Europe, the only thing I do not like about it is that he will be playing behind a supposedly shot happy Earl Boykins. But we'll see said the blind man...


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## mgb (Jun 26, 2004)

taikaviitta said:


> It all truly does seem like Koponen is on the Blazers' long-term plans, but not in the sjort-term plans. I like to see him in Europe, the only thing I do not like about it is that he will be playing behind a supposedly shot happy Earl Boykins. *But we'll see said the blind man*...


BS said the deaf man...


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