(UPDATE) Veektor: Back to Russia

by paxson43 on Feb 7, 2008 2:30 PM CST Comment 57 comments

[UPDATE: Veektor speaks. (hattip to JoeJoe) -Matt]

A sad sad day in Chicago Bulls history. KC is reporting that the Bulls have bought out the remainder of Khryapa's contract.

I no longer have a reason to root for this team. I hope they wear their black road uniforms tonight in memory of Veektor.

Anybody have any favorite Veektor memories that they'd like to share? I loved it when he got decimated by LeBron late last season.

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Why is this happening?

Are the Bulls freeing up a slot for a possible trade?

by chgobr on Feb 6, 2008 8:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Why now?

Couldn't they have at least waited until Deng comes back? What if Nocioni has one of his 3-15 shooting nights?

by Big D on Feb 6, 2008 8:24 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

They'll

put Griffin in. Get ready for his slow-mo post moves.

by cranscape on Feb 6, 2008 8:37 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Paxson's biggest mistake

ever.

Fire Boylan!

by hscs on Feb 6, 2008 8:27 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Haha

HSCS, I implore you to do some sort of retrospective on TYI. It would mean so much for us subscribers to Veektoria's Seekret.

by paxson43 on Feb 6, 2008 8:33 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Does this have something to do with the

Bulls being tied for the 8th spot (for 2 1/2 hours). Maybe the Bulls can't stand success and are getting rid of VK to prevent a big win tonight.

by chgobr on Feb 6, 2008 8:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

who really wasn't bad enough to deserve an almost permanent benching, is that this pretty much guarantees no trades this season. Veektor's expiring 1.9 million seemed like it could be useful, even in a Ben Wallace/Nocioni/Smith dump.

Fire Boylan!

by hscs on Feb 6, 2008 8:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

"wasting" indeed.

Which makes it weirder that Veektor got all those minutes the past two games.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 6, 2008 9:06 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

veektor memories

i mean, hands down the best moment had to be his reverse dunk against the heat this year, followed by mike tirico saying something to the effect of "when viktor khryapa gets a reverse dunk on you, you know its been a rough night."

by Mike C on Feb 6, 2008 8:37 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

He had a good preseason

when he first arrived. That was pretty sweet.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 6, 2008 8:59 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Holy crap

now, Pax, you wanna tell me the upside to the LaMarcus Aldridge/Tyrus Thomas trade???

by Freethefro on Feb 6, 2008 9:05 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Getting the better player

on a cheaper contract.

by Scotter on Feb 6, 2008 11:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

There is no proof

that Thomas is the better player; Aldridge's PER has been higher, as has his shot percentage.

Thomas is better in numerous defensive categories; but the Bulls would be better off with an offensively polished 6'11" 240 pounder over a raw, defensively ready 6'9" 215 pounder.

Tyrus could end up being the better player over his career, but he could just as easily not, its much too early to tell.

by Kemp on Feb 7, 2008 2:05 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The Bulls already have Joe Smith,

they don't need another one. You quote their sizes like it's evidence of being good at basketball. Aldridge may weigh 240, but he's certainly not any stronger or physical than Tyrus evidenced by Aldridge's rebounding. And Tyrus already weighed more than 215 when he was drafted, and he has been over 220 for a long time.

by Scotter on Feb 7, 2008 8:59 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Well

we probably wouldn't have needed to sign a guy like Joe Smith if we already had Aldridge, so I don't see your point. Aldridge came in the year of P.J. Brown, which means we might have had more cap space than we do now after Brown's contract expired.

by Kemp on Feb 7, 2008 5:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Victor

Probably begged Pax to do it, not wanting anything to do with this sorry team anymore.

by Option27 on Feb 6, 2008 9:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

agreed-

there is absolutely no good reason to tell even a halfway-useful player, "here, take the rest of your salary and don't come back this year"... unless his name starts with an E, and ends with -ddie Robinson.

of course, considering how khryapa was utilized, i wouldn't be surprised if he took $1.00 as the buyout so he could get out of this situation and go home.

it was fun, i thought i saw glimpses of nocioni-type potential with khryapa, but i guess he'll just go to another team and get minutes and wind up being a solid role player.

if he plays for another nba team, i'll root for him when i see him.

by leeac on Feb 6, 2008 9:20 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

portland announcers

just said vic was sick of not playing on such a bad team and got on a flight to russia!

by Beef Wennington on Feb 6, 2008 9:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The real secret

Vladimir Putin would have had Paxson poisoned if he had made Veektor play for this crappy team any more. The truth comes out! The Iron Curtain just dropped across the Eastern Conference.

by Old Skool Sloan on Feb 6, 2008 10:59 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

So he hopped on a plane to Russia

Is he at least planning on coming back to Chicago to get his stuff?

by Big D on Feb 6, 2008 11:47 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

he immediately becomes the best player in russia

... since ak is playing in the states. he's way better than american transplant robert holden.

i loved reading about how he absolutely dominated eurobasket last year and won the championship. he's a championship player with championship experience and championship skills. he will be missed. the best 12th man in the nba.

by Orange Juice on Feb 7, 2008 12:16 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Veektor

he was the second coming of Dalibor Bagarich! what an era!

by tomcat on Feb 7, 2008 2:05 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

i'm glad it's done

now I don't have to read all of the pointless "but Viktor was great on the Russian team" posts...gag

In my opinion, he was just a throw-in player anyway...they tried to act like he wasn't, but everyone (except for bullshooter) knew better.

This pretty much assures us that no trades will happen now...but oh well. I think we still have the market cornered on european busts...that's something we can be proud of.

by ScottieCartwright on Feb 7, 2008 8:33 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Wow

What the hell is that about? Why buy the guy out only a couple weeks before the trade deadline. That makes no sense at all.

If this were happening the day after the deadline I could care less. Happening now it's simply careless and stupid and needlessly forecloses possibilities.

Yeah, yeah, apologists will say "it's only Viktor Khyrapa", but in looking at small moves you still get an idea of what people are thinking. Or in this case, not thinking.

by Sports2 on Feb 7, 2008 8:40 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I heard elsewhere

that the Portland announcers said VK had hopped a plan to Russia. He wanted to go home.

by KT on Feb 7, 2008 9:00 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure I believe that

If true, it's sort of funny for the Bulls to be spinning this as "doing right by Viktor". If the Bulls side is true, then I still say, "so what", you'd still be doing right by him if you waited a couple weeks and you wouldn't be voluntarily cutting off a trade option.

If Viktor simply said "I'm sick of this stuff, screw you guys", then things are more dysfunctional than I thought. If he did that, the Bulls could really just void his contract and not even pay him. Which is pretty amazing. I mean, it's not like VK was a great player or anything, but you've got to give something to a guy who'd give up a couple hundred K of guaranteed money to get on the court somewhere else. But at the same time, just walking away and quitting is pretty lame, and I don't see any reason to do the guy any favors.

I think what mostly bothers me is it's just another drop in the bucket showing the Bulls aren't thinking more than 6 minutes ahead of time. Yeah, there's no trades brewing at the moment. Yeah, it's unlikely a trade occurs.

But if the last couple years have taught the Bulls anything, it's that circumstances can change very quickly. And when they have, the Bulls have continually seemed unready and caught off guard.

This is another move in that direction although a small one. The cost of keeping an option open for another couple weeks was effectively 0 for the Bulls. Yet they went ahead and dismissed it anyway.

By the way, thanks for reminding me of your post on the Pax quote I was looking for the other day!

by Sports2 on Feb 7, 2008 10:04 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, I don't get the point in 'doing right'

either. Give him his out after the trade deadline at least, to keep the options open.

Then again, Veektor could've been poisoning this fantastic locker room chemistry the Bulls have. Character guys!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 10:55 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He could have had an offer

from a Russian team that had an expiration date on it.

by KT on Feb 7, 2008 11:11 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Veektor gives teams timetables

not the other way around!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 11:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Dude... It's about loyalty.

And character. And being good peeps. Paxson was just doing what he would want any player to do for him. It's, like, the Golden Rule of being a GM, ya know? Show Pax loyalty (in this case by not bitchin', probably), and he'll show you loyalty back. Just ask Andres Chapu Red Bull Follicly-Enhanced Nocioni.

Let us prepare for glory! --Michael Redd

by tyger1147 on Feb 7, 2008 11:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The odd thing

is that Viktor isn't even trying to continue his career in the NBA. I mean, okay maybe the Bulls suck but would you really rather take a pass on NBA paydays to play in Russia?? Doesn't make sense. He must have a very strong reason to believe that there isn't any particular interest in him anywhere else in the league.

Sucking chest wound? Bench Wallace and start Noah

by Rusty LaRue on Feb 7, 2008 7:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Read the update.

It sounds like he wants to play in Russia for at least half this season to try to get a better contract. Probably a year and a half and then come back in summer '09???

Let us prepare for glory! --Michael Redd

by tyger1147 on Feb 7, 2008 8:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

first of all, he's Russian

The Euroleague paydays are pretty good, and likely will surpass the minimum deal he'd get to stay in the NBA.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 9:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

There is no

way in hell anybody would choose rupees over dollars if they
really thought they had a chance to stay in the NBA, thats not a reasonable argument. He still very young and has a much better chance at maximizing his earning potential in the NBA. The fact that he's leaving suggests to me that there is zero interest in him around the league.

Sucking chest wound? Bench Wallace and start Noah

by Rusty LaRue on Feb 8, 2008 9:26 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

you're a know-it-all ass

It's the ruble in Russia, and the Euroleague likely pays everyone, or weights contracts with, the far more valuable Euro.

The rupee is Indian currency.

Fire Boylan!

by hscs on Feb 8, 2008 9:45 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

It's a brave new world, rustnuts.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 8, 2008 10:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Pax Takes No BS

We all know that Pax has staked a name for himself as a straight-talking, tough negotiating guy who values intangibles like team chemistry and attitude (including "gym-ratness") over inconsequential things like offensive skills.

So this had to have been something that was so bad that Pax had to basically paid to deport his ass. Something along the lines of "I'd rather play for Isiah Thomas than you and Boylan".

In fact, for Pax to do this at this time is no less than a broadcast to the rest of the league that Khryapa had a horrible attitude.

Still, like a lot of people, I wish that Paxson just sent the guy home (to his Chicago residence, not Russia) until after the deadline and put a lid on it. Until Pax strings together some really good moves, he's just cementing his reputation as another clueless GM.

"Duhon, don't make that garbage-time jumper... Save it for the next game!"

by bullhockey on Feb 7, 2008 9:24 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Trades

Looks like no trades :(

by Jesse07 on Feb 7, 2008 9:46 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

-1 Crapson

Another move that makes no sense from a business point of view.

by NBA Observer on Feb 7, 2008 11:14 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

somehow I don't see that nickname catching on

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 11:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Veektor was probably the most pissed

about being behind A-Drain on the depth chart.

by RogersPark Kris on Feb 7, 2008 2:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

and Malik Allen

Fire Boylan!

by hscs on Feb 7, 2008 2:54 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Viktor had really strange marks on his legs

like a leper or something. Maybe he didn't want to infect the team.

(That's got to be second place for the Alec award, right?)

Goodbye Viktor, and Godspeed.

by bullshooter on Feb 7, 2008 2:59 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

perhaps.

to increase your chances, include an anecdote about your daughter having similar leper-spots.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 3:33 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You don't get on the medal stand

by making people want to throw-up.

But who am I to say? I don't even get a vote.

"No, no. Stop talking to me. Someone might notice," Paxson squeaked.

by alec on Feb 7, 2008 3:40 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

actually that's pretty much the criteria.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 3:50 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Ha!

Oh, you cruel person.

"No, no. Stop talking to me. Someone might notice," Paxson squeaked.

by alec on Feb 7, 2008 3:55 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I can't fault Veektor at all

I would be doing the same thing. Once Deng went down for the extended rest, I thought Veektor had to get playing time. He's like Tyrus where coaches want them to play the 3, but their ball handling isn't anywhere close to be able to handle the assignment. If they're playing with a star PG it's a different story.

CSKA Moscow is already a good team. I wonder how many minutes he will get. You have to think he will help them sell tickets being a native Russian and all.

by NBA Observer on Feb 7, 2008 3:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

CSKA Moscow

is already pretty much full of native Russian players. Oh, and Trajan Langdon.

Its season is like half over so i wonder if there's some kind of signing deadline for them?

But all in all, if they wanted to do the guy a favor they would have gotten rid of him a freaking year ago.

by Sports2 on Feb 7, 2008 3:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Maybe we can

exchange Chris Duhon for Trajan Langdon.

by exult463 on Feb 7, 2008 3:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

To Russia With Khrap.

"Duhon, don't make that garbage-time jumper... Save it for the next game!"

by bullhockey on Feb 7, 2008 4:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

The update

atricle is really sad. I feel bad for him.

Never went to church camp but I did go to Girl Scout camp. If you ever need help making a campfire I'm your girl. :P

by sue369 on Feb 7, 2008 8:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

joining the movement

get this guy on the 'Veektorias Seekret' mailing list, HSCS

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 7, 2008 9:43 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

This guy needs to be a part of this thread

Matt, I don't care what it takes. Get this guy access to BAB so he can commiserate with us.

Veektor's quotes in the update really made me feel bad. It lends additional weight to Sam's rare expression of guarded sympathy a few weeks back:

[On the merits of trading for AK47] And then Viktor Khryapa gets someone to talk to. I admit feeling badly for the guy, as much as you can for pro players, as he always the first one out of the locker room alone as I've never seen him speaking to anyone on the team.

I would understand if Veektor chose not to be friends with Noc (you can only deal with so much spazz in your life), but are you telling me there was no one else on this team that was thoughtful enough to try to reach out to poor Veektor? I'm not even talking about a butt-buddy-level friendship. I would have made Aaron hang out with Veektor as part of his rookie responsibilities. Or maybe PeeOn should have been forced to take Veektor out. On second thought...

by paxson43 on Feb 8, 2008 5:58 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Sam may have been a bit off there

One of the video's from the Argentinian network involving Noce in the US clearly shows VK and Thabo and Luol chatting away. Luol's mentioned talking soccer with VK and Thabo.

They probably all stop doing things when Sam's around.

by KT on Feb 8, 2008 6:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Hanley says as much too

about Veektor's isolation in the locker room.

Hanley gave a rare Veektor anecdote saying he was mocking Aaron Gray ("I shoot the ball, pass the ball, I shoot the ball pass the ball" Something like that) as he was talking to his personal media scrum. That really makes me miss him.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 8, 2008 10:14 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm seriously disappointed he's gone.

If only the Bulls were really cheap (::gag::) and/or future-oriented, they could have not signed Smith or Nocioni (which anecdotally "proves" the point that if a team has money, it will spend it), as well as having played more all along, Thomas and Khryapa would be playing a shitload now.

It's kind of odd everyone laments his loss, for various reasons, but there's hardly a person here that doesn't have a "That sucks" attitude to the buyout.

Let us prepare for glory! --Michael Redd

by tyger1147 on Feb 8, 2008 10:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs