UPDATE #2 (5:31 PM EST): Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that Stojakovic has given the Mavericks a verbal commitment to join the team. No pen to paper yet, but Peja is on his way to Dallas.
UPDATE (4:28 PM EST): The Raptors have announced it is official, they have reached a deal to buy out Stojakovic. Now we’ll see which suitors really step forward (I don’t think the Lakers will be one of them, but they are in the original report).
2: 37 PM EST: Peja Stojakovic is sitting at the end of the Raptors bench, not getting in games and taking up a spot that could go to a young player Toronto could develop.
So it makes sense that the Raptors are looking to buy out Stojakovic and are close to a deal, as reported by Marc Stein at ESPN. Stojakovic, traded from New Orleans to Toronto six games into the season, is slated to make $15 million this year in the final year of his contract, and you can expect the buyout is pretty much for the full amount (why should Stojakovic take less?).
What’s interesting is who might jump in to sign the sharpshooter.
Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Stojakovic is determined to return to the Western Conference and join a playoff contender once he clears waivers and becomes a free agent, with three teams at the top of his list: Dallas, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks, sources say, are considered the favorite to land Stojakovic. They have minutes to offer at small forward and a well-chronicled need for perimeter shooting.
Not sold on the LA part of that rumor. The Lakers need outside shooting, but once Matt Barnes returns from his surgery you can bet that Stojakovic’s minutes would drop to nearly Raptors-like levels.
The Mavericks, however, have lost Caron Butler for the season and they have the minutes at the three to give out. What the Mavs or anyone who goes after him has to realize is this — we are not talking about the Kings-era Stojakovic anymore, we’re talking about a guy who couldn’t crack the lineups in New Orleans and Toronto. His defense is as, um, “good” as it ever was.
That said, Peja can still shoot the long ball — he’s only taken 31 threes this season in limited minutes, but he’s knocked down 48 percent of them. Last season that number was only 38 percent, but that is still better than many on the Lakers and Mavericks rosters.