Corey Maggette to sign with Warriors

by Matthew Powell on Jul 9, 2008 10:47 AM CDT

As you've undoubtedly heard, Maggette has agreed to a five year, $50 million contract with Golden State.

I'm not going to talk about options. If you're a Spurs fan, you're familiar with them. If you're not, you're not reading this blog.

If the Spurs bring the same general roster back from last year, if Finley sees meaningful minutes, or Horry sees any minutes, or if Buford and company sign Kurt Thomas and pretend he's anything short of another piece to throw on the scrap heap, I swear to everything that is holy that I will openly root against everyone not named Manu, Tim and Tony. I will take every opportunity to rip ownership and every player not named Manu, Tim and Tony. I will be the most negative blogger in the history of blogging.

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And I pledge to stand beside you. I’ve been saying the same thing for awhile now, and won’t tolerate any more acceptance of mediocrity by our front office. Timmy’s career is slowly winding up, and I can’t shake the feeling that we’re not maximizing it.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 9, 2008 11:13 AM CDT 0 recs

I'm gonna have to break ranks.

I’m going to have to disagree with your “mediocrity” claim. I live in Dallas and I see mediocrity all the time. 4 Championship trophies in 10 years is not mediocrity. I do agree that Tim’s career is rounding the last turn and it frustrates me too to not see more rings on his fingers. But I will not allow myself to start hating on the organization that brought me 4 amazing years, Tim/Tony/Manu, and a game 7 win in 2005. I just won’t do it.

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.

by CMoney on Jul 9, 2008 2:21 PM CDT up 0 recs

I see what you’re saying. I don’t hate the organization. If anything like you said, the 4 chips buys them a lifetime of immunity from my wrath. But there will be an extreme sense of dissatisfaction if they prove to be complacent and fulfilled at 4 chips when several more are very possible. No hatred, just contempt that our organization seems content to stand pat with 4 championships. Four is great. Four is awesome. Four is something 99% of teams would kill to have just 25% of.

But as a SPURS fan who believes objectively that we are a favorite EVERY year that TD puts on a uniform, four is simply not enough. Why be content with four when you can have 7? 6? Even 5? When it would only take stepping up monetarily and fighting to gain the services of one or two other slightly above average players to achieve another (or multiple) championships; I’ve gotta lean the way of common sense. And I’m not putting it all on the owners. At a certain point, they can only do so much and we are limitted by cap/contracts/availabilities. But to see no strong indications that they’ve recognized these needs and share the same opinions; and to have the core that we have and to “only” have 4 rings gives me some disappointment, I would be lying if I said it didn’t. Bottom line- we’re not winning again or anytime soon with the team we played with last year. I know it, you know it, and even the misers know it.

And by “mediocre” I’m talking about standing pat. I’m talking about “mediocre for us.” The fact is, mediocrity is different for us than it is for Toronto or Memphis. We’re in another zone; a zone in which our standards and expectations are different than those other 99% of teams. “Mediocre” for the San Antonio Spurs is being content with our current fossils, refusing to see the pressing need for athleticism and youth, drafting questionably, and not making a serious run at a strong available talent….. and then still arrogently believing that we’re going to be a finalist.

As a whole, we’re not a “mediocre” organization. But if we continue to stand pat and (I would say) ‘waste’ the rest of TD’s career with the likes of Robert Horry, Mike Finley, Barry, the JV, etc.; THAT is mediocre behavior at best.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 9, 2008 3:42 PM CDT up 0 recs

Let’s see Powell is planning on taking over the title ‘most negative blogger’ from himself I presume.

SiMA considers 3 titles in the last 6 years mediocrity. A trip to the conference finals this last year is what? A waste of our time.

Such high standards, are you guys sure you aren’t Yankees fans? Maybe related to Hank Steinbrenner himself? Just checking.

I’ll jump on your bandwagon of killing the front office we have a first round exit or miss the playoffs. Not when we have been right in the mix every year.

Besides, if we have several young guys who suck it will take away all of our material for humor on this blog. Finley, Horry, KT, and Brent are the easiest targets on the team.

by AusTechSpur on Jul 9, 2008 11:33 AM CDT 0 recs

Giving RoHo and FinDAWG more than 4 minutes per game combined (much less even having them on the roster) is “acceptance of mediocrity.” Not maximizing the career of the game’s all-time best 4/5 by consistantly putting all the best pieces possible around him is a considerable insult and a discredit to the star that only a year ago left $11+ million on the table to remain viable. And when you have 4 chips, “viable” is no longer simply defined as “a trip to the conference finals.” Our expectations and standards should be higher.

When I see RoHo, Fin, the JV and Bones on the floor for a Tim Duncan-in-his-prime-led team, all at the same time…....that’s the very essence of mediocrity. But we don’t have any other options because of the misers. Yes, we’ve got 4 rings. And we’ll always be grateful for that. But looking back ten years from now, how many more could we have if our front office had been willing to fight and spend to do everything possible to get us there? I’ll always think that this year was ours had we had more bench support. This game is all about money, and we have notoriously cheap owners. They’ve gotten extremely lucky with Manu and TP, and the trust is content to ride those three until pension. The fact that we’ve had such a successful run is more a credit to Timmy than to the owners. They don’t seem to realize that in order to maximize TD’s career, we need to aggressively court major talent. We need to avoid our coach retaining the mindset of “It’s not really broken since we got so close, and if it’s not broken I’m not going to fix it.”

I’m not content with just playoff appearances anymore. Don’t care. I want rings. And then more rings. The expectation is higher. Dynasties produce that, as do skill-sets. We have Tim Freakin’ Duncan in his prime on our team, yet another ring should be the only satisfying goal. “Right in the mix” and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee, that’s about all.

And there will always be Faberto to make fun of. Him, and other bloggers.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 9, 2008 12:01 PM CDT up 0 recs

While I agree that the ownership is miserly, that is not the only problem. The reluctance to bring in any player that doesn’t already have 100,000 miles and a replaced head gasket, means when we face athletic teams like the Hornets, we get in trouble. The Western Conference semis were too close for comfort. Add another year onto our ancient role players, and we don’t win that series.

We need to remember that in this draft alone we passed up on CDR, Greene, and J.R. Giddens. Giddens and CDR are probably ready to contribute right away. It will be interesting to track their pro careers relative to George. While Greene has bust potential, he also has star potential, and I am fairly confident that both Giddens and CDR will be commanding larger salaries than George in a few years.

by VWolf on Jul 9, 2008 12:29 PM CDT up 0 recs

3 titles in the last 6 years with a core of Duncan, Manu and Tony Parker is mediocrity.

by Matthew Powell on Jul 9, 2008 12:02 PM CDT up 0 recs

i don’t know how i feel about that. i see what you’re saying and agree that they could’ve won more, but hot damn, if it doesn’t feel like breaking 500 karmic laws to say winning a championship, let alone three, is mediocrity, i don’t know what it is.

btw, that’s probably my finest run-on sentence in recent memory.

gospursgo. hook 'em. metal rules. ganja rules.

by metalandganja on Jul 9, 2008 12:45 PM CDT up 0 recs

Should’ve been 6 titles.

by Linix129 on Jul 9, 2008 1:38 PM CDT 0 recs

I actually bought and ordered a Warriors T-shirt after last year’s first round, just to wear around all of my mavs friends. I will hereby not be wearing that shirt anymore. My little stand against the team that swooped in to steal a player we likely could have used and that they don’t really need.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 9, 2008 2:05 PM CDT 0 recs

there is a LOT that has to happen before i start going down that old negative path. i am with ATS on this – i cant shake the feeling that the spurs might have been one healthy ankle ligament away from all of us having a big love fest on the riverwalk – even with all of the old turds on our roster.

right after the spurs exit, someone on here blogged about the spurs bringing all the old clangers back and it almost working. that is fact. it almost worked. defending your title all the way to the conference finals is an almost even though none of us really want that. in the grand sceme, there are how many NBA teams and SA made it to the last 4 left.

dont get me all wrong, im not for bringing back all the old clangers. but i’ll betcha that we still make a run even if we do. it will all hinge on the big 3 and what they do. i dont believe for a minute that tims career is winding down – no way, not after what he was able to do this past season and post-season. manu is coming off his best season in the NBA.

can 4/9 or 3/5 be considered mediocrity on any level? c’mon folks, the bullshit detector is so loud on that one that its making my ears bleed. don’t forget that the spurs were very likely .04 seconds and the most untimely and-1 in history away from 5 straight titles.

spurs have some real needs for sure – like someone else to make a few shots here and there. they defiitely need a new person to do this and i think they will get someone to log some minutes. we need another big and KT is about the best thing we’re gonna get – and he wants to come back. that is almost a must sign to me. he aint the best thing since the slcing of bread, but what esle is out there?

not sure what injury to self-inflict if he is re-signed. it is obvious that he is done. obvious to me, but im not sure its obvious to pop and company. i wont be super shocked if that somehow happens.

by bones on Jul 9, 2008 3:48 PM CDT 0 recs

d’oh. i was referring to RoHo on the last paragraph – he is the one obviously done and i am still contemplating which injury to self-inflict if he is re-hired.

by bones on Jul 9, 2008 3:58 PM CDT 0 recs

genital mutilation seems a lil harsh since I imagine the pain of watching RoHo play another season every other game will be unbearable (again). I’d suggest maybe a paper cut between the webbing of your feet or somethin of that nature.

If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat.

by Windex40 on Jul 9, 2008 4:45 PM CDT up 0 recs

maybe i’ll take the paper cut idea a step further and make the incision between my toes with a rusty nail….....

by bones on Jul 10, 2008 10:12 AM CDT up 0 recs

Okay, let me explain what I meant with the “acceptance of mediocrity” comment. Again.

There’s two sides here. On one side, we were soooooooo close. One injury away, one shot away, one foul away, etc. We shouldn’t change things until it’s absolutely necessary to, since we were so near to victory this year with the current team. On the other side, the time to tweak things is NOW. We’re only getting older and in a more competitive and athletic West,

There’s always a great excuse for losing. Injuries take on a little different spin though, because an older team is definately more injury-prone and not as athletic, so we’ll take that one out of the excuse pile. Losses in the past are set in stone. Pick your reasoning and whatever it was, we still lost. Yes, I agree that we could very well be looking at 7+ rings right now had circumstances been better. But examine just last season and the injury reasoning. An older team with less weapons (outside of the Big 3) is more likely to have injuries shape their season. Had we had a more reliable Findog and RoHo and better bench performance outside of Manu, we’d be hungover now from a parade. But that’s just the point. The objective is to get better when you lose, not to “have faith.” I have yet to see us get better this off-season.

I personally think the time for change is NOW. We’re even older than the comically old that we were this time last year. That’s going to catch up with us, if it hasn’t already, and we should pre-empt that minor fall by adding new pieces to compliment the old. This is not NBA Live or 2K. Our team is not perpetually young and talented and actually gets worse as time goes on. I am firmly in the camp that believes we have definitive needs, and that management needs to seriously address these needs for us to remain a threat.

It is “acceptance of mediocrity” in that if management decides to stand pat with the same team that was too old and too tired and too injured to get to the Finals last year going into next year, we will be lucky to even last as long as we did. Management is “accepting a mediocre level of success (by San Antonio SPURS standards)” by refusing to better our team even more to compete with the rapidly improving teams in the league. And yes, “mediocre=WCF” is a dream others would kill to have; but in San Antonio, the definition of success is a trophy and nothing less. Anything less than a ring is mediocrity when you have TD, TP and Manu in their primes. 4 in 9 isn’t mediocre by any means, but being complacent when there is a clear need for improvement right now while all others around us gradually approach our skill-set IS the definition of mediocrity. It’s great we made it to the WCF with injuries and age and all this past year. But our odds of injury go up as our ages do (especially when you consider the lack of an offensive threat starting in front of Manu and necessitating more playing time for #20) and last year pushed us to the brink. Now that the other threats have had even more playoff experience and more time together and we’re yet another year older, do we really think our odds INCREASE by standing pat for next year?!

In my mind if no changes are made for this next season, management is “accepting of mediocrity” at best and “tragically misguided and delusional” at worst. And by ‘changes,’ I’m not referring to signing Linton Johnson or re-upping KT for another 2 years. We will not be a serious contender this year (howbeit for injuries or other excuses or not) unless management recognizes the need for additions/changes.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 9, 2008 5:33 PM CDT 0 recs

All we have is the MLE...

...Only certain players can be had for that amount. And those players have some say in where they go. In an ideal world, Elton Brand would have taken $5mil per to sign with the good guys, but it ain’t realistic.

by Gino20 on Jul 9, 2008 7:29 PM CDT up 0 recs

very true that the best time to make improvements is from a position of strength. to get on top and stay on top you have to make adjustments no question about that. however, its very very tough to do these days when the competition is very fierce and when guys dont care as much about winning as they do money.

im not sure that i agree with the crowd that says anything less than a championship with tim/manu/tp is mediocre. i dont think they are the most talented big 3 in the league – but they are the smartest, and often the most determined – but its hard hard hard to put up the trophy every time out.

to me, this team needs a tweak rather than an overhaul….and a healthy year from its bug guns.

by bones on Jul 10, 2008 10:20 AM CDT up 0 recs

The main culprit is Pop in my book. His fall from grace has been tragic. It has been disgusting. He has simply refused to bring in any young talent since Beno. He had so much trouble with a young Ginobes, Parker, Stephen Jackson & Beno..he decided it was much easier to stock the team with satisfied old vets. For the last couple of seasons he could literally just roll the balls out and everyone already knew what to do. He didn’t have to coach at all. He could sit on the bench and take it easy. This season was his most comically obvious. Not calling time outs, high fiving the opposing coach after the Spurs were dismantled, not sticking up for his players at any time. His lame comments to the press were a joke. He was rarely ever seen attempting to motivate the team or explain the Xs and Os. With all due respect to what he has accomplished in the past, fuck you Pop. If you wanted to shut it down last season, you should have retired then. Instead you want to float into retirement padding your career victory total with meaningless regular season games. You are dragging the team down on purpose. You piece of shit. Maybe you are done coaching and giving a fuck, but some of us fans aren’t ready to shut it down for eternity yet. There is still basketball to be played. There are scum suckers like Kobe, Cuban and Garnet that need to be taken to the wood shed. Watching this next season’s Spur team will be the most painful experience that any of can imagine. Thanks Pop. Way to tarnish your legacy and ruin the team’s chance for another title or two. Enjoy your active retirement.

by Clintons Cigar on Jul 9, 2008 6:14 PM CDT 0 recs

you're an ass

don’t even expect to grasp what an NBA coach has to go through to produce a high-caliber team. it’s one thing to criticize him for some questionable decisions. but to drag him through mud and reduce him lower than other coaches that will never make it to his level in their careers is assanine. get a grip.

by znimrod on Jul 10, 2008 9:46 AM CDT up 0 recs

Someone forgot to take their Zanex. I try to stay open-minded but these are the arguments that I can’t even see the other side.

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.

by CMoney on Jul 10, 2008 11:23 AM CDT up 0 recs

I am as frustrated and disappointed as all of you but the problem is the Spurs have only three talented players, none of whom they can afford to trade. They have no player of worth to trade other than the big 3 and w/ only $5.5 M to pay a free agent they can not compete with the Warriors who had all of the Baron Davis money to spend (go figure, Chris Mullin throws $10M at Corey Magette). Historically, dipping into the Euro League was a brilliant move but between the growth of the Euro league (and the salaries they are paying) and the decline in the dollar there are no Europeans of merit that want to play in the NBA. That being said, I think the Scola trade was a huge blunder and I still can’t get my head around the George Hill pick.

by AWF on Jul 9, 2008 6:27 PM CDT 0 recs

Welcome to the club

I think the Spurs have the same problem with ownership that the Suns have. I am totally disgusted with what Phoenix has done and you are following our lead. The Suns owner, Robert Sarver, wants to keep filling the arena and doesn’t want to put out the cash to get it done. He bought Shaq to sell tickets. When Shaq came to Phoenix, he wasn’t even playing. Our GM is Steve Kerr, the famous bench warmer, broadcaster and old friend of Sarver from Tucson. He stayed in San Diego for half of the Suns games last year and watched it on TV.
So, welcome to our world, an old team that will fill the arena for a few years and then go the way of Miami. It is very painful.

by TheTruthSquad on Jul 9, 2008 8:07 PM CDT 0 recs

Problem is, we’re not even going after names that would fill an arena. Roger Mason will not be enough of a draw for even the SPURS asst. coaches to show up to games, much less arena-filling regulars.

In all seriousness though, I’m so thankful we DID get Roger Mason and weren’t stupid enough to go after snaq.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 9, 2008 8:33 PM CDT up 0 recs

Too Much Negativity

I am in the CMoney/ATS/bones camp on this one. I do not see how, 1 season removed from a championship, fans of the Spurs can express their negativity so caustically and with so much hyperbole.

Regardless of what you meant by mediocrity (as far as I can tell, you meant that standing pat is mediocre behavior) it doesn’t make sense to call a team mediocre when it was one of the top 4 teams in the league just one month ago. The Spurs have a damn good team, and one of the problems of having such a good team is that it is hard to make real improvements. When you suck (like the Celtics did) or you are mediocre (like the sixers) you have a lot of opportunity to improve. When you are only worse than 1 or 2 teams in the entire league, than improvement is much more difficult.

It is absurd to suggest that the Spurs FO is not working their asses off to make this team better. Obviously, the Scola trade sucked, no one can argue with that, but the trade-deadline deal that brought us Thomas, the resigning of Barry, and the moves that have yet to happen during this offseason are evidence that we are moving. I wish the Spurs had been more savvy during the pre-season last year. I wish we would have picked up CDR or Chalmers instead of Curious George, but I’m not willing to piss on the Spurs organization just because of decisions that I disagreed with.

I'm comfortable winning -- Emmanuel Ginobili

by pollackj on Jul 10, 2008 6:37 AM CDT 0 recs

I. Didn’t. Call. The. Team. Mediocre.

And “moving” is not necessarily a good thing. Washing machines move, but don’t actually go anywhere.

“Working their asses off” is somewhat of a stretch. Unless you meant, “working their asses off trying to make everyone believe that they’re working their asses off.” Obviously THAT’S working.

I’m already planning on being the first to congratulate all in your camp when the SPURS make it to the second round of the playoffs next year. That will be awesome, and we’ll all be so proud.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 10, 2008 11:49 AM CDT up 0 recs

You did say that the front office was accepting mediocrity. From whom would they accept mediocrity? The logical assumption would be from the team. Maybe you meant the Silver Dancers? Or the new Coyote?

Catch the Spurs Spirit! It's a Fast-breakin' Fiesta!

by tomasito on Jul 10, 2008 11:53 AM CDT up 0 recs

Standing pat with a team who cannot win a championship (what should be the ultimate goal and only acceptable conclusion to a season for a SPURS fan) anymore when certain moves can be made to tweak said team and more adequately make it possible to win another championship…... is mediocre behavior by the owners.

I realize how confusing the word ‘mediocre’ has been to so many, and I promise that next time I’ll be more careful as to which big words I use. If there’s any more confusion, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mediocre

Ordinary, moderate, poor, inferior. For us to stand pat and accept the RobertHorryMichaelFindogJVnoswingmanbaddraft creme pie that the owners are so in love with, we would be settling for the inferior. By. OUR. Standards. I’ve got four rings in a decade, making the WCF is ordinary to me now. I expect more. I expect championships. Just like the players, every year. Manu has very different expectations than say, Robert Swift. I share Manu’s expectations EVERY year. Therefore, not winning another doesn’t give me joy and pride. It gives me frustration because I realize our capabilities. The front office not tweaking as obviously needed to get us to that ultimate goal, is poor/inferior/ordinary/mediocre behavior.

Is this all starting to make sense?? Because the Silver Dancers are all emailing me to tell me that even they understand it at this point.

by SgtinManusArmy on Jul 10, 2008 12:10 PM CDT up 0 recs

Wait...wait...

You lost me back at mediocrity…. lets try this again.

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.

by CMoney on Jul 10, 2008 5:59 PM CDT up 0 recs

haha+golf clap=lotsa fun

by Gino20 on Jul 10, 2008 8:07 PM CDT up 0 recs

Yeah, I got lost when he pulled his John Kerry and flip-flopped positions faster than Nina Hartley.

by AusTechSpur on Jul 10, 2008 9:53 PM CDT up 0 recs

everybody knows

that if you have less than four stars, you are mediocre. no definition is needed.

dave mcnulla
spurs fan

by dmcnulla on Jul 13, 2008 9:53 AM CDT up 0 recs

I think you’re somewhat misreading what SiMA meant. I for one think it was obvious that the the main problems for the Spurs in the POs beyond Manu’s injury was the lack of youth – you could see how their performance got poorer with each series. And stats can back that up, too, if I cared to look for them.

I’ve said this before, but if you’re beaten by a broken plane, you know you’re effing old and need to rebuild. I sincerely don’t think we have any chances of winning the championship unless we get rid of Horry and Finley and bring in some new blood that can contribute. 27-year-old Roger Mason should help with that…

So I’m with SiMA in this one. ClintonsCigar, now, is crazy.

by LatinD on Jul 10, 2008 9:42 PM CDT up 0 recs

+1

But I think that George is going to be a solid player.

by 4Him on Jul 10, 2008 9:25 AM CDT 0 recs

i only read the first dozen or so posts, so if i repeat something someone else said, sorry.

i’m gonna have to take the middle of the road here. on the one hand, the front office has made a serious of frankly questionable moves. taking george hill in the first round with CDR on the board. making a seeming panicky move to sign roger mason to a large contract after losing magette. a move that also eats more than half our MLE.

on the other, the front office is the same front office, and theys some smart boys. usually.

i keep trying to tell myself that with a healthy manu, we would’ve beaten the lakers and ended up playing for another chip. i don’t know if that’s true. we kind of got embarrassed in five games.

i’m worried. i’m disappointed. i’m not disgusted.

you ain't a beauty but hey you're alright.

by kalone on Jul 10, 2008 12:05 PM CDT 0 recs

amen

Kalone, you’re hitting the nail on the head. This was not our offseason to make big moves. There were not high quality players available and we did not have cap room to pursue them if there were.

(Rant begins here) Yes, I am saying that Maggette does not fall into the high quality category. He has always been a spotty defender, struggles with shot selection, and a bit of a sulker. He was worth the risk to pursue, just because he was available, but if he were our type of guy, he would have taken a 1 or 2 year deal to play for a winner – SA, Boston, Detroit – and parlay that into the big money he wanted. Instead, he chose to be “the man” on a Warriors team stripped of its best player, where he and Monta Ellis have to carry the load. Wow – that’s a 30 win team if I’ve ever seen one. Good luck, CM. The pressure of having to lead a team is about to bite you in the ass. (End of rant)

Remember folks, all this came about only because Brand and BD opted out, creating a frenzy. Otherwise, this would have been the most boring offseason ever. There just were not high quality players available (I’m also not counting Childress here because I believe ATL when they say they’ll match. They have the room under the tax).

As for Mason, I like the signing. He fills a need, he was cheap, he gives SA the 2010 flexibility under the cap that everybody seems to want. That’s the window to completely reload, people. Right now, anything more than a re-tool was not happening. Peter Holt does not have Paul Allen’s money. He may not even have Robert Sarver’s money. We’ve won 4 titles without going into luxury tax territory very often. It can be done, and frankly, I’m proud of our little franchise for continuing to be a top-5 team with our market and being fiscally responsible.

We still do have some room in the MLE to bring someone else in if needed. JR Smith is a possibility, but has way more question marks than Maggette. Azubuke is almost as unknown as Mason. So, look at one of those guys, resign Bones and KT and get Manu freaking healthy. We are as good as anyone in the West next year and we can reload all of the bullets when the time is right to do so.

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." – Aldous Huxley

by spurchief on Jul 10, 2008 12:42 PM CDT up 1 recs