Free Agency Thoughts

I’d like to see Bonner back. He’s better than his haters say he is, and almost as good as his biggest fan (me) says he is. I think he’ll get a lot of regular season minutes, and McDyess won’t.

Good stuff, bossman.

I want us to have a pretty good wing defender. It would help if said wing defender could also nail the 3, but we already drafted a shooter, and George should be better this upcoming season. How many of those guys won’t be willing to settle for the BAE? Also, having a secondary post threat is going to be a open up our shooters more. Our defense on the wings is really the only remaining weakness I see with this group, other than the fact that the group may have actually become a little bit too young and green. A wing defender with good size(6’8" or so) would be perfect. Here’s some names of free agent SF’s:

Marquis Daniels(not good size)
Steven Graham(ditto)
Linas Kleiza(not so much defense)
Joey Graham(can’t shoot)
Rasual Butler(hard worker, sort of blends in)
Travis Outlaw(hell of a scoring threat, but defense is not his forte.)
Rudy Gay(not gonna happen unless Chris Wallace is even dumber than we think)
Dorell Wright(very good option on D)
James Jones(good option, great outside shooter)
John Salmons(pretty much no chance)
Matt Barnes(…)
Rodney Carney(ha!)
Dominic McGuire(good size, very good defender, has taken ten 3-point shots in his entire career)
Keith Bogans(We already know what he can and can’t do for us)
Kyle Korver(can’t defend)

Paul Pierce just excercised his ETO, too. But that’s not gonna happen, either.

We need a backup SF but we also need a 5th big. I really dont want Bonner back. We need to go back to conventional basketball, two big guys who plays like big guys and 3 wing players.

For the backup SF, I like J.Jones, R.Butler and Gomes.

For the 5th big I really like to have Oberto back, a guy who does not complain about minutes, is reliable (rebounds, set screens and defends), and he can be a mentor for Splitter and Blair. (and Manu would be happy)

Tiago and DeJuan are the second string front court.

Great post but this is the one thing I sorta disagree with. Maybe it’s just that I’’m a huge Tiago Splitter fan but I really think he should start, especially over Dice. I understand that he will be unfamiliar with the system for a while but I don’t think this is an excuse to leave him out of the starting line up when he is clearly the only true center on our roster. I also don’t think your main goal in the summer is to sign a back up. Talk to me people, all who have seen him play. Am I overrating him?

I can’t remember the last time I saw such glowing terms for Bogans; and the fact that I consider those words as glowing goes to show what kind of comments I’m used to hearing . . .

Bogans probably isn’t returning and I don’t see much reason he should. He’s tough, plays hard and is a professional, but he’s inept offensively, careless defensively (playing overly aggressive and committing too many bad fouls) and he was literally one of the worst players in the league when it came to +/-. He was actually outplayed by Hairston in camp last year — significantly — but was given the go-ahead because of his veteran status — Pop wanted the certainty surrounding the group instead of the upside and potential of an NBA-level unknown. But sans Bogans and Bonner (unless he’s going to take a vet-min deal when he’s likely to command around the 3M he receives now), the rest of the guys I agree with.

In Bogans’ and Bonner’s spot will be two, and possibly all three, of Hairston, Gee and Temple. The Spurs have invested a good chunk of time in Malik and he’s arguably their best on-ball defender and if he’s actually given the reps to find his stroke, he could easily assume Bogans’ role of last year.

Temple is a 1/2 (and defend the occasional 3) that is just a fit for the Spurs plain and simple. He brings a great potential to play alongside Hill and share play-makng responsibilities without losing defensive size and he proved to be a much improved deep ball shooter through the D-League and from his stints with the Rockets, Kings and finally, Spurs.

Gee is another great athlete with a prototypical NBA body who the Spurs are pretty high on. They went out and spent some extra cash to secure his services over the summer and they just made Anderson pick another number because Gee wears 23 — seems the kid’s standing is pretty decent with the Spurs.

So that’s at a minimum 2 players you can add to the bunch:

Duncan – Ginobili – Parker – Splitter – Hill – Jefferson – Blair – McDyess – Anderson – Temple – Hairston – Gee

So that’s 11 or 12, depending on if they keep 2 or 3 of the aforementioned players, which likely leaves them with 2-3 roster spots — unlikely they’ll carry 15 this year give their tax-paying status.

So who’s left?

Well, they need another Big. Seeing as it would need to be a cheap big and the likely options they’ll have available to them, this brings Ian back into the equation. He’s young, possesses good tools, finally got healthy enough to show what he’s capable of last year, he’s acclimated to the system and he’s in their price range. So I’ve got to believe the odds of him coming back are pretty good if he’d like to — whether he will or not is another question, as I’m sure he’ll be confronted with the possibility of more playing time elsewhere. Ian does have loyalty to the Spurs and would love to stay, we’ll just have to see if it’s at the expense of possible playing time — he’d be the fifth big with the Spurs.

If it’s not Ian, I expect to see another Ratliff-type signing or maybe a cheap shooter or athlete for the front court that could just bring the option of another skill — insurance, basically.

The last spot in my eyes comes down to whether they want to go with 6 Bigs, putting one down with the Toros, or signing a more proven wing that possesses more defensive size for the small forward position — this is where Dorell Wright, James Jones, Dominic McGuire and a host of others come into play.

But if the Spurs are going to go with Hairston and/or Gee, signing another wing doesn’t make much sense. The minutes just aren’t there for them to see what thy’re capable of, and having a vet come in and do play a real role — the Spurs aren’t going to be bringing another body aboard they have to pay. Again, they’re a tax-paying, small-market team. It just doesn’t make sense on the court or in the pocketbook. So I’d venture to guess that their last spot probably goes to Richards who will then be sent down to the Toros to develop his game.

So the final tally:

Duncan – Ginobili – Parker – Splitter – Hill – Jefferson – Blair – McDyess – Anderson – Hairston – Temple – Gee – Mahinmi – Richards

Again, they could elect to only go with 2 of the Hairston, Temple and Gee triumvirate, and Richards’ spot could go to another low-cost option (giving the possibility for two cheap names not mentioned to make the roster), but that should pretty much be the roster we expect to see — at least until the trade deadline.

I apologize for being a windbag. lol

You know I’m stoked about Summer League Twilight: Eclipse being around the corner.

FIFY

hot _dog

lol
 
“Hot dog, hot dog, —hot diggity dog!”

As usual, nice perspective boss but there is nothing free about this agency. It appears that this will be the summer of loss. Hopes gone out the window .Not for us but others. Whole teams will have to start from at or near ground zero. Shake ups..shake downs. Speculation will be wild. Just with the five teams after James, they will have to add +/- 50 players. Get ready…it’s going to get wild.

Nice write up ATS. I agree with you on most every point. I’d like to see the Spurs take a flier on Wright instead of bringing Bogans back. To me Bogans takes minutes away from Hairston and Gee. Of course Wright would also take minutes from them, but I’d be ok with that if he was an upgrade over Bogans. I see Hairston’s development as more important than having what Bogans brings to the table, but not necessarily as important as having a good defender who can shoot playing the wing.

I just want a gotdamn shooter. Someone who can come into the game, nail running threes over out-stretched arms and take his opponents lunch money. Is that too much to ask?

used to live there, loved it. I love the Spur’s class, and the fact they can go through a whole game and not foul every possission, then freak out at the refs when they get caught with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar (see Boston, Denver, Utah).

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way…

I’ll admit, I was a bit shocked by the Spurs this year. I expected them to be MUCH better. I thought the addition of RJ, plus the growth of Hill, would get this team back to the WCF where they belonged in another epic showdown with LA. Alas, it was not to be. They got beat by a team they could not adapt to, or force to play Spurs basketball. This is something all great teams must do.

So what happens next year? I expect Jefferson to be MUCH improved next season, and Hill will make another jump (albeit, this one will be smaller than last years… the ceiling is getting closer), but let’s be fair. The Spurs couldn’t beat Phoenix with the current roster, and I think it’d be fair to say that they wouldn’t have beat LA or Boston either (not going to try and compare them to ORL or CLE). Now, while I am against teams every year adding another big name in hopes it pushes them over the top like Dallas is doing, or Cleveland was doing, I think in this day and age of basketball, you cannot stand put if your team was not good enough the year before. Because pretty much the only argument I can make for the Spurs next season is… “Well, they better hope some other teams lose players to injuries to bring them down to SA’s level.”

The Spurs must improve. Particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

last years team lacked shooting length and sound defensive roatations. Practice should

remedy those pesky back side help defensive lapses. & I beleive that we

(FO) have already addressed those other issues with the courting of

said SPLITTER, the draft & maybe they’ll pick up a sniper or Vet

BIG via free agency. Also gotta show the D-LEAUGE some luv.

THANX 4 THE ACCOLADES THOUGH!!

Where’s Shaq going to play?

I know it’s reality, but what a depressing post. Bonner coming back is bad. If Bonner and Bogans come back it’s a disaster. It’s going to be really tough watching half the league upgrade their rosters while we potentially re-sign Bonner and Bogans.

I’d support re-signing Bonner. As a bench player, he’s great. He does his thing. He just isn’t a NBA starter. Luckily Pop realized that last season.

We need another 2 guard. Keith Bogans is ok, he just doesn’t have any real standout talent. Mediocre shooter, defends well against slow players not quick ones, can’t drive. The Spurs should give another NBA journyman an opportunity.

I still like the idea of bringing Manu off the bench with the second unit. That worked out well the past two seasons. So finding a capable starting 2 guard is also a priority.

Wish I could come here and comment before everything was said. Anyway, good summary, Wayne.

Ian and Romaju are gone, and in Mason’s case I say good riddance. Malik will be a Spurs. I wonder at our chances of winning the title if we don’t find a 3.