Challenge: What Was the Spurs Management's Best Offseason Move?
by BlaseE on Aug 7, 2010 1:54 AM CDT
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We had so much fun discussing the Spurs draft picks yesterday, I thought I would come up with a new challenge. The Spurs offseason may appear pretty ho-hum to outsiders and pretty epic to 13 year old Spurs fans who like playing Halo or dudes who work for Nintendo (that's a reference to E3 and the AVGN...yeah, I went there). This is all about how great our Spurs management is, and taking a step back to look at the moves made this offseason (and some prior) by our FO to keep us a top contender for this season's title.
I think the Challenge is a no brainer in the end, but the field isn't any weaker for it.
Catching the Lightning in Our Bottle Before The Heat Steal Everyone's Thunder
I could so write song titles for Moneen. I'm talking about the Spurs FO and JA's fan group getting Manu to stay before the shit-icane (Trailer Park Boys, anyone?) LeBron created. Could you imagine Manu taking his sweet time with a gigantic offer on the table from NY or NJ while we wait biting our nails to our shoulder blades??? I'm freaking out just thinking about it and he's under contract now.
We're Going to Make an Offer You Can't Refuse, Probably, Give Us a Month, Trust Us....
Or maybe it went like this, "Hey, RJ, opt out of that 15 million dollars, and we'll offer you something to compensate for that." His open market value, unlike Manu's could have been, was not THAT high. The Spurs managed to keep him, look smart, make him look smart, keep him happy, and possibly even instill some (more?) confidence in him. Hopefully, this is what he took from the situation: "Yeah, we wanted you. Yeah, we still want you. Yes, even after last season. Go shoot 1,000 3's every day for the next 3 months and spend the rest of your time learning to guard a damn small ball 4. "
Now, we have a chance at being under the tax and at the worst, won't be paying a ton over. We've also put ourselves in a nice position heading forward. We're not just thinking about next season, like some teams....
Every player currently on our roster is under contract or has an option through next year except Tony and Dice is likely to retire. We can give Tony a raise (if the CBA allows it), and still use some of the MLE to hover around the tax line I figure. It might be hard with another draft pick coming in.
Those Guys Get Those Contracts Because That's All They Have to Play For
Somehow, our FO convinced Splitter to take pennies on the dollar (of his value) because we are his only option, we are competing for championships, and he gets to play with some super greats including one of his idols, Duncan.
Draft Strategies.
Pop: RC, do we do the "Spurs" move and take some young dude in Europe?
RC: You know I'm a sucker for the classics, but Blair really gave me a craving for a second helping of, "Best Player Other Teams are Overlooking Because He is Currently Injured and Possibly Undersized for his Best Position."
Pop: That's what we're calling it? BPOTOBHCIPUBP....that's what we would have called it in the Military.
RC: .....Donatas dropped out of the draft.
Pop: Probably scared the Thunder would trade up and take him before us....
RC: Okay, let's just do mine first and we'll get the Euro in the second.
Pop: No more Frenchies. I'm tired of drafting based on amount of wine consumed over lifetime prior to draft.
RC: There is a young British guy who is tall and has a nice outside shot.
Pop: We have to get this guy so we can make WWII jokes about him, Tony, and Dirk and our Dallas rivalry.
RC: You're such the military historian....
Pop: So who do you want to take with the first pick?
RC: Big 12 player of the year, James Anderson.
Pop: Cool, but then you definitely owe me the British kid with all the upside....and you can't give Anderson 120% rookie scale because you didn't let me retroactively give it to Hill.
RC: Deal. Want to go shop for short sleeve button ups?
Pop: No, do you want to go shop for suits fit for yacht clubs?
RC: You never cease to amaze, and I'm curious as the fucking cat where you actually buy those ugly things....be at your place in 20. (Click)
You Could Say We're Specialists at Finding Guys Who Other Teams Have Given Up On Making It
Gary Neal was one of the top SG's in Europe. He was the leading scorer for his team in one of the best foreign leagues. We got him to come play for our Summer League team. He impressed. Other teams wanted him, yet we signed him for what? 500K next year and 3 years? Low risk, high reward scenario. Smart move.
Carmelo Doesn't Want to Sign, That Sucks for Denver. Tony? It's Sort of Don't Ask/Don't Offer Scenario.
The goal for the Nuggets, keep Carmelo Anthony. Goal for the Spurs, win the title. We don't need distractions and we aren't going to create them before the season starts. Tony, we like you and you are a great Spur who is very important to us. We'll see where that takes us as the season progresses, but right now, you are a Spur. Tony knows how the Spurs operate and the media knows how we operate. There is no chance this becomes a distraction even if Tony has to answer "It's not my focus right now. We'll see what happens. I like being a Spur, but I will look into my options when the time comes." after every away game. Only us die-hard Spurs fans will blow that out of proportion....
Pop's "Favorite Player": You Might Finish Second in the MIP Voting After Torching the Eventual Winner for Your Career High
This sort of happened last season, but D-League call-ups at the end of a season are about scouting for next season. We called up Cedric Jackson and Garrett Temple from other D League teams because we know about the talent on the Toros. We don't want to show Jerrels off and have him ripped away by another team. We'll take our D League opponent's best PG's when we need some PG to take some end of the bench minutes.
Garrett Temple was a lucky strike of the FO's hammer on the rock. He developed so fast in the D League and his early season call-ups (Westphal and Adelman are both really good coaches). He really wasn't draft ready a year ago. To think we stole an NBA role player from Houston's D League team on a 10-day contract is just amazing.
Now, Pop is going around like he did last year for George Hill calling Temple his "favorite player." That means he is a smart player who wants to be coached and has an immeasurable work ethic. Temple is going to be a major acquisition from last season to this season. He may even see as many opportunities as Anderson and Neal as he has a head start on them. He plays defense. He can play point. He has good size and wingspan. He shot the 3 well last season for us. His sky is bright.
Trimming the Fat: Who Says That's the Best Part?
Okay, that's not a fair title on a couple levels, but the Spurs let some non-crucial pieces in Mahinmi, Bogans, Ratliff, Finley, and Mason go during last season and this offseason in order to reload without altering the proven core.
All 5 guys better get cheers from the SA home crowd when they check in for their new teams. Actually, is Finley retired? Maybe Ratliff wasn't here long enough to warrant that too. Mason and Bogans then at least.
Search for the Hoagie Grail Renewed for Three More Seasons With A Fourth Year Option
But it means we still have Bonner....
I might have missed something. If so, let me know in the comments. I love being a Spurs fan, and maybe the best thing they did this offseason was keeping us all as excited and optimistic as ever following an elimination by sweep.
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BPOTOBHCIPUBP
Nice! It may be our guiding light going forward. Hopefully except for the undersized part.
Lauri: thank goodness I have you magnificent bastards to waste [the offseason] with.
I know this isn’t much of a surprise, but go ahead and mark me down as a fan of BPOTOBHCIPUBP.
I always knew someday I was going to go viral - Paul "Double Rainbow" Vasquez
Be honest, did you type that or did you copy/paste it?
"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG
Without relooking, I haven’t been able to figure out what it stands for again….
I mean I know what it means but not the exact wording.
Copy/Paste, with no shame at all.
It’s one of the greatest inventions (features?) of our times and I use it all day, every day. But the fact that you asked me about it DID have the effect of making me go back to memorize the sentence that spawned the acronym.
So that that as you will.
I always knew someday I was going to go viral - Paul "Double Rainbow" Vasquez
Is it safe to say that will just wait for the season to start? Or we need to pick up someone else in the FA.
OFF-season
I don’t think we need to right now. I mean we should probably pick up another young big but is more for the future than the present.
Ideally we could find someone who can paly back up sf but is big enough to be a legit stretch 4. Someone who’s like 6-8+ defensively minded, and preferably lanky… And if he could be under 25years old, that’d be perfect (I don’t think any such player exists in free agency any more)
by RamblingSpur on Aug 7, 2010 9:18 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Or maybe a certain British 7 footer we could throw the min at and stash in the d-league for a year or two…….. but seriously, anyone heard what, if anything, is happening with our “other” draft pick this year?
It seems as long as he stays in Europe, the Spurs would retain his rights for years. If he were given a roster spot and assigned to the Toros, the clock begins ticking. The longest he can play for Austin (if I recall correctly) is 2 years and then he either stays with the Spurs or lost. In retrospect, it might have been better for Ian if he had played an additional year in Europe since once his time allowed to play with the Toros ran out he could only sit on the sidelines most games.
Great post, but…
the rest of your time learning to guard a damn small ball 4.
I hope to god that this is not what RJ is working on this summer. Please, no more RJ at the 4, please.
We need to be able to put Manu, Parker, Hill, RJ, and Duncan on the court to close games when we are trailing.
We have no depth at 3. We have one guy who is a decent 3, but cannot play 4 at the NBA level. Why we insist on playing him at 4 is beyond me. Why cannot we play Blair, Dice or Bonner next to Duncan to catch up in a close game? Then we can either play RJ at 3, or put three guards on the floor.
"We lost so many games that we shouldn't have lost," - Ginobili, May 2010
by Kondor on Aug 8, 2010 11:37 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
+1
Or next to Tiago.
Hey, if posting a sharp, insightful, yet non-sarcastic comment were that easy, even olf would do it.
by freshtunarightofftheboat on Aug 11, 2010 8:42 PM CDT up reply actions
This is just the problem George Hill’s awesomeness has created.
by BlaseE on Aug 12, 2010 7:36 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
This is why I pray everyday that Blair develops his jumper. He’s a great guy to play when down. Not a great defender, but better at defending the post than RJ. Extremely high motor, great offensive rebounder, and efficient scorer.
The problem with the line up above is that RJ isn’t large for a 3 and he’s not a good rebounder at the 3. Moving him up to the four spot exaggerates this problem. Additionally, all those guys are scorers. I want someone in there who doesn’t need the ball to score and to help our offense. Blair is perfect for this. If Splitter has a jumper he could do this as well. By all accounts he can run the floor. Bonner is supposed to help us with this but he doesn’t like the playoffs.
RJ rebounded pretty good last season. His stats aren’t indicative of his effort because the Spurs don’t really let their wings and guards offensive rebound and he is competing with Duncan, Blair, and Dice for defensive boards.
I’m talking about a down by 7 with 2 minutes to play scenario. I can’t see Blair or Splitter being in for that. Splitter might have a sliver of a chance based on our opponent. Bonner, like you somewhat mentioned, would probably be the best option for a second big.
RJ was 26 out of 33 qualified SFs (players on place to play 70 games or grab 800 boards). The year before that 26 out of 29. The year before that 39 out 41. I don’t think our system is the problem here. I’m always against moving a poor rebounding 3 to the 4. He’s also not large for a 3 and can’t adequately defend the 4.
and can’t adequately defend the 4.
That’s why he needs to work on it.
He was 8th in the playoffs for DRPG and everyone above him except Grant Hill played more minutes per game. I’m only interested in defensive rebounds. The Spurs don’t let wings offensive rebound unless its luck.
We were the 4th best defensive rebounding team last year with a rate of 76.3%.
Individual Players Rates:
Duncan 26.8
Blair 25.1
McDyess 21.8
Bonner 16.1
RJ 13.6
Manu 11.6
Mason 11.5
Parker 8.5
Hill 8.2
If some combination of Blair, Dice, and Duncan was on the court, our wings and PG have close to a combined 29% chance for the rebound. That has to matter. If your options for the end of the game are Bonner or RJ, I wouldn’t make the decision based on Bonner’s 2.5% DRR advantage. I also wouldn’t make it on Bonner’s size advantage for the defensive end most nights.
I’m only interested in defensive rebounds
I’m not sure why you’re only interested in defensive rebounds. In your scenario where you’re down at the end of games, gaining extra possessions can be critical. You also need stops and you want to make the most of your possessions. Putting RJ in a the 4 reduces scoring efficiency, rebounding, and defense at the position. I’d way rather have Blair in. I’d rather have Bonner in at the 4 in the regular season. Not for rebounding, but for better D and 3 pt shooting. RJ’s scoring ability is way more useful when you don’t have Hill, Parker, and TP in.
Also, RJ is not a good defensive rebounder either. Last year he was 23 of out 33 qualified players in DR per 48, 23 out of 29 the year before, and 39 out of 41 the year before that. He rebounded somewhat better in the playoffs, but given his performance over the last few years.
One last thing. We should actually have very good front court depth this year, and we need all of RJs minutes to help fill a huge need at the 3.
+1, except I don’t think we are going to put both Parker and TP in at the same time, but the rest are very good points imo
"We lost so many games that we shouldn't have lost," - Ginobili, May 2010
Oh, it might be nice to have circa 2005 Tayshaun Prince and Tony Parker in the same unit.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
by theonlyromeo on Aug 8, 2010 11:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Oops, did I let the cat out of the bag on RCs secret cloning project? They grow them in wine vats in Pops basement.
don’t think we are going to put both Parker and TP in at the same time
I disagree. I can guarantee that whenever Pop puts in Parker, TP will also be in the game. Pop just likes that combination too much.
Lauri: thank goodness I have you magnificent bastards to waste [the offseason] with.
no way that the splitter signing is better than getting manu inked before the season was over, folks. as sasleepless says above the manu move partially helped pave the way for splitter too.
also – i saw this completelyfuckingbogus top 10 blocks of the past year segment on NBA TV recently. it didnt even have the manu block on garnett in the top 10…..perhaps that’s because it was so far beyond and above the rest of the list that it merited its own consideration? not sure what to make of that other than to call it completelyfuckingbogus. the good part is that manu’s block on durant was #1……so, he really had the two best blocked shot of last season in the NBA……….but i digress……
maybe they couldn’t count it since the Boston scorekeepers didn’t give him a block for it….
it was definitely better than the Durant one though
and when I wrote “I think the Challenge is a no brainer in the end, but the field isn’t any weaker for it.”, I thought the Manu option would win with like 75% of the votes.
When you wrote:
Could you imagine Manu taking his sweet time with a gigantic offer on the table
my immediate response was no. I felt it was a pretty foregone conclusion all along that Manu would be re-signed, there was no big rush until he proved he was healthy.
On the other hand Tiago looked like he might become another Luis Scola and never be signed, and then like a possibility but it would require $5+million. It seems he could have demanded that his rights be traded or he would just stay in Europe for more money. Unless he’s not the player advertised, my vote goes to signing him for a bargain contract.
I think Manu would have been back regardless – the Spurs would have matched/beaten offers he got on the open market, and he’s a loyal guy.
Tony apologist since 2010.
I totally agree, this is why I voted for Tiago. $40M extension is about as good or better than what Manu would get on the open market, and having a bit edgier Manu may have benefited us in the playoffs. I feel like our guys were a bit too comfortable with their 0-4 exit in the 2nd round. If it would be seen as possibly the last series for Manu as a Spur, they may had put a bit more effort into stopping Dragic.
"We lost so many games that we shouldn't have lost," - Ginobili, May 2010
Dragic had one game he blew up in. ONE
Anybody can do that on any night in the NBA; even Bonner has, for crying out loud. Don’t tell me the guys weren’t putting in effort in a Game 3, with their playoff lives essentially on the line.
I always knew someday I was going to go viral - Paul "Double Rainbow" Vasquez
I am not saying they weren’t putting effort. There are different levels of effort though. I cannot believe that our guys are unable to stop Dragic is they REALLY want to stop him. There is Kobe, and there is LeBron, may be DWade. If those guys get hot, there is not much you can do about it. But if you got beaten by Dragic, probably you were lacking something in energy and effort. That’s how I see those things anyway. Our team came out flat against the Suns. They put more energy and effort into the series, and that’s why they swept us 4-0. I don’t know why, I can only speculate.
"We lost so many games that we shouldn't have lost," - Ginobili, May 2010
Do you mean Durant?
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Aug 7, 2010 5:20 PM CDT up reply actions
Damn, no you don’t. I forgot about the one where Garnett ended up on his ass. Was the block on Durant in the top 10?
We specialize in misinformation around here. Facts and stats just get in the way.
by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Aug 7, 2010 5:21 PM CDT up reply actions
So, folks, looks like we have a brand new acronym.
Who else is for CFB?
I always knew someday I was going to go viral - Paul "Double Rainbow" Vasquez
In 2006, Nash won a CFB MVP award.
Works for me.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
by theonlyromeo on Aug 8, 2010 11:42 PM CDT up reply actions
I think the best move the Spurs made this summer was NOT going after Shaq….
"I've got Tim (Duncan) and you don't. That's the difference." -Gregg Popovich
I just think it was huge that they didn’t make that mistake. Much like not signing Sheed last year.
"I've got Tim (Duncan) and you don't. That's the difference." -Gregg Popovich
I think not signing Sheed was Rasheed’s choice, not the Spurs, but difficult to actually know what really went down.
During the season I thought we dodged a bullet as Sheed played pretty washed up, but he came alive in the playoffs and was someone we could have used. Of course if it was a choice between Sheed and Dice I prefer Dice, we may not even have made the playoffs without him.
Lauri: thank goodness I have you magnificent bastards to waste [the offseason] with.
we may not even have made the playoffs without him.
I recall it as being that late into the season Dice was referred to as more of a second half of the season player and that he had been somewhat of a disappointment up until then. I was pretty much in agreement and thinking that they should likely go with giving younger guys some experience but that they must feel he’d be a big contributor in the playoffs ala Horry. He did make a huge contribution in getting the Spurs past the Mavericks, but I don’t feel he had that big of a role in getting them to the playoffs. Not that scoring is everything and he may have contributed in those games in other ways, but he did have about 9 games with 12 or more minutes where he ended the game scoreless and we won maybe 3 of those.
I may be completely wrong, but I feel like the Spurs are not done. Seems like we have a glut of guards, and not enough small forwards. There is still no one to back up Jefferson. Maybe I stayed up too late last night, so feel free to shoot down this idea if it seems ludicrous. But what about Tracy McGrady? Seems that he’s looking for a home. Is he in this mix at all? I have never been a fan, and I do realize he’s made of glass, and not that extra special hard-to-break glass on both sides of the iPhone 4, either. But the man can shoot. Couldn’t he give us a few good minutes off the bench? Wouldn’t he give us another scoring option at the ends of games? Having been rejected by several clubs, might he be willing to take a supporting role and work for cheap to compete for a title?
I await the spitballs and paper wads that are sure to follow…
The Bulls took Bogans over Tmac
"He was just a young skinny guy who looked like a winner. We didn’t know he was going to be as good as he is."
—Popovich on Manu Ginobili
Bogans’ bones don’t shatter when the wind blows.
"We suck on 'D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We're pretty consistent that way. I don't know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn't suck quite so bad." - Popovich
by Aaron "Hirschof" Preine on Aug 9, 2010 8:39 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
Spitball.
TMac is the stuff that caused the antennagate. Sure he can shoot and score. But his lack of effort and grumbling could be the Spurs’ deathgrip. I think we need someone else to step up.
"Yes, it's important that I have good numbers, and I'm well-respected as a player. But I think it's more important that I'm respected as a man." - Some Tall Guy Who Wore #50
McGrady’s FG% is WAY too low for me to agree that “he can shoot and score”. Sure, he can score just like anyone else in the league, when he’s hot. Nearly every year in Houston, he made a lower percentage of his shots than the team’s average. Meaning that he was hurting the team every time he didn’t pass the ball to a better option. Allright, that’s a generalization … but still. NO T-SLACK, please.
Finally, Papermaster takes on a whole new meaning. Meanings even, now that it can also be used as a verb for what Apple did to him, and what he did to the iPhone.
I always knew someday I was going to go viral - Paul "Double Rainbow" Vasquez
Great post, and rec’d.
This was a surprisingly hard decision. In the end, I went with the RJ contract restructuring (even though the opt out was his decision, and any formal agreement beforehand could get the Spurs FO into trouble with the NBA) because it was a win-win for player and team, and the ripple effects of that money freed up to sign Splitter, Neal, etc. and stay under or close to the luxury tax threshold give that move a multiplier effect.
I could have just as easily voted for extending Manu before the summer FA crazy season (though technically it was before the off-season), signing Splitter for less than Bonner’s salary (though it was Tiago’s decision to join the club), not allowing re-signing Parker to become a distraction (classic Spurs), Anderson and Richards (great script, btw), Temple (didn’t know that about him, thanks), pulling the trigger on the RJ trade last summer and getting a jump on the competition (though it didn’t work out as expected last season and again, it was before this off-season), or the other moves (except for re-signing Bonner, lol).
Could we also do a poll on what we think the Spurs’ worst off-season move was? Maybe not. One of the choices would be “Not shopping Tony Parker around” and the whole thing would turn inevitably into another “Trade TP”/“Don’t Trade TP” thread. LOL
by freshtunarightofftheboat on Aug 10, 2010 6:58 PM CDT reply actions
btw, you mentioned that it was a “no-brainer” Which one was your choice BlaseE, and why?
by freshtunarightofftheboat on Aug 10, 2010 7:04 PM CDT up reply actions
Manu, because we currently can’t do shit without him…Tiago and RJ’s things are nice, but anything that extends Manu or Duncan’s Spurs time trumps all…no contest for me
Ooops, I noticed just now that you mentioned this in the comments above. I’m sorry.
I was this close to voting for the Manu move… the thing that tipped me over was that, strictly speaking, it wasn’t an off-season move (even though your description allowed for this).
Can I change my vote now? :)
Hey, if posting a sharp, insightful, yet non-sarcastic comment were that easy, even olf would do it.
by freshtunarightofftheboat on Aug 11, 2010 8:48 PM CDT up reply actions
Rats!
Hey, if posting a sharp, insightful, yet non-sarcastic comment were that easy, even olf would do it.
by freshtunarightofftheboat on Aug 12, 2010 1:57 AM CDT up reply actions
signing Splitter for less than Bonner’s salary
According to Sham Tiago is 3.4m vs. only 3.0m for Bonner.
by doggydogworld on Aug 12, 2010 3:08 PM CDT up reply actions
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