ST: Ramifications of the James Anderson decision
Notably, the deadline for the Spurs to pick up James Anderson's third-year option passed yesterday with no announcement from the team. Previously, when the Spurs picked up team options on their existing players, there would always be a press release from the team stating as much. With apologies to CapHill, this is a strong indicator that &derson will not be in a Spurs uniform next season.
This link is to a nice writeup by the owner of SpursTalk regarding the Spurs' summer plans, and an explanation of why the Spurs may have decided not to keep James.
4 months ago
Tim C.
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Or they think they can pick him up on the cheap cause he hasn’t done anything yet. I don’t know much about expenses with paying players, but is it possible to get Anderson cheaper than what the third-year option?
"If the NBA season is a marathon, Gregg Popovich is a full-blooded Kenyan."
-Timothy Varner 48MoH
by Jordan Leithart on Jan 26, 2012 11:21 AM CST reply actions
They can probably get him at a similar price, but their books are free if they don’t pick him up right now.
I think they should. I think it’s too soon to write off JA. He hasn’t even played a full season yet.
Winter is coming
Yeah, I was hoping they’d keep him. After all, he was robbed of summer league two years in a row. Would’ve been nice to see him in that setting.
The longest, brightest day is followed by the darkest night.
Wow this surprises me. The contract was really cheap. There has to be something else going on. Maybe he asked the team not to pick up the option if he was unhappy or there were disciplinary issues. It makes no sense for PATFO to give up on him so soon otherwise.
"Manu Ginobili is the ultimate human cheat code, the password to the rim."
-Alex Dewey
We spurs have a lot of shooting guards… a problem for james anderson
And with manu is going to be even worst … for anderson
It seems like a situation similar to Tiago’s last season. There were a number of people wanting the Spurs to dump Tiago since he must have been a stiff. Tiago is just barely getting a chance to show what he can do now. Anderson is the 12th man so he must not be any good, though who knows if he doesn’t play? I expect if the Spurs’ trusted their own ability in having chosen him in the draft, that they’d see a remarkable improvement once he plays regularly as they have with Tiago. If they let him get away, they’re likely to regret it for even longer than they have the Luis Scola decision. They might sign him again for less, or it might cost them even more to keep him if they give him playing time and he shows the potential they’ve expected. The option would have been a nice middle ground.
I feel like they put money before everything else combined with what other issues might exist in the possible short term. He’s still young, and everyone makes mistakes, or his GF, who did that tweeting.
Hopefully the compromise, if there is one is something that states: “we’ll be the first to offer you a contract if you play nice this rest of the season…”
Winter is coming
Wait… what tweeting?
"If the NBA season is a marathon, Gregg Popovich is a full-blooded Kenyan."
-Timothy Varner 48MoH
by Jordan Leithart on Jan 26, 2012 5:10 PM CST up reply actions
His GF a while back complained about his lack of play time. It was posted in one of the game threads or quick caps. I can’t remember where, but I know she mentioned moving to Washington, i think saying that would be a better situation than sitting.
Winter is coming
Blossoming with Blatche, et al. Great place to develop, no doubt. I’d rather sit with the Spurs than play with those clowns. Then again, my arm hurts for days after shooting around for 20 minutes or so, so an actual NBA player may think otherwise.
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest." --Willy Wonka
You can’t compare Splits and JA. Tiago came from the toughest league in Europe, where he finished as the reigning MVP. This guy came with proof, and therefore his recent emergence shouldnt surprise anyone who knew about him from EU. JA was the Big12 POTY, was injured and almost didn’t work out with anybody, the Spurs gambled on him but so far it didnt stick.
I prefer PATFO to be level-headed with money so maybe once July comes we could snatch 1 or 2 good 2nd tier player to get us [maybe] over the hump. With his current play, i don’t see any team actually giving him a Guaranteed contract.
He mentions Ian and there seeming to be some slight regret there. I think that might have looked even worse if he had signed with a bad team where he had received more time. He signed with Dallas, and a few days later Dallas traded for both Tyson Chandler and Ajinca to drop Ian further down the rotation. When there’s someone making several times more ahead in the rotation, it’s hard for the guy with the small contract to get playing time. I’d think if Anderson were to go to another team the consequences would become more obvious quicker than with Ian.
Which is what is pissing me off about this. This could very will be their biggest snafu in a few years, especially as the Spurs wings are influx after this season.
Winter is coming
This has the potential to be a Scola-esque misstep. Hopefully it’s not, but the potential is definitely there.
The longest, brightest day is followed by the darkest night.
I had a friend randomly text me the other day, “If the Spurs hadn’t let Scola go, they’d have 5 by now.”
First this friend of mine is a Lakers fan so I was shocked he even knew anything about that whole situation. Second, I caterwauled. Third, I just really wanted to use the word caterwaul, but really I was upset after that so let’s not bring it up anymore, okay?
I think it is also making the Spurs’ front office reputation for the draft plummet. Skipping Leonard for the time being, it seems their picks have included a too short center, a too short SG, a number of foreign players like Ryan Richards that may never pan out, and a player in Anderson who might have potential but that may not get a chance to show it. Were most of their best picks prior to Presti leaving?
Presti had great influence on the team. He was known for his cap/CBA knowledge most of all I believe. I’d still rate the FO up there. But they are trying to pull themselves down.
None of it makes sense though. I hope there’s something we don’t know because right now it just looks like Green played well and JA played bad in his one start.
Winter is coming
The F,O. is certainly doing a fair job in picking up inexpensive free agents let go or passed over by other teams.
Agreed. I think their biggest mistake wasn’t Scola though, it was not re-building on the fly fast enough. They got a little lazy with riding the big 3 too hard. I think that’s a big reason why Duncan burnt out as fast as he did compared to someone like Kobe. Although Kobe is a trooper, but using him as a relative comparison since they were in the league around the same time and both have a lot of tread
Winter is coming
Leonard and Joseph both look like good picks. Tiago was a good pick other than his NBA career only getting started at age 27, whereas they might have picked Marc Gasol and already had a few seasons in.
That said, Hill was supposed to be Batum (which was taken right before). Most wanted Chalmers so I’m not going to complain about this. Although Arthur was taken with the pick right after. Omer Asik, went at #36. Luc Mbah a Moute went #37
Blair was just a good pick up for the draft spot, although they probably could have went elsewhere or taken a chance on a taller guy. Who knows… I’m not sure what to say on this one in hindsight, although I haven’t looked at who else was around during that draft yet.
Winter is coming
If they didn’t take Blair, there was:
Chase Budinger at 44
Danny Green at 46 ;)
Not much else in that draft.
Winter is coming
I was about to say the same. The pick with Nando doesn’t look wasted yet, and the one on Jack McClinton isn’t much worse than anyone else’s. Patrick Mills might have been useful, but the Spurs could have signed him as a free agent since.
I still have my doubts on Nando based off all I read, but I’ll wait and see. I know he’s skillful and maybe he can make it with his speed.
Winter is coming
I’ve got my doubts as well, I just wouldn’t count it as wasted yet. The next pick in the draft was Robert Vaden, so picking Nando doesn’t look that bad at this point.
There’s certainly still a number of international players that may pan out. I take it Richards is still recovering from injuries, but he was so young there’s plenty of time. Bertans and Hanga aren’t doing much this year but both are so young that there’s plenty of time for them as well.
Well, fuck. Seems like a short-sighted decision to me, but I’ll spare you guys from a long-winded treatise.
...as we find to our astonishment that we can still function, and even thrive within the chase. - Alex Dewey
a long-winded treatise
I’d like that, actually.
The longest, brightest day is followed by the darkest night.
same here.
You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime
by the little o on Jan 26, 2012 5:01 PM CST up reply actions
agreed
Cinnamon and sugary as softly spoken lies, you never know just how you look through other peoples' eyes
by SpursfanSteve on Jan 26, 2012 6:15 PM CST up reply actions
Crap – so now I’ll actually have to write something.
...as we find to our astonishment that we can still function, and even thrive within the chase. - Alex Dewey
too easy… just my style! TWSS.
You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime
by the little o on Jan 27, 2012 11:32 AM CST up reply actions
Completely agree. Makes very little sense. Although his GF and her tweeting a few weeks ago didn’t make me happy either. He might be paying for her mistakes.
Winter is coming
don’t we all.
You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime
by the little o on Jan 26, 2012 6:00 PM CST up reply actions
Wait, this just means that Anderson becomes a restricted free agent in the summer, right? The Spurs would be able to match any offer by any team if it wants to.
Considering JA hasn’t played up to expectations and almost zero trade value right now, I think it’s still too early to look at this as a negative. Sure, his salary is on a rookie scale but I’d like to think the FO wants to challenge Anderson, make him justify if he’s worth signing again next season. Of course, that comes with the caveat that he has to play to be able to show his stuff, but we’re just approaching the quarter mark of the season and there’s still plenty of time to earn minutes.
If Anderson doesn’t show the requisite determination to retake his playing time, then at the very least that opens up a roster spot. Also, shooting guards are aplenty in the league. He’s very replaceable even if he still has upside.
I would like to get a little more inside, myself -- Pau Gasol
by silverandblack_davis on Jan 26, 2012 6:24 PM CST reply actions
Per the story in the link, he becomes an unrestricted free agent. It seems like that was the case with Ian after his two years as well. The Spurs could make him the best offer, but if someone else makes a better one he’s gone.
if someone else makes a better one he’s gone
Which is a very big if.
I would like to get a little more inside, myself -- Pau Gasol
by silverandblack_davis on Jan 26, 2012 6:54 PM CST up reply actions
Unfortunately now it winds up that if the Spurs gave some playing time to Anderson and he responded well, it means his cost goes up. From just a monetary angle they might prefer not playing him to keep his cost down, though that would most likely cause him to want to move on. If his shot starts to go in (which it seemed to me was likely to begin at any time) and he earns more time, he might be a big help to the team while it either costs them more next year or he leaves altogether. Big “ifs”, but it seems to me that the best thing would have been to pick up the option and they wouldn’t be losing much whether he shined or plays poorly. From his point of view I’d think he might want a fresh start with another team regardless how the rest of the season goes.
Your last sentence is entirely possible. It could be that Anderson has already expressed his desire to move on to another team after this season. The Spurs are professional enough to honor such kinds of requests, no matter how much they like a player’s potential.
I would like to get a little more inside, myself -- Pau Gasol
by silverandblack_davis on Jan 26, 2012 7:24 PM CST up reply actions
The Spurs are professional enough to honor such kinds of requests, no matter how much they like a player’s potential.
To a certain degree. Not completely. They want to get value back if they know the player will be something. Obviously Scola was just a “we’re being cheap” but lets save even more money and dump Butler, who we made a mistake on.
Winter is coming
We made a mistake on Butler? Or the Scola deal? (to which I say yes on the latter)
I would like to get a little more inside, myself -- Pau Gasol
by silverandblack_davis on Jan 26, 2012 8:18 PM CST up reply actions
He’s unrestricted. If the team declines the option, they lose the right to match, and can only offer him up to the amount that the option would have been for. So, yeah, not looking good.
The longest, brightest day is followed by the darkest night.
This just means that Anderson will only see similar minutes to what he has now, which is limited garbage time. Green, Neal and Leonard are way ahead of him on the depth chart. The rotations Pop uses now are gelling, and Anderson isn’t in the mix. Imagine how little time he will get when Manu gets back….
The start of the season the Spurs were really hyping JA’s return up. Parker calling him the surprise of “mini” camp. Pop said he was the starter for Manu while he was out the rest of the way. One game later, and Neal and Leonard were getting the start, not Anderson.
Since drafting Anderson he got dealt crap hand after crap hand. When he finally got pocket Aces, in the form of Manu in a suit. They got cracked with a terrible performance. It will take a miracle for Anderson to show any value within limited garbage minutes now. He has, because of this decision, reached the Malcolm Thomas level of the 2 guard. Also, time is ticking for Anderson, because Manu’s hand is only getting better.
Do or do not! There is no try!
Since drafting Anderson he got dealt crap hand after crap hand. When he finally got pocket Aces, in the form of Manu in a suit. They got cracked with a terrible performance.
But that is totally unfair to him. He’s basically a rookie. Each of the young guys have had a bad game we can cherry pick off of, if need be.
Winter is coming
Who knows. Remember the Spurs let Danny go after a 10-day contract last year, only to bring him back towards the end of the season. But yeah, I would have at least picked up Anderson’s option and shopped him.
The longest, brightest day is followed by the darkest night.
Very interesting info was dropped in the write up on the other site about how players recovered from this similar injury Anderson suffered.
I think Anderson was kind of shafted in the sense that he played solid up until he got the start when Manu went down. I mean he didn’t shot well versus the T-Wolves either but everybody has off nights, right? His jumper wasn’t falling but he was playing okay defense and getting to the hoop nicely. Then after that start he was relegated to leper status. I’m guessing the guy is thinking to much and it is showing in his shot and overall game after he bombed when starting.
One thing i can do...................is FINGER ROLL.
by gunnin' gervin on Jan 27, 2012 10:47 AM CST reply actions
It could be that this is also part of some bigger trend, with several teams not picking up options and letting their players becoming either restricted or unrestricted free agents. It seems there will be a huge pool of free agents, from what I can see there were fewer options that were exercised than not. I’ve only noticed a few of the 2008 draft class having their options exercised. Besides Hill and Hibbert I’ve seen it mentioned that NJ was letting Brook Lopez become a RFA, I’d expect that Robin got the twin treatment. Normally I’d think a number of the RFA would wind up re-signing with their team, but things may work out different this off-season under the new CBA. Of course if NJ were to sign Howard they’re not likely to match an offer for Lopez other than if the two teams were doing sign and trades/
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