I was just about to write about how much I hate sports when I happened to glance at the newsfeed in the right sidebar.
The Solid Slovenian is no longer a Spur. And the indispensable HoopsHype.com already have the players' salaries switched.
From the Spurs' vantage point this move was 90% salary dump. When R.C. Buford says "We can always figure out ways to use guys who can shoot the ball" what he really means is "We can always find (better) ways to spend $8 million a year." Rasho has 3 more years on his contract while Bonner and Eric Williams, who, by the way, are the players acquired by the Spurs, have deals through the end of next season.
The Spurs also acquired a 2009 2nd round draft pick and sent Toronto a cash sum less than $1 million.
But what does it all mean? What is the author trying to say by juxtaposing Scout's innocence against the prejudices of those who are supposed to know better?
Wait. What? Oh yeah. Sports. The Spurs.
Eric Williams should be bought out if it makes any financial sense. They don't need to replace the "cagey veteranness" of Stumpy Van Exel.
This Bonner fellow is interesting. First of all, I remember reading an article earlier this year about him not owning a car and walking to home games. Second of all, he's a bonafide shooter. 42% from three last year, 42.1% for his career. But he doesn't do much else, and his 82games.com numbers have me worried about his defensive abilities (very high PER against and the team allows a significantly poorer eFG% when he's on the court).
But this trade isn't about what the Spurs got, it's about what they happily gave up. A dying breed; the lumbering low post space taker-upper. The designated "at least he has hope of staying between Shaq and the basket" oaf. A solid defender who no longer has anyone his size to defend. A player, who through no fault of his own, is vastly overpaid in today's marketplace.
I do think he'll help the Raptors some. Maybe not $8 millions worth, but he'll definitely shore up the defense. And since Bosh is more of a face up player (unlike Timmeh), he may he actually get some touches down on the block. And he has to be better than Araujo, right?
So farewell to The Solid Slovenian. I'll forever remember... umm... your depressingly flat jump shot? Your textbook picks? That time you managed to airball a 2' hook shot? Wait! You had that block against Kobe that one time. I've seen a .gif of that on the internets somewhere. Somebody find that so we can give Rasho a fitting sendoff.