duncan228
07-01-2008, 11:31 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA.070208.Monroe.EN.14afead4.html
Mike Monroe: Davis' decision benefits Spurs
Mike Monroe
If the Spurs emerge from the Western Conference playoffs and win another NBA title next season, — it will be an odd year, after all — they might have to consider giving a playoff share to Baron Davis.
Davis’ decision to opt out of the final year of his Golden State Warriors contract, which would have paid him $17.8 million, has set the table for the Spurs to make an offer to Clippers guard-forward Corey Maggette, just the sort of athletic wing man they have coveted for the past few seasons.
Should the Spurs make an offer to Maggette, who on Monday opted out of a deal that would have paid him $7 million next season, they won’t have to worry about the Clippers negating it by using their “Larry Bird” rights to offer him a deal worth a lot more.
Davis reportedly has agreed to sign with the Clippers. ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the deal will be worth about $65 million over five seasons, and that the Clippers quickly will move to reach agreement with All-Star forward Elton Brand. To do so, they have to renounce their rights to Maggette, and that means they can’t work a sign-and-trade deal that would get him more money than the Spurs can offer. Thus, the way has been cleared for the Spurs to offer him a deal starting at the full mid-level salary cap exception, expected to be about $5.85 million.
Davis’ decision to opt out of his deal was a stunner. One Eastern Conference executive called it “a bad screw-up.”
Another Eastern general manager painted a more interesting word picture.
“That’s like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute,” he said, “and hoping somebody throws you one before you hit the ground.”
It even caught Warriors coach Don Nelson by surprise. He admitted as much to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Now you have to wonder if Nelson’s odd decision to keep Davis on the bench the entire second half of the Warriors’ next-to-last game of the regular season had eaten at Davis for the past couple of months. That game against the Suns was one the Warriors had to win to stay in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The only way for Davis, 29, to recoup a good chunk of that foregone $17.8 million was to sign a five-year deal that started out at about $10 million, and that’s what the Clippers seem prepared to give him. And now it looks like they will get to keep Brand, too, and that is going to put them right back in the thick of the Western playoff chase next season.
If you’re wondering why Clippers center Chris Kaman had a spotty 2007-08 season, look no further than the sorry state of the team’s point guards. Except for Sam Cassell, who was traded to the Celtics late in the season, none of them could shoot. And Cassell never was healthy enough to keep on the court for very long. Opposing teams went under every pick and roll from the free-throw line, extended to half court, dropping defenders in Kaman’s — and Maggette’s — laps.
Go under a pick and roll with Davis handling the ball and he will stick a 20-foot jumper, even a 3-pointer.
It could be that the Spurs benefit as much as the Clippers from Davis’ decision to bolt the Bay for his hometown of L.A. There is no guarantee the two teams with enough salary cap space — the 76ers and Grizzlies — won’t wave a lot more money at Maggette. Nor is there any certainty he will sign an offer sheet for the full mid-level exception with the Spurs rather than the Orlando Magic, another team that covets his services.
But the Spurs always have been an appealing landing spot for talented players who have been in non-winning situations most of their careers. It could be that the Spurs benefit as much as the Clippers from Davis’ decision to bolt the Bay for his hometown of L.A. , where he has begun to get into the production of films. While there is no guarantee the two teams with enough salary cap space to offer more money — the 76ers and Grizzlies — won’t wave a lot more money at Maggette, or that he will sign an offer sheet for the full mid-level exception with the Spurs — rather than the Orlando Magic, another team that covets his services — the Spurs always have been an appealing landing spot for talented players who have been in non-winning situations most of their careers. Something about getting to play with perennial All-Star Tim Duncan on a team that has been to the Finals four times since 1999.
Mike Monroe: Davis' decision benefits Spurs
Mike Monroe
If the Spurs emerge from the Western Conference playoffs and win another NBA title next season, — it will be an odd year, after all — they might have to consider giving a playoff share to Baron Davis.
Davis’ decision to opt out of the final year of his Golden State Warriors contract, which would have paid him $17.8 million, has set the table for the Spurs to make an offer to Clippers guard-forward Corey Maggette, just the sort of athletic wing man they have coveted for the past few seasons.
Should the Spurs make an offer to Maggette, who on Monday opted out of a deal that would have paid him $7 million next season, they won’t have to worry about the Clippers negating it by using their “Larry Bird” rights to offer him a deal worth a lot more.
Davis reportedly has agreed to sign with the Clippers. ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the deal will be worth about $65 million over five seasons, and that the Clippers quickly will move to reach agreement with All-Star forward Elton Brand. To do so, they have to renounce their rights to Maggette, and that means they can’t work a sign-and-trade deal that would get him more money than the Spurs can offer. Thus, the way has been cleared for the Spurs to offer him a deal starting at the full mid-level salary cap exception, expected to be about $5.85 million.
Davis’ decision to opt out of his deal was a stunner. One Eastern Conference executive called it “a bad screw-up.”
Another Eastern general manager painted a more interesting word picture.
“That’s like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute,” he said, “and hoping somebody throws you one before you hit the ground.”
It even caught Warriors coach Don Nelson by surprise. He admitted as much to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Now you have to wonder if Nelson’s odd decision to keep Davis on the bench the entire second half of the Warriors’ next-to-last game of the regular season had eaten at Davis for the past couple of months. That game against the Suns was one the Warriors had to win to stay in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The only way for Davis, 29, to recoup a good chunk of that foregone $17.8 million was to sign a five-year deal that started out at about $10 million, and that’s what the Clippers seem prepared to give him. And now it looks like they will get to keep Brand, too, and that is going to put them right back in the thick of the Western playoff chase next season.
If you’re wondering why Clippers center Chris Kaman had a spotty 2007-08 season, look no further than the sorry state of the team’s point guards. Except for Sam Cassell, who was traded to the Celtics late in the season, none of them could shoot. And Cassell never was healthy enough to keep on the court for very long. Opposing teams went under every pick and roll from the free-throw line, extended to half court, dropping defenders in Kaman’s — and Maggette’s — laps.
Go under a pick and roll with Davis handling the ball and he will stick a 20-foot jumper, even a 3-pointer.
It could be that the Spurs benefit as much as the Clippers from Davis’ decision to bolt the Bay for his hometown of L.A. There is no guarantee the two teams with enough salary cap space — the 76ers and Grizzlies — won’t wave a lot more money at Maggette. Nor is there any certainty he will sign an offer sheet for the full mid-level exception with the Spurs rather than the Orlando Magic, another team that covets his services.
But the Spurs always have been an appealing landing spot for talented players who have been in non-winning situations most of their careers. It could be that the Spurs benefit as much as the Clippers from Davis’ decision to bolt the Bay for his hometown of L.A. , where he has begun to get into the production of films. While there is no guarantee the two teams with enough salary cap space to offer more money — the 76ers and Grizzlies — won’t wave a lot more money at Maggette, or that he will sign an offer sheet for the full mid-level exception with the Spurs — rather than the Orlando Magic, another team that covets his services — the Spurs always have been an appealing landing spot for talented players who have been in non-winning situations most of their careers. Something about getting to play with perennial All-Star Tim Duncan on a team that has been to the Finals four times since 1999.