Pistons < Spurs
07-07-2009, 11:14 AM
San Antonio Spurs
Grade: A
2009/10 Payroll: $71.1 million
Highlights: It’s kind of hard to believe but Tony Parker continued to get better in his eigth NBA season. He scored a career-high 22 points per game, dished another career-high 6.9 assists, and shot just over 50% from the field. With Manu Ginobili missing half the season due to injury, Parker had to take over more of the scoring load and he did that quite well, as evidenced by the 55 he poured in against the Timberwolves early in the year or the 43 points he scorched Dallas with in the playoffs. Parker can seemingly get into the lane whenever he wants and his ability to score around the basket against other bigs is arguably the best in the league. Point guards don’t get much better than Parker and he well worth the $12.6 and $13.5 million left on his contract the next two years.
Tim Duncan’s salary is much higher than Parker’s at a gargantuan $22.1 million. In fact, it will be the fourth highest salary in the league next season. However, Duncan is one of the few players in the league who can actually earn that kind of paycheck. The numbers are always solid; about 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 50% shooting. What makes him so great is his effect on teammates and his will to win. You could put Duncan on any team in the league and they would instantly become title contenders. As long as Duncan is around, the Spurs will always be in the hunt, which is why his contract, totaling $62 million over the next three years, will never be considered too pricy.
Even though the Spurs have two franchise players in Parker and Duncan, they wouldn’t have achieved so much without quality role players around them, and the team has an excellent collection of them. Roger Mason, Matt Bonner, and Michael Finley all will be paid between $2.5 and $3.7 million for next season, a very good price for quality role players. All three shot over 41% from the three point line, making teams pay when the ball went down to Duncan in the post or when Parker penetrated the lane and was met with resistance. Bonner especially showed improvement upon his previous season by nearly doubling his scoring average to 8.2, chipping in 4.8 rebounds per game, and raising his shooting percentages to 49.6% from the field and 44% from downtown. Finding efficient role players for a cheap price has become a specialty in San Antonio and is a big reason why they’ve won three championchips the past seven years.
Lowlights: Manu Ginobili has long been one of the three stars that make the Spurs go. With him battling injuries most of the season and ultimately missing the playoffs, the Spurs were definitely a different team. Ginobili will make $10.7 million next season and he can usually earn that rather easily. However, his poor health made him miss 38 games this seasn and his scoring and three-point shooting were way down from recent years. After many long playoff runs and national team commitments, Ginobili has a lot of miles on his body for a 32-year-old player. If he can’t get himself back on track, it could signal the end of an era in San Antonio.
The Future: The Spurs aren’t used to first round playoff exits, so with the careers of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili starting to wind down, they felt it was time to make a big splash to try and keep up with the L.A.s and Clevelands of the league and go for one or two more championship runs. All they needed to find was a desperate team having a fire sale to cut costs. Enter the Milwaukee Bucks. San Antonio was able to turn a bunch of leftover, aging veterans into Richard Jefferson, a talented scorer who will give the team’s offense a bit more punch. Jefferson’s contract is a little expensive for what he provides as he is owed $14.2 and $15 million the next two years. If he can help bring another championship to town, it will be well worth the price.
The trade with Milwaukee brought about an interesting contrast between the two teams. Both are small market cities trying to make it in the NBA, but they have forged much different paths in recent years. Since the Spurs got Tim Duncan, they have been making all the right moves while Milwaukee has mostly made all the wrong ones. Well-managed teams take advantage of poorly-managed teams in order to stay on top and that is exactly what San Antonio did. This was a classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer (except for the Buck’s owner, that is).
The Spurs still need a little more help if they can expect to add another title. With Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas gone as part of the trade and Drew Gooden now a free agent, there is a huge hole on the team’s front line next to Duncan. They will need to get one of those players back, either by resigning Gooden or acquiring Oberto or Thomas again after they clear waivers. Or, they might be able to entice a good frontcourt player to take their mid-level exception. Rumors are that they are interested in Glen “Big Baby” Davis as well. When you are the Spurs, it doesn’t take much to convince someone to play there for less. All they have to do is point to their trophy case.
http://www.hoopsdaily.com/content/state-cap-san-antonio-spurs
Grade: A
2009/10 Payroll: $71.1 million
Highlights: It’s kind of hard to believe but Tony Parker continued to get better in his eigth NBA season. He scored a career-high 22 points per game, dished another career-high 6.9 assists, and shot just over 50% from the field. With Manu Ginobili missing half the season due to injury, Parker had to take over more of the scoring load and he did that quite well, as evidenced by the 55 he poured in against the Timberwolves early in the year or the 43 points he scorched Dallas with in the playoffs. Parker can seemingly get into the lane whenever he wants and his ability to score around the basket against other bigs is arguably the best in the league. Point guards don’t get much better than Parker and he well worth the $12.6 and $13.5 million left on his contract the next two years.
Tim Duncan’s salary is much higher than Parker’s at a gargantuan $22.1 million. In fact, it will be the fourth highest salary in the league next season. However, Duncan is one of the few players in the league who can actually earn that kind of paycheck. The numbers are always solid; about 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 50% shooting. What makes him so great is his effect on teammates and his will to win. You could put Duncan on any team in the league and they would instantly become title contenders. As long as Duncan is around, the Spurs will always be in the hunt, which is why his contract, totaling $62 million over the next three years, will never be considered too pricy.
Even though the Spurs have two franchise players in Parker and Duncan, they wouldn’t have achieved so much without quality role players around them, and the team has an excellent collection of them. Roger Mason, Matt Bonner, and Michael Finley all will be paid between $2.5 and $3.7 million for next season, a very good price for quality role players. All three shot over 41% from the three point line, making teams pay when the ball went down to Duncan in the post or when Parker penetrated the lane and was met with resistance. Bonner especially showed improvement upon his previous season by nearly doubling his scoring average to 8.2, chipping in 4.8 rebounds per game, and raising his shooting percentages to 49.6% from the field and 44% from downtown. Finding efficient role players for a cheap price has become a specialty in San Antonio and is a big reason why they’ve won three championchips the past seven years.
Lowlights: Manu Ginobili has long been one of the three stars that make the Spurs go. With him battling injuries most of the season and ultimately missing the playoffs, the Spurs were definitely a different team. Ginobili will make $10.7 million next season and he can usually earn that rather easily. However, his poor health made him miss 38 games this seasn and his scoring and three-point shooting were way down from recent years. After many long playoff runs and national team commitments, Ginobili has a lot of miles on his body for a 32-year-old player. If he can’t get himself back on track, it could signal the end of an era in San Antonio.
The Future: The Spurs aren’t used to first round playoff exits, so with the careers of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili starting to wind down, they felt it was time to make a big splash to try and keep up with the L.A.s and Clevelands of the league and go for one or two more championship runs. All they needed to find was a desperate team having a fire sale to cut costs. Enter the Milwaukee Bucks. San Antonio was able to turn a bunch of leftover, aging veterans into Richard Jefferson, a talented scorer who will give the team’s offense a bit more punch. Jefferson’s contract is a little expensive for what he provides as he is owed $14.2 and $15 million the next two years. If he can help bring another championship to town, it will be well worth the price.
The trade with Milwaukee brought about an interesting contrast between the two teams. Both are small market cities trying to make it in the NBA, but they have forged much different paths in recent years. Since the Spurs got Tim Duncan, they have been making all the right moves while Milwaukee has mostly made all the wrong ones. Well-managed teams take advantage of poorly-managed teams in order to stay on top and that is exactly what San Antonio did. This was a classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer (except for the Buck’s owner, that is).
The Spurs still need a little more help if they can expect to add another title. With Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas gone as part of the trade and Drew Gooden now a free agent, there is a huge hole on the team’s front line next to Duncan. They will need to get one of those players back, either by resigning Gooden or acquiring Oberto or Thomas again after they clear waivers. Or, they might be able to entice a good frontcourt player to take their mid-level exception. Rumors are that they are interested in Glen “Big Baby” Davis as well. When you are the Spurs, it doesn’t take much to convince someone to play there for less. All they have to do is point to their trophy case.
http://www.hoopsdaily.com/content/state-cap-san-antonio-spurs