NBA Free-Agency Winners

[Felix_1616]

http://thehasbeenssports.com/2010/07/22/nba-free-agency-winners/

Awesome write-up by these guys on the top 5 winners in free-agency. Spurs are there at number 3. I like it. I think we've had an awesome off-season up to this point and 3 sounds about right. But I think Milwaukee & Chicago could switch places...

Thoughts?

[Anonymous Cowherd]

I think that makes me feel good to be a Spurs fan :)

[Kindergarten Cop]

Okay.... I'll say it before this thread is flooded - How are the Lakers not on that list? Perhaps it was written before Barnes signed? Personally, I find it difficult to take any of those teams off of the top 5 - so maybe the Lakers were 6th.

[kamikazi_player]

:lmao

[Trimble87]

Most Spurs fans see things through silver and black rimmed glasses and therfore will completely disagree with this. But if you look at it, we got the best SF signed that was available to us, the bonner extension didn't hurt us in terms of paying the tax or signing someone else and if he can get past choking like a dog come april he could be huge for us, drafted a flat out shooter to fill out the SG minutes (no more mason/bogans) and signed the BEST european big man for spare change. I'm not sure what else fans could have expected with the way the offseason played out.

[ploto]

Signing Splitter and re-signing Bonner and RJ puts the Spurs at #3?! Technically, I am not so sure that signing Splitter would even count in evaluation of NBA free agency.

[Chucho]

Okay.... I'll say it before this thread is flooded - How are the Lakers not on that list? Perhaps it was written before Barnes signed? Personally, I find it difficult to take any of those teams off of the top 5 - so maybe the Lakers were 6th.

Ummm, they resigned Fish, added Steve Blake and a vastly over rated, unliked-everywhere-he-goes Matt Barnes? How does that trump what the other teams did?

[Felix_1616]

Ummm, they resigned Fish, added Steve Blake and a vastly over rated, unliked-everywhere-he-goes Matt Barnes? How does that trump what the other teams did?

This.

[MoSpur]

I disagree. The Spurs are maybe #5. The resigning of Bonner isn't that good because of how much they gave him. The fourth year on Jefferson's contract being fully gauranteed makes his contract hard to swallow. Splitter's contract is a miracle. Drafting Anderson looks good so far, but what have we seen from him besides his college games and highlights on youtube, which don't mean anything. Mahinmi's highlights on youtube looked good and look how that turned out. We'll have to wait and see how Anderson pans out. Too bad we didn't get to see anything out of him in Summer League.

They still need a backup SF IMO. They signed Neal. He had a good Summer League, but what else. Like Anderson he has to prove it on the court in the regular season if he even gets that chance.

[AFBlue]

Ummm, they resigned Fish, added Steve Blake and a vastly over rated, unliked-everywhere-he-goes Matt Barnes? How does that trump what the other teams did?

So in other words...the two-time defending champions subbed out Farmar for a much more consistent player in Blake and added size and defense to their already stacked lineup by bringing in Barnes and Ratliff. They also grabbed Ebanks and Caracter, two guys with impressive summer league debuts with their two second round picks. And they still may bring back Shannon Brown to limit the amount of turnover on their roster.

Obviously it doesn't trump a mass exodus of top-tier talent to Miami, but I'd say their off-season has been wildly successful given what they had to work with and what they needed to bring in.

[AFBlue]

As for the Spurs, Splitter makes the summer. Bringing back RJ and Bonner to a contending squad while adding a key missing piece (frontline length and athleticism) to last year's run is a big deal.

I've learned after the Jefferson trade to never engage in premature rankings. The only way we'll know if the Spurs are higher or lower than this ranking is by how the season plays out and how those players impact the Spurs as they make a run to the 'ship.

[UnWantedTheory]

So in other words...the two-time defending champions subbed out Farmar for a much more consistent player in Blake and added size and defense to their already stacked lineup by bringing in Barnes and Ratliff. They also grabbed Ebanks and Caracter, two guys with impressive summer league debuts with their two second round picks. And they still may bring back Shannon Brown to limit the amount of turnover on their roster.

Obviously it doesn't trump a mass exodus of top-tier talent to Miami, but I'd say their off-season has been wildly successful given what they had to work with and what they needed to bring in.

I agree.

[callo1]

I agree with the article. I don't know if I would put them at the 3rd spot, but overall, the Spurs front office has done well.

I think Splitter will live up to the expectations of reasonable Spurs fans and give a solid contribution off the bench.

If we evaluate the Spurs scoring (which was the biggest problem last season), the starters scored enough, but the bench was almost non existent except for TP, DB and Manu. With the addition of Splitter, the Spurs have a big man that will allow the second team unit to have players playing at their normal positions.

We all know that it takes a minimum of two seasons before players fully grasp Pop's system, so I expect RJ to be much more consistent.

Anderson is a "ready to play now" type player that can fill it up, while the Spurs still have Gee (who imho is just about NBA ready) under contract and waiting in the wings.

Temple showed last year what he was capable of, and the signing of Neal (allbeit a longer contract than I would have thought) gives the Spurs even more offensive punch.

As far as defense goes, the horrid shooting last year really didn't allow the Spurs to showcase any lockdown "D" that Spurs fans are used to because the opponents didn't have to take the ball out of the basket an inbound often. We all know the Spurs "D" is best when they are allowed to set up off of made shots.

The Spurs have the flexibility to play multiple styles, which is something they have not had since '05.

I still think the Spurs have one more move left as well.

We know what the first unit can do. A second unit with Splitter, Blair/Bonner, Anderson, Hill and Neal/Gee is a huge potential improvement over last seasons 2nd unit.

I would like RC to take a chance on Tmac to finalize things, but who knows.

The ability for the first and second units to "gell" is more important than talent alone.

I'll call my shot now...Miami will not win a championship this coming year. Bosh is a good player, but is soft, and I question the ability of Wade and Lebron to defer to one another when needed for the betterment of the team, and their bench will be less than average.

The Spurs will be in the thick of the Western Conference race, but their is no way to tell how well they will do now. Success depends on the development of some young talent, and some good fortune concerning injuries to older talent.

In many ways, this team reminds me of the '03 team and all of the question marks surrounding Manu, TP, and Jack. That ended up turning out well, we can only hope for the same here.

Regardless, the front office began a youth movement while keeping the core in tact for another run. Kudos to RC.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm right there with the article when it talks about Splitter and Anderson. I'm puzzled how signing Bonner was for "reasonable money" and how paying RJ so much more money is considered such a great deal now that he's not historically overpaid, just hugely overpaid. That said, there's really no reason not to go into this upcoming season with the same kind of optimism we had last year. All the pices are there.

[MR.SILVER&BLack]

unless we can sign a decent backup SF then i dont see how we are #3.

[DBMethos]

The Bonner deal sucked, the RJ deal sucked even worse, and Anderson is a draft pick, not an FA. Splitter is the only positive thing to come out of free agency this year, and he wasn't even a "typical" FA (since he wasn't free to negotiate with other teams).

[Marcus Bryant]

Of course, last year's forum conventional wisdom had the Spurs in the 2010 NBA Finals, or at least the WCF.

This summer hasn't been as bad as Spurs fans believe. Splitter alone makes it a win. The Spurs needed a starting 5 badly. Now the bigman rotation looks like a serious contending frontcourt for the first time in a few years.

For the next couple of seasons, unless another franchise was going to gift the Spurs a starting caliber small forward, Jefferson is more than adequate. Plus the Spurs were able to mitigate their lux tax hit by getting him to opt out of $15 mil for one season and lock him up through the rest of the Spurs' title window.

Anderson was a nice pickup in the draft. I suppose after Blair the Spurs discovered that going domestic isn't that bad of an idea.

As for Bonner, I attribute the over the top reaction in this forum to the vacuum of Spurs news.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

I agree with the article. I don't know if I would put them at the 3rd spot, but overall, the Spurs front office has done well.

I think Splitter will live up to the expectations of reasonable Spurs fans and give a solid contribution off the bench.

If we evaluate the Spurs scoring (which was the biggest problem last season), the starters scored enough, but the bench was almost non existent except for TP, DB and Manu. With the addition of Splitter, the Spurs have a big man that will allow the second team unit to have players playing at their normal positions.

We all know that it takes a minimum of two seasons before players fully grasp Pop's system, so I expect RJ to be much more consistent.

Anderson is a "ready to play now" type player that can fill it up, while the Spurs still have Gee (who imho is just about NBA ready) under contract and waiting in the wings.

Temple showed last year what he was capable of, and the signing of Neal (allbeit a longer contract than I would have thought) gives the Spurs even more offensive punch.

As far as defense goes, the horrid shooting last year really didn't allow the Spurs to showcase any lockdown "D" that Spurs fans are used to because the opponents didn't have to take the ball out of the basket an inbound often. We all know the Spurs "D" is best when they are allowed to set up off of made shots.

The Spurs have the flexibility to play multiple styles, which is something they have not had since '05.

I still think the Spurs have one more move left as well.

We know what the first unit can do. A second unit with Splitter, Blair/Bonner, Anderson, Hill and Neal/Gee is a huge potential improvement over last seasons 2nd unit.

I would like RC to take a chance on Tmac to finalize things, but who knows.

The ability for the first and second units to "gell" is more important than talent alone.

I'll call my shot now...Miami will not win a championship this coming year. Bosh is a good player, but is soft, and I question the ability of Wade and Lebron to defer to one another when needed for the betterment of the team, and their bench will be less than average.

The Spurs will be in the thick of the Western Conference race, but their is no way to tell how well they will do now. Success depends on the development of some young talent, and some good fortune concerning injuries to older talent.

In many ways, this team reminds me of the '03 team and all of the question marks surrounding Manu, TP, and Jack. That ended up turning out well, we can only hope for the same here.

Regardless, the front office began a youth movement while keeping the core in tact for another run. Kudos to RC.


I may be wrong but didnt the Spurs have the highest scoring bench last season?

[Obstructed_View]

Of course, last year's forum conventional wisdom had the Spurs in the 2010 NBA Finals, or at least the WCF.

I said with the same kind of optimism, not with the same sorts of extreme delusions. Most everyone thought the Spurs had the talent to compete if everything fell into place properly. Again, there's no reason not to feel the same way this season.

[Obstructed_View]

I may be wrong but didnt the Spurs have the highest scoring bench last season?

I don't know where to find that stat but I sort of doubt it. It was certainly higher than other teams that don't have a starter or two coming off the bench.

[Danny.Zhu]

We were swept in the second round. We didn't even have the chance to play with the Lakers. And we are just number 3 on the list.

I'm not happy at all.

[Kindergarten Cop]

I may be wrong but didnt the Spurs have the highest scoring bench last season?


I don't know where to find that stat but I sort of doubt it. It was certainly higher than other teams that don't have a starter or two coming off the bench.

Yes, the Spurs did have the highest scoring bench in the NBA last year (39.2 ppg). The Spurs' bench also ranked first in Rebounding, Assists, and Steals last season. :wow

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/10/7/diffeff/1-1

[ElNono]

While as a fan I hope that both Anderson and Splitter potential translate into NBA production, there's no guarantee that it will, especially in their rookie season.

So when people talk about overrated players in other teams, they need to remember that at least those guys have proven they can play in the league, something we can't yet say about some of our super-signings.

[ChuckD]

I'm right there with the article when it talks about Splitter and Anderson. I'm puzzled how signing Bonner was for "reasonable money" and how paying RJ so much more money is considered such a great deal now that he's not historically overpaid, just hugely overpaid. That said, there's really no reason not to go into this upcoming season with the same kind of optimism we had last year. All the pices are there.

OK, I ran the math on this one. RJ's 2010-2011 cost was going to be $22.8M, 15.2M in salary and another $7.6M in tax. What they added to that was essentially 3 years at $5.2M per year, AND it was reallocated to NOT pay the tax so that we could bring over Splitter THIS YEAR. How is this bad again? We only had a handful of real players plus some non-guaranteed hopefuls under contract. We had to fill out a roster with that HUGE contract hanging over our heads. How was that going to work?

[ElNono]

Yes, the Spurs did have the highest scoring bench in the NBA last year (39.2 ppg). The Spurs' bench also ranked first in Rebounding, Assists, and Steals last season. :wow

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/10/7/diffeff/1-1

It's a fairly meaningless stat anyways. Every team tighten up their rotation for the playoffs, so you're going to get most of your production from the starters and a couple of first-rate subs.

[ElNono]

OK, I ran the math on this one. RJ's 2010-2011 cost was going to be $22.8M, 15.2M in salary and another $7.6M in tax. What they added to that was essentially 3 years at $5.2M per year, AND it was reallocated to NOT pay the tax so that we could bring over Splitter THIS YEAR. How is this bad again? We only had a handful of real players plus some non-guaranteed hopefuls under contract. We had to fill out a roster with that HUGE contract hanging over our heads. How was that going to work?

The tax savings are actually even higher...

You have $7.6M tax from RJ, plus another $3M tax from the Splitter signing, plus whatever tax from signing Anderson and Neil, plus whatever they spend on the other kids (Gee/Temple/Hairston). I'm not counting Bonner because he re-signed for the same amount as last season. You also have to add that since we're under the lux tax line, the league will send back a $2.5m redistribution check later down the road.

So the immediate tax savings can easily escalate to about $15m...

[ohmwrecker]

This should be called NBA off season winners. And . . . Chuck D is the shit.

[Cane]

OK, I ran the math on this one. RJ's 2010-2011 cost was going to be $22.8M, 15.2M in salary and another $7.6M in tax. What they added to that was essentially 3 years at $5.2M per year, AND it was reallocated to NOT pay the tax so that we could bring over Splitter THIS YEAR. How is this bad again? We only had a handful of real players plus some non-guaranteed hopefuls under contract. We had to fill out a roster with that HUGE contract hanging over our heads. How was that going to work?


The tax savings are actually even higher...

You have $7.6M tax from RJ, plus another $3M tax from the Splitter signing, plus whatever tax from signing Anderson and Neil, plus whatever they spend on the other kids (Gee/Temple/Hairston). I'm not counting Bonner because he re-signed for the same amount as last season. You also have to add that since we're under the lux tax line, the league will send back a $2.5m redistribution check later down the road.

So the immediate tax savings can easily escalate to about $15m...

Good stuff for the Spurs and RJ it seems :wow

[ChuckD]

The bonus is that $7.6M is no longer going to be paid the the NBA, and allocated to other teams. F you, Stern.

[Bito Corleone]

So in other words...the two-time defending champions subbed out Farmar for a much more consistent player in Blake and added size and defense to their already stacked lineup by bringing in Barnes and Ratliff. They also grabbed Ebanks and Caracter, two guys with impressive summer league debuts with their two second round picks. And they still may bring back Shannon Brown to limit the amount of turnover on their roster.

Obviously it doesn't trump a mass exodus of top-tier talent to Miami, but I'd say their off-season has been wildly successful given what they had to work with and what they needed to bring in.

Exactly.:toast

[Bito Corleone]

@ Cane

Nice sig man. I laughed my ass off when I saw that on the onion.

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Wait, how did the Heat get 4 of the top free agents?

[Kindergarten Cop]

It's a fairly meaningless stat anyways. Every team tighten up their rotation for the playoffs, so you're going to get most of your production from the starters and a couple of first-rate subs.

I wouldn't necessarily say that it is meaningless - but obviously it's not the most important stat since it didn't translate into success in the Playoffs.

EDIT: I guess it didn't really help much that our starters were 28th in the league (out of 30 teams) in Scoring, Rebounds, and Steals. :depressed

[Bito Corleone]

Wait, how did the Heat get 4 of the top free agents?

Bron, Wade, Bosh...and Mike Miller

[ElNono]

I wouldn't necessarily say that it is meaningless - but obviously it's not the most important stat since it didn't translate into success in the Playoffs.

EDIT: I guess it didn't really help much that our starters were 28th in the league (out of 30 teams) in Scoring, Rebounds, and Steals. :depressed

Don't get me wrong, I meant meaningless in the sense that it's not much of a barometer of playoffs or eventually championship success.

Having a great, even good bench is always much more preferable than having a bad bench. It gives you variants and competition for a spot in the final playoff rotation throughout the 82 game season, besides of allowing the team to rest certain key players while remaining competitive.

[Chieflion]

I wouldn't necessarily say that it is meaningless - but obviously it's not the most important stat since it didn't translate into success in the Playoffs.

EDIT: I guess it didn't really help much that our starters were 28th in the league (out of 30 teams) in Scoring, Rebounds, and Steals. :depressed

In reality, the Spurs bench isn't that good. On paper, they look good because they played a lot of minutes, therefore getting more production. Since they played more minutes, the minutes of the starters would also have been reduced and thus production is decreased.

In the playoffs, we saw how shitty the bench was once Goran Dragic started waxing our ass.

[Cane]

Imo those bench stats might be inflated due to Ginobili since he mostly came off the bench in the reg season (started 21 out of 75 games played). He helps a lot when it comes to filling up the boxscore but he started in the playoffs so the bench wasn't nearly as effective; not to mention Blair's an undersized rookie, the shooters struggled with open looks, TP wasn't healthy, etc.

[ElNono]

In the playoffs, we saw how shitty the bench was once Goran Dragic started waxing our ass.

To Dragic's credit, he kept on waxing them when the starters came back...

[callo1]

I may be wrong but didnt the Spurs have the highest scoring bench last season?

For a period of time they did, but as soon as the playoffs started the bench scoring dropped like a stone. Actually, the period 2 weeks prior to the start of the playoffs, it began. Like normal, when Manu started, the bench suffered, then the whole George hill ankle injury and TP coming back complicated the rotation as well.

[Obstructed_View]

The bonus is that $7.6M is no longer going to be paid the the NBA, and allocated to other teams. F you, Stern.

And it only cost us four years of Richard Jefferson at ten million a year. Call Obama and get him to sign these guys up to tackle the debt! It certainly couldn't have been easier to not have any of his salary on the books or to dump his fifteen million before the trade deadline.

[ChuckD]

And it only cost us four years of Richard Jefferson at ten million a year. Call Obama and get him to sign these guys up to tackle the debt! It certainly couldn't have been easier to not have any of his salary on the books or to dump his fifteen million before the trade deadline.

The Spurs were NEVER going to not have any of his salary. It's painfully obvious that there was a deal structure in place that allowed him to opt out and test the market, other wise he doesn't do it. If he doesn't, and they have to try to peddle his ass (you saw the market for that, or lack thereof) , we have a much worse looking roster, probably devoid of all but one of the kiddies, and maybe no Splitter at all. It would have been another tax bound wasted year, one of the two that Duncan has left.

[mytespurs]

Was the Spurs FA not too glamorous or mind blowing for some fans?

Of course, the Heat win the prize for getting the FA trophy: LBJ & + "robin" aka Bosh plus added pieces. Chicago did well and the Lakers, the champs-well, you know the old saying the "rich appeared to get richer" at least on paper.

I think the Spurs did okay in FA. I'm glad we signed Splitter-everyone seems high on him. I don't expect too much from him in 2010 but if his upside is good, it will pay off down the line. I'm not too happy with the resigning of Bonner & Jefferson based on performances from past season. Don't know if Bonner will get better than what he is, I hope RJ turns into the player we thought we were getting in 2009.

My 5th ring fantasty: 2012, TD's last year, Spurs are viewed as "done". They have a good-not great regular season, about 45 wins, a lower seed entry into the playoffs. But somehow they put it all together, get through the West and come face to face with the beast in the East-the Heat and somehow, miraculously, win the title! 2012: TD and Splitter side by side, TD hoisting MVP trophy and Splitter hositing championship trophy. What the heck, I can dream can't I? :toast :-)

[gospursgojas]

He (tiago) was considered the top Euro big man and he signed for next to nothing. He got as much money as 12th man Johan Petro.