Boris Diaw has reached agreement on a two-year, $9 million-plus contract

[ace3g]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

Boris Diaw has reached agreement on a two-year, $9 million-plus contract to stay with San Antonio, league source tells Y! Sports.

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

Diaw has incentives that can push deal to $9.2M, and terms include a player option for the 2013-'14 season.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Almost the MLE. Sign De Colo with the rest?

[Seventyniner]

Is that something like $5M (full MLE) in year 1 and $4+M in year 2?

[lmbebo]

Good. Now another big needed?

Subtract Blair or bonner or better, both now

[Kuestmaster]

Nice. Now let's ship out Bonner

[tdunk21]

so i guess we are rolling with the same team + de colo?

[TDMVPDPOY]

another cheap deal done

[TXstbobcat]

I like the news of signing both Green and Diaw for the spurs.

[Ice009]

Wow, so this is only a one season contract then and Diaw can opt out after the first season? Is that correct?

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Extremely cheap. Guess his ass wasn't in demand around the league, but he's a great fit in SA and this contract is very cap friendly. Good moves by the FO.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Incentives that can push it to $9.2M. So is it a reasonable estimate that the base of the contract is around $7M? I'm not a genius at contracts, but a player working hard at incentives less than a million just doesn't sound right to me.

[Russo21]

Wow, so this is only a one season contract then and Diaw can opt out after the first season? Is that correct?

Looks like it, kinda strange. Glad we're brining him back though :whine

[NickiRasgo]

Nice. Spurs are now making the move. :toast

[Ditty]

I like it, we'll be rebuilding in two years hopefully, and Diaw would be a great player for a team who wants to win a championship.

[TXstbobcat]

Next spurs news should be Tim's new contract.

[jesterbobman]

I'm guessing it's slightly lower so that they can offer Denmon or another player who impresses a longer term minimum salary deal. The amount left of would fit that kind of deal in.

Good deal for the Spurs.

[Russo21]

Our own free agents Green and Diaw signed sealed and delivered. Now to move on with the rest of the roster. Try find trade partners for Bonner, Blair, Neal and maybe Splitter and see what the market is for them

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I'm guessing it's slightly lower so that they can offer Denmon or another player who impresses a longer term minimum salary deal. The amount left of would fit that kind of deal in.

Good deal for the Spurs.

My guess is they've fitted De Colo in what's left of the MLE and would still have the BAE to use on a FA.

[therealtruth]

Incentives that can push it to $9.2M. So is it a reasonable estimate that the base of the contract is around $7M? I'm not a genius at contracts, but a player working hard at incentives less than a million just doesn't sound right to me.

So does that mean they didn't use the MLE? Supposedly Duncan is waiting to sign to make sure they can resign everybody.

[Mel_13]

Can't get any better than that. Two year deal that leaves room for a small contract (De Colo, Denmon, summer league surprise) with the remainder of the MLE. Plus the player option for the second year means that this is essentially a contract year for Boris. Contract year Boris is the best kind of Boris.

[silverblackfan]

Good to see and not a bad deal if Diaw plays as well all year as he did in his short stay. I am really looking forward to all these guys getting a training camp together, especially Leonard, Diaw, and Splitter, if he is around.

[therealtruth]

It looks like we've found our power forward. Just need to improve the defense and get a backup pg.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

So does that mean they didn't use the MLE? Supposedly Duncan is waiting to sign to make sure they can resign everybody.

Not the full MLE, but most of it. You can break it down to sign multiple players.

[benefactor]

This is even better than the Green contract. Very much a typical Spurs move to leave a little out there for the reasons Mel mentioned.

[Mel_13]

The Diaw deal, as reported by @WojYahooNBA is classic Spurs: Scoop up overpaid guy after he's bought out, re-sign him for less than MLE.

https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_SI

[Bruno]

Great contract.

I guess Spurs didn't want to commit long term with Diaw after what happened in Charlotte. If he has a good year with Spurs, it will be then time for Spurs to offer him a long term contract.

Pop has to work with Boris on two axis: his weight and his passivity. I'm sure Pop will have long talks with him about when to shoot or when no to shoot in Spurs systems. I can see too Pop benched him if he doesn't take the shoots he has to take. Pop is a great coach and Boris is a smart player so it should work. For the weight issue, Spurs physical trainer/nutritionist should follow him closely. Part of his contract incentives should be too weight relative with bonuses if he is below a certain weight/body fat%.

His contract should be structure with a first year at $4.5M and a second year at $4.7M. It will allow Spurs to sign a rookie to a long term contract. I don't think De Colo will be that guy (he should sign for a part of the LLE) but Denmon could be that guy if he has a good summer league.

[Brazil]

Can't get any better than that. Two year deal that leaves room for a small contract (De Colo, Denmon, summer league surprise) with the remainder of the MLE. Plus the player option for the second year means that this is essentially a contract year for Boris. Contract year Boris is the best kind of Boris.

this :tu

very good news

[Darkwaters]

Nice signing. Not much to argue about here.

[Redshadows]

Nice.

The next move, I hope, is to get rid of Bonner, which I don't think would happen.

[loveforthegame]

A better deal than I figured. Job well done Spurs. :tu

[spurspokesman]

Nice.

The next move, I hope, is to get rid of Bonner, which I don't think would happen.
Ditto

[xmas1997]

And now they can finally concentrate on Lorbek!

[Russ]

:toast:flag:

[Brazil]

And now they can finally concentrate on Lorbek!

he resigned with barcelona

[xmas1997]

he resigned with barcelona


Is this for sure?

[pad300]

Not all that happy.

A front line of TD, Splitter, Diaw, Bonner & Blair did not cut it last year. Unless we pull something spectacular on the trade front, we are rolling the same front line this year. That front line won't do it this year either.

I think we have been bidding against ourselves here. Has anyone heard anything about another team sniffing around Diaw? As a 30 year old French* guy coming off a huge contract where he crashed and burned, he was ripe to be low-balled; this isn't, IMO, a low-ball.

*I'm no prejudiced against the French, but the French, and euro's in general, don't get the same number of chances to make good (in the NBA) that US players get.

[racm]

Another day at the Spurs FO...

Those guys really are writing the manual on building a quality team on a shoestring budget, huh. :flag:

^ Did you miss the part where the Spurs went undefeated with a starting lineup of Parker/Green/Leonard/Diaw/Duncan? The problem isn't so much the bigs as it is finding someone versatile enough to defend the paint AND the perimeter.

[dylankerouac]

Happy about the signing. Extremely happy this unit is going to have a second run at it.

[timvp]

Wow. That is a great contract. I thought the best the Spurs could do would be two years for the entire MLE. Two years for less than the MLE? That's fantastic for the Spurs.

The most important part of a Diaw contract was it being short-term. The last time he got a long-term contract, the basically stopped trying. But with this two-year deal, his contract expires at the same time as Parker and he'll only be 32 .... so he has plenty of motivation. If he plays really well, he could conceivably get one more big contract.

Damn, this is even better than the Green contract. Great news :tu

[xmas1997]

Is Lorbek for sure gone?

[racm]

Only things left are trading Bonner/Blair/Neal* and singing De Colo, tbh...

* depends on who shows up in Summer League

[pad300]

^ Did you miss the part where the Spurs went undefeated with a starting lineup of Parker/Green/Leonard/Diaw/Duncan? The problem isn't so much the bigs as it is finding someone versatile enough to defend the paint AND the perimeter.

I saw that, yep. I also 4 straight losses in the WCF, and then watched the Thunder go down in 5 vs Miami. Pop shows no indication of interest in playing twin towers (TD & Splitter) ball. That says we need 2 good, mobile, athletic PF's. Using the vast majority of the MLE on Diaw means we are only going to have 1...:(

Maybe we can pull something off on the trade front. I'm not sure I have a lot of hope.

[timvp]

The player-option second year makes the contract even better; it gives Diaw even more motivation to play hard. And even if he does opt out, he'd become an Early Bird free agent, meaning they could re-sign him without using the MLE. Doing some quick math, if Diaw opts out the Spurs can pay him as much as $35 million over four years -- so they aren't at real risk of losing him even if he opts out.

It was a good idea to add incentives to further motivate.

Marcus Camby, Brandon Roy and Spencer Hawes all got two year deals and they all got at least $10 million. I'd rather have Diaw than any of those three players.

[Spurs Brazil]

Great job by the Spurs FO

[racm]

Camby = old
Roy = no knees
Hawes = unreliable

Contract is a steal, especially if Diaw decides turning into a blob in Charlotte isn't worth a chance at a ring.

[Bruno]

Diaw: $9.2M/2 years
Novak: $15M/ 4 years

:lmao

[timvp]

I think we have been bidding against ourselves here. Has anyone heard anything about another team sniffing around Diaw?

It was pretty obvious that Diaw wanted to stay (same with Green). Add in the fact that he's been playing NT basketball and it's not a surprise that he wasn't publicly courted by another team. Calls about his availability probably didn't go very far.

Tbh, most "bidding wars" are manufactured by agents. And most agents know that RC and Pop have been doing this for too long to let something like that influence an offer.

[racm]

"But he hit 47% from deep!"

Spurs got a versatile big who can hit 3s, rebound, and make passes (to a fault).

[DPG21920]

:wow Great job, FO. The only thing I was worried about was the length of the contract and (maybe other aren't) I am so surprised it's only two years. I thought it would be 3 minimum and was worried about a fourth. The cost is great per year, but that was not my main concern - the cost is just icing on the great deal.

[DPG21920]

Also at this point, we know the max offer Tim can accept is ~16M, correct? If the Spurs use the full BAE and the rest of the MLE it will drop to 14M max.

[smaka]

I love it how Spurs are always quiet, and people may think there is nothing going on, but in the end, we end up with great deals! Great job done here, and with DGreen too!!

[timvp]

Also at this point, we know the max offer Tim can accept is ~16M, correct? If the Spurs use the full BAE and the rest of the MLE it will drop to 14M max.

Good point. Rung higher.

By signing Diaw to this contract, the Spurs now face a hard cap at $74 million. And yeah, right now the max contract Duncan can get from the Spurs is something like $16.5 million. Once the Spurs use the rest of the MLE and the BAE (which I still think they'll most likely have to use to fill out the roster), Duncan won't be able to re-sign for more than $14 million.

But I'm sure he's already agreed to a number south of that.

[pad300]

Any of you people follow the Wages of Wins geeks?

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/07/06/the-2012-nba-free-agency-cheat-sheet/#more-10922

Yes, statistical projections aren't perfect, they don't take into account motivation or injuries, that said

Camby = old = Projected WP/48 of 0.222
Roy = no knees = Projected WP/48 of 0.116
Hawes = unreliable = Projected WP/48 of 0.055

Boris = ?Motivated? = Projected WP/48 of 0.069

Hawes is young and they are paying for potential. Similarly with Roy's comeback. What's Boris's excuse?

[xmas1997]

POP, fly over there NOW and get Lorbek!

[Redshadows]

Where is the physical center?

[GB20]

Where is the physical center?

didn't you read? the physical center is Danny Green.

[dylankerouac]

Good point. Rung higher.

By signing Diaw to this contract, the Spurs now face a hard cap at $74 million. And yeah, right now the max contract Duncan can get from the Spurs is something like $16.5 million. Once the Spurs use the rest of the MLE and the BAE (which I still think they'll most likely have to use to fill out the roster), Duncan won't be able to re-sign for more than $14 million.

But I'm sure he's already agreed to a number south of that.

So will they be below the cap if he accepts south of $14M?

[Redshadows]

didn't you read? the physical center is Danny Green.
okay...

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Excellent news.

props to Diaw for obviously wanting to stay.
If Parker and Diaw lived on the coast, I bet they could have a French reality show this next season.

can someone explain to me how this signing sets us up with a 74 million hard cap?
Is that just the nature of using the MLE

[timvp]

Any of you people follow the Wages of Wins geeks?

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/07/06/the-2012-nba-free-agency-cheat-sheet/#more-10922

Yes, statistical projections aren't perfect, they don't take into account motivation or injuries, that said

Camby = old = Projected WP/48 of 0.222
Roy = no knees = Projected WP/48 of 0.116
Hawes = unreliable = Projected WP/48 of 0.055

Boris = ?Motivated? = Projected WP/48 of 0.069

Hawes is young and they are paying for potential. Similarly with Roy's comeback. What's Boris's excuse?

They project Diaw to do about 20% worse than his last three seasons, most of which have been spent with the Bobcats? I'd say that is pessimistic, tbh.

Besides, a lot of what Diaw does well doesn't show up in the stats. Things like handling the ball if a guard is trapped, driving in from the perimeter to collapse a defense, defending the post, etc. Plus, WP48 judges bigmen mostly by how well they rebound (as evident by Camby be rated as the second best free agent bigman -- even ahead of Duncan and almost double Garnett) and we know Diaw is more of a box-outer than a rebounder.

Even saying that and factoring in the pessimistic outlook, WP48 says the Spurs will be getting good bang for their buck if Diaw averages around 24 minutes per game. That's doable.

[CubanMustGo]

Any of you people follow the Wages of Wins geeks?

http://wagesofwins.com/2012/07/06/the-2012-nba-free-agency-cheat-sheet/#more-10922

Yes, statistical projections aren't perfect, they don't take into account motivation or injuries, that said

Camby = old = Projected WP/48 of 0.222
Roy = no knees = Projected WP/48 of 0.116
Hawes = unreliable = Projected WP/48 of 0.055

Boris = ?Motivated? = Projected WP/48 of 0.069

Hawes is young and they are paying for potential. Similarly with Roy's comeback. What's Boris's excuse?

Hollinger, is that you?

[AFBlue]

Wow. I can't believe they got him on a two-year deal. What a ridiculously good contract.

[timvp]

So will they be below the cap if he accepts south of $14M?

No, they are going to be way over the cap. After the rest of the MLE and the BAE are spent, the Spurs will be at about $60 million on the books (the salary cap is ~$58 million). The luxury tax kicks in at about $70 million. The "apron" is at $74 million. Since the Spurs used the regular MLE and not the taxpayer MLE, the apron turns into a hard cap figure.

So to stay under the luxury tax threshold, Duncan's contract will have to be less than $10 million. The absolute max the Spurs can pay Duncan will be about $14 million.

I expect Holt to allow the Spurs to pay some lux tax. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he lets the Spurs pay all the way up to the apron -- even though that will end up costing him $4 million more in lux tax penalty.

[Seventyniner]

This also means that Duncan isn't taking some ridiculously low salary, right? In that case, the MLE wouldn't have been a constraint.

[Nathan89]

Some people seem to be upset about bringing in the same guys. The thing is the team is bringing in the best options available and on very good contracts.

I know everybody wants new players to feel we are going to war with some new guns. The fact is we made a lot of moves over the last year. Two years worth of moves. Kawhi trade, Boris signing, and the S jax trade. If we did the latter two this summer everybody would be pumped.

Despite all that we still have hope of a trade possibly including Blair, Neal, Bonner, or Splitter. We have a little exception we can offer a old(most likely) or a young player.

[pad300]

They project Diaw to do about 20% worse than his last three seasons, most of which have been spent with the Bobcats? I'd say that is pessimistic, tbh.

Besides, a lot of what Diaw does well doesn't show up in the stats. Things like handling the ball if a guard is trapped, driving in from the perimeter to collapse a defense, defending the post, etc. Plus, WP48 judges bigmen mostly by how well they rebound (as evident by Camby be rated as the second best free agent bigman -- even ahead of Duncan and almost double Garnett) and we know Diaw is more of a box-outer than a rebounder.

Even saying that and factoring in the pessimistic outlook, WP48 says the Spurs will be getting good bang for their buck if Diaw averages around 24 minutes per game. That's doable.

20% worse is probably an effect of 2 things. The average player starts trending down at 30+ (which Boris is now), and his WP/48 has been trending down since 09/10...

In a box, I don't think the Diaw contract is bad. It's just not a steal. The problem with thinking in this box, is that I would like to see Dunca's last year or two be as a contender. Given we got Thundered (and they'll be back), Miami was better (and they'll be back), and other teams are improving (Lakers - maybe, Clippers), I think we needed to upgrade the front line, and that means a steal. Maybe Boris proves me wrong, but compared to what I think he could get from the rest of the league, this isn't a steal.

[DesignatedT]

Wow. This contract is perfect. I applaud you Spurs.

[pad300]

Hollinger, is that you?

Of course not, Hollinger believes in PER...
If you have insider:

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=free%20agent%20projected%20per&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsider.espn.go.com%2Fnba%2Fstory %2F_%2Fid%2F8115144%2Fnba-ranking-free-agents-future-projected-per&ei=-U38T8qAIcfErQHVju2LCQ&usg=AFQjCNGAfwdWSfe2LczYO2kB4mEZPrNDbQ&cad=rja

Further, Last year's PER
Camby 19.6
Roy 13.9 (from 10/11, when he last played 21.3 from 09/10)
Hawes 18.1
Diaw 12.1 (only counting games with Spurs)

Again, Roy is getting paid on the chance he can come back. Diaw, on the other hand was ripe for a low-ball, and we haven't...

[SenorSpur]

The good news just keeps on coming. This is a very reasonable contract. I always felt that Diaw should be kept on a shorter leash just to keep him motivated. He hasn't done well when having the extra security. The player option for the 2nd year is a cool thing for him. He controls his own performance and thus his destiny.

Great news and great job by the FO. :tu

Now for Duncan & Mills.

[jeebus]

Now for Duncan & Mills.

Already done. Now they gotta find a way to dump Bonner and Blair.

[crc21209]

Awesome. :tu RC has done a fantastic job this off-season compared to about 20 of the other GM's in the league handing out ridculous contracts. Diaw is just a perfect fit for this team. I can't wait to see what Diaw can do with a full training camp under his belt...

[Spurtacus]

Great deal by the FO. But the incentives are only 200k?

[ace3g]

Maximum Sports ‏@MaxSportsSA

Just got off phone with Diaw's agent. He says 6 other teams showed interested in Diaw, but Boris, for several reasons, didn't want to wait.

[ace3g]

Maximum Sports ‏@MaxSportsSA

Just got off phone with Diaw's agent. He says 6 other teams showed interested in Diaw, but Boris, for several reasons, didn't want to wait.

[Nathan89]

Maximum Sports ‏@MaxSportsSA

Just got off phone with Diaw's agent. He says 6 other teams showed interested in Diaw, but Boris, for several reasons, didn't want to wait.

If only big name free agents new how great it is to be apart of the Spurs.

Props to Diaw and Green for wanting to play for the Spurs more than another team for more money.

[crc21209]

Maximum Sports ‏@MaxSportsSA

Just got off phone with Diaw's agent. He says 6 other teams showed interested in Diaw, but Boris, for several reasons, didn't want to wait.

Nice. :tu I'm sure Tony being here helped out the cause as well....

[Brazil]

Nice. :tu I'm sure Tony being here helped out the cause as well....

that's for sure

He is certainly one of the good reason why Boris joined the Spurs

[dylankerouac]

No, they are going to be way over the cap. After the rest of the MLE and the BAE are spent, the Spurs will be at about $60 million on the books (the salary cap is ~$58 million). The luxury tax kicks in at about $70 million. The "apron" is at $74 million. Since the Spurs used the regular MLE and not the taxpayer MLE, the apron turns into a hard cap figure.

So to stay under the luxury tax threshold, Duncan's contract will have to be less than $10 million. The absolute max the Spurs can pay Duncan will be about $14 million.

I expect Holt to allow the Spurs to pay some lux tax. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he lets the Spurs pay all the way up to the apron -- even though that will end up costing him $4 million more in lux tax penalty.

Thanks!

[tuncaboylu]

It's also bargain. Steve Novak gets 4 years 15M and we lock Diaw 9M for 2 years.

Excellent move.

[dunkman]

Good news, the Spurs kept every playoffs rotation player. Mills and hopefully De Colo will solve the backup PG problem for once.

Too bad the second year is players option.

[objective]

Boris coming off a buyout for a pro-rated amount was a steal.

This deal?

Reasonable, good value maybe, but no steal.

I was was more interested in Lorbek as an unknown over Boris the known.

I just don't see who this team is getting better up front without a trade happening. But, Boris is a fine, corpulent player.

Except I wouldn't count on him in the playoffs. He no showed each series clincher, and was generally invisible against the Thunder. Other than eating minutes, he's not a mark in the 'positive difference maker in the postseason' column.

[Knoxxx]

I think Diaw is a bit overrated too. I am hopeful he will get in better shape, and acclimate even more effectively with a full training camp and last season with our team.

I will admit that when he is hitting on all cylinders, the Spurs are a beast to stop. OKC he did not step up though and looked overmatched. Not sure he will ever be "clutch" at all but we can only hope.

[angelbelow]

Again, these are great deals. Especially in this NBA climate where the majority of players are being over-payed.

I personally thought Diaw was going to get the full MLE and that another team was going to overpay Green.

Diaw isn't the athletic 4 or the defensive specialist we all want but there is no doubt that he was the most obvious and realistic way to improve our front line.

[benefactor]

Damn Spur fan is hard to please. You guys want to go back to the days of starting Bonner?

[therealtruth]

Some people seem to be upset about bringing in the same guys. The thing is the team is bringing in the best options available and on very good contracts.

I know everybody wants new players to feel we are going to war with some new guns. The fact is we made a lot of moves over the last year. Two years worth of moves. Kawhi trade, Boris signing, and the S jax trade. If we did the latter two this summer everybody would be pumped.

Despite all that we still have hope of a trade possibly including Blair, Neal, Bonner, or Splitter. We have a little exception we can offer a old(most likely) or a young player.

The team won like 20 games in a row and I don't think they even hit their peak. They swept the first two rounds of the playoffs. They were winning games by averages of 10 ppg. The Spurs will win 60+ next season. Book it. The only thing holding them back will be getting a backup pg, playing better consistent defense, and developing Splitter's post game.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Love this deal, very glad to have Diaw back, although it seems a strange one from Boris's perspective - at his age I thought he'd be looking for 3 years.

[slick'81]

great all around deal after a full training camp and preseason i look for diaw to shine

[ace3g]

Press Release:

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/120712_diaw