Trade Proposal: Radoslav Nesterovic for James Posey

[Rick Von Braun]

San Antonio Trade Breakdown


Outgoing
http://207.44.220.101/images/nba/4.2/profiles/photos/Nesterovic_Rasho_san.jpg
Radoslav Nesterovic
7-0 C from Slovenia
5.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.0 apg in 25.5 minutes

Incoming
http://207.44.220.101/images/nba/4.2/profiles/photos/Posey_James_mem.jpg
James Posey
6-8 SF from Xavier
8.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.8 apg in 27.6 minutes

Change in team outlook: +2.2 ppg, -2.2 rpg, and +0.8 apg.


Successful Scenario. Due to San Antonio and Memphis being over the cap, the 15% trade rule is invoked. San Antonio and Memphis had to be no more than 115% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted, which did happen here. This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Trade ID for this scenario is 2442336.


The raison d'etre for this trade is the following:

James Posey's size (6-8) and athleticism fills exactly one of the most glaring Spurs' needs at SF. He may have some attitude problems, but he may also be a suitable replacement for Bowen in the long term. He has 2 more years in his current contract (slightly cheaper than Rasho's), so in the worst case scenario, if he doesn't work out, the Spurs can look elsewhere when he comes off the books.

Rasho is a very serviceable backup center, and he could backup Lorenzen Wright. The Grizzles are a little thin up front, and they are not convinced on Jake Tsakalidis in the long term. They need another capable center with D skills to complement Pau Gasol in the frontline, and Rasho fills that need. The Grizzles also have a plethora of SFs, including Mike Miller and Shane Battier, so they might be willing to depart with Posey.

I don't think this can realistically happen, mainly because of Pop's love for Rasho. However, Peter Holt may put some pressure to get rid of Rasho's contract if he will not be our starting center, in particular after extending Nazr. Posey's contract is a little smaller and shorter. The Spurs still would need to find a suitable backup center, even if Scola joins this Summer.

What do you guys think? Is this doable and/or realistic? If it is, would you pull the trigger?

[Marcus Bryant]

Very interesting. But if Memphis was to move a 3 would they move Posey? Also, Battier seems like a far more likely Spurs target and I believe there is some connection with TD (they shared Babby as their agent, I thought).

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Why someone will trade a C for SF and then be without real C???

[Marcus Bryant]

That's the problem. As long as Nazr's future in SA is uncertain it would be hard to justify moving Rasho.

[Marcus Bryant]

Battier's deal is long but pretty cheap. You know, he wouldn't be a bad fit in SA.

Team player, not a cracksmoker, good J, good defensive skills, etc...

[mookie2001]

yeah i'd keep rasho unless something comes along you cant pass up

tyson c

[Rick Von Braun]

Very interesting. But if Memphis was to move a 3 would they move Posey? Also, Battier seems like a far more likely Spurs target and I believe there is some connection with TD (they shared Babby as their agent, I thought). The salaries don't match, so there should be more bodies to make this trade successful. I preferred Posey because I consider him a better defensive player than Battier, and he may be a suitable defensive stopper in the long run. His contract is shorter as well, so there is less risk if he doesn't work out for the Spurs.

I agree with you that the Grizzles may not want to depart with Posey, mainly because he is one of Jerry West projects. Nevertheless, Posey may have burnt some bridges with his relationship with the coaching staff.

I am not completely convinced of this trade as well, mainly because it is difficult to get quality centers, even back up ones. This trade also assumes that the FO is convinced that Nazr is suitable a long term investment for the center position.

[MI21]

The Grizzlies seem like a good target if the Spurs were looking to offload Rasho.

Any combination of players that included the Spurs receiving Battier or Posey would be favourable to the Spurs if they decide they prefer Nazr over Rasho longtime.

Should be interesting to see what happens.

[Mr. Body]

I agree with RVB. First of all, Battier for Nesterovic doesn't work under the CBA, so Memphis would have to include more people, which I don't expect them to do.

Second, I'm not sure Posey is that promising in return for Rasho. It would be better to have a legitimate, if generally uninspiring, backup center on the bench than a somewhat talented SF with potential attitude problems, especially given an uncertain status with Nazr.

At the moment I see few appealing trade scenarios for Rasho.

[Marcus Bryant]

Honestly, I'd prefer to see the Spurs keep some real bigman depth. TD's managed to miss 29 games over the last two seasons. Mohammed was injury plagued during the early part of his career. Horry is getting long in the tooth, no matter how ageless he looked in this year's postseason.

I'd say right now that the Spurs can be somewhat picky with potential trades for a 3. Sure, if a great deal comes along they should take it, but I think they can make it a go with the current rotation and without a true prototypical backup 3.

[Marcus Bryant]

To make a Rasho for Battier deal work, Memphis could send back Jake. Not that much of a stretch.

[MI21]

Honestly, I'd prefer to see the Spurs keep some real bigman depth. TD's managed to miss 29 games over the last two seasons. Mohammed was injury plagued during the early part of his career. Horry is getting long in the tooth, no matter how ageless he looked in this year's postseason.

If Tim goes down the Spurs would still likely have Nazr, Horry, Scola and FA Big (TMass, KWill type). That will suffice for stretches of games in the regular season. You don't make moves based on potential player injuries.

[Marcus Bryant]

I think you do, as least with regards to keeping TD and Horry's minutes down in the regular season in order to keep them from getting burned out. Recall how burned out Horry was in the '03 playoffs after he averaged 29.3 minutes a game in the regular season.

In the recently concluded season his regular season average was 18.6 minutes per contest.

[MI21]

Recall how burned out Horry was in the '03 playoffs after he averaged 29.3 minutes a game in the regular season.

True. I didn't think it was 29mpg, are you sure? Feels like a lot more than I can remember, but then again, I've tried to delete that season from my memory. He wasn't burned out in the first round though, so I am not sure how much effect heavy minutes had on his performance vs LA, but it is possible that it did effect him seriously, because there is a precedent for it when he was with the Lakers.

I think Tim will be able to handle a few more minutes this next season. No international duties, time to rest those moneymaking ankles and he should be a lot more spritely and energetic than the latter part of this year. If Scola is as good as advertised, he should be able to play some largish minutes if need be, and with Nazr, Horry and T-Mass (for arguments sake), I think that would be enough. Regardless, I will not be angry if Rasho is kept around and the Spurs decide to develop The Third into the long SF they want/need.

[Marcus Bryant]

Also, quality bigmen are always a nice potential trade asset. Given the uncertainty with Mohammed and Scola this summer the Spurs need to and can afford to wait.

[Mark in Austin]

IF the Spurs decide to extend Nazr and come to an acceptable deal with his agent, then this seems like a pretty interesting scenario:

Rasho to Memphis for Battier & fodder or for Posey
Sign Oberto as the backup C

Lineup would then be:

PG Parker, Udrih
SG Ginobili, Barry
SF Bowen, Battier or Posey
PF Duncan, Scola
C Mohammed, Oberto

with LJIII, Devin, Horry, Marks, TMass still in the mix/ TBD.

I honestly don't know if Memphis would give up either of those guys, though. As stated above, West might be too attached to Posey; and Battier is good locker room glue.

[Marcus Bryant]

True. I didn't think it was 29mpg, are you sure? Feels like a lot more than I can remember, but then again, I've tried to delete that season from my memory. He wasn't burned out in the first round though, so I am not sure how much effect heavy minutes had on his performance vs LA, but it is possible that it did effect him seriously, because there is a precedent for it when he was with the Lakers.

The 29.3 minute average was for his last season with the Lakers.

[2centsworth]

James Sucks and has an attitude from hell.

[Marcus Bryant]

If the Spurs could sign Oberto this summer and bring Scola in that would change the scenario, no doubt.

[Sense]

I think slovenian fans should keep in their minds that Rasho could be up for grabs for any other team... The Spurs are a winning team, and Rasho didn't help much in the playoffs...

Expect a trade...

:P

[MI21]

The 29.3 minute average was for his last season with the Lakers.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

I thought you were talking about the 03-04 playoffs with the Spurs. His minutes were limited in that season too, and he struggled in the 2nd round.

Honestly, I think the Spurs will hold on to Rasho. Pop loves him, and he still has a shot at starting center in my opinion.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

The Spurs are a winning team, and Rasho didn't help much in the playoffs...


:P
Yea and why?? Ask pop and who was first starting center in the team for almost 2 seasons and they have a record. I tink that you just think too much of Nazr becouse of this playoffs and think that he is God. Yes trde him emidiatley and bring Scola and Oberto the 2 guys who did not prove anything in NBA ........ risk might be good or very bad

[mookie2001]

Expect a trade...

:P
if by expect you mean seriously doubt a trade then i agree 100%

[Marcus Bryant]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up.

I thought you were talking about the 03-04 playoffs with the Spurs. His minutes were limited in that season too, and he struggled in the 2nd round.

Honestly, I think the Spurs will hold on to Rasho. Pop loves him, and he still has a shot at starting center in my opinion.


The one difference is that in that series he had to go up against a Shaq-Malone frontcourt. Horry was awesome in the 1st round against the Grizzlies last year, but leaning on Shaq wore him down.

Props to Pop for not using Malik in that series.

[BigDaddyMatty]

When you look back at this past season, the Spurs played their best ball with Rasho as the starting center. Through the All-Star break they were on pace to shatter the point differential record. They were beating teams by like 13 pts per game. So that shows how they can play with Rasho as the starting Ctr. I would like the Spurs to go into camp with Rash and Nazr fighting for a position. If one seperates himself then see what you can get for the other. If Rasho wins it, we could get something good for Nazr. A championship ctr with an expiring contract.

[ChumpDumper]

Rasho is a very serviceable backup center, and he could backup Lorenzen Wright. Make no mistake about it: Rasho would start. A defensive-minded true center is their missing piece, and Wright is asking the Grizz for a trade. If the trade is for just Posey, we need to get a pick as well.

[Sense]

Yea and why?? Ask pop and who was first starting center in the team for almost 2 seasons and they have a record. I tink that you just think too much of Nazr becouse of this playoffs and think that he is God. Yes trde him emidiatley and bring Scola and Oberto the 2 guys who did not prove anything in NBA ........ risk might be good or very bad


Why? we won a championship with Nazr in the starting lineup...and Rasho barely playing..


2 seasons with rasho starting... personally I think he's underachieved as a starter... and I don't think we won a championship the season he started in the playoffs...

Playoffs is what it's all about, not the regular season.. you heard it.


Mainly ^ That's why you should expect a trade..

I know you being slovenian it might be hard to accept... but the truth is you gotta expect the worst..

Im just saying expect it... wether it happens or not.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Why? we won a championship with Nazr in the starting lineup...and Rasho barely playing..





Yes we could say that we won the finals without Nazr too becouse he did not do much , and rasho would be better in games with detroit. Horry was playing a lot Nazr was good with Suns, seattle

[Sense]

Yes we could say that we won the finals without Nazr too becouse he did not do much , and rasho would be better in games with detroit. Horry was playing a lot Nazr was good with Suns, seattle
Are you saying that Rasho would've been as critical as Nazr was with offensive rebounding?

As far as I know, he was critical...

Far more than I've seen Rasho been..

[ChumpDumper]

Are you saying that Rasho would've been as critical as Nazr was with offensive rebounding?He's no slouch in that department -- and his team D is light years ahead of Nazr's. Not a sure bet we would have done much worse with Rasho.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Are you saying that Rasho would've been as critical as Nazr was with offensive rebounding?

As far as I know, he was critical...

Far more than I've seen Rasho been..

what helps couple of rebounds if then he lost the ball or get blocked every time when he is trying to dunk?? and he was scared of Detroit

[Sense]

what helps couple of rebounds if then he lost the ball or get blocked every time when he is trying to dunk?? and he was scared of Detroit

Scared of Detroit? Ok... sure he was.. Maybe that's why we lost.

And are you saying you were planning on getting Rasho and Nazr on the same lineup?

I was happy we never saw Rasho.....
The truth is Nazr wasn't used to Detroit..and apparently he had no success with NY.
I liked what he did on the court in the finals...somewhere he's never been, and apparently, Rasho neither.

He barely got used to the Spurs and he won a championship as a starter..

You can't take that away from him.

[Kori Ellis]

He barely got used to the Spurs and he won a championship as a starter..

You can't take that away from him.

No one is taking anything away from him. But you can't discount that Rasho is far ahead of Nazr defensively. If you are going to play that "what if" game, you could probably argue that the Spurs would have done better with Rasho in the postseason because he rotates to the right place defensively and would have kept people out of the paint. But there's no use to argue stuff that didn't happen. If Rasho would have gotten hurt earlier in the season, he probably would have had a chance to fight for his starting job. But since it was so late in the season when he got healthy, the Spurs weren't going to make any changes at that point. So maybe Rasho will have that chance in training camp. Having both Rasho and Nazr is a good thing, IMO.

[SLOVENIAN 8]

Scared of Detroit? Ok... sure he was.. Maybe that's why we lost.



that is true if you look at the woai video click Nazr and you will see that he is saying " i was so scared of detroit man"

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

For as good as the Spurs can be at straightening out guys with slightly loose screws, I think that Posey would be a bigger risk for us and for someone that we don't absolutely need right this moment, while giving someone in our division exactly what they need. Not worth pulling the trigger on.

[Spurminator]

If we play Miami in the Finals next year, we're gonna want to have Rasho off the bench. I'm in no big hurry to move him unless it's a no-brainer.

[ALVAREZ6]

PG Parker, Udrih
SG Ginobili, Barry
SF Bowen, Battier or Posey
PF Duncan, Scola
C Mohammed, Oberto

with LJIII, Devin, Horry, Marks, TMass still in the mix/ TBD.

Now that would just kick ass...tres Argentinos....

[Crafty One]

We could try to pry Trevor Ariza from Thomas` cold dead hands too.

[Crafty One]

Trade: Radoslav Nesterovich+First Rnd #28+Romain Sato
for
Fredrick Weis+Trevor Ariza+Jerome Williams
TRADE ACCEPTED

Spurs Change in Team Outlook :+ 4.4 points 0.0 rebs +0.6 ast
NY change in team outlook: -4.4 pts 0.0 reb - 0.6 ast


Sucessfull scenario: Due to San Antonio and New York being over the cap, the15% trade rule is invoked. San Antonio and New York Had to be more than
115% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be acceptes , witch happend here.This Trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargining
Aggrement.2442974

[Kori Ellis]

Good try, but the Spurs don't have Sato.

[Marcus Bryant]

Random thought: If Jerome Williams had hair he'd look like Coolio.

[Crafty One]

Shit....

[Marcus Bryant]

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/contrib_pix/c/o/hds/coolio.jpg

http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jerome_williams.jpg

[Sense]

No one is taking anything away from him. But you can't discount that Rasho is far ahead of Nazr defensively.
He's barely adjusting... so I think that it wouldn't matter because the Spurs were doing good offensively against the first 3 teams, defense never kicked in...Rasho would've done bad against PHX..maybe that's why we were worried about them.


So maybe Rasho will have that chance in training camp. Having both Rasho and Nazr is a good thing, IMO.

I agree, I never disliked Rasho when he was a starter, but I often looked at his numbers..then looked at defense, I just wondered "what if" someone else could do better..

I do believe they will compete for the starting job next season...but IMO I think Nazr will take it, because he's a better scorer and rebounder, and his Defense will improve. If he does this, there's no doubt in my mind that he will get it.

I never said or guaranteed Rasho would be traded...

I'm just saying it's a possibility.... and telling Slovenians to expect it, and I'm sure most of them do.

[Crafty One]

Wait we coulkd use Beno, what do you think????????

[Marcus Bryant]

Since Nazr has one more year left on his contract and we've yet to see what Scola can do in the NBA, you don't move Rasho now. The Spurs have the luxury to wait and see what happens.

Scola by all accounts is not going to cost an arm and a leg. Horry will cost probably $4 to 4.5 mil per for two seasons. Nazr? Hard to say. If I'm in the Spurs I ink an extension with him immediately. The price of bigmen is only going to go up and when you look at NBA rosters, Nazr is an above average center.

[bigbendbruisebrother]

It seems like this trade proposal implies the need for an additional SF. I guess that is self-evident given Bowen's age and the uncertainty still surrounding Glenn Robinson's future and LJ III's progress.

You guys know a ton more about the CBA and cap space stuf than I do.

Let me ask you this: How much would it take to re-sign Glenn Robinson? More than Posey's contract?

Secondly, is the LJ III project over? Does he have what it takes to take over for Bowen when that day comes?

[Kori Ellis]

Let me ask you this: How much would it take to re-sign Glenn Robinson? More than Posey's contract?

No one knows. Glenn sat around all season and no one would touch him. But now that he behaved with the Spurs, other teams might be willing to take the risk. He didn't, however, do so much with the Spurs that there are going to be teams throwing big money at him. If the Spurs give half of the MLE to Scola, they could throw the other half at Glenn and see how much he wants to stay a Spur.


Secondly, is the LJ III project over? Does he have what it takes to take over for Bowen when that day comes?

I don't think it's over. I think he'll play on the Spurs summer league team and be re-signed at the minimum. Who knows what he is going to be able to do now that he's healthy. He's got the potential defensively, but he's got no offensive game to speak of at this point.

[Marcus Bryant]

Another consideration is that the Spurs have the $1.6 million exception to use as well. Perhaps they could use that on Scola...

[Useruser666]

He's got the potential defensively, but he's got no offensive game to speak of at this point.

So then he is Bruce Bowen already!

[Nikos]

If we were going into the 2004-05 season I would have said Posey would have been an AWESOME signing. He was one of the best SF's in the league in 2003-04.

However Posey had an injury filled 2004-05 season, and was simply awful. I can't figure out why he was so bad after having a splendid 2003-04 campaign.

Was Posey playing injured?

The Posey of 2003-04 would be an AWESOME and perfect fit for this squad. He could play excellent defense and be efficient on offense. Ginobili/Bowen/Posey would be a spectacular 3 man rotation.

[2centsworth]

Glenn Robinson is a vet min or nothing contract. I don't see him getting much more than that around the league.

Nazr makes Rasho look like David Robinson defensively.


Linton Johnson III has some made confidence, I would not be surprised to see him contribute in the future.


Do the spurs have the rights to Oberto?

[Marcus Bryant]

Glenn Robinson will get more than minimum offers.