Four Backup Point Guards

[Libri]

The Spurs currently have four backup point guards in Joseph, De Colo, Mills, and Neal. Neal isn't a point guard but I'm counting him because Pop uses him in that position. What would you like to see happen this summer or what do you think the Spurs FO will do? One thing to consider is their contract situation.


1. Joseph has a guaranteed contract for next season and then a team option and qualifying offer.

2. De Colo has a guaranteed contract for next season and then a qualifying offer.

3. Mills has a player option for next season.

4. Neal has a qualifying offer for next season.


So a major question mark will be whether to keep Neal or not. That decision could depend on whether Mills decides to stay. What scenarios do you think could play out for these players this summer?

[racm]

Some team (Portland?) will end up paying Neal big bucks as a bench scorer.

[BatManu20]

Probably keep Neal and play him at the 2 and give Manu even less minutes. Unless some team offers him something outrageous. And come playoff time Nando and Cojo won't play much, if at all this year once rotations shorten. But next year, I think it's Parker and Cojo and Mills probably walks.

[jesterbobman]

Neal will probably be offered more than we want to pay by another team. Teams typically overpay based off of ppg, so I imagine he's gone elsewhere for 4m a year or so. Joseph and De Colo stay(guaranteed, relatively cheap contracts). Mills may stay or go. Could earn more elsewhere, but it's a (small) risk to opt out, and he does seem to enjoy being on the Spurs. He'd probably be happy in a lot of places though, just seems like a happy guy in general.

[spurraider21]

Neal will get overpaid. Mills could get a bigger role elsewhere

[Libri]

So it's possible for the Spurs to lose Neal and Mills. Wouldn't surprise me if Pop tries to bring in a veteran point guard.

[callo1]

Neal isn't a pg...period.

[dunkman]

Neal and Mills are SG's.

[maverick1948]

Worse case would be for Manu to retire, Neal to sign elsewhere, SJax not resigned, and Mills leaves for somewhere else no Bonner and no Blair. I think we have to look at that and decide how we would get by. Replacing Manu would be hard to do. From within, Green would still start but De Colo would have to move over to back up 2 guard. That would leave TP and CJ at PG. We have only Kawhi at the SF. Tim, Tiago, Diaw and Baynes at the C/PF. There would be 5 or 6 open slots to fill. I would think Pop would want to get a SF backup for Kawhi, a combo guard, and a big man in free agency. That would leave us a hole for Hanga and Richards(minimum contracts) to play Dleague. If they are success there we have 2 more role players and still have 1 open slot for another player.

Remember this is worst case. A lot can happen.

[BackHome]

Next year:

1. Neal -Gone
2. SJAX - Gone
3. Blair - Gone
4. Bonner - Gone

Draft picks will get a chance to see what they can do in Summer league:

1. Richardson - Hopes he signs a D-Leauge contract "Learn From CoJo"
2. Adam Hanga - I think takes Neals place
3. Betrans - Probably needs one more year to add bulk
4. 2013 Draft Pick?

Should be able to use SJAX and Bonner money to sign a good player or two.

[Gagnrath]

Next year:

1. Neal -Gone
2. SJAX - Gone
3. Blair - Gone
4. Bonner - Gone

Draft picks will get a chance to see what they can do in Summer league:

1. Richardson - Hopes he signs a D-Leauge contract "Learn From CoJo"
2. Adam Hanga - I think takes Neals place
3. Betrans - Probably needs one more year to add bulk
4. 2013 Draft Pick?

Should be able to use SJAX and Bonner money to sign a good player or two.

Why would bonner be gone? Did I miss something?

[AFBlue]

CoJo will be back as the full-time backup PG. Spurs will have to cross the Parker v. "future" bridge at some point, but I don't think it's next year.

De Colo will be back and will benefit from the "second year" bump that most players get in the system. I don't know his long-term fit or role assuming Manu comes back, but the Spurs should be able to find him minutes.

Mills may stick it out for another year of towel-waving, but he could probably get more money and PT elsewhere.

As for Neal...assuming Manu returns on a two-year deal, I expect him to be gone. Though his singular skill is a valuable one, I don't see the Spurs competing to bring back a one-dimensional player.

[Darkwaters]

Why would bonner be gone? Did I miss something?

No, you didn't. Bonner has one more year left on his contract at around $4M I believe.

The post you quoted is just incorrect.

[TD 21]

I expect one of Neal or Mills to be gone and Mills might be gone anyway, because whether he and his agent get the sense that Neal is returning or not, the writing is on the wall (they clearly don't view him as more than a deep bench player). Also, there's numerous teams he'd have a legit shot at being in the rotation on.

A healthy Neal is excellent Ginobili insurance and quality depth in general, so I'm sure they'd like to retain him. The problem is, he's overqualified to be a non rotation player, but if Joseph continues to develop at a rapid rate, it's difficult to envision him not being just that. He is restricted though and they have a good amount of financial flexibility, so if they really wanted to, they could keep him. But a non rotation player making $2.5-3M and (inevitably) unhappy? That's not the Spurs style. If Joseph closes the season strong and Mills opts in, they may opt to let Neal walk.