ESPN: Lowe: Ten NBA things I like and don't like, including the Lakers without LeBron

[Drom John]

Scroll down to:
4. Some other Spurs are doing fun things

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28422660/ten-nba-things-like-including-lakers-lebron

[emanueldavidginobili]

Good stuff tbh

Zach Lowe on Lonnie Walker "keep playing this man!" and saying DJ has possibly All-Star potential :tu Also some good stuff on Jakob.

[Sugus]

Impressed to see Lowe so high on DJM, tbh. He's absolutely got room for growth on the offensive end, as a shooter, scorer and playmaker, but I don't know if he'll ever be offensively aggressive enough to earn him the numbers to be an All-Star. Two-way juggernaut though, I can see. At this point it's pretty obvious that Walker has the highest ceiling out of any player on the team - might never be as good as DJ on defense (or might), but his athleticism and offensive prowess are things you can't teach and that separate good young players from stars in the making. Overall, nice to see the Spurs get some media coverage in a favorable light.

[K...]

Who is going to report in the classy things Patty Mills said to Woj on the podcast?

[emanueldavidginobili]

Impressed to see Lowe so high on DJM, tbh. He's absolutely got room for growth on the offensive end, as a shooter, scorer and playmaker, but I don't know if he'll ever be offensively aggressive enough to earn him the numbers to be an All-Star. Two-way juggernaut though, I can see. At this point it's pretty obvious that Walker has the highest ceiling out of any player on the team - might never be as good as DJ on defense (or might), but his athleticism and offensive prowess are things you can't teach and that separate good young players from stars in the making. Overall, nice to see the Spurs get some media coverage in a favorable light.
Tyson Chandler averaged 11 PPG, Kyle Korver 12 PPG, Roy Hibbert 12 PPG, Brad Miller 14 PPG, BJ Armstrong 15 PPG, all made the All Star game averaging those PPG at the ASB.

DJ averages 10.5 right now playing second fiddle to DeMar and LA. With increased minutes and role I think he can easily average upwards to 16 PPG and be a shut down defender.

10.5/6/4/1.8 splits in 23 MPG, in a couple years from now and being healthy lets say in 34 MPG, I think he can put up numbers like 18/8/7/2.5 tbh.

[Dejounte]

Can someone post the article text

[exstatic]

Can someone post the article text

It's not behind their paywall.

[RC_Drunkford]

Tyson Chandler averaged 11 PPG, Kyle Korver 12 PPG, Roy Hibbert 12 PPG, Brad Miller 14 PPG, BJ Armstrong 15 PPG, all made the All Star game averaging those PPG at the ASB.

DJ averages 10.5 right now playing second fiddle to DeMar and LA. With increased minutes and role I think he can easily average upwards to 16 PPG and be a shut down defender.

10.5/6/4/1.8 splits in 23 MPG, in a couple years from now and being healthy lets say in 34 MPG, I think he can put up numbers like 18/8/7/2.5 tbh.

different eras though. Scores have gone up a lot. Scoring around 15 points ain't really that hard, Bryn Forbes scores 12 points per game. I think Murray has the potential to get a lot of triple doubles in the future

[Dex]

Can someone post the article text

Just click the link and scroll down, bro. It's not that hard.

[emanueldavidginobili]

different eras though. Scores have gone up a lot. Scoring around 15 points ain't really that hard, Bryn Forbes scores 12 points per game. I think Murray has the potential to get a lot of triple doubles in the future
Miller and BJ yeah, but Korver, Hibbert, and Chandler were 5, 6 and 7 years ago, still has changed yeah but its not like it's the 90's or early 2000's. Bryn Forbes could score 12 PPG in 2015. I'm just saying even in today's game I think you can get into the All Star game averaging about 18 with other really solid numbers.

[Dejounte]

Just click the link and scroll down, bro. It's not that hard.

Geez my bad, i thought it was a pay to read article

[Sugus]

different eras though. Scores have gone up a lot. Scoring around 15 points ain't really that hard, Bryn Forbes scores 12 points per game. I think Murray has the potential to get a lot of triple doubles in the future

Exactly. Dejounte is a guard in the West; with All-Star candidates like Doncic and Young averaging over 30PPG, it's going to take bigger numbers from DJ to be in the picture, considering he plays in a small market and doesn't have the hype/flashy game to give him the popular vote. I'm not saying he for sure isn't making an All-star team, especially since he could get in as second team or something, but he'd have to start locking down offenses or averaging close to a triple-double to get the nod, or take his scoring from 10PPG to 20 or 22 at the very least. I'm surprised to see Lowe giving him such high praise, and would love for him to develop as such.

[TD 21]

"I'm tired of moaning about the tentpole veterans" . . . but not before he gets one last, played out joke in about Aldridge finally becoming a volume 3-point shooter.

This Poeltl comment is bizarre: "Other teams should be trying to steal him on the cheap". Is this supposed to be a shot at them giving away net positive players?

There's probably a good chance Poeltl is the best long term piece from the infamous trade, his market value is maybe $6-8 million annually and Aldridge is the only other rotational option at his position and he turns 35 this year (and if/when DeRozan is traded this off season, he could easily follow suit), so why would they let him go?

[exstatic]

"I'm tired of moaning about the tentpole veterans" . . . but not before he gets one last, played out joke in about Aldridge finally becoming a volume 3-point shooter.

This Poeltl comment is bizarre: "Other teams should be trying to steal him on the cheap". Is this supposed to be a shot at them giving away net positive players?

There's probably a good chance Poeltl is the best long term piece from the infamous trade, his market value is maybe $6-8 million annually and Aldridge is the only other rotational option at his position and he turns 35 this year (and if/when DeRozan is traded this off season, he could easily follow suit), so why would they let him go?

Also didn't understand the Poeltl comment. Does he not understand that Jakob is restricted, and that no team will get him"cheap" without the Spurs matching?

[objective]

Recent history shows the Spurs don't play hardball with restricted free agency

They didn't match on Kyle Anderson

They let Simmons out of his RFA tender

They let Cory Joseph out of his RFA tender

Probably not a stretch to think the Spurs wouldn't match a player who gets under 20 minutes a game and is not a regular starter

[Proxy]

Recent history shows the Spurs don't play hardball with restricted free agency

They didn't match on Kyle Anderson

They let Simmons out of his RFA tender

They let Cory Joseph out of his RFA tender

Probably not a stretch to think the Spurs wouldn't match a player who gets under 20 minutes a game and is not a regular starter

Simmons wanted to go though, and I thought I remembered hearing rumors Kyle was unhappy with his MPG. Hope we keep Jakob for whatever his market value is, I'd like to see him with the young guys after LMA and Demar are gone

[SPURt]

This Poeltl comment is bizarre: "Other teams should be trying to steal him on the cheap". Is this supposed to be a shot at them giving away net positive players?


I interpreted that statement to mean teams should try to trade for him now while he is being underused, making his trade value relatively low.

[exstatic]

Recent history shows the Spurs don't play hardball with restricted free agency

They didn't match on Kyle Anderson

They let Simmons out of his RFA tender

They let Cory Joseph out of his RFA tender

Probably not a stretch to think the Spurs wouldn't match a player who gets under 20 minutes a game and is not a regular starter

Kyle's offer was ridiculous. Simmons wanted out. Cory wasn't let out of his tender, he was not matched. At the time, the cap was like $75M, his offer was like $7M/yr, and he was the third string PG.

A thought of a team offering Poeltl a cheap contract, and the Spurs NOT matching is just ridiculous in my mind. I'm not talking match at all costs. LMA will be 35 before next year, and 36 shortly after his contract expires. We'll need another center.

[objective]

Kyle's offer was ridiculous.

Anderson got the MLE and the spurs didn't match. He played about 9 minutes more per game than Poeltl and his leaving left the Spurs without any small forwards. They signed Cunningham about 10 days later and Pondexter about a month and a half later. And those guy proved they weren't good enough as it was.


Simmons wanted out.

Simmons wanted to get paid, he knew he was already old enough that he would probably only have one shot at getting decent money. Spurs didn't want to pay him.


Cory wasn't let out of his tender, he was not matched. At the time, the cap was like $75M, his offer was like $7M/yr, and he was the third string PG.

Incorrect, they pulled his offer. The reporting after was that it was to keep space clear for Aldridge but my memory is that they didn't have to because his tender was so low, just like they didn't have to stash Milutinov as they still had money for Boban.

But they pulled his offer. I don't think Toronto ever signs him without the offer pull. Teams were gunshy about signing offers, that's why the Spurs have repeatedly rescinded them so guys can get paid but other teams were too scared to offer.


A thought of a team offering Poeltl a cheap contract, and the Spurs NOT matching is just ridiculous in my mind. I'm not talking match at all costs. LMA will be 35 before next year, and 36 shortly after his contract expires. We'll need another center.

Yes, it would be ridiculous ... to a rational thinker.

Spurs don't strike me as a rational, predictable actor. Why sign Belineli when everyone knows he's trash? Why sign DeMarre Carroll who immediately becomes unplayable? Why trade the underutilized Bertans to free up space for a headcase Morris who wasn't trustworthy? Why not Marco and sweeteners instead?

Why give Mills a 12:01 4 year deal at $50 million when he couldn't play against Golden State?

Why appear to be in a 'win-now mode' with Aldridge and DeRozan, then instead of drafting plug-and-play 'win-now' players like Thybulle or Clarke (with the downside of lower potential ceilings but who can 'play-now') .... draft Samanic who even if he reaches his potential probably won't be in time to help with the 'win-now' plan?

Why not play Walker more?

Why not play Murray and White together?

Why repeatedly go with the suicide squad and lose game 2 against Denver instead of winning the series?

Why play Aldridge and Poeltl more in a single series than in this season if Lowe's numbers are correct?

So no, I don't know if I can count on the Spurs to not match, or try to scare teams into not even offering.

Add into the whole equation that other teams might be seeing Milutinov on the horizon for the Spurs as an alternative, and think they can get Poeltl because of that. It could have been Milutinov in the Carroll trade instead of Dangubic. Hell, maybe if it was Milutinov with Marco they could have saved Bertans (to be underused again).

Would I be disappointed if the Spurs let Poeltl walk for the MLE? Yes. Would I be surprised? Not really.

[phxspurfan]

Lol @ BSPN writers having to drop Lakers/Lebron even in their article titles just to get published

[objective]

Tonight was a good game to illustrate why Lowe and/or teams might think they can snatch Poeltl away from the Spurs without breaking the bank.

Important game against another team competing to make the playoffs who actually starts very big with 2 6-11 bigs.

And Poeltl comes off the bench for 12 minutes.

What other conclusion is there for teams that like Poeltl to draw other than the Spurs don't value him? They didn't value Bertans enough to use him right, and here's Poeltl playing 12 minutes off the bench against a rival for the 8 seed.

[Sugus]

Tonight was a good game to illustrate why Lowe and/or teams might think they can snatch Poeltl away from the Spurs without breaking the bank.

Important game against another team competing to make the playoffs who actually starts very big with 2 6-11 bigs.

And Poeltl comes off the bench for 12 minutes.

What other conclusion is there for teams that like Poeltl to draw other than the Spurs don't value him? They didn't value Bertans enough to use him right, and here's Poeltl playing 12 minutes off the bench against a rival for the 8 seed.

Agreed. LMA stayed on the court way too much against such a young team, and the little time Poeltl was in the court he was very active defensively which the team sorely needed. LaMarcus, good as he is, can't keep up with 20yo players anymore... though the lousy defensive performance was hardly on him alone.

[TD 21]

I interpreted that statement to mean teams should try to trade for him now while he is being underused, making his trade value relatively low.



Tonight was a good game to illustrate why Lowe and/or teams might think they can snatch Poeltl away from the Spurs without breaking the bank.

Important game against another team competing to make the playoffs who actually starts very big with 2 6-11 bigs.

And Poeltl comes off the bench for 12 minutes.

What other conclusion is there for teams that like Poeltl to draw other than the Spurs don't value him? They didn't value Bertans enough to use him right, and here's Poeltl playing 12 minutes off the bench against a rival for the 8 seed.


How is he being underused? He has one of the better centers in the league ahead of him and they can't really play together in today's NBA (especially with the personnel this team has). That player is also 34 and probably gone in approximately .5 - 1.5 years.

There's no reason to think his trade value would be affected by this, that they don't value him or that he won't be retained.

Jackson Jr. being 6'11'' is irrelevant. He's a light weight and a stretch big, the exact type Lyles and Gay are best suited to defend.

[RC_Drunkford]

I actually think playing Poeltl less minutes should make it possible to resign him for cheap. Which should be good long term