Failures of the front office

[IcemanCometh]

We all know of their prowess at talent evaluation and drafting, that is certainly not in dispute. But for whatever reason they simply cannot get it done when it comes to evaluating established players and who would help our team. When is the last significant FA signing that positively impacted the team? Bruce Bowen in 2001, since then they have let key players walk and had the cap room to sign a true impact player only to sign a dud twice. Dumping Rasho for essentially nothing , which btw is a great fucking trade, just epitomizes that failure. Did I mention they are fairly adroit at putting together trades that will get us out of some of the mess they get us into?

[supaphly119]

i'm pretty sure this trade at least gives us two worthless bodies instead of one. rasho did nothing but take up space IMO. every once in awhile he'd get a block but he should have playedlike a true 7 footer and not a small forward. the guy was afraid to get in and do his job, we're better off without him.

and in all honesty, i think the finley pickup was good for us. he stepped up more than a few times.

[timvp]

Bonner is no Lenny Cooke but he'll surprise.

[T Park]

Was Michael Finley a FA failure?

[supaphly119]

Was Michael Finley a FA failure?

not in my eyes. granted, he's not the michael finley from years ago but he's still a damn good player. he certainly did not hurt us at all...unlike rasho.

[adonis827]

Bonner is no Lenny Cooke but he'll surprise.

who's lenny cooke for the spurs? i know that he is a great import for purefoods- a philippine professional team

[Mr. Body]

not in my eyes. granted, he's not the michael finley from years ago but he's still a damn good player. he certainly did not hurt us at all...unlike rasho.

He was gonna win that Dallas series all by himself, if he could have.

Next year he'll be much more comfortable in his role. He'll be a great bench player.

[J.T.]

I am excited about Bonner. Spurs have been known to make people who sucked on D before coming to the team better. He's big with an outside shot. Teach him the system and you got a solid role player for years to come. I am on the bandwagon already.

[ATX Spur]

"great trade" is a "failure"?

[AFE7FATMAN]

I am excited about Bonner. Spurs have been known to make people who sucked on D before coming to the team better. He's big with an outside shot. Teach him the system and you got a solid role player for years to come. I am on the bandwagon already.

I'll admit that I'm more excited about rasho going :elephant than I am about Bonner and Williams. I do think that Bonner will give us rebounding help along with the outside shooting. The man is smart and I'm sure he will learn the system without any trouble. If he doesn't pan out the spurs simply let him go after his contract expires, i.e this year. I think Williams might be part of a trade before the year is over.

[TDMVPDPOY]

matt bonner we already have a guy like him on theteam who earns minimum, sean marks, they are basically teh same type of player.

[TDMVPDPOY]

besides barry/finley who decided to come here, did you think any other FA that we targeted wouldve came here?

look at the guyz who were just playin with us when they were FAs,

jermaine oneal, brand, tmac, kidd, and then the defensive players we targest last season, james jones, fred jones.......and they all got bigger offers, cose we were fuckn mentioned to boost up their price.

[ChumpDumper]

Folks always gotta bitch.

[exstatic]

who's lenny cooke for the spurs? i know that he is a great import for purefoods- a philippine professional team
Iceman used to have wet dreams that he would be the next Jordan.

[ShoogarBear]

When is the last significant FA signing that positively impacted the team? Bruce Bowen in 2001, since then they have let key players walk and had the cap room to sign a true impact player only to sign a dud twice.
That Horry guy never amounted to much did he?

Okay, I'll grant you the point that Horry wasn't an impact player except for the 2005 postseason. But you can't say that Finley didn't do what was expected of him, to include this year's playoffs.

[strikemode14]

We all know of their prowess at talent evaluation and drafting, that is certainly not in dispute. But for whatever reason they simply cannot get it done when it comes to evaluating established players and who would help our team. When is the last significant FA signing that positively impacted the team? Bruce Bowen in 2001, since then they have let key players walk and had the cap room to sign a true impact player only to sign a dud twice. Dumping Rasho for essentially nothing , which btw is a great fucking trade, just epitomizes that failure. Did I mention they are fairly adroit at putting together trades that will get us out of some of the mess they get us into?

So...what do you call Horry, NVE, and Finley?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

strikemode, Van Exel sucked.

Horry and Finley did as expected and what we signed them for.

[IcemanCometh]

I'd call NVE a disaster at worst and useless at best. Finley just highlighted how bad the Bent Barry signing was, another aging shooter who can't defend his own shadow. We have that role pretty well covered here.
I'll give you Horry, but he serves a pretty limited role here.

Bowen was the best FA signing this front office has made, Rasho the worst followed closely by Chucky Brown.



(I won't bring up the countless players timvp has gotten a boner about that have never panned out)

[ShoogarBear]

(I won't bring up the countless players timvp has gotten a bonner about that have never panned out)

[BgT]

I won't bring up the countless players timvp has gotten a boner about that have never panned out
:lol That's mean! But I thought it was really strange to show such an excitement now... This team needs some players and the last trade didn't bring us any of those.

I also don't understand the excitment about TD playing center full time. That's shortsighted.

[SPARKY]

You do recognize that the trade clears about $15 mil in salary off the books in 2007-09, no? This isn't the final move. Just because they didn't get back great players in this deal doesn't mean the deal didn't move them closer to getting it done.

As for the Spurs' free agency woes, I'm sure that has nothing to do with SA being one of the least desirable media markets in the NBA.

The Spurs use free agency for the most part to land veteran role players. Thanks to their player-personnel staff they at least have some star talent they drafted to re-sign, moves that are due in no small part to the new CBA.

What do the Spurs offer free agents? A bit part in a small ass market. However, they do offer a shot at a title, which is why they end up attracting aging vets.

Did Ghost hack Iceman's account?

[MadDog73]

So, Iceman, who should the Spurs have gotten instead of Rasho?

And who should they get now?

[Guru of Nothing]

And who should they get now?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1998/draft/players/derrick.dial.jpg

[T Park]

Finley just highlighted how bad the Bent Barry signing was

eh?

[SenorSpur]

He was gonna win that Dallas series all by himself, if he could have.

Next year he'll be much more comfortable in his role. He'll be a great bench player.


I admit I was one of the biggest opponents of the Finley signing, but I have to admit it worked out fine. Dude came up huge in the Dallas series and played with a fierce determination that I hadn't seen in years. I just hope he can continue making those same contributions.

Other than that, I'm still hoping the Spurs can do the Barry-for JR Smith deal

[strangeweather]

I admit I was one of the biggest opponents of the Finley signing, but I have to admit it worked out fine. Dude came up huge in the Dallas series and played with a fierce determination that I hadn't seen in years. I just hope he can continue making those same contributions.

Other than that, I'm still hoping the Spurs can do the Barry-for JR Smith deal
I'm not sure it will be JR Smith, but I'll be pretty surprised if Barry is still in the lineup when November comes around.

[Mr. Body]

I'm not sure it will be JR Smith, but I'll be pretty surprised if Barry is still in the lineup when November comes around.

Agree. Not surprised if SA is looking away from J.R. Smith at this point.

And for Finley, he's gonna be even better next year. He was eeking out his role this year, but seemed to be finding it more in the playoffs. I think he'll be great.

[Supergirl]

Last good FA signing: Michael Finley
Before that: Robert Horry
Before that: Bruce Bowen

That's 3 since 2000. That's not bad. Plus, Rasho was a good signing at the time, but his usefulness has declined with the decline of Shaq and dearth of big men in the NBA. Nazr was also an important contributer in our 2005 championship run, but his use also may have panned out. That doesn't make the signings bad. Any signing that contributed to 1 championship is worth it, and that goes for Bowen, Rasho, Nazr, and Horry. Also - Barry. An important contributer in 2005. So, that's not a bad track record.

[IcemanCometh]

I don't think you people understand. I said the front office sucked at targeting and signing free agents, they are good at trading for people.

The most important factor to each championship has been and always will be Tim Duncan, we won those championships in spite of Rasho and Brent Barry.

[Mr. Body]

No, the Spurs are pretty good at signing free agents, given a strapped salary cap. Or were you one of those who actually believed they were going to sign Chris Webber, Jermaine O'Neal, and Tracy McGrady?

Stop playing NBA Live so much and thinking it's reality.

[Dre_7]

Finley was incredibly clutch for SA in the postseason!

[GrandeDavid]

Michael Finley.

[pjjrfan]

They have managed to win 2 of the last 4 titles, they are consistently one of the top teams, and are perrenial contenders. They revamped their championship roster from 1999 to build a winner in 2003, then revamped them again to build another winner in 2005. What are you talking about?

[exstatic]

The two splashiest FA classes in history were Miami 1999 and Orlando 2000. Both teams had blown up their rosters to create two MAX slots, and were able to either sign outright, or force S&Ts to benefit the players, two MAX deals. Miami got Brian Grant (then a borderline AS and Eddie Jones a former AS). Orlando got Grant Hill (perennial AS) and TMac (future multiple AS). Both moves were utter failures. Neither team even sniffed a title.

The NBA FA system is heavily slanted towards the team with the Bird rights, even moreso now that the contracts have been shortened. That sixth year is HUGE, much moreso than the old seventh year. It's really difficult to steal someone's franchise player, so you overbid for a second tier like Odom or the like. Then you're in cap jail. Then, you're fucked. I would argue that there has only been one FA in the last 10 years worth chasing who delivered what you would expect from a top line FA: Shaquille O'Neal in 1996.

You do your fucking homework before draft night, scout like a motherfucker, and build through the draft. You use FA to fill roles and don't overpay them. That is all.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

if it wasn't for michael finley we'd have lost to dallas in 5



and i love the rasho trade

it feels good to get his overpaid ass off the team, although i wouldn't have minded keeping him for cheaper.

i can't wait till next season!

[IcemanCometh]

You use FA to fill roles and don't overpay them. That is all.

Except we overpaid Rasho, maybe if we hadn't spent months with our dicks in our hand waiting for Kidd we could have gotten someone who wasn't a mental incompetent for our money.

[ChumpDumper]

Eh, Rasho + Kidd was the plan.

[wildbill2u]

We all know of their prowess at talent evaluation and drafting, that is certainly not in dispute. But for whatever reason they simply cannot get it done when it comes to evaluating established players and who would help our team. When is the last significant FA signing that positively impacted the team? Bruce Bowen in 2001, since then they have let key players walk and had the cap room to sign a true impact player only to sign a dud twice. Dumping Rasho for essentially nothing , which btw is a great fucking trade, just epitomizes that failure. Did I mention they are fairly adroit at putting together trades that will get us out of some of the mess they get us into?

Finley by himself ruins your premise. His signing was a tremendous feat, given the financial and other circumstances and universally acclaimed around the league. Most thought it would lead to another championship.

Most people think Speedy was a good signing. Mario Elie gave us some help while he was here. Bringing Elliott back wasn't a bad deal either.

On the other hand, NVE was a loser.

Not every trade or signing works out. Great players in their prime are seldom available for teams with salary cap problems or who have low draft positions.

[Mr. Body]

Except we overpaid Rasho, maybe if we hadn't spent months with our dicks in our hand waiting for Kidd we could have gotten someone who wasn't a mental incompetent for our money.

Tone it down a bit. The other option that summer was Michael Olowokandi.

[bigdog]

rasho wasnt a "disaster" as some people have mentioned before. he did very good but wasnt as strong and as aggresive as we wanted and needed. he would still be here if it wasnt for his huge contract. i believe he was traded because he wasnt playing enough minutes or contributing enough for the size of his contract. NVE could've done good, but made bad decisions and took stupid shots. but hes retiring so it doesnt matter anymore. I absolute LOVE the signing of michael finley. he has always been one of my favorite players,even though he was with dallas.and i really like the job hes doing for us.horry can still contribute in key moments, but dont give him too many minutes. as for Brent Barry, i like the guy and i know he can shoot, but the spurs really need to get someone in exchange for him. and maybe beno in a package. maybe we can add to that JR Smith deal,and put beno in there, and get jr smith and speedy claxton in return,but New Orleans said that resigning speedy is their most important thing this offseason