Your thoughts on Earl Watson?

[GayForManu]

With Seattle ready to make some moves, why not try and make a move for a solid backup point guard. Beno and Williams would make the numbers match up. They get a backup "pass first" point and an expiring contract, maybe throw in a 2nd round pick (we have 3) and we get 6 points 4 dimes off the bench, less turnovers too. Your thoughts?

[Kori Ellis]

I like him because he plays defense and he's fearless. But he makes too much money and he's pouting in Seattle because he doesn't start.

[Mr. Body]

He makes upwards of $5 mil, plus 3 more seasons. That's a lot of jack for a backup point guard. I see the Spurs going cheap at that slot for some time to come. A rookie or cheap Vaughn-like vets. They need that $5mil or so to find a starting SF.

[manufor3]

Watson is over-paid for a reserve.

[Bruno]

Watson is over-paid for a reserve.

Agree.


Bottomlien is that there aren't a lot of PGs in the league who are available with Spurs' trade assets, with a quite cheap contract and better than Beno/Vaughn.

[timvp]

Watson for some reason now thinks he's an NBA All-Star who is being embarrassed by having to come off the bench. Watson, back when he was fighting for a spot in the league and before he got this contract, was perhaps the best backup point guard in the league.

Now I wouldn't touch him.

[Fillmoe]

Watson brings it on both sides of the court...... thats why i would want him on my team! but as someone already said he is a little bit overpaid

[Steve-O-Matic]

If the Spurs could get the Sonics to include Mickael Gelabale with Watson, and take Udrih and Williams' contract in return, then I'd do it. Watson would be a supurb backup PG (if he accepted the role), and there are far worse players making $5M+ all over the league. Brent Barry is a "backup" guard making $5M+ and I don't see anyone here complaining about that.

[Borosai]

I think he looks funny.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Gelabale would be the perfect bowen understudy. Plus he has cool hair. I like that E-Will+Beno for Watson+Gelabale.

[Steve-O-Matic]

Scouting report on Earl Watson from ESPN Insider...

............................
Watson signed a five-year deal with the Nuggets for the midlevel exception, but with Andre Miller and Earl Boykins already entrenched he had nowhere to play, and had taken nine DNP-CDs by the time Denver dealt him to Seattle at the trade deadline.

When he arrived, Watson immediately gave the Sonics a shot in the arm, with Seattle going 14-10 after the trade. Three reasons stick out why Seattle fared so well. The first has nothing to do with Watson -- Seattle acquired Chris Wilcox at the same time, and Wilcox played out of his mind. The second only had a little to do with Watson -- Seattle's backup point guard at the time was Mateen Cleaves, so replacing his dead-weight minutes with a live body was hugely beneficial.

The third, however, had everything to do with Watson -- the guy is a great defender. On a team like Seattle that would have trouble holding a high school team under 100, he made a gigantic difference. When Watson played, the Sonics only gave up 106.7 points per 100 possessions, which almost looks respectable. When he didn't, it was a much uglier 117.2.

Scouting report: Watson's defense is more advanced than his offense, but he made big strides in that area last year. He's never been known as a shooter and has an unattractive release, but he shocked the masses last year by hitting 40.4 percent on 3-pointers. He showed his true colors from the free-throw line, posting his third straight year below the 70 percent threshold, but his TS% of 55.8 was easily a career-best and ranked 12th at his position.

Watson is also a capable distributor who can push the ball in the open court. His Assist Ratio ranked 19th among point guards, and that's particularly impressive considering most of his minutes in Denver came at the off guard spot. However, those assists come with a cost. Watson is way too turnover-prone, frequently losing the ball in traffic after driving into crowds. His Turnover Ratio ranked 58th among the league's 65 point guards, and that result has been pretty consistent with his entire career.

2006-07 outlook: Watson might not start the games, but he'll probably finish quite a few. Expect the Sonics to keep Luke Ridnour as the starter and use Watson to back up both guard spots, but when it gets down to crunch time Watson will get the minutes defending against the Nashes and Billupses of the world.

Performance-wise, Watson might take a step back this year. The 3-point jump last season was probably a fluke, so we should expect something more in the low-30s range this year. That would take his TS% down closer to its former level and knock his PER down a notch, too. Fortunately, his defense should remain rock solid, and that's the reason the Sonics brought him in.

[AFBlue]

Watson for some reason now thinks he's an NBA All-Star who is being embarrassed by having to come off the bench. Watson, back when he was fighting for a spot in the league and before he got this contract, was perhaps the best backup point guard in the league.

Now I wouldn't touch him.

I understand your apprehension, but he's pouting because he's getting inconsistent minutes on a very poor team. He had the same to say when he was third string in Denver. But he was very content to be the backup on the solid Memphis team. I think he's got the game to fit in very well with the Spurs and I'd give him the benefit of the doubt with his attitude because he'd be hard-pressed to complain about playing on a championship-calibur team behind an all-star point guard.

The only thing that doesn't fit is the contract length....

[coachmac87]

u do it in three years there are not alot of players under contract besides the big 3...and plus it would be great matchup with dallas with terry/harris vs parker/watson..who knows spurs could go real small and make manu a sf...and start watson and parker...i would take watson

[Steve-O-Matic]

I understand your apprehension, but he's pouting because he's getting inconsistent minutes on a very poor team. He had the same to say when he was third string in Denver. But he was very content to be the backup on the solid Memphis team. I think he's got the game to fit in very well with the Spurs and I'd give him the benefit of the doubt with his attitude because he'd be hard-pressed to complain about playing on a championship-calibur team behind an all-star point guard.

The only thing that doesn't fit is the contract length....
Okay, I don't understand this whole "contract length" thing. Watson is in the prime of his career (and will be for awhile), and you just stated that "he's got the game to fit in very well with the Spurs." So if that's the case then why would you be in a hurry for him to become a free agent again after we acquire him??

[Bruno]

Brent Barry is a "backup" guard making $5M+ and I don't see anyone here complaining about that.

Barry is a backup SG/SF, he has more playtime available than Watson who is only a backup PG.
Barry can play 25 mpg in the playoffs, Watson : 10 mpg.

The only way that Watson isn't overpaid with Spurs is to play Watson with Parker during some stretches and I don't think it will work.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Beno<Watson

[Steve-O-Matic]

The only way that Watson isn't overpaid with Spurs is to play Watson with Parker during some stretches and I don't think it will work.
Why not?

[ShoogarBear]

Shocking as it may be to those brought up in the Holt ways, the Spurs may be forced to face the decision of taking on a contract that's more than they would like to pay, or deal with the consequences of going to the playoffs with obvious flaws.

[MrChug]

I think he looks funny.

HAHAHAHA!! Oh-no-you-di-int!!!??!?!?! :lmao

Yeah, the dude was born without a forehead.

[MrChug]

Beno<Watson

Lot of truth to that. He's a high-flyer with a decent command of running an offense. Nowhere near the shooter Beno is, but not many are. The guy's a defensive minded PG who is notorious for blocking shots on much bigger players. He's a higlight reel who don't get PT.

[Bruno]

Why not?

- Because both are small PGs and Spurs will sufer on the defensive end.
- Because Watson sin't a good enough offensive player to create a mismatch on the offensive end.
- Because Spurs rebounding will be even worse.

Watson at SG won't be horrible but he won't be better than what an average natural SG can do.

[Steve-O-Matic]

Nonsense. Watson did just fine playing some SG in Denver, and he's currently STARTING at SG for the Sonics with Rashard Lewis out (Ray Allen playing the '3'). He is plenty capable of sharing the floor with Parker on a limited basis. Add that to the approximate 15 MPG that he'd get in place of Parker at the point, and you're looking at an 18-20/MPG player - roughly comparable to the minutes that Brent Barry is averaging, and at the same salary.

[Bruno]

Nonsense. Watson did just fine playing some SG in Denver, and he's currently STARTING at SG for the Sonics with Rashard Lewis out (Ray Allen playing the '3'). He is plenty capable of sharing the floor with Parker on a limited basis.

Nonsense.
Watson play some SG with Sonics because they don't have a good solution to start at SG. And Seattle doesn't care about D.
Denver case was quite different : Miller was big enough to defend SGs and Boykins is an undersized SG. And if you remember well, Watson hasn't play a lot in Denver because Watson at SG sucks.




Add that to the approximate 15 MPG that he'd get in place of Parker at the point, and you're looking at an 18-20/MPG player - roughly comparable to the minutes that Brent Barry is averaging, and at the same salary.

So you want to play Parker only 33mpg in playoffs ? (I don't care about regular season, it's just playoff preseason).

[Kori Ellis]

Watson wants to move to a team where he can start. That's his problem with Seattle. He came to Seattle under the impression he would get to compete against Ridnour this training camp for the starting job ... that didn't happen. Since then he's been pouting and asking for a trade.

He's a good defender and would make a fine backup PG (I thought the Spurs should have offered him $3M/year when he was available). But he doesn't want to be a backup.

He wants to start. So if you want him, then trade Tony for him :drunk