Offseason in Review

[Darkwaters]

With the season less than a day from tipoff I felt it might be nice to fully publish the accomplishments of the front office this offseason (especially considering the flurry of events that we've had just recently). I think it would be interesting to review it all and see what grades people think the Spurs should get for their efforts.

In light of the Spurs bringing back all 12 active players from last year (at least through training camp, now we're down to 11 from last year :smokin ) the Spurs still have had a pretty active offseason.

Resigning Players
Several Spurs players have been resigned to multi-year deals the past few months.

Fabricio Oberto was resigned by the team for what is believed to be a 3 year deal.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/oberto_070718

Matt Bonner was resigned by the team for what is believed to be a 3 year deal worth 9M.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/signings_070712.html

Jacque Vaughn was resigned by the team for what is believed to be a 2 year deal worth the league minimum.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/signings_070712.html

Contract Extensions
Bruce Bowen was extended for two more seasons at (reportedly) 4M per year.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/bowen_extension_071007.html

Tim Duncan was extended for two more seasons for about 40M.
http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/48852/20071030/duncan_spurs_reach_agreement_on_two_year_$40_milli on_extension/

Draft
http://sanantonio.about.com/b/a/000306.htm

The Spurs drafted brazilian center Tiago Splitter with their first round pick.

-He is widely considered to be a first round steal (again) by the Spurs and some speculate he could be a long-time starter at the center position. He opted to stay in Europe this year and assumed a larger role in the offense following the departure of Luis Scola (noted later).

The Spurs also drafted Marcus Williams with the 33rd pick (from Milwaukee).

-Unfortunately, Williams was a casualty of training camp and a bust so far. This was the first major mistake of the offseason.

Lastly, the Spurs also drafted Greek SF Giorgos Printezis, however they immediately traded him to the Raptors for Toronto's 2008 Second Round draft pick.

-It is unclear if the Printezis trade will be a good one. While few know much about Printezis, some regarded him as a quality prospect at a position of need. Trading him seemed foolish. But 2008 should be another deep draft and Toronto's pick will likely be higher than the 58th pick (which selected Printezis). Time will tell if this was a good trade or not.
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/haflinger

Free Agent Signings
Ime Udoka signed a two year deal with the Spurs worth around 2M.

-This should give the Spurs "youth" moving forward on the wings. Also, Bowen finally has someone to pass his knowledge to. This was generally considered a coup by the Spurs.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/udoka_070816.html

Ian Mahinmi, the Spurs' 2005 first round selection, finally signed an NBA contract and came abroad. His contract was valued at around 900k per year on the standard rookie scale (2 years guaranteed, 2 years with options).

-Given Mahinmi's limited minutes with Pau Orthez it was probably a good idea to import him now. He will spend most of this year in Austin.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/mahinmi_070823.html

Darius Washington was the last player standing as the dust cleared following training camp. He is likely signed to a standard minimum contract worth around 400k with possibly an option for a second year. This year is not fully guaranteed.

-The Spurs seem to have finally found a young PG to develop and take them out of the Beno Udrih era. Thank God.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2007/10/jeff_mcdonald_w.html

Salary Dumps and cleaning up muddy waters
The Spurs traded prospect Luis Scola and Center Jackie Butler to the Houston Rockets for guard Vassilis Spanoulis (loving called Billy) and a 2009 Second Round draft pick.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/spanoulis_070712.html

-While this trade created a major backlash within the fan community, it finally resolved the Scola situation and allowed fans to move on. It appears the Spurs had hoped to keep Spanoulis, but that was unfortunately not possible.

Vassilis Spanoulis was released from his contract.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/spanoulis_070823.html

Jackie Butler, now a Rocket, was eventually waived as well.
http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Rockets_waive_four_to_finalize-240964-34.html

James White! was waived by the Spurs as well.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/white_070723.html

Marcus Williams, the Spurs 2nd round draft selection, was also waived after training camp.
http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/williams_waived_071027.html

Finally, the Spurs traded Beno Udrih to the Timberwolves for a bag of pretzels and a pair of Kevin McHale's old running shoes (not to mention a 2008 Second Round Draft Pick which they'll never collect).
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-spurs-udrih&prov=ap&type=lgns

-It has been rumored that there will be a parade in San Antonio tomorrow afternoon following the mention of Udrih's trading. However, no credible source can be cited.

Player Breakouts?
Lastly, following several enigmatic years in Europe, Spurs' draftee Viktor Sanikidze had a strong showing in the summer league.

- All of a sudden the trade that gave the Spurs the rights to Sanikidze looks pretty good.

Grades?

[Otaku]

I'll give it a C. Some good things, and some really bad imho (scola thingy).

[timvp]

Nice thread and good summary. The Scola trade was a negatve and the Spurs managed to select the worst player in the draft at 33, so those two things keep it from being a great summer. However, the Spurs did do a lot of good things to help raise their grade.

I'll have to think about it further before I vote.

:hat

[porscha]

A-
spurs did pretty much good except lost Scola

[ata]

A
Tim Duncan extension!

Enough said.

[Hemotivo]

C

[SenorSpur]

B+.

I would have gone higher they had properly addressed a long-term answer at the swing position

[urunobili]

voted B...

Everything perfect but they were unable to make Spanoullis play and that would have made me forgotten of the Scola trade that didn;t allow them to be an A...

No pride shown on losing the 33rd pick because of Washington and i both Mahinmi and Udoka i liked a lot... :smokin

[BeerIsGood!]

IMO shipping Scola wasn't a bad thing, but it was who they shipped him to and for what they got in return. They could have done better, but after years of evaluating Scola they obviously weren't impressed, and Scola has given me the impression of being an offensive minded player who wouldn't be happy without minutes and touches - a thing the Spurs don't need in a backup forward.

Good - Extensions, Udoka, finding Washington, Riddance to Beno, drafting rights to Splitter, getting Mahinmi to Toros.

Right now I'd give it a B or B-, but that could change with the way things work out down the line. If Udoka blows up and is awesome, Washington proves to be more than a garbage collector, Splitter comes next year and blows up as a damn good center, and Mahinmi improves drastically then this could become an A- summer. If Scola busts and becomes a cancer with the Rockets then it becomes an A summer for all the good things + poisoning a division rival. That's the best case scenario.

[wildbill2u]

Nice thread and good summary. The Scola trade was a negatve and the Spurs managed to select the worst player in the draft at 33, so those two things keep it from being a great summer. However, the Spurs did do a lot of good things to help raise their grade.

I'll have to think about it further before I vote.

:hat
How do you make the judgment that Williams was the WORST player in the draft?

How many 2nd round draftees will be around on opening day? Or ever make it to the big show? The odds are so bad--because the players are so limited-- that any 2nd round pick is like throwing a dart at the potential draftee list.

[Spurs Brazil]

B

[SAGambler]

B to B+. Could have been a little better, but not much.

And if the Spurs go on to repeat, then I think it gets upgraded to an all out A.

Sometimes the FO does things that seem strange to say the least to us fans. But I have decided over the years, that this FO knows exactly what they are doing most of the time and have good reasons for the things they do.

[romain.star]

the spurs just got a F for trading Beno.. can't believe it... he was so important for this team... he meant so much to them... Biggest error ever for the spurs

[sa_butta]

B for trading Beno and resigning Tim.

Only drawback was the Scola trade.

[thispego]

when did we extend tim? i read the board every day and i missed this?

[ata]

when did we extend tim? i read the board every day and i missed this?
Try this: http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80437

[polandprzem]

B

The Scola thing is uderstanable

And all in all I think the spurs have much cleaner squad in a sense that we know what will be player mision this year. Last year we were hoping for Butler but he was so uncertain it wasn't funny.
A little bit unhappy wit the White guy. All in all he wanted to produce some things on the court.

But now. We do not have Beno - he always was a trouble man and always we were hoping he will put some impact as a backup - never did.
We know what is Elson about and Oberto about and I think Pop's job will be easier this year then the previous year, it now depends on players as barry Washington Horry and Ginobili. (washington - punch, the rest injuries).

[polandprzem]

btw

no yeahoo leauge?

:depressed

[thispego]

Try this: http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80437
thanks ata! don't know how i missed it! very impressive series of events for the Spurs this summer

[zepn]

B-

Resigning Tim, expected (always an A+). Resigning Tim for $11M less A++.
Dumping Beno, fun for Spurstalk. Actual effect on the team, not much...
Signing Darius, fun for Spurstalk, Actual effect on the team, looks promising.
Drafting Marcus Williams, eh. Dumping Marcus Williams, eh.
Tading Scola to Houston F-, having a good reason... oh, wait...
--if Tim can take a pay-cut to make the team better, so can Holt. 'Nough said.--
Signing Udoka cheap B+, Signing Ian this season...Torolicious.
Drafting Splitter A, Splitter in Europe for another year B+
Resigning Bowen A-, Oberto, Bonner Vaughn B
James White! no effect, just wanted to say James White! before people started saying "Who?"

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Given how busy they've been in the last 24 hours I'm going to hold off voting until the game starts and the offseason officially ends. They've still got six hours or so to find a way to get Kobe.

[phxspurfan]

The timing of this thread clearly swings the vote in favor of the better grades...

[MarCowMar]

I voted A. None of the moves the Spurs made were glamorous but they all showed the subtle intelligence and savvy this front office is known for. Every veteran player signed was paid well below their market value. None of these contracts will be a long-term burden on the team.

The biggest possible mistakes are the Williams draft pick and the Scola trade. I think with Williams they hoped to stash him somewhere and watch him develop, even though he is a U.S. player. The situation with Scola is disappointing and the Spurs played it a bit too conservative for the likings of many of us (myself included), but it did allow us to drop Butler and check out Billy a year or so down the line. A controversial and less-than-ideal trade, but it will look brilliant if Scola never develops NBA-level defense.

Mahinmi, Ime, Splitter, improved Bonner and Cisco -- there's a lot of different talent to check out this year, and we kept the core: A

[101A]

A
Tim Duncan extension!

Enough said.Trumps everything else.

[MagnusKrauss]

Voted A.

re-signing the guys. if it ain't broke, why fix it? The team worked, and got another championship. So maybe we needed some "tweaking". This season will show us if we were right about the three second year guys. This is their time on the spotlight.

The Scola trade, while vastly unpopular, was the *right* thing to do. We gave Scola a chance to play, got rid of a huge sack of unmotivated crap, and got in return some free space. Spanoulis, while he seems to be a pretty good player, had no intentions of actually playing this season in the US. so why not send him home? He could always come back here. and we could always contact him through Kill_Bill_Pana, right?

Releasing James White! - he needs experience. Turkey could do wonders to his game. While he was verrrry athletic, basketball is not a one-dimensional game. he needs to develop other areas of his game. A few years in Turkey could be just the thing. And nobody said that the Spurs was closing the book on him.

[edit] Udoka - it's 3am here. I'm sorry! :D have to say that he's all that we expected him to be. A great defender, good shooter, great guy, good signing.

Splitter? - at first, I had no idea of who this guy was. after i read a few threads, watched some videos, watched FIBA, and looked at some stats, Splitter was worth the first round pick. And yes, Splitter > Scola.

Drafting Williams and cutting him - well, Williams was a good pick. Not a sensational pick, like Manu, but good none the less. Athletic, determined, had good defense, and young. Yes, he was inexperienced. He had a bad shot and didn't have great shot selection, but so was Tony (in some ways) in his rookie season. A few years in our system would have been good for him, but we found....

Darius Washington. nice find. NBA-ready, in all levels. The FO deserves credit for making room for him in the best way possible.

Mahinmi - while he seems bound for the Toros, this was a good move by the FO. He needs time to adjust to the NBA style of play.

Udrih. Another miraculous FO move. The open roster spot gives the Spurs breathing room in case of injuries. And we got rid of yet another unmotivated pile of !@#$%^. Nevermind that the FO paid them to get rid of him, weren't we wishing that anyway?

Extending Duncan, at below Max. While we can credit the FO for presenting the plan for his approval, the one who should be given the grade of A+++ is Duncan. Thank you, Tim, for giving the FO a chance to yet again build a championship caliber team.

Overall, a very nice offseason.

--------------------------

magnusdrakenkrauss

[remingtonbo2001]

A for getting rid of Beno. That's the difference between an A offseason and a B offseason. They might have procrastinated a bit, but they got the job done.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

B