Signing Review: Spurs Sign G Roger Mason Jr.

With this signing alone I think Finley and Barry are gone unless one of them are happy to sit on the bench. Even limiting Bowen and Ginobli's minutes I don't see enough to go around.

Bowen/Ginobli/Udoka/Mason will eat up all the minutes at sg/sf.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

Got one of these for Finley, just for comparison?

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http://spurstalk.com/michael-finley.jpg

Similar to Mason but Mason is even less reliant on the corner three-pointers. Mason could fill Finley's spots on the floor, and fit Finley's shoes in terms of never taking the ball to the basket :shootme

Seriously though, Mason is a good fit in regards to where he gets his shots. The only other shooter on the team that doesn't rely on the corners is Manu.

I figured we would get Mason from the beginning. He fits all of the criteria... good citizen, team guy, defense, outside shooter, not going to break the bank. I like that Mason had the balls to turn them down last year and play for a bigger contract, and that he came through and got his bigger payday. That shows a lot for what he thinks of himself and his confidence.

The Magette thing was a tease. If the Warriors want to pay him that much and destroy their salary structure, then more power to 'em. Compared to what the rest of this lousy free agent class is getting, the dollars for Mason aren't that bad... the Spurs had to pay him a little more than market value for a shorter term deal. But it makes sense for them to do so if they want to stick with the 2010 plan.

The 2010 plan is making less and less sense to me, though. Half the teams in the league are angling to get under the cap, and there aren't enough quality free agents to fill the demand. If you think the contracts being handed out this year are ridiculous, and that's with almost every team having only the mid-level available, just wait until 2010. There are going to be some really marginal players getting huge paydays. The Spurs would be better off going with a 2011 or 2012 plan --- certainly there will be more value in those free agent classes.

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Originally Posted by DespЏrado

And his contract is just right to be an extremely tradable asset at the deadline. Package him with a resigned Kurt Thomas and I think you might have one of the best package deals to offer at the deadline of any team. Along with our draft picks and Udoka the Spurs can meet any teams needs at almost every position in a trade.

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AND, you can throw in Bonner's deal which expires at the end of the season. Mason at two years $3.75 mil (team option for 3rd year) and Bonner's expiring deal at $3 mil/year PLUS the (hopefully) trade-friendly contract of Kurt Thomas would be more than enough to land an impact player at the deadline, IMO.

If my dreams came true, the Spurs would find a way to move Bonner's expiring deal, Mason's deal and KT for Ron Artest.

In any case, we could very well just be renting Roger Mason for the first half of the year to give Manu a breather. Depending on how he plays, we package him at the deadline with somebody to get that 4th scorer for a run at the playoffs. Don't be suprised to see Bonner get a lot of time early in the season and close to the deadline in an effort to up his value so we can dump his ass...

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Originally Posted by GoGatos

AND, you can throw in Bonner's deal which expires at the end of the season. Mason at two years $3.75 mil (team option for 3rd year) and Bonner's expiring deal at $3 mil/year PLUS the (hopefully) trade-friendly contract of Kurt Thomas would be more than enough to land an impact player at the deadline, IMO.

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Bonner doesn't have an expring deal.

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If my dreams came true, the Spurs would find a way to move Bonner's expiring deal, Mason's deal and KT for Ron Artest.

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If the Kings are going to dump Artest, it won't be for a package that consists of two unathletic bigs with multiple years left on their contract.

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In any case, we could very well just be renting Roger Mason for the first half of the year to give Manu a breather. Depending on how he plays, we package him at the deadline with somebody to get that 4th scorer for a run at the playoffs. Don't be suprised to see Bonner get a lot of time early in the season and close to the deadline in an effort to up his value so we can dump his ass...

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Spurs tried to sign Mason last year to a three-year deal. There's real interest. I can guarantee the Spurs didn't sign him thinking they will trade him at the trade deadline.

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Originally Posted by timvp

....
Spurs tried to sign Mason last year to a three-year deal. There's real interest. I can guarantee the Spurs didn't sign him thinking they will trade him at the trade deadline.

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Since they tried to sign him last year before Udoka, I seriously doubt their plan is to trade him anytime soon. Unless he REALLY bombs, he'll be here for 2 years.

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Originally Posted by timvp

True and add in the fact that the Spurs didn't want to offer more than a two-year contract and this is the sort of player you can get. Even Carlos Delfino was demanding a third year to his contract.

Mason isn't a wow signing but with a two-year contract as bait, it's really difficult to land better. This is definitely a boring signing ... but oh well, the Spurs still have a lot of flexibility in the short-term and long-term so we'll see what the next step is.

Perhaps they can wait on for summer league and see what they have. At that point, they'll have slightly more than the LLE to get someone off the trash heap. Or they can now just outbid the Sprockets and other teams for Barry. Or they can get active in a sign and trade.

We'll see which direction they go in.

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:tu

A sign and trade is what I'm hoping for at this point. That, or to be a third-party for a trade where our TE could come in handy. Maybe something similar to how we aquired Hedo?

Before the Mason signing I was thinking about the possibility of D.Wright, Najera, and resigning Barry. Now I'm not so sure....

Perhaps we could still aquire Wright with some combination of Bonner and Javtokas? The Heat do need big-men and 3-point shooting so maybe something like that could get it done.

Barring a trade of some sort though, it's looking to be another underwhelming off-season. (i.e. Elson and Butler) Although, that underwhelming off-season did lead to a championship..... :smokin

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Originally Posted by timvp

Bonner doesn't have an expring deal.

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My bad... I thought Hoopshype told me he did, but when I double-checked I realized I saw the "$0" next to JV's name in 2009, and he's right under Bonner. Damnit. I knew it was too good to be true.

And can someone please explain to me how the hell the Spurs can justify paying Matt freaking Bonner $3.2 million next year? Anyone? God I wish I hadn't read that wrong. Now I'm just angry.

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Originally Posted by GoGatos

And can someone please explain to me how the hell the Spurs can justify paying Matt freaking Bonner $3.2 million next year? Anyone? God I wish I hadn't read that wrong. Now I'm just angry.

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Hell, I still can't figure out why the Spurs pay players they have no intention of giving any PT.

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Originally Posted by GoGatos

And can someone please explain to me how the hell the Spurs can justify paying Matt freaking Bonner $3.2 million next year? Anyone? God I wish I hadn't read that wrong. Now I'm just angry.

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ROFL at what Spurs fans get upset about.

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Originally Posted by GoGatos

My bad... I thought Hoopshype told me he did, but when I double-checked I realized I saw the "$0" next to JV's name in 2009, and he's right under Bonner. Damnit. I knew it was too good to be true.

And can someone please explain to me how the hell the Spurs can justify paying Matt freaking Bonner $3.2 million next year? Anyone? God I wish I hadn't read that wrong. Now I'm just angry.

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Yeah having decent bigmen that can shoot at bargain prices is such a horrible thing.

Swing off the shower rod already.

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

Hell, I still can't figure out why the Spurs pay players they have no intention of giving any PT.

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and if they didn't they would be labled cheap.

The Spurs are fucked either way they go with you people.

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Originally Posted by T Park

Yeah having decent bigmen that can shoot at bargain prices is such a horrible thing.

Swing off the shower rod already.

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I have no problem with Bonner getting 3M a year if he plays and performs. But rotting on the bench for 3M isn't worth the bargain. If they aren't going to use him this year, they might as well deal him for nothing (picks/cash/whatever) and give a roster spot to Gist or someone who they are interested in developing.

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Originally Posted by Kori Ellis

I have no problem with Bonner getting 3M a year if he plays and performs. But rotting on the bench for 3M isn't worth the bargain. If they aren't going to use him this year, they might as well deal him for nothing (picks/cash/whatever) and give a roster spot to Gist or someone who they are interested in developing.

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I agree. 3 million to be in the dog house is... :nope

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The Wizards will have approximately $2.5 to $3 million under the luxury tax threshold ($71.15 million) to sign a free agent once Arenas signs the six-year, $111 million deal he agreed to last week.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...070902297.html

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That probably explains why the Wizards had to let him go. Matching the Spurs' offer probably would have cost the Wizards ~$12M.

He was unrestricted

Don't think of it as paying Matt Bonner 3 million -- think of it as NOT paying Nesterovic 8.4 Million, which is what Indiana will do this year.

Oberto, Udoka, and Mason combined will be paid just a bit less than Nesterovic this year. Now, that's a good deal.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

He was unrestricted

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Matching in saying "we will match San Antonio's contract"

Not a restricted FA offer sheet.

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Originally Posted by Kori Ellis

I have no problem with Bonner getting 3M a year if he plays and performs. But rotting on the bench for 3M isn't worth the bargain. If they aren't going to use him this year, they might as well deal him for nothing (picks/cash/whatever) and give a roster spot to Gist or someone who they are interested in developing.

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I agree with that.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Mason isn't a wow signing but with a two-year contract as bait, it's really difficult to land better. This is definitely a boring signing ... but oh well, the Spurs still have a lot of flexibility in the short-term and long-term so we'll see what the next step is.

Perhaps they can wait on for summer league and see what they have. At that point, they'll have slightly more than the LLE to get someone off the trash heap. Or they can now just outbid the Sprockets and other teams for Barry. Or they can get active in a sign and trade.

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What are some potential S&T scenarios? Would Bonner be in pretty much any offer?

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Originally Posted by K-State Spur

Once Maggette went bye-bye, I was hoping to split the MLE between Mason and Najera. It wouldn't be a "sexy" offseason, but I think it would greatly improve the team over last year's edition.

Now, whether we have enough left over for Najera (or if that's even a direction that Pop/RC are interested in going) remains to be seen.

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I like the way you think. That would be a good solution to end the FA period. If not Najera, I'll take Dorell Wright.

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Originally Posted by Mr.Bottomtooth

The Spurs went into the offseason looking at 3 needs, with one of them being a younger swingman to replace either Michael Finley or Brent Barry, preferably Finley. Among most of our favorites were Corey Maggette, Mickael Pietrus, Kelenna Azubuike, JR Smith, and even Ramunas Siskauskas.

But again, the Spurs went on another path very few of us actually thought they would go by signing 6'5" swingman Roger Mason Jr. from the Washington Wizards.

The basics of Roger Mason Jr.:

D.O.B.: 9/10/1980 (currently 27 years old)
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 212 lbs.
Years Pro: 4
College: Virginia

Now let's see what are the pros and cons of this new Spur:

PROS:

• He's younger than our current swingmen. Being 27 years old and bringing along a good skillset of passing and defense, somewhat similar to Brent Barry, it looks as though he's already got a spot in the rotation.
  
• His shooting abilities emerged last year, averaging 44% FG, ~40% 3PT, and 87% FT.
  
• He has the ability to play point (again very Barry-like). Although he averaged only 1.7 assists per game, he's a better passer than what the stat can say.
  
• He can play defense. With that alone, we should feel much better about the defense, instead of having frickin Michael Finley out there.
  
• He doesn't have an attitude problem. He has class and hasn't had any run-ins with the law or has any bad blood with former teammates.

CONS:

• He's not exactly that young of a player we were counting on. Sure he's 27, but in a couple of years we'll have the age problem rising up again.
  
• The price. He came to us for ~$7.5M over 2 years, which is ~$3.75M a year. That seems pretty reasonable, but considering he soaked up more than half the MLE kinda puts a damper on the rest of the offseason. We're left with ~$1.9M of MLE and the same amount of LLE.
  
• He's not a good rebounder. Not that we're in dire need of a rebounding swingman, but hell, he averaged less than 2 in 21 minute a game.

Overall, the Spurs didn't exactly find their fourth scorer in this FA market, but they did find a relatively better swingman than both Barry and Finley. Time will tell whether this was a good signing, but as of now, it doesn't look so bad.

Oh yea, and he has poofy hair. :)

Grade:

B-

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...ooth/mason.jpg

Welcome to San Antonio, Roger. I'm sure you'll have a pleasant stay.

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Very nice summary Tooth! :toast

All I want to know is,

is the guy able to score enough to give Ginobili some nights off.

If not, then the Spurs are no better off than they were 2 months ago.

I am really not that excited about the signing. The thing I don't like about it that now the Spurs have literally only 2 LLE's left to sign a free agent that really helps them to beat the Lakers. I simply just don't see how he improves the team. Along with that his rebounding is horrible. He is a solid NBA player that is for sure but he is not enough for me to believe the Spurs could beat the Lakers or Celtics in a series. Looking at the options, he was probably the only decent available wing. It will be interesting to see what will happen with Smith and Azubuike.

That said, I will wait till the season starts to judge what the Spurs did. Nobody knows what the will do the next couple of weeks. For now, I am just not too excited.

Does this mean Pop moves Manu back to starting at SG? For some reason I don't see Mason replacing Finley in the starting lineup.

Is our SG rotation Manu, Mason, Hill. I can live with that.

But what are we going to do to shore up our front line?