the *OFFICIAL* off-season thread..

Does anyone really believe the Spurs will overhaul half the team? And expect that many players to learn the system and be ready for the playoffs? I don't. I expect a few changes and that's it.

Vaughn and Udoka are gone for sure. I'm sure Oberto will be nudged into retirement. That's 3 new players already.

Gooden being tied to the bench in favor of Bonner probably didn't sell him on returning. That's 4 new players now.

Bowen is a question mark at this point. That's possibly 5 new players should he retire or the Spurs waive/trade him.

I'm sure they'll look to move Bonner and Thomas but not sure the return is big enough.

Finley will likely be back. It's true the Spurs could trade him but since he doesn't make that much he'd have to be included in a bigger deal to get anything of importance in return.

My dream scenario would be to Sign Sheed for the MLE short term. Then trade Mason/ Bonner/ Bowen/ Oberto to Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson. Then sign Carney/ Moon/ Barnes for the LLE.

That would give us:

Parker/ Hill
Manu/ Finley/ Hill
Jefferson/ Carney or Moon or Barnes or Jones/ (Gist/ Hairston/ Williams)*wildcards*
Tim/ Mahimni/ Vet minimum signing/ 37th draft pick?
Sheed/ Kurt/ Vet minimum signing


Big men for the vet minimum i'd consider:
Chris Mihm
Rasho Nestorovic
Malik Rose
Melvin Ely
Theo Ratliff
Jarrod Collins
Sheldon Williams ( even though not a vet)

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

what would be your ideal scenario, ss?

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Its about the best possible scenario. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the Spurs will exceed the luxury tax. To me, any discussion of possible strategies that does not account for the luxury tax is just fantasy basketball and cannot happen in the real world.

Unless you are willing to trade Tim, Tony, or Manu then the following simple math problem must be overcome before, IMO, any scenario can considered realistic:

Per Stern's letter to NBA, projected lux tax for next year will be 69.4M.

The Big 3 are on the books for 45.5M next year.

The difference between those two numbers is 23.9M

23.9M to fill at least 10 roster spots.

The following players are under contract for next year:
Bowen 4M- 50% guaranteed
Thomas 3.8M
Oberto 3.8M- 50% guaranteed
Mason 3.8M
Bonner 3.2M
Finley 2.5M- player option
Hill 1.1M
Mahinmi 900K

Total: 23.1M for 8 spots.

Now, again IMO, any realistic scenario must account for how you are going to exchange the players already under contract for better players and stay under the luxury tax. I don't believe a single scenario presented has done that.

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

what would be your ideal scenario, ss?

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ideal, as in, holt found the key to the liquor cabinet and started spending like a drunken sailor?

using the MLE - if you are going to be throwing a multi year, full MLE deal around, id rather it be on gooden over sheed (although i do see the other side). hes a higher value piece, and easier too move later on if things go south. if we are splitting the thing between a couple of pieces (say, sheed at a decent rate along with a role playing wing), i can get behind that too. i do hate letting gooden walk for nothing, but hes no game changer.

using our slew of expirings to land a major player - as has been stated, teams are going to be looking to shed salary (due in part to both the economy and the 2010 firesale). thats a great way to land talent at $0.70 on the dollar. im still a fan of carter (some have soured on him over the years, but hes still got game). and i love garcia, but i doubt the kings are shopping him. just looking for maximum value while still paying some attention to the personnel both coming and going.

possibly buy/trade into the middle of this draft - rumors galore about teams outside the very top looking to move down or out of this draft. its a weaker class, but talent is about the same 10-25. you can probably nab a decent enough role player with most any of those picks. and its better to start integrating the younger pieces in now than keep pushing it off. the two forwards out of pitt (young and blair) both being very high on my list in that range.

that all said, im still trying to look and see a course that both improves the team significantly, keeps us below the tax line, and could have a remote possibility of actually happening.

and i dont see too many option there. it basically entails trimming salary where we can (cutting oberto/bowen or pawning off another player) to spend the MLE (on whoever), bringing the kids into camp (gist, hairston, williams), maybe filling out the roster with fringe role players (guys like ross, jones, barnes, udoka, ect), praying for an impact from mahinmi, and rolling the dice with pretty much the same team next season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tmtcsc

You know who's gotten a pass ? Kurt Thomas. What did he do for us this year ? We need to move him and see what we can get. What a waste.

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Nice...I'm glad the FO felt the same way. That's not usually the case.

That's right, I quoted myself...and I feel dirty.

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

I really think this team should make a trade though..with the amount of expiring contracts we have, we shouldn't let it go to waste..

the Bucks have already made it clear that they would trade RJ..they tried to trade him for Portland's expirings..

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

great summary..

TBH, I really don't see the point of waiting until 2010..that's another wasted year for Duncan..2010 has a huge amount of good free agents, so a lot of teams are looking for that cap space..

our ENTIRE team outside of the big 2 expires before the 2010 off-season..there really isn't a point of not making a move IMO..

trading some of the expirings, using part or all of the MLE, and using 1 or 2 of the young players(Mahinmi, Gist, Hairston, Williams)..that's enough to fill all the needs IMO..

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This dude right here is sexy..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

This dude right here is sexy..

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Nice job...RC ?

Ya..don't tell anybody..

Too bad about Fin though, uh?..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

let's use this thread to discuss this upcoming off-season and potential moves..I hope we can stay in this thread, so everything doesn't get spread out everywhere..

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The most overlooked part of the Spurs off-season is Drew Gooden. In all the rebuilding talks/fantasy lineups he seems to be out of the equation.

It felt good to have another post player in the regular season alongside Timmy. There's Blair/Gist/Mahinmi to look forward to but we dont know how that'll play out and how long it will take to do so.

If Gooden has a good attitude and accepts a modest contract I'm all for keeping him on board.