Ric Bucher on Twitter about Spurs FA targets

While yes, Splitter would stand to enjoy a larger sum of guaranteed money if he joined the Spurs next summer instead of this one, and be paid more by Tau in the interim, he'd also put off the the time he would stand to be able to sign a long term guaranteed NBA contract by a season. That's not worthless. In addition, the Spurs could agree to not keep him on the rookie deal for the full four years or what not. If they agreed to allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after year 3, that could make it worth Splitter's while to join this summer. After 3 years the Spurs would hold his full Bird Rights. That would also be the summer of 2012 when Duncan will have presumably retired from professional basketball and the Spurs would have the cap flexibility to pay him handsomely.

While RC has poured some cold water on the idea of Splitter joining the team this offseason, he's also left the door open a little. As the Spurs aren't putting on a full court press for Wallace and have targeted a backup 5 in Gortat in free agency, the possibility remains for Splitter.

Obviously this is not an easy decision for Splitter. But if the Spurs are calling now with the starting 5 spot wide open, I do not think it's as easy as it looks for Splitter to turn it down. The Spurs seem keen on leaving that door open for Splitter. It's prudent, of course, to see if free agency will yield a more immediate impact at the center position. But if that is not available, perhaps Splitter will be tempted to join now.

Frye? WTF are RC and Pop thinking? Sheed? Vajereo? McDyess? Those are the three guys they need to target, Fucken Frye are you kidding me? DAMN :pctoss

The one guy not being talked about very much is Dice. Got a weird feeling he ends up in SA...

It certainly looks like teams prefer Sheed to Dyess, and Dyess is going to have to wait his turn.

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Originally Posted by Duncan2177

Frye? WTF are RC and Pop thinking? Sheed? Vajereo? McDyess? Those are the three guys they need to target, Fucken Frye are you kidding me? DAMN :pctoss

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Your letting something Bucher said piss you off. Let it play out. Patience.

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Originally Posted by Duncan2177

Frye? WTF are RC and Pop thinking? Sheed? Vajereo? McDyess? Those are the three guys they need to target, Fucken Frye are you kidding me? DAMN :pctoss

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Frye. Gortat. Bass. The Spurs seem to be entertaining a bunch of backup bigs in free agency.

:stirpot:

Here's how it will play out:

Sheed to Boston
McDyess to SA
Varejao stays in Cleveland
Orlando steals Bass (but overpays for him)
Gortat to Dallas

...then, and only then, will the world take a chill pill and calm the fuck down. :lol

Frye isn't really even a 4 or 5. He just happens to be tall, but he's always around the perimeter and has NO low post defensive chops.

We will nab McDyess for something like 13.5/3yrs in a typically under the radar Spurs FO move.

Boston will overpay full MLE for Sheed and regret it as he plays lacksidasically off the bench and injuries to their Zimmer-frame guys close their trophy window.

Orlando will get good production from Bass, but realise that they made a major mistake in jettisoning Turk for Carter who will stagnate the Orlando offence and make guys like Lewis and Nelson unhappy.

Cuban will wake up on July 9 with a huge hangover and ask himself the question: "WTF just happened? How did I do it AGAIN? Yet another overpaid centre? Another great white hope who will put up 6/6 for $6mil/yr... this shit is worse than Dampier! I'm just a truly shitful GM!" He will then sell the team to oil barons from Russia.

BTW, if I get this right, especially the Cuban selling it to Russian oil barons thing, I want some major props! :lmao

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Originally Posted by timvp

You can only take that logic so far. Anyone who watched Elson play in the NBA knew he was pretty damn bad (other than the Spurs, apparently). But just because a player hasn't played in the NBA doesn't mean they won't go Elson. Elson actually put up better rebounding numbers in Europe than Splitter and Elson put up huge number when playing for Holland.

If Elson would have been drafted by the Spurs and he had been kept overseas, Spurs fans would probably be counting him as being the second coming just like Splitter, Sanikidze, Javtokas, etc.

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1. There wasn't any logic put forward that any NBA player = Elson. I was putting forward that NBA experience with a bad player doesn't trump inexperience with a player who could be good in the NBA. Mikki Moore is garbage, just because he's experienced doesn't mean he'd be better in 20 minutes than trusting that 20 to Blair, or Mahinmi. There's a dozen guys you could replace Moore's name with, and Frye's coming to mind, though maybe not as bad.

I wouldn't say anyone who watched Elson play knew he sucked, because this board had lots of people that were optomistic right off the top of my head. Except me, because I reviewed what little I had of him and could only say that he was quicker than Rasho. And his stats of blocks with Denver weren't good. And I didn't have good things to say about Jackie Butler after reviewing the game I had of him either.

2. What is this nonsense about 'second coming'? Don't insult me with that bullshit please. I'm on record as being in favor of getting Javtokas and Sanikidze, and never have I EVER insinuated they'd be stars or second comings or messiahs or anything like that. I've said they could play in the NBA, be rotation guys, and fill roles. And unlike so many fans here who have opinions on guys pro or con (not talking about you), I've actually watched games of those guys. I watched shit feeds of Rytas vs. Zalgiris. I watched BBL and SEB games with their nauseating airhorns and windows in the background where you can see cars driving by. I've based my assertions on games, not highlights or Spurs-cultdom.

I've also repeatedly knocked the Spurs for taking Sanikidze over Ariza, when they were both 6-8 small forwards who were within about 6 months of age with each other (I think one was 18, the other just turned 19). And I don't think anyone else on here has been anything other than reserved and hopeful for Sanikidze, and the only other person who was pro-Javtokas was Mr. Body that I can remember.

So speaking for myself, no, I wouldn't be talking up Elson if he was a stashed Euro.

Does anyone think we could get Wallace with the MLE and McDycess with the LLE?

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

While yes, Splitter would stand to enjoy a larger sum of guaranteed money if he joined the Spurs next summer instead of this one, and be paid more by Tau in the interim, he'd also put off the the time he would stand to be able to sign a long term guaranteed NBA contract by a season. That's not worthless. In addition, the Spurs could agree to not keep him on the rookie deal for the full four years or what not. If they agreed to allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after year 3, that could make it worth Splitter's while to join this summer. After 3 years the Spurs would hold his full Bird Rights. That would also be the summer of 2012 when Duncan will have presumably retired from professional basketball and the Spurs would have the cap flexibility to pay him handsomely.

While RC has poured some cold water on the idea of Splitter joining the team this offseason, he's also left the door open a little. As the Spurs aren't putting on a full court press for Wallace and have targeted a backup 5 in Gortat in free agency, the possibility remains for Splitter.

Obviously this is not an easy decision for Splitter. But if the Spurs are calling now with the starting 5 spot wide open, I do not think it's as easy as it looks for Splitter to turn it down. The Spurs seem keen on leaving that door open for Splitter. It's prudent, of course, to see if free agency will yield a more immediate impact at the center position. But if that is not available, perhaps Splitter will be tempted to join now.

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Yeah, Splitter is never going to see less competition for minutes than right now. Perhaps he sees the wide open door and decides to try to claim his spot in the NBA. He could wait a year but the next generation of bigs will have a head start and there's no guarantee that the Spurs will actively try to bring him in.

If Splitter wants to make sure he has an NBA career, coming this year makes the most sense. Otherwise, there's a definite chance he never comes to the NBA.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Yeah, Splitter is never going to see less competition for minutes than right now. Perhaps he sees the wide open door and decides to try to claim his spot in the NBA. He could wait a year but the next generation of bigs will have a head start and there's no guarantee that the Spurs will actively try to bring him in.

If Splitter wants to make sure he has an NBA career, coming this year makes the most sense. Otherwise, there's a definite chance he never comes to the NBA.

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Gortat, Davis, and Bass. The Spurs seem to be targeting bench bigmen in free agency. While, yes, prudence would seem to demand it, one wonders if there is not an ace up RC's wrinkled sleeve...

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

While yes, Splitter would stand to enjoy a larger sum of guaranteed money if he joined the Spurs next summer instead of this one, and be paid more by Tau in the interim, he'd also put off the the time he would stand to be able to sign a long term guaranteed NBA contract by a season. That's not worthless. In addition, the Spurs could agree to not keep him on the rookie deal for the full four years or what not. If they agreed to allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after year 3, that could make it worth Splitter's while to join this summer. After 3 years the Spurs would hold his full Bird Rights. That would also be the summer of 2012 when Duncan will have presumably retired from professional basketball and the Spurs would have the cap flexibility to pay him handsomely.

While RC has poured some cold water on the idea of Splitter joining the team this offseason, he's also left the door open a little. As the Spurs aren't putting on a full court press for Wallace and have targeted a backup 5 in Gortat in free agency, the possibility remains for Splitter.

Obviously this is not an easy decision for Splitter. But if the Spurs are calling now with the starting 5 spot wide open, I do not think it's as easy as it looks for Splitter to turn it down. The Spurs seem keen on leaving that door open for Splitter. It's prudent, of course, to see if free agency will yield a more immediate impact at the center position. But if that is not available, perhaps Splitter will be tempted to join now.

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Aren't rookie contracts for two seasons? If so, the team option would be the third year and Splitter could be a free agent after the second season. Am I reading this right or not?

At this point I'm almost scared Splitter comes over. I'd really like to see a proven NBA vet in that slot rather than roll the dice on a rotation forming out of Bonner/Blair/Mahinmi/Splitter.

But proven NBA vet means proven NBA vet, which Frye is not. If it comes down to that, I'd rather roll the dice and hope we get lucky.

Perhaps Splitter is a fallback if they can't land Wallace or McDyess. The Spurs strike out so they want Splitter. Splitter comes because the 5 spot is his to lose.

Of course, perhaps the Spurs already have a trade lined up for a decent starting 5, like Foster, but will only pull it if they miss out on Wallace and McDyess. If they trade, then signing a backup bigman with the MLE makes sense.

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Originally Posted by Buddy Holly

Does anyone think we could get Wallace with the MLE and McDycess with the LLE?

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No. I think that it'll take the full MLE to convince either one of them to come here.

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Originally Posted by Kindergarten Cop

No. I think that it'll take the full MLE to convince either one of them to come here.

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Agreed. No way Dyess takes LLE.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Perhaps Splitter is a fallback if they can't land Wallace or McDyess. The Spurs strike out so they want Splitter. Splitter comes because the 5 spot is his to lose.

Of course, perhaps the Spurs already have a trade lined up for a decent starting 5, like Foster, but will only pull it if they miss out on Wallace and McDyess. If they trade, then signing a backup bigman with the MLE makes sense.

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...so they target backup bigs at the same time as they are pursuing Wallace and McDyess. If they strike out on the top two then they sign Splitter to a rookie deal, the backup big to some deal using the MLE, and then look for an opportunistic trade using Bonner, Finley, and next year's 1st round pick.

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Originally Posted by Buddy Holly

Does anyone think we could get Wallace with the MLE and McDycess with the LLE?

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Nope.

Dice just gave away millions to go back to Detroit, no way he does that with the last contract of his career.

Not even for a ring?

If I'm going all in to win a NBA championship next summer then of course I'd want Wallace or McDyess starting alongside TD. But if they aren't available, then perhaps I consider bringing over the guy I have rights to in Spain, the guy who plays for the same team as another, um, player who made the jump from that team to the NBA successfully.

I know that after last season and the trade I made before free agency started that my bigman rotation is depleted and is in need of not just a new starter, but bench players as well. So while I'm talking to Wallace and McDyess about starting next to TD and offering the MLE, I'm also talking to prospective bench players who I could sign using the MLE and offering the starting spot to a certain bigman who plays professionally in Spain.

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Originally Posted by Buddy Holly

Not even for a ring?

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if he wanted to do that you really think he would sign in S.A?