RJ's Contract Details

For those who think RJ is a bad fit, do you think Pop is unwilling or unable to tweak the system to his personnel, especially now that he knows RJ will be part of it for the next few years? Tim and Manu aren't going anywhere, so if Parker gets extended this season, the Spurs will have the core of Parker/Ginobili/RJ/Duncan/Splitter/Hill/Blair/Anderson together for at least the following two seasons, allowing Pop to build the system around those players (with an increased emphasis on the younger players over the course of time).

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Originally Posted by boo_radley

But that's all a bit irrelevant isn't it? At least until we have some clue what is going to happen with the CBA

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No. If they made a trade today and win the championship what does have to do with next year's CBA?

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Originally Posted by Chomag

Hairston played more defence in that 472 minutes then RJ did all season.

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If you say so.

I know the Hairston fan club wants Malik to be a good defender, but that doesn't make it so.

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Originally Posted by DesignatedT

Oh my god bro. I don't want to trade Tony and I never wanted to trade Tony and I think it would be a terrible idea to trade Tony. You were telling me that Dallas has positioned themselves in a better position to win the championship because they could "potentially" trade for cp3 around the trade deadline :lmao and then you said they left themselves with options and we have no options. I just said that trading TP would be an option. Yes, I understand its a shitty option.. but its an option correct????????

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I never said such thing, please quote where I said that.
I said that if their current team is not good enough, which doesn't seem to be by looking around the league, they have a chunk of cap room to get better going forward. We do not. We just signed off on $13m/per in contracts for the next 3 seasons, and the only wiggle room we have is Tony at $13.5m...

This is our 'get better' move, and it's basically being the same team as last season. You can keep kidding yourself that Bonner will cease to be a choker, RJ will suddenly start giving a shit, and that Blair will improve to the point of being able to play against a frontline of Bynum and Gasol.

Do you ever remember we got our asses swept by none other than the Suns a couple months ago?

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

So you are arguing the Mavs have good options and the Spurs have shitty options?

You are also arguing since the Spurs beat the Mavs, they are better than the Mavs, but the Suns who swept the Spurs just showed the Spurs weren't far off from the "pack"?

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:lol I'm not arguing about any options. I wouldn't go into the season with the anticipation of landing some big name player in february and putting my title hopes on that.

The Spurs are better than the Mavericks that's clear.... The Suns were better than us last season obviously. That's definitely not the case anymore IMO. We have gotten better than we were last season which puts us right up there with contention for 2nd best team in the west behind LA.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

What did RJ bring to the table. All I have said is that RJ's value could have been replaced or at least they could have gotten close.

RJ is the best player available overall, but not as a fit.

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I think the "fit" issue can be fixed. I also think that way too much importance has been focused on this perceived "fit" theory. RJ is athletic, explosive around the rim and, when properly motivated, is a pretty good defender. Confidence and consistency are the only real issues I can see. Easily remedied.

If any of Anderson/Hairston/Gee/Temple emerges as a nice player, this contract will be even worse, so I'm kind of scared to cheer for any of those guys:lol..

Even if RJ was the best option, which he is, 10 mil a year for 4 years for a player on the decline, coming off a season where he was horrible = scary..

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Originally Posted by boo_radley

But that's all a bit irrelevant isn't it? At least until we have some clue what is going to happen with the CBA

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Not really, no. Those contracts come off the books as soon as the season ends, before the new CBA is even discussed.

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Originally Posted by coyotes_geek

If you say so.

I know the Hairston fan club wants Malik to be a good defender, but that doesn't make it so.

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Did you watch him play, even in those limited minutes? His defense is really not a question mark. I am not saying he is Bruce, but he is a good defender.

holy shit... 40 M ??? I hope fourth year is a team option

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Originally Posted by ohmwrecker

Ihave not seen anything that would supersede this as a firm indication of how RJ has spent, at least, part of his summer.

Jefferson staying in S.A.?
Richard Jefferson’s decision to opt out of the final $15 million season of his contract might not be a sign he’s willing to leave the San Antonio Spurs.
Sources said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has been personally working out Jefferson in San Antonio. The free-agent forward could re-sign with the team at a number that lowers the franchise’s luxury-tax hit while guaranteeing him more money on the back end of a multiyear contract.
– Adrian Wojnarowski, June 30, 10:30 ET


http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...gentbuzz063010

Can anyone post a link that debunks this?

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I'm not sure you can call this a direct debunking, but it's from RJ's mouth:

“Awesome, I wish it was sanctioned by the league,” he said of his experience at Nike Pro City. “It was good competition – great competition. I’ve only been working out for two or three days and these guys were really getting up and down the court.”

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_...EHHVd3AHPSSgWL

If he had only worked out once or twice as of July 13th, I'm not sure how he's been working with Pop all summer.

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Originally Posted by DesignatedT

:lol I'm not arguing about any options. I wouldn't go into the season with the anticipation of landing some big name player in february and putting my title hopes on that.

The Spurs are better than the Mavericks that's clear.... The Suns were better than us last season obviously. That's definitely not the case anymore IMO. We have gotten better than we were last season which puts us right up there with contention for 2nd best team in the west behind LA.

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How is it clear? That Mavs series provided no definitive answer as it could have gone either way. I think the Spurs are definitely right there with the Mavs, but I don't think they are clearly above them.

Utah, Portland, OKC, Dallas. Those teams are arguable as good or better.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

Did you watch him play, even in those limited minutes? His defense is really not a question mark. I am not saying he is Bruce, but he is a good defender.

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I did watch him play. The effort is there. I like what I see. But I dont' see how you can definitively say that he's a better defender than RJ when the players RJ was being asked to guard were a hell of a lot better than the ones Hairston was guarding.

No way Hairston is even close to the player RJ is. I keep hearing you say this but it's just not true nor will it ever be.

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Originally Posted by spursfaninla

Those expiring contracts don't get CP3. They would need to trade for him in order to do so, and no way does NO take back expiring junk for their franchise player. You take back good picks or young players. NO can get that.

Those expiring $ will be good to get a dumped player that is expensive but good, historically.

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Like what we did with RJ? :lol

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

Did you watch him play, even in those limited minutes? His defense is really not a question mark. I am not saying he is Bruce, but he is a good defender.

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He isn't as good as RJ either. Hairston defended 2nd unit guys. RJ, on most nights, defended the best player on the opposing team. He wasn't that bad either.

Beaten to the punch again.

I agree with Coyote's Geek!

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

How is it clear? That Mavs series provided no definitive answer as it could have gone either way. I think the Spurs are definitely right there with the Mavs, but I don't think they are clearly above them.

Utah, Portland, OKC, Dallas. Those teams are arguable as good or better.

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Lol could have gone either way? They played a 7 game series and we won... without homecourt. that isn't enough proof? That's why they play the series to see who's better, and then the better team wins. We were better than Dallas. no amount of excuses will change that.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

Malik is already a better defender, so that helps there. A guy like Simmons could have replaced the 3 PT shooting and combined I think him and Malik could have gotten enough points (Maybe 8 PPG) to keep things close with improved defense and 3 PT shooting.

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:lmao Yes, just switch Simmons in when on O and then put Malik when on D. That makes sense.

RJ will hold a new conference thanking Splitter for taking less money so he could take more.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

I never said such thing, please quote where I said that.
I said that if their current team is not good enough, which doesn't seem to be by looking around the league, they have a chunk of cap room to get better going forward. We do not. We just signed off on $13m/per in contracts for the next 3 seasons, and the only wiggle room we have is Tony at $13.5m...

This is our 'get better' move, and it's basically being the same team as last season. You can keep kidding yourself that Bonner will cease to be a choker, RJ will suddenly start giving a shit, and that Blair will improve to the point of being able to play against a frontline of Bynum and Gasol.

Do you ever remember we got our asses swept by none other than the Suns a couple months ago?

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Splitter is a big addition for the Spurs with his length, athleticism and overall intelligence. His presence in the lineup alone should vastly improve the team as a whole. Blair and Hill have the tools and the work ethic to improve significantly. And Tony coming back healthy and fresh is probably the biggest factor to consider for another championship run.

Bottom Line: The Spurs made some direct moves to either improve their team (Splitter and Anderson) or to ensure that it doesn't take a step back (Bonner and RJ). We can debate whether they're closer, but I'd say with the moves they made that they're certainly no farther away from a championship.

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Originally Posted by My Fault

:lmao Yes, just switch Simmons in when on O and then put Malik when on D. That makes sense.

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:lmao

The pro-Jefferson guys have to admit that RJ and his agent hustled the Spurs nicely though, no doubt about it..

They played their cards well..they knew the Spurs wouldn't have any other options..

I will say it again. I don't mind RJ being back for this year. I agree he is the best option for this year. I just don't think he was such a good option that it was worth 4 years, 40 million.

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Originally Posted by DesignatedT

No way Hairston is even close to the player RJ is. I keep hearing you say this but it's just not true nor will it ever be.

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Hairston also doesn't have the size that RJ does. The preimere 3's in our league are scary big and strong, we need a guy like RJ to check them. I can't imagine Hairston on Carmelo, Lebron, Duran, etc.

Not saying that RJ is the answer, but at least he has the size and the athleticism to keep up. (theoretically.)

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

If any of Anderson/Hairston/Gee/Temple emerges as a nice player, this contract will be even worse, so I'm kind of scared to cheer for any of those guys:lol..

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If any of those turn out good it really doesn't matter from a contractual standpoint! It's like the NFL, when a player is drafted he is not expected to turn the franchise around in year one. Although he may be better than the individual that is ahead of him in his position (more times than not which is paid more than him) the in-expensivne contract he holds allow for the organization to wait on him to reach a certain comfort level within the pro game. As long as we are under the cap and still getting value for our dollar we should all pray these players become stars or at least valuable role players why they are on the cheap!