I think the Spurs are done for the offseason

Having depth will allow the Spurs Big 3 to have enough legs and have more of an impact come playoffs; and the one with the youngest legs, Tony Parker, was injured throughout the season last year and he's a nightmare match-up when healthy.

Spurs should do better next season and for the first time in a while the Spurs don't have to deal with members of their big 3 playing international basketball or worry about surgeries and recovering from that. On the other hand the Lakers have Odom playing in the summer and Kobe and Bynum will have surgeries; and thats a team that only finished 2 wins higher than the 2nd seed. On top of that the Lakers core have seen a lot of miles and little rest in recent years and they've already started to break down last regular season. Without HCA they probably won't get out of the West imo.

LA's more vulnerable than they're made out to be but obviously the team to beat out West.

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Originally Posted by Cane

Having depth will allow the Spurs Big 3 to have enough legs and have more of an impact come playoffs; and the one with the youngest legs, Tony Parker, was injured throughout the season last year and he's a nightmare match-up when healthy.

Spurs should do better next season and for the first time in a while the Spurs don't have to deal with members of their big 3 playing international basketball or worry about surgeries and recovering from that. On the other hand the Lakers have Odom playing in the summer and Kobe and Bynum will have surgeries; and thats a team that only finished 2 wins higher than the 2nd seed. On top of that the Lakers core have seen a lot of miles and little rest in recent years and they've already started to break down last regular season. Without HCA they probably won't get out of the West imo.

LA's more vulnerable than they're made out to be but obviously the team to beat out West.

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Intellectually dishonest to assume SA will benefit from rest and will be healthy and LA will be the ones worn down - especially considering SA has wore down the past couple of seasons and LA has maintained success.

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Originally Posted by 2Cleva

Intellectually dishonest to assume SA will benefit from rest and will be healthy and LA will be the ones worn down - especially considering SA has wore down the past couple of seasons and LA has maintained success.

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Considering that SA haven't logged as many miles in recent years and none of their players are playing international basketball or going through surgeries; I think its a safe bet. Lakers were already looking pretty fatigued at the end of the regular season and without HCA they won't get out of the West imo. Nothing with any of that says to me that LA will finish higher this reg season and the West is too competitive to slack off.

What the Spurs really need is for an old friend to help convince a bad team's front office to give them a top 10 player for a couple of throwaways and a guy who's topside is being a top-10 guy at his position at a woefully weak position.

But I doubt the Trade Committee would approve . . . .

The secret weapon may be the maturation of Blair's game. If he can play consistant minutes at starter value it could make a huge difference. I am looking for a double digit rebound average from him this year.

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Originally Posted by Cane

Considering that SA haven't logged as many miles in recent years and none of their players are playing international basketball or going through surgeries; I think its a safe bet. Lakers were already looking pretty fatigued at the end of the regular season and without HCA they won't get out of the West imo.

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SA hasn't logged as many miles because the years prior when they made their run it wore them out. With LA only having their 6th man play, who never is consistent even at the best of times, they will be OK.

I could go deeper but I won't. Considering hoping SA's 100% and LA is broke down is SA's best shot, I understand the wishful thinking.

LA did get hurt when so many would-be blowouts was destroyed by selfish bench play. I doubt that's the case this season.

it won't be done until we all get one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Black-Vuvuzela...35933484781830

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Originally Posted by 2Cleva

SA hasn't logged as many miles because the years prior when they made their run it wore them out.

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Yup, thats why their depth is going to be important along with health.

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With LA only having their 6th man play, who never is consistent even at the best of times, they will be OK.

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Don't be intellectually dishonest, he is inconsistent but Lamar Odom has been more important to LA's success than Bynum just through sheer minutes played. He's generally a huge match up problem as well unless you're like Amar'e and think he just gets "lucky".

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I could go deeper but I won't. Considering hoping SA's 100% and LA is broke down is SA's best shot, I understand the wishful thinking.

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Its realistic to think that SA's best chances of winning is staying healthy and its realistic to think the Lakers will be slowing down as well considering their mileage and surgeries this summer and recent years.

three-point specialist(s) who has actually hit during po's, missing...

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

The secret weapon may be the maturation of Blair's game. If he can play consistant minutes at starter value it could make a huge difference. I am looking for a double digit rebound average from him this year.

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Agreed. With the exception of Splitter's successful adaptation to the NBA game, Blair's development is probably the most crucial facet of our playoff hopes.

Cane - Depth is important but SA is missing quality more than quantity. Too many one-dimensional players.

LO wasn't more important last year than Bynum - not in the playoffs nor reg season. LO still gives SA nightmares because of the Spurs lack of athleticism but LA noticed Ibaka, Millsap, and Davis outplayed him off the bench. Doesn't matter as much though with Barnes and Caracter there.

LA getting minor surgeries that they were able to play on.

SA has to pray for health - no doubt. As for LA, if you would have a team that has to deal with injuries - having guys who will play very well through it as well as a coach that won't push too hard in the regular season is paramount. If they don't have any season-ending injuries, I expect LA will be in the Finals again. They are mentally strong enough to play through the mild/medium stuff.

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Originally Posted by 2Cleva

Cane - Depth is important but SA is missing quality more than quantity. Too many one-dimensional players.

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Imo the problem with SA's past depth was that their one-dimensional depth couldn't do what they were signed to do and that was shoot the basketball. If the Spurs continue to struggle from downtown they won't win but Mason Jr. and Bogans are gone and hopefully Gary Neal and Anderson can be more consistent. Another year's experience for Jefferson, Hill, and Blair should help along with getting a competent 7-footer in Tiago.

Imo though the biggest problem in the past few seasons remains staying healthy and it seems like they'll be healthy next year since they're rested and not recovering from surgeries or extended NBA absences.

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LO wasn't more important last year than Bynum - not in the playoffs nor reg season. LO still gives SA nightmares because of the Spurs lack of athleticism but LA noticed Ibaka, Millsap, and Davis outplayed him off the bench. Doesn't matter as much though with Barnes and Caracter there.

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LO's more important just through sheer minutes played especially in the past 3 seasons. When he's able to contribute, Bynum ftw though.

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LA getting minor surgeries that they were able to play on.

SA has to pray for health - no doubt. As for LA, if you would have a team that has to deal with injuries - having guys who will play very well through it as well as a coach that won't push too hard in the regular season is paramount. If they don't have any season-ending injuries, I expect LA will be in the Finals again. They are mentally strong enough to play through the mild/medium stuff.

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I agree that if LA's healthy (and has HCA) then its their spot to lose in the Finals. But if they encounter health issues they'll be vulnerable. Kobe looked fatigued last year and is having I think a third surgery on the same knee, Bynum's getting surgery on his knee and doesn't ever seem to have a healthy year, and Odom's playing in the summer - stuff you don't want your 3-peat Finals core to do imo. They did get some good signings this offseason though.

not sure if Spurs are done for this summer, but I'm pretty sure that we no longer need to discuss FA signings when discussing an upgrade of the team.
(agree that it's not a matter of depth)
all those possible signings in the minimum range might be interesting when it's about young players, who might play a role in the future. but it's meaningless for the next season. and as several other people mentioned, Spurs won't go over the threshold just to have one player who would fill the 11th-14th spot in the rotation

if the Spurs want another impact player to in fact upgrade the overall quality, they can only get this player via trade. (the only realistic package I see includes Dice).
Spurs currently have a huge quality gap when looking at the 4th and 5th spot in the back court and wing. (behind Tony, Manu, Hill and RJ. some might say the gap already occurs between Hill and RJ, but anyhow). it would need to be at least a player in the quality league of Battier for example, to get a noticeable improvement.
even in a super optimistic scenario Anderson won't immediately close the quality gap. and no FA on the market will do it either. (especially not a minimum FA)

trade: as mentioned, the only player we can orchestrate a trade around without losing to much and getting back a significant salary number is Dice.
question is, would Spurs do a Dice trade this summer, when they don't know yet how fast Splitter acclimates to the NBA and if and how significant Blair has developed his game? IMO they will want a known quantity along Tim at least for the 1st half of the next season. so also no Dice trade.
bottom line: Spurs are done and all we might see is a veteran minimum signing of a wing and this won't change the teams quality a bit.

If James Anderson is signed at 120% of the rookie scale, Spurs won't be able to carry 14 players and stay bellow the tax. they will have to pick 2 players between Jerrells, Gee, Hairston and Tmeple. One can assume it will be Temple and one of Gee and Hairston.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

If James Anderson is signed at 120% of the rookie scale, Spurs won't be able to carry 14 players and stay bellow the tax. they will have to pick 2 players between Jerrells, Gee, Hairston and Tmeple. One can assume it will be Temple and one of Gee and Hairston.

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Bruno

Can we use Hairston as the backup SF and send Gee back to the Toros without having to waive him ?

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Originally Posted by elemento

Bruno

Can we use Hairston as the backup SF and send Gee back to the Toros without having to waive him ?

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A players send to D-League still count against the cap and the tax. If Anderson has been signed for 120% and Spurs keep Temple, Spurs will have to waive one of Hairston or Gee to stay under the tax.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

If James Anderson is signed at 120% of the rookie scale, Spurs won't be able to carry 14 players and stay bellow the tax. they will have to pick 2 players between Jerrells, Gee, Hairston and Tmeple. One can assume it will be Temple and one of Gee and Hairston.

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I fetched Anderson's salary figures from Hoopshype... I don't know how accurate they are.

I'm not worried about LA. Duncan can still cancel out Gasol and I think Splitter will matchup well with Bynum. Obviously he does have the strength Bynum does, but he'll be shown to be much quicker and more talented. Kobe's prime is about to start slowly fading away like Duncan's did. Difference is, Kobe's relied a little more on his athleticism throughout his career because Duncan hasn't hardly at all and Kobe doesn't have size on his side as a 7 footer. I don't think he's going to fall off a cliff like Finley did, he's a much better player, but he'll slowly go downhill starting this year. All great players do eventually. Jefferson and Artest should cancel each other out, because Artest isn't a great scorer, but Jefferson isn't a great defensive player. He's a somewhat capable scorer, but Artest is a great defender. He will be slower this year too though, he doesn't have quite as many miles on him as Kobe, but he's getting there. A healthy Tony Parker should be in his prime this year, it could be one of the top years of his career and he should be able to absolutely CRUSH a slow, old, and worn out Derek Fisher or Steve Blake.

Updated the OP again, correcting the actual amount Neil's contract count against the tax.
That puts the Spurs $261,700 over the tax line. Unless Bonner's contract (still unconfirmed) is a little cheaper than expected, or Anderson's contract info is not quite correct, just as Bruno said, the Spurs would have to drop one of kids in order to stay under the luxury tax cap.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

I fetched Anderson's salary figures from Hoopshype... I don't know how accurate they are.

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Hoopshype isn't accurate at all. Some of your numbers (Duncan, Hill) are wrong.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

Hoopshype isn't accurate at all. Some of your numbers (Duncan, Hill) are wrong.

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Thanks.

Ok, updated the OP again, now with salary information from ESPN. That includes what looks to be the correct amount for Bonner's first season in his new deal. The only contract missing there was Neil's but we already know the actual terms thanks to timvp and we also know that a higher sum actually counts against the lux tax.

Spurs are $144,310 over the cap now (without counting Jerrels' $854,389), so unless Anderson's contract is not for the 120% of the rookie scale, they're going to have to lose a little weight in one of the unguaranteed contracts in order to stay below the lux tax line.

This is depressing having a team that says their goal is one thing and that truly has one goal, then watching them do nothing to realistically achieve that goal.

The expectations and emotions are high surrounding Tim's last years.

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Originally Posted by Chieflion

Seriously, we don't need more depth. We need a top 8 player on the Spurs to seriously contend. Depth all the way to the 12th man is almost useless in the playoffs. I think we are just playoff fodder at this point.

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Exactly, an impact player was needed. It is Splitter, as the impact player. And I doubt he will make much more than a role player type of contribution. Not enough to put the spurs back on top.


Pretty much the same team as last year with the exception of the Splitter upgrade. Anderson won't get enough minutes to make much of a difference .