Close Calls With Trades

I became a Spurs fan in 1989 (David Robinson & Sean Elliott's rookie year), but since I was in the 4th grade I was obviously too young to understand the business side of sports. All I knew was what I saw either at the games or watching them on TV. I was talking to a football teammate the other day who hasn't been a Spurs fan as long as I have, and I told him about a couple of trades and free agent deals for the Spurs that almost happened, but fell apart at the last minute.

I'm not trying to re-open old wounds or anything, but can anybody that's been a fan longer than I have fill me in on some of these transactions? I would definitely appreciate it. I'm aware of the more recent ones like the supposed TP/CP3 trade a few years back, Marcus Camby at the '09 trade deadline, that I can remember off-hand. I'm talking about the 80s and 90s, even the more recent ones that I might have missed would be OK.

I vaguely remember hearing that Charles Barkley was almost traded to the Spurs, and I remember reading about the Bulls possibly discussing a trade sending Michael Jordan to the Spurs for David Robinson. If you can fill me in on those also, I would definitely appreciate it.

Regarding Barkley, it was Terry Cummings and Willie Anderson for Charles Barkley. AFAIK, both teams agreed to it but Red McCombs vetoed the trade because he didn't want to pay Barkley.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Regarding Barkley, it was Terry Cummings and Willie Anderson for Charles Barkley. AFAIK, both teams agreed to it but Red McCombs vetoed the trade because he didn't want to pay Barkley.

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wow fckn a

There was Brent Barry for JR Smith at the 2006 trade deadline. Atlanta was needed as a third team to make the trade work and didn't call into the league office on time. At least, that's the way I remember it.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Regarding Barkley, it was Terry Cummings and Willie Anderson for Charles Barkley. AFAIK, both teams agreed to it but Red McCombs vetoed the trade because he didn't want to pay Barkley.

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Wow.

Didn't know that.

McCombs dropped the ball with that one.

that barkley trade would have been a steal.

Barkley and Drob would have been a force to reckon with

But then we would've never seen Timmy.

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Originally Posted by ernest787

that barkley trade would have been a steal.

Barkley and Drob would have been a force to reckon with

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:wow:wow

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Originally Posted by MR-Clutch

But then we would've never seen Timmy.

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:flag::flag:

I keep remembering a time when Drob was almost traded. To Portland I think it was but for the life of me I cant remember who for.

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Originally Posted by Chomag

I keep remembering a time when Drob was almost traded. To Portland I think it was but for the life of me I cant remember who for.

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In his prime or toward the end of his career?

I just had somebody mention David Robinson almost got traded for Chris Webber...too bad we didn't have XM or Sirius radio when I was growing up.

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Originally Posted by Chomag

I keep remembering a time when Drob was almost traded. To Portland I think it was but for the life of me I cant remember who for.

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McCombs was reportedly tired of paying Robinson a lot of money and at one point started to shop him. But I don't remember a trade every getting close at that time.

It seemed like the most momentum to trade Robinson was early in the '99 season when the Spurs were off to a slow start. The trade rumor at the time, which a lot of Spurs fans supported, was Robinson for a package headlined by Vin Baker.

Other random close call trades off the top of my head:

-Supposedly right before Sprewell choked PJ Carlesimo, the Spurs and Warriors were putting the finishing touches on a Sprewell for Will Perdue and Sean Elliott trade.

-Speaking of Perdue, the Spurs almost traded him to the Clippers for Brent Barry back in 1997. The trade fell apart when Philadelphia pulled out at the three-team trade at the last second.

-Avery Johnson was almost traded for David Wesley in 2000 because supposedly the rest of the team, led by Steve Kerr, protected AJ's tyrannical ways. That trade only didn't happen because Charlotte's head coach (Paul Silas, IIRC) said he'd step down if the Hornets did that trade.

-After Tony Parker's first summer league game (he had something like 20 points and ten assists), Seattle instantly offered the Spurs Gary Payton for Parker and Malik Rose.

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Originally Posted by timvp

McCombs was reportedly tired of paying Robinson a lot of money and at one point started to shop him. But I don't remember a trade every getting close at that time.

It seemed like the most momentum to trade Robinson was early in the '99 season when the Spurs were off to a slow start. The trade rumor at the time, which a lot of Spurs fans supported, was Robinson for a package headlined by Vin Baker.

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I remember that....the Spurs started out 6-8, and all I kept hearing was "Fire Gregg Popovich and trade David Robinson!!" Even ESPN mentioned it a pretty good bit. I believe it would have been a slap to the Admiral's face to trade him after he single-handedly kept the team in San Antonio.

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Originally Posted by timvp

McCombs was reportedly tired of paying Robinson a lot of money and at one point started to shop him. But I don't remember a trade every getting close at that time.

It seemed like the most momentum to trade Robinson was early in the '99 season when the Spurs were off to a slow start. The trade rumor at the time, which a lot of Spurs fans supported, was Robinson for a package headlined by Vin Baker.

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Wow. That would have been one of the worst trades in the history of the NBA. :wow

Was Vin Baker really that highly regarded back in the day? I followed basketball back then, but not closely enough to remember much about Vin Baker other than that he sucked.

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Originally Posted by tesseractive

Wow. That would have been one of the worst trades in the history of the NBA. :wow

Was Vin Baker really that highly regarded back in the day? I followed basketball back then, but not closely enough to remember much about Vin Baker other than that he sucked.

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Vin Baker was a lottery pick (#8 in 1993) and a 4-time All-Star, and he made the All-NBA team twice (2nd team in 1997 and 3rd team in 1998).

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Originally Posted by tesseractive

Wow. That would have been one of the worst trades in the history of the NBA. :wow

Was Vin Baker really that highly regarded back in the day? I followed basketball back then, but not closely enough to remember much about Vin Baker other than that he sucked.

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One or two less titles had the Spurs made that trade in 99! For sure 99 because D Rob was still very good that year and a key reason they beat LA and so on! If that trade went down that would have been horrible for the future, immediate and 03 (D Rob still had game in 03 and played great D in his mins). THANK GOD that one did not happen.

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

Vin Baker was a lottery pick (#8 in 1993) and a 4-time All-Star, and he made the All-NBA team twice (2nd team in 1997 and 3rd team in 1998).

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Yes, but not the C D Rob was nor near it on D! Spurs needed D Rob for rebounding and D in the later runs! 99 he was still an all star! THANK GOD that trade did not happen, can't think at all how it would have helped the Spurs in any way shape or form.

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Originally Posted by Sean Cagney

One or two less titles had the Spurs made that trade in 99! For sure 99 because D Rob was still very good that year and a key reason they beat LA and so on! If that trade went down that would have been horrible for the future, immediate and 03 (D Rob still had game in 03 and played great D in his mins). THANK GOD that one did not happen.

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Like I said earlier, trading him would have been a slap in his face.

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

Vin Baker was a lottery pick (#8 in 1993) and a 4-time All-Star, and he made the All-NBA team twice (2nd team in 1997 and 3rd team in 1998).

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Hmm. Interesting.

So he was a real player before he became a drunk, I guess.

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

Like I said earlier, trading him would have been a slap in his face.

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I FULLY agree, my GOD that would have been horrible to see him finish his career on ANY other team sides SA since he made the team basically and helped them stay in the City.

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Originally Posted by tesseractive

Hmm. Interesting.

So he was a real player before he became a drunk, I guess.

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And 97-98 was his last All-Star level season. He finished 8th in the MVP voting (Tim was 5th and David was 7th). That trade, if it would have happened, would have occurred just as his production began to fall off a cliff.

I for some reason remember us trowing away Luis Scola for Vassilis Spanoulis, thank god that never happened... Oh, wait.

Haha it's difficult to fault anything the Spurs do, we're so lucky as fans. Imagine being a Suns fan.. yuck. This thread in the Suns forum (and Orlando forum!!) would be a disgrace.

I still remember Summer 03 a very strong rumor one night after we won the title that Parker was traded for Kidd and Rose was in there as well! I know someone else remembers that but it was rumored that night it might happen if Kidd did a sign and trade and NJ got Rose and Parker! I still remember that to this day, I said oh damn at the time but was like Kidd would help us win now and it was a decent trade at the time but THANK GOD it did not happen! Parker went on to win two more, how much would we have won with Kidd from 03-07??????????


This was on that stupid ESPN front page so take it for what it's worth, it was after the title we won in 03 and I remember Parker rumoured in a trade for Kidd that night and it never seemed to grow after that (Some clown insider probably from ESPN made it up or heard it).

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

And 97-98 was his last All-Star level season. He finished 8th in the MVP voting (Tim was 5th and David was 7th). That trade, if it would have happened, would have occurred just as his production began to fall off a cliff.

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Duncan 5th in MVP voting in his rookie year? :wow

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

There was Brent Barry for JR Smith at the 2006 trade deadline. Atlanta was needed as a third team to make the trade work and didn't call into the league office on time. At least, that's the way I remember it.

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I still think about this trade a lot. I wonder how different JR's career would have been instead of moving on from the Hornets to playing most of his formative basketball years with that knucklehead Carmelo Anthony. I also cant think of a more athletic back court player that the spurs have had.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Other random close call trades off the top of my head:

-Avery Johnson was almost traded for David Wesley in 2000 because supposedly the rest of the team, led by Steve Kerr, protected AJ's tyrannical ways. That trade only didn't happen because Charlotte's head coach (Paul Silas, IIRC) said he'd step down if the Hornets did that trade.

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"Protected" or "protested"? Toward the end of AJ's career here, I recall several veterans tiring of his AJ's attitude.

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Originally Posted by racm

Duncan 5th in MVP voting in his rookie year? :wow

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?? He was ROY, and First Team All NBA. He was a 20/10 guy right out of the box, and if he'd actually had a box, the instructions would have read "no assembly required, batteries included".

21p/12r/2.5b

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Originally Posted by racm

Duncan 5th in MVP voting in his rookie year? :wow

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Yeah, it's true....and he was one vote away from unanimous ROY. Some fool wanted to be different, so he voted for Keith Van Horn.

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

Yeah, it's true....and he was one vote away from unanimous ROY. Some fool wanted to be different, so he voted for Keith Van Horn.

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NY media idiot, although that may be a redundancy.

Van horn Lol

What about the Vince carter for George hill and others at the deadline? Reemember Stephen a smith thought the spurs were crazy?

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Originally Posted by Sean Cagney

:wow:wow

:flag::flag:

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But then they might have had a few titles before Timmy ever entered the scene.

What was up with that supposed Kevin Love trade where the T-Wolves wanted Tony Parker?

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Originally Posted by MR-Clutch

What about the Vince carter for George hill and others at the deadline? Reemember Stephen a smith thought the spurs were crazy?

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Never heard about a deadline trade. I remember we wanted Carter for the same cast-offs/salary relief that we sent Milwaukee for RJ in the summer. They wanted Hill, too. Thank God we didn't send him. Kawhi would be somewhere else right about now, and so would Jack.

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Originally Posted by Sean Cagney

I still remember Summer 03 a very strong rumor one night after we won the title that Parker was traded for Kidd and Rose was in there as well! I know someone else remembers that but it was rumored that night it might happen if Kidd did a sign and trade and NJ got Rose and Parker! I still remember that to this day, I said oh damn at the time but was like Kidd would help us win now and it was a decent trade at the time but THANK GOD it did not happen! Parker went on to win two more, how much would we have won with Kidd from 03-07??????????


This was on that stupid ESPN front page so take it for what it's worth, it was after the title we won in 03 and I remember Parker rumoured in a trade for Kidd that night and it never seemed to grow after that (Some clown insider probably from ESPN made it up or heard it).

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Actually, Jason Kidd was a free agent that summer. He actually visited the Spurs, and he and his wife even spent a day with Tim and Amy Duncan. He really wanted to be a Spur, but his wife didn't like the city and thought her career would suffer in San Antonio, so largely because of her selfishness, he resigned with the Nets. I also remember hearing that if he signed with the Spurs, Alonzo Mourning would follow him there.

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Originally Posted by Wild Cobra Kai

Never heard about a deadline trade. I remember we wanted Carter for the same cast-offs/salary relief that we sent Milwaukee for RJ in the summer. They wanted Hill, too. Thank God we didn't send him. Kawhi would be somewhere else right about now, and so would Jack.

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It was the trade deadline before the summer of the rj trade. Manu was out for the season I think. It was on the espn trade deadline special. I don't know what the package was but it included hill. Stephen a smith called the rumor in and was acting like the spurs were idiots for not getting him. Little did he know the spurs planned on getting Leonard with gh3.:hat

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Originally Posted by MR-Clutch

It was the trade deadline before the summer of the rj trade. Manu was out for the season I think. It was on the espn trade deadline special. I don't know what the package was but it included hill. Stephen a smith called the rumor in and was acting like the spurs were idiots for not getting him. Little did he know the spurs planned on getting Leonard with gh3.:hat

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I wonder if it was the same package for RJ + George Hill. IIRC, we gave Milwaukee Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Robert Horry's contract for RJ.

McCombs deserves credit for keeping the Spurs in SA but he was otherwise a terrible owner. He also feuded with Rod Strickland publicly and let him walk in free agency.

And that Barkley deal was in the summer of '92...Barkley went on to be the league MVP the following season and led the Suns to the NBA Finals.

Spurs could've had a front court of...

3 Elliott
4 Barkley
5 Robinson

...in their primes.

Makes me see Red. :wtf

And maybe I'm off on my chronology and cap possibilities but I think that the backcourt could've been

1 Strickland
2 Ellis

Thanks Red.

And after the Spurs passed on the Barkley trade Terry Cummings blew out his knee playing a pick up game in Chicago.

Yeah. It's hard to be any more than ambivalent about Red McCombs. I guess the bottom line is he kept the team in San Antonio. But it's disappointing that somebody with his... resources wasn't more agressive improving the team.

summer of 03 is very interesting, the guys that didnt sign with us...all ended up having shitty career years after that

Red was great with concessions contracts and things like that. I'd like to blame him for the crappy Alamodome and moving from the Hemisfair but I'm sure there were other issues involved that I now can't remember.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

McCombs deserves credit for keeping the Spurs in SA but he was otherwise a terrible owner. He also feuded with Rod Strickland publicly and let him walk in free agency.

And that Barkley deal was in the summer of '92...Barkley went on to be the league MVP the following season and led the Suns to the NBA Finals.

Spurs could've had a front court of...

3 Elliott
4 Barkley
5 Robinson

...in their primes.

Makes me see Red. :wtf

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

And maybe I'm off on my chronology and cap possibilities but I think that the backcourt could've been

1 Strickland
2 Ellis

Thanks Red.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

And after the Spurs passed on the Barkley trade Terry Cummings blew out his knee playing a pick up game in Chicago.

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Man.....that team would have been NICE!!! It sure would have been fun to watch that starting 5, and that would have been a "Big Three" back in those days. I also think the '94-'95 team was good enough to win a ring, but of course Dennis Rodman was a big part of why we didn't.

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Originally Posted by Mark in Austin

Yeah. It's hard to be any more than ambivalent about Red McCombs. I guess the bottom line is he kept the team in San Antonio. But it's disappointing that somebody with his... resources wasn't more agressive improving the team.

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David Robinson was a major part of that. His decision to commit to the Spurs alone was the key to the team staying.

I also remember hearing that the Lakers tried to steal The Admiral from the Spurs to replace Kareem after he retired.

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

Man.....that team would have been NICE!!! It sure would have been fun to watch that starting 5, and that would have been a "Big Three" back in those days. I also think the '94-'95 team was good enough to win a ring, but of course Dennis Rodman was a big part of why we didn't.




David Robinson was a major part of that. His decision to commit to the Spurs alone was the key to the team staying.

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Rodman won 5 championships, however Bob Hill wasn't able to get another coaching job in the NBA after the Spurs.

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Originally Posted by dunkman

Rodman won 5 championships, however Bob Hill wasn't able to get another coaching job in the NBA after the Spurs.

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True, but if you remember the series against the Rockets (forget the Admiral/Dream matchup), instead of playing defense Rodman would stand under the basket and wait for rebounds to come off, leaving Robert Horry wide open to kills us with 3s. He turned out to be a big distraction to the team, and I guess they wanted to get rid of him so bad, they traded him to Chicago for Will Perdue. I'm sure they could have gotten more for him if they tried.

I could have sworn that the Barkley trade was actually an Elliott for Barkley swap.

There was also an Elliott for Derek Harper rumor that got heavy when Harper was still a Mav.

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Originally Posted by objective

I could have sworn that the Barkley trade was actually an Elliott for Barkley swap.

There was also an Elliott for Derek Harper rumor that got heavy when Harper was still a Mav.

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I remember that one too, and I remember the Elliott trade for Latrell Sprewell before he choked PJ, then that was the end of that trade.

Who can remember the rumors back in 2007 that the Spurs were willing to give the Blazers Tim Duncan for the #1 pick in the draft to get Greg Oden?

I remember DRob was all but shipped to Sacramento for CWebb a while back. Very happy that one never happened. Also remember a huge attempt to get Mitch Richmond years ago.

The most recent ones I remember are the one where the Spurs would send Tony Parker to the Nets for Devin Harris and the #3 pick and then the Spurs would draft Derrick Favors.

Then I remember last year on draft day the Spurs tried to offer Tony to the Kings for their lottery pick and for them to take on Richard Jefferson's contract.

Sorry for the bump, but I just finished having a conversation with somebody that's been a Spurs fan even longer than me. He told me that we could have had Dominique Wilkins much sooner than we did. This guy told me that there was a deal at the 1990 trade deadline that would have the Spurs sending Sean Elliott and pieces to the Hawks for 'Nique. Is that true?

Just curious.....

Remember when they were going to ship off Brent Barry for JR Smith.

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Originally Posted by itzsoweezee

Remember when they were going to ship off Brent Barry for JR Smith.

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Supposedly that deal was done, just wasn't submitted to the NBA in time.

JR Smith on the spurs? I wonder how that would have turned out.

I always wish we would have got Charles Barkley to team up with David Robinson...:(

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Originally Posted by Emperor

Supposedly that deal was done, just wasn't submitted to the NBA in time.

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Both parties agreed to the deal, but the he salaries weren't quite right. We needed a third team to take a bit of salary, but ATL's Billy King wouldn't pick up because he hated Pop/RC, so then, the time expired.

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Originally Posted by exstatic

Both parties agreed to the deal, but the he salaries weren't quite right. We needed a third team to take a bit of salary, but ATL's Billy King wouldn't pick up because he hated Pop/RC, so then, the time expired.

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What did Pop and RC ever do to Billy King?

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

What did Pop and RC ever do to Billy King?

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Excel at their jobs and win. There are still a lot of jealous bitches in the NBA that hate on PATFO.

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Originally Posted by Thomas82

Who can remember the rumors back in 2007 that the Spurs were willing to give the Blazers Tim Duncan for the #1 pick in the draft to get Greg Oden?

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WHAT?! i don't remember this at all, please elaborate!

Can anyone tell me about the history of a trade that did happen? I'm referring to when George Gervin was traded to the Bulls. He played a full season there then retired. Why did we trade him, for whom, what was the fan reaction and was Gervin pissed about it? I assume he wasn't pissed too long as he came back as a Spurs ambassador.

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Originally Posted by D-rob fan

Can anyone tell me about the history of a trade that did happen? I'm referring to when George Gervin was traded to the Bulls. He played a full season there then retired. Why did we trade him, for whom, what was the fan reaction and was Gervin pissed about it? I assume he wasn't pissed too long as he came back as a Spurs ambassador.

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http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...vid-greenwood/

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Originally Posted by itzsoweezee

Remember when they were going to ship off Brent Barry for JR Smith.

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I was living in Oklahoma City at the time and actually got all the information from the local press of the Oklahoma City Hornets. That trade was so close it was ridiculous...

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Originally Posted by exstatic

Excel at their jobs and win. There are still a lot of jealous bitches in the NBA that hate on PATFO.

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Yes, that's true.

Wow thanks! I didn't know there was so much drama behind it. Makes me appreciate how much this current generation of Spurs and front office has handled everything.

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Originally Posted by Mel_13

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...vid-greenwood/

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Offense eroded to just 21 ppg- pfft what a scrub.

Bunch of whiny bitches in this story. Especially Mike.

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Fitzsimmons hoped to replace Gervin in the rotation with No. 1 draft pick Alfrederick Hughes.

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:lmao

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Originally Posted by gospursgojas

Offense eroded to just 21 ppg- pfft what a scrub.

Bunch of whiny bitches in this story. Especially Mike.

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Everything in the article, including this, was a smokescreen to avoid saying Ice had become a complete coke head. He had to go.

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Originally Posted by exstatic

Everything in the article, including this, was a smokescreen to avoid saying Ice had become a complete coke head. He had to go.

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That makes more sense.

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Originally Posted by Darkwaters

I was living in Oklahoma City at the time and actually got all the information from the local press of the Oklahoma City Hornets. That trade was so close it was ridiculous...

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Trade actually went down - sort of. Pop told Barry he had been traded on the flight back to San Antonio, IIRC. But there was a hitch in getting the paperwork into the league office. By the time it was actually filed, the trade deadline had passed. At least that's how I remember it. Kinda makes you wonder how JR would have fared if he had come to us that early in his career. Would he have straightened up under the influence of the Spurs' locker room, or would he have been cut or traded ASAP?

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Originally Posted by sasaint

Trade actually went down - sort of. Pop told Barry he had been traded on the flight back to San Antonio, IIRC. But there was a hitch in getting the paperwork into the league office. By the time it was actually filed, the trade deadline had passed. At least that's how I remember it. Kinda makes you wonder how JR would have fared if he had come to us that early in his career. Would he have straightened up under the influence of the Spurs' locker room, or would he have been cut or traded ASAP?

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"5 minutes late" was the word I heard at the time.

And the forgotten man in that trade was Arvydas Macijauskas. He was an acclaimed shooter from the Euroleague that came over to the league that season with the Hornets. Couldn't get off the bench with that terrible team. However, in a more structured and disciplined team environment, how good would he have been? Hard to say. But the word was the Spurs were more interested in him than JR Smith. The Hornets just wanted JR gone. Thats why they shipped him off to Chicago immediately once the offseason came around. And he never even played a game for Chicago before they shipped his sorry ass to Denver.

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Originally Posted by Darkwaters

"5 minutes late" was the word I heard at the time.

And the forgotten man in that trade was Arvydas Macijauskas. He was an acclaimed shooter from the Euroleague that came over to the league that season with the Hornets. Couldn't get off the bench with that terrible team. However, in a more structured and disciplined team environment, how good would he have been? Hard to say. But the word was the Spurs were more interested in him than JR Smith. The Hornets just wanted JR gone. Thats why they shipped him off to Chicago immediately once the offseason came around. And he never even played a game for Chicago before they shipped his sorry ass to Denver.

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:lol that's what I remember, too! It's good to have another old geezer around to corroborate my memories! :toast