So his agent saying he hasn't signed either is dreaming?
Whatever. Stick to the political forum and keep posting propaganda there.
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:rolleyes
MarcaQuote:
Tiago Splitter has decided to 'plant' to the Spurs and continue in the Tau
For Quique comb Until Tuesday, an envoy of the San Antonio Spurs in Vitoria was trying to convince Tiago Splitter, pivot of Tau Ceramics, to be part of 'Operation rejuvenation' team Texan. However, it appears that it has not achieved: the offer of renewal of Tau Cerámica caters to the Brazilian and, almost certainly, will continue in Vitoria.
Splitter, chosen by the San Antonio Spurs with the number 28 of the Draft 2007, accepted the offer of renewal. Although it is not signed and are leftovers last minute, since the environment of the club's own player and baskonista given by the agreement made between the two sides, which would make Tiago in the great gamble of Baskonia, in the style of what was Luis Scola, not emigrated to the NBA to 26 years.
My routine takes, nothing too groundbreaking, just some summarizing of a lot of shared opinions with a little extra here and there maybe.
Just adding a piece or two won't cut it. The Lakers are the team to beat now in the west, and even if you presume Bynum never plays again there isn't a single Laker who will be worse next year due to age and wearing down other than maybe Fisher. Most everyone else will be the same or better. And if Bynum returns . . . Spurs and everyone else are deep in it. But here goes . . .
The Present:
1. Duncan, Parker, Manu, Bowen. Keeping them all is a no-brainer.
2. I don't understand at all how anyone can like the idea of bringing back any of the following: Finley, Horry, Thomas, or for liking the bench and only being a 'piece or two' away.
The massive slumps that lasted months for Horry and Finley are only going to get worse. How on earth under any condition other than inactive list player/pseudo assistant coach either of those two should be brought back is a mystery. They will only get worse. And they were terrible already in the majority of games. Think you had enough of entire streaks of games where Finley gave up rebounds, played horrrible defense, bricked every shot or on the flip passed up open looks? Get ready for more next season. Same for Horry passing up open looks, bricking the rushed jumpers he takes, etc.
Thomas is only slightly better, but he's well on his way on the post-prime heading south express. Yes he had better moments than Finley and Horry, but he's already over the hill. He'll be worse next year. Unfortunately tonight he may have played his way into a contract extension.
3. Unfortunately they're stuck with Oberto and Bonner. In my opinion, Oberto in a perfect world would fill a Kevin Willis-type role from '03. 2nd big man off the bench, limited minutes. Now he's a starter and one of the worst in the league. He has his moments and his places where he can be succesful, but he shouldn't have the role he had this year, not in today's NBA. I can not see a scenario where the Spurs win the title in 09 or 10 if Oberto is the second best big man on the team. It just can't happen. Spurs were fortunate to win in 07 with Oberto and Elson switching off. But as long as Oberto remains # 2 on the team when all the other teams have what they have, chances are poor for a ring.
Whatever people might think of Bonner, the important thing is that it looks like he's in Pop's doghouse. Once you're in you rarely come out. So even if Bonner is good enough to be an 'Horry type' 1st big off the bench (I sure don't think so), he's going to have a hard to time getting a chance to prove he is or isn't. Bonner's deal might be a killer, I don't see how anyone else takes it with 2 years left.
4. Udoka, Barry and Vaughn: All 3 on minimum or close enough contracts. Udoka for the money is solid, but he's a utility wingman who shouldn't be counted on for more than being 10th-12th in a rotation. Barry is fine for the money. Vaughn is probably here to stay, though he's proven that he doesn't belong on a playoff roster at this point in his career. I know everyone likes and respects him and he'll probably be in coaching once he retires so I'm sure he'll be kept around even though I'd prefer he go away.
The problem with Vaughn like other vets is that he will be the temptation for Pop to quit on whatever young developing PG they bring in. In regular season games Pop won't put up with mistakes and will stick in Vaughn, and the same scenario of the playoffs arriving only to see Vaughn amassing DNP-CDs while burning through Manu and Barry for minutes at point to desperately spell a fatigued Parker happens.
I see no reason to give Demarr Johnson a contract, I'm sure he'll be available for another 10-day next year. Stoudamire is gone for sure.
The Future:
Hopefully:
1. Mahinmi gets a lot of burn like several people here recommend. And if of course a miracle happens and Splitter turns down a boatload of money to come here then he should also get a boatload of burn and at least some pre-season starts and the opportunity to start in the reg. In a perfect world those two get tons of minutes with one starting and the other as a 'Turiaf/Maxiell' off the bench, with Oberto spotting in as the 4th big whenever a steady hand is needed as they develop. But if it's only Mahinmi . . . hell, play him until he's done. The timeframe for winning is finite with Duncan's prime, Mahinmi has to be forcefed until he blossoms or implodes into disappointment. I realize that a there's a lot of skepticism about that, but playing next to Duncan makes the lives of other players a lot easier.
2. Sign Mickael Pietrus/Azubuike. I think Pietrus is more 'gettable' so I'll concentrate on him. Yes, Pietrus has pretty much reached his ceiling, he'll never be a great player, hell, he'll never be more than an 'above average' player. Yes, his head may be full of rocks. No, he's not a great shooter. But the Spurs have managed a great defense playing over-the-hill mid-late 30s players like Barry and Finley the last 2-3 years big minutes. He may not be that sharpest knife in the drawer but Pietrus could flourish here defensively. His explosiveness and speed will be a great asset to re-establish a fast break in San Antonio (other than Parker by himself). And playing with his good friend Parker and Mahinmi (though I've never heard that they know each other too well) should ease his transition to the Spurs and give him a good comfort zone.
3. The draft . . . not a lot of faith in the Spurs scouting right now. Don't draft a euro unless it's Batum, though he's probably out of reach. I like Chris Douglas-Roberts. He's like a mini-Shawn Marion if I had to say who he reminds me of. He's probably not gettable, but he's all I got. A point guard could be a target here, I have no suggestions unfortunately.
If Tiago Splitter does sign the extension . . . package his rights with the 26 to move up in the teens if at all possible. A team in the teens can afford to wait two seasons while Splitter builds his bankroll, the Spurs can't. Moving up in the teens gives the Spurs a better chance to improve out of this draft than hoping someone slides to them.
4. Sign Viktor Sanikidze to an unguaranteed minimum contract. At least give him a training camp. Summer league shouldn't be all there is to scope the guy drafted ahead of Ariza when both where 19 year old 6'8" small forwards. I probably liked what I saw in summer league more than most, and apparently much more than the Spurs, but give him a shot, the same one Marcus Williams got.
If he's Marcus Williams-bad as the final cut of training camp arrives, cut him and write him off as another busted pick, so he can go back to Georgia. Or maybe keep him around on the Toros like they did with Williams. I don't expect Sanikidze to be even a remote contributor even though I like him, but I could see him doing the Mahinmi and being 13-15th on the roster while playing in Austin the whole time.
Option 1: Sign Ramunas Siskauskas for MLE, he can play 3 positions, a good defender and will improve ball movement. He is not athletic but SPURS can fill this hole by drafting Courtney Lee or Bill Walker. Then, for LLE, let's see whether V Span still have interest in SPURS. For min, maybe PJ Brown. Re-sign KT. Trade Bonner for Reggie Evan :)
Option 2. Sign Ronny Turiaf or Diop for most of MLE. Then sign or trade for a young SG like CJ Mile. Re-sign KT. Draft a PG. Trade Bonner for cap room.
We ll most likely keep 2 of those, at least 2 must go. The real reason imo, why manu broke down as badly, is due to the miserable performance of our bench/ role players in the last month and a half of regular season. Where Manu had to tank for the W almost every game.
Eddie House - kids got a sac and is not gonna pass up open shots.
With the lack of quality free agents the Spurs might really try to sign Siskauskas.
If I cold choose a SG (out of the possible options) it would look like this:
1. J.R. Smith
2. Azubuike
3. Siskauskas
Not sure how anyone can't have Kelenna #1. He scores, he plays defense, he hustles for loose balls. JR Smith is a chucker. Period.
I've singled in on Kelenna because he'd fit in perfect with what the organization is about, could carry a heavy load in our offense, isn't afraid to shoot, and best of all he has a player option this summer so a well placed phone call to his agent could make it clear to him we want to offer him the MLE and start him at shooting guard next year.
That, and the fact GS has a lot of cash tied up in their perimeter players...
I just hope Pop and RC aren't asleep at the wheel.
BTW, LMAO at NBADan in this thread, he's as clueless here as on the political forum.
Isn't Ryan Gomes available? What Jamison, Maggette, Brand, or and up and coming young wing player.
Keleena Azubuike is a very interesting player I'd love to see play with S.A next year. They need to figure out the whole Splitter thing first. I hope the Spurs draft someone this year who is ready to play in the 08-09 season.
I personally think Manu's gonna be traded this year for a quality young player around Tony's age. The Spurs can't fix on the fly without a trade due to a lack of young tradeable pieces.
Without trading one of the big 3, the Spurs will be stuck with more hit or miss role-players.
Manu can be traded to a talented but too young team like Portland for 2 quality young guys (Travis Outlaw + Martell). Doug Collins likes Pop and has too much young talent in Chicago as well.
Although I think thats a possibility I don't see that being anywhere close to fair value despite the younger age. They'll need to find someone who's more mature but still young. Someone perhaps in their upper 20's. Its going to be tough to move Manu I just don't see it happening. I do think he's the most logical to move though.
LOL at all the Laker fans (and the idiot Spurs fans) that are basing their opinions on a one-legged Ginobili in the past 5 games, completely ignoring what he was doing this season up until the injury.
I've not read every post in this thread, but here is my response to the first several pages. First, not to be a sychophant, but TimVp's suggestions hit the mark, at least from my perspective.
I would add two thoughts: the Spurs need to build a team that matches up well with the Lakers and the Hornets--in other words, they need to slow Paul-West and Kobe-Odom-Gasol-Bynum. If they bring in personnel with this in mind, they'll be fine. Secondly, they need more scoring. Sounds simple, but it's not, I know.
In total, this probably means 2 or 3 players. If that's the case, they let Horry and Finley go. They encourage Vaughn to retire. Perhaps they resign Thomas, but cheaply. And, if possible, trade Bonner to create roster space.
By creating a littler roster space, they can develop another player in Austin.
I've posted this previously, but I'd like to see them use their Beno trade exception, if at all possible.
Nah, I'm not disrespecting Manu or his game, he will be back to his old self again next year and that's why he has a high value. But he isn't what the Spurs need. The Spurs need some talented young legs to run with the Lakers, Portland, Jazz, and Hornets of next year.
The Lakers easily outran the Spurs on transition, with or without Manu. Portland is a friggin' outrageously athletic team with talent.
The Spurs had difficulty putting away a young Hornet team even with Good Manu. It's only gonna be harder keeping up with the kids next year.
what about a trade: sending Matt Bonner to Milwaukee for Charlie Bell
he can be a good backup
reasons Milwaukee will agree:
1. bell is unhappy in Milwaukee
2. bonner has a shorter contract
3. Milwaukee want to give playing time to ramon sessions