Everyone here seems to think that it is automatic the Spurs will trade Rasho and live with Nazr as their center. Well, one thing is fairly certain and that is that the Spurs cannot afford to keep both of them long term. I think Nazr nearly played him self into a assured extension this offseason but may have just as quickly played himself out of one with his showing in the finals. He did almost NOTHING for this team in those 7 games, and even his playoff averages are not all that impressive.
PPG - 7.1
RPG - 6.7
BPG - 1.0
TO PG - 1.04
MPG - 23
His regular season stats with the Spurs were
PPG - 6.2
RPG - 6.4
BPG - 1.4
TOPG - 1.17
MPG - 18.0
Rasho's stats this year were:
PPG - 5.9
RPG - 6.6
BPG - 1.67
TOPG - 1.04
MPG - 25.5
All in all, the stats for Nazr and Rasho are very comparable. When you consider that bringing over Scola will more than likely mean whichever center that we keep will have a limited role and play about 25 minutes a game as a max, it doesn't become quite so clear as to which one the Spurs are going to keep.
Rasho is already locked up, however. And while Nazr definetly has more of an upside to him and has the potential to be a much better player, he also has the potential to comand a much higher salary that the Spurs will not be willing to spend.
If Nazr fails to show improvement this summer and early next season, remember that he is an expiring contract. And because he is also a center - always a tradeable asset in todays NBA - he could bring back some decent value in trade.
So while I expect the Spurs will shop Rasho around a bit this Summer, I doubt he will be moved. The situation isn't quite as cut and dry as some people would like to make it.
You think the Spurs will go to the "center by committee" option like the 90's Bulls did? (all though I don't think the economics of the situation will make that feasible) As long as they have someone to rebound and play defense...two things that both can do....it keeps people off of Duncan.
It's a shame that it has to be an either/or proposition. The Spurs should pay to keep their depth in the frontcourt.
Well things get even muddier when you consider that Scola isn't exactly a done deal yet. From what many have said it looks like it will happen but even if it does it's going to take time for him to adjust to the league. And even then, isn't Scola listed at aroudn 6'9? That's not the kind of length that I want out of a back up center. It would make a lot more sense to bring Scola along slowly, splitting minutes with Horry at the backup PF or sliding over to center if there's foul trouble or a need to go small. That way Tim has depth behind him and Horry doesn't have to play heavy minutes if Tim gets in foul trouble.
I think they have a good amount of depth (assuming Horry and Scola are both signed) in the front court. You can't have everybody though, and long term only one of those players is in the plans.
I don't think you trade away a legit CTR unless you really are blow away by what you get back. If you look back to the first half of last season, we were on pace to break the record for the largest vicotry margin average. That was with Rasho starting. So, you can say that we were playing our best ball with Rasho starting last year.
The Spurs are in a good position going into camp. Let Rasho and Nazr battle it out for the starting spot, and go from there. The depth does nothing but help. Cut down on Timmy and Rob's mins, while letting Scola ease into a spot in the rotation.
Horry is a short term fix (2 years) and Scola is an unknown in the NBA. I mean, it's not much of a stretch in the NBA to have a significant amount committed to 4 bigs. I guarantee you that a lot of organizations wouldn't mind paying the little extra to ensure that TD has help up front for the long haul.
I'm hoping the Spurs keep both guys unless an adequate replacement could be found for Rasho.
Trade big for big. Don't release the Rasho, and don't trade him for a backup point guard.
Exactly, the Spurs have to look to the future. I think the Spurs would much rather go into a season worrying about paying two starting caliber ctrs than worrying about not having a quality b/u.
Horry is going to play around 20 mins a game in the regular season, Timmy should play less minutes this season, and Scola is going to take most of the year figuring out the NBA game...We need every quality big man we have.
in a dream world the Spurs would be the onlu franchise allowed to keep a 20 man roster and then everyone could stay.
*sigh*
Releasing Rasho would be the biggest mistake the Spurs have made since Malik's contract.
Fair enough!
I don't think the Spurs do anything until the summer of '06. We still don't know how good Nazr Mohammed can really be in the Spurs system until he goes through a full training camp and season. I am still waiting to see if he really has bad hands or just got surprised by good passes. The guy has never played on a team that shares the basketball like the Spurs. Once he has it in his hands he definitely goes to the rack stronger than Rasho. Nice situation to be in where they don't have to decide till next summer.
Yeah, there's not really a need to make a decision this summer unless a good offer for Radoslav comes across the screen.
"has the potential to be a much better player"
My (unhappy) bet is that Nazr, at his age and years in NBA, is pretty much peaked out in individual skills, as is Rasho. Nazr may pick up the Spurs' interior defensive tactics/system better next year, but that would only get him to Rasho's level of defense. If the Spurs can't fix Tony's ed up shooting, or turn Rasho into a roarer, they can't/won't fix Nazr's skills either.
Nazr had a couple wow games that Rasho hasn't had recently, and I think he benefitted from a normal honeymoon on this board.
But Rasho and Nazr are effectively equal, as seen by the stats.
I hoping they both can stay, and that the compe ion between them for starting and PT raises both their games. BINHMB
While most teams don't have one starting caliber center, the Spurs have two. I wouldn't mess with it. I don't see Rasho ever causing problems if he were to lose his starting position, because doing so might involve him to actually talk. Having a 7' starting caliber center on the bench is a luxury that the Spurs shouldn't change.
Yes the spurs have the chance to have at least 8 month ahaed before choosing and until next summer. you can even extend nazr now and than shop his contract during summer if you chose rasho
make them compete for the job until all star break and then freeze position.
for a complete season we do not have to worry about depth.
The two hardest positions to fill in the NBA are the point and center. The Spurs are set at both with quality starters (in the case of the point, with a star) and a dependable backup.
A lot of teams in this league would love to have Parker-Beno and Nazr-Rasho at the 1 and 5, respectively. Holt Cat needs to open up the wallet and ensure that TD continues to have a solid supporting cast. They've been able to milk the luxury tax and TD enough.
While I believe a Nazr extension means Rasho goes on the trade block, I wouldn't expect Rasho to be moved this summer.
Frankly, I doubt a Nazr extension gets done this year. Most likely, he lets himself become a FA and tests the market. In that case, the Spurs need to hold onto Rasho. If they acted rashly and dealt him too early, they could end up with no starting-caliber center at all.
I think we should keep both what if someone gets injuried one be good to have a back up C or bigman plus it alows us to rest tim and horry more
anyone remember when Tim went down and rasho steped up,
I know no one agree's with me on this subject but Rasho needs to go, im sorry the guy is getting paid too much to warm the bench. TD, Nazr, Horry, and Scola should be enough, if we dont get Scola, then i wouldnt mind keeping Rasho, however once Scola makes it here to San Antonio Rasho should pack his bags.
The Spurs actually have THREE centers right now, since when Duncan and Horry are on the floor, Duncan is playing C. The same would be true in a Duncan-Scola lineup.
Since both Nazr and Rasho are starting-caliber centers in a league starved of that commodity, that means the Spurs have a worthwhile trade asset in there somewhere. Say Nazr wants more money somewhere else -- the Spurs could do an S&T for a small forward, which they'll be needing in a year or two.
Or if they keep Nazr, then Rasho is trade bait. Either way, I think a starting small forward for the future would be a higher priority than a third center.
Personally, I don't see that Nazr is a clear-cut improvement over Rasho. He's more mobile, but that doesn't help if his not moving to the right spots. And of course his hands are horrible.
Other than saving bucks, I don't see the sense in committing to just one or the other of them.
Until Scola proves himself in the NBA, the Spurs cannot afford to let go of their big men.
Givne the choice between Nazr and Rasho - as of today, I'll take Rasho's great D and plodding O over Nazr's bad D and 7 pumpfakes under the basket any day. Now I leave room for changed opinions if Nazr improves his defense and learns to catch the ball (cause quality passes are indeed not something he saw a whole lot of).
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