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It would be nice but won't happen
Apparently hoopsworld is dreamin' along with us...
By Bill Ingram
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jul 3, 2007, 08:26
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_22568.shtml
Last season was a great story for the San Antonio Spurs. Robert Horry got another ring for his incredible collection, Michael Finely got his first, and the trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker truly came into their own as the power behind one of the great NBA dynasties. Last season was the Spurs' fourth championship of the Tim Duncan era, but if they want to add a fifth they're going to have to stop carrying playoff veterans and add some scoring punch at the two.
The perfect player to fill that role for the Spurs is Charlotte Bobcats free agent Gerald Wallace. He had flashes of brilliance in his first three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, but when the Kings found Kevin Martin is cost Wallace any shot at being the starting two-guard in California's capital city. He did, however, become an instant hit in Charlotte. He averaged better than 11 points per game in his first season with the Bobcats and has done nothing but improve in the two seasons since. He upped his average to 15.2 two seasons ago and 18.1 last season, when he also shot 50% from the field, 33% from three, and also added 7.2 rebounds per game.
Wallace has an outstanding reputation with teammates and coaches alike, and the Bobcats were so certain that they would be unable to re-sign him that they made a trade on draft day to acquire his replacement: the Warriors' Jason Richardson.
A number of other teams are interested in Wallace, not the least of which is the Dallas Mavericks. If the Spurs need another reason to actively pursue Wallace, keeping him away from the Mavericks should be reason enough. Dallas already has the Spurs' number; adding a perimeter threat like Wallace would make them that much tougher to stop - even for the run-and-gun Warriors.
It's time to let the past be the past. Horry, Finley, and Brent Barry are all old news. Let them move on to post-NBA careers and invest that money in the future. Gerald Wallace could be a huge part of the next level of the Spurs' dynasty.
Last edited by Kori Ellis; 07-03-2007 at 09:56 AM. Reason: adding link
It would be nice but won't happen
Hey, I have seen pigs fly, so you never know!
Not gonna happen.
Could Dallas somehow afford them? It seems Dallas has a rows and rows of talented players already.
This guy is a Def monster in NBA 2k7 for 360
Sonics make a $10M offer after seeing Lewis walk...book it!
Finely?
I have told Hoopsworld for years that they need to be able to spell the players names right. How hard is it to download the list of NBA players into your spellcheck in MS Word!?
Anyway, I like GW but, like most free agents, the Spurs don't have money for him.
"Finely" is a word, so it wouldn't show up in spell check. It would require old-fashioned proofreading to catch.
That would be a dream come true, but he will demand more than what the Spurs have to offer, which isn't much when it comes to $$$
Doesn't really fit the Spurs MO anyway. The guy will be looking for, and commanding, a pretty good chunk of change. Only avenue to getting the guy is S&T.
Yeah, he potential salary demands make this almost a certain pipe dream. If Rashard Lewis got $15 mil per from the Magic, then Wallace will most certainly get $10 mil for his services.
I wonder if some combination of Barry, Beno, the rights to Scola and some throw in cash would do the trick.
I know it's a long shot, but still a nice thought.
I'd love Wallace, but would be happy if they still wound up with Pietrus.
the Mavs couldn't beat the Warriors with their current roster but somehow Gerald freaking Wallace is going to come in and be their savior?
And did Bill Ingram actually WATCh the playoffs? Because Horry looked like the youngest guy on the court when the playoffs came around, and I suspect next year he'll be the same.
Yes, the Spurs need to get 1-2 younger role players, but I'm not sure overpaying Gerald Wallace is the right way to go, and wherever he goes, it looks like he'll be overpaid.
Only in a snt. Not likely for us either.
Adding an 18 and 7 guy at the three and sliding Josh over to the 2 doesn't make us better?
Who you giving up in the sign-and-trade? Jason Terry?Adding an 18 and 7 guy at the three and sliding Josh over to the 2 doesn't make us better?
Is Devin Harris ready to take on the full-time starting PG job?
Is Terry for Wallace even a deal that they would entertain?
If it's not Terry, then who is it?
And finally, while adding Wallace would certainly not hurt the Mavs, the perimeter swing positions weren't what hurt the Mavs against the Warriors anyways...it was a lack of low post bigs. Shouldn't the Mavs FO be focused on THAT glaring weakness?
It's all well and good, but the article doesn't even propose how the Spurs would go about affording him. Lewis just got $15 million a year. They don't think Wallace is going to at least want something in the neighborhood of $10-12 million a year??? Of course he is. So how do the Spurs get him? How do the Mavs get him, for that matter?
Most likely. We'd then have to use the MLE on a backup PG for Devin.Who you giving up in the sign-and-trade? Jason Terry?
There's only one way to find out: Let him sink or swim. Our cap situation improves next year when Finley and Bradley's dead money comes off the book. Dirk is 29, Josh is 26, Devin is 25, Diop is 23. Even if Devin falls flat on his ass next year as a starter, 35 mpg, our window for a le hasn't closed.Is Devin Harris ready to take on the full-time starting PG job?
I honestly don't know. I think right now he's better than Felton, but the BETCats are doing the youth thing, so they might not want nor need a veteran PG with playoff experience. As I stated above, I don't think it's likely that we can land him. We have to send something back, and I know for sure they don't want Damp. Our only hope is that they'd find Terry useful in terms of getting SOMETHING instead of letting him walk and see nothing.Is Terry for Wallace even a deal that they would entertain?
Well, Dampier tore his rotator cuff. I'm not going to go out on a limb and say a healthy Damp would've swung the series, because on the surface it's laughable that a guy who averages 7 and 7 is some kind of difference-maker. However, he does provide interior D and rebounding, which is part of how you beat smallball. His presence allows Dirk to do things other than guarding opposing bigs and get into foul trouble. Nellie turned him into a defensive liability by putting Davis and four 6'7 wings on the floor. I would say perimeter defense is a much more pressing concern at the moment -- given how much Wade and Davis had their way with us. Starting an undersized backcourt of Terry and Harris doesn't really matter when it's the regular season and you're playing Milwaukee or Boston, but it cost us dearly against the Warriors:And finally, while adding Wallace would certainly not hurt the Mavs, the perimeter swing positions weren't what hurt the Mavs against the Warriors anyways...it was a lack of low post bigs. Shouldn't the Mavs FO be focused on THAT glaring weakness?
Jet: 6'2, 180 lbs
Devin: 6'3, 185 lbs
Richardson: 6'6, 225 lbs
Davis: 6'3, 215 lbs
Honestly, I don't see it happening, but I don't fault the Mavs for picking up the phone and trying. Sliding Josh into the backcourt makes us bigger there, and Wallace does a good job of getting a lot of his points inside. Terry for Wallace in a SnT and getting a veteran PG to backup Devin with the MLE and calling it a summer works for me.
Definite long-shot. I just have a feeling that some one is going to dramatically overpay for this guys services. He is a phenomenal talent, but he has had injury problems almost his entire career. There was a point last year where there was talk of him shutting it down the rest of the season (shoulder if I remember correctly).Yeah, he potential salary demands make this almost a certain pipe dream. If Rashard Lewis got $15 mil per from the Magic, then Wallace will most certainly get $10 mil for his services.
I wonder if some combination of Barry, Beno, the rights to Scola and some throw in cash would do the trick.
I know it's a long shot, but still a nice thought.
I'd love Wallace, but would be happy if they still wound up with Pietrus.
Pietrus' record with injuries isn't spotless, but I think when you account for cost, Pietrus is probably a 'safer' bet and the better signing if the Spurs are looking in this direction.
But we all know we're gonna end up with the ghost of Allen Houston/Grant Hill/Toni Kukoc/Scottie Pippen. That's more their MO.
Good breakdown....
As a Spurs fan, it would scare the crap out of me if the Mavs pulled off a trade for Wallace, and then used the MLE to sign Brevin Knight and PJ Brown as backups at those respective positions. Well, that's what I'd do anyways....
do you guys agree to bring over a guy that will be making more money than Manu? r u sure?
You should be scared IF we make that move or even if we don't. You know we can beat the spurs especially on your home court. Last thing spurs fans want is this Mavs team to improve or even stay together.Good breakdown....
As a Spurs fan, it would scare the crap out of me if the Mavs pulled off a trade for Wallace, and then used the MLE to sign Brevin Knight and PJ Brown as backups at those respective positions. Well, that's what I'd do anyways....
I'm not going to engage in a long debate about hypothetical situations regarding Mavs v. Spurs, because the Mavs didn't earn the right to play the Spurs, and thus challenge for an NBA le....they lost in the first round, remember?
While I still think the Mavs are a formidable opponent, the Spurs have their CHAMPIONSHIP roster back intact, with a couple intriguing pieces that could break out.
Unless a trade is forthcoming, the biggest thing the Mavs could do is spend their MLE dollars replacing Croshere with PJ Brown...not too intimidating.
I'm not scared, and neither are the Spurs...
That's right, that series was about as evenly matched as it could get. Those two teams could play 100 times and the split would be 50-50 or 51-49. the Spurs have done something the Mavs haven't done, and that's win four rounds four times. In a way, it's probably a good thing that we didn't play San Antonio this year, because we weren't playing our best ball come playoff time, and if we had somehow rallied past the Warriors, San Antonio probably would've paid us back. At least the Spurs fans didn't get the satisfaction of revenge. If we couldn't beat the Warriors, we probably couldn't beat the Spurs.
Hopefully this time Avery won't have the guys playing February games against Atlanta or Charlotte like it's Game 7 of the Finals. A big part of our demise I think was playing in a fifth gear frenzy all year long. Pop knows how to pace his team for an 82-game season, something a young coach like Avery still needs to get a handle on.
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