Pau has nothing to say about Mahinmi and I think that they will be hapy to see Mahinmi leave them this summer because they will likely get some cash from Spurs and because Vaty is their long term project at C, not Mahinmi.
The question is will Mahinmi be ready to come in nba to only play in dleague ?
Few months ago, I would have said no to you : Mahinmi wanted to sign in nba only if he were nba ready and could get some playtime.
I'm not so sure of that now because he is fed up with euro refs (he do a lot of fouls but refs, especially french league refs, are too really hard with him), he hasn't a good realtionship with his coach and he doesn't play : rather not playing in nba and earning 10 times more money than not playing in europe.
Another question is : are Spurs ready to offer him a contract this summer ?
We will se what will happen this sumemr but last rumor I've heard from pau is that mahinmi will sign with Spurs this summer.
Ian and Luis aint Busts are all.The spurs FO you may say though.
They screwed last year by signing Finley,eventhough They donīt pay him all of his contract,He is keeping a spot on the roster and 3M/year in the salary Cap.That couldīve been used for a younger player to start developing since last year.
Last edited by ArgSpursFan; 03-02-2007 at 10:31 AM.
I don't get how people can say that Spurs ahve wasted pick on these players.
Scola, Sanikidze, Karaulov and Javtokas or mid to late second round picks : this kind of players are 90% of the time third sting players at best. Scola is the best PF in europe and a lot of people think that he will be able to contribute in nba. Sanikidze is still young : he doesn't look like a good prospect for the moment but who knows. Javtokas was one accident away to be a very good player and can maybe become a 10th man in nba.
Mahinmi is the only one for who you can say that Spurs have wasted a pick because he is a late first round pick. People should remember that Spurs just won the championship and that when they have drafted him, they didn't need immediate help : a gamble on a player wasn't a crazy thing to do. Future will tell if it was a good gamble.
^jovatkas is a stiff. i wish it weren't true, but he sucks.
btw has Mahinmi gotten any bigger/stronger?
As Bruno points out, it's not right to say these guys are busts. None except Mahinmi were selected with valuable picks. There's frustration that Ian was taken instead of David Lee, but the Spurs at that point weren't going to select an American player. They felt they didn't need anyone right away.
Sergei Karaulov = "Presti's Folly" - Sam convinced the Spurs to gamble a late second-round pick on him, even though Sam had never seen him play. In fact, he didn't even know what Karaulov looked like (according to Johnny Ludden).
Some people say he's grown an inch or so, but I haven't heard that he has gotten stronger.
It sometimes hard to gauge how a player is going to do by their (lack of) production overseas. Some players just aren't getting the playing time they need to work through it and start to produce. Sometimes it's a bad coach/player relationship, sometimes they are obligated to play other players for a variety of reasons, and sometimes it's all on the player.
I'd like to see Mahinmi in a different environment before I judge how he's going to work out.
BTW, good synopsis and update Kori!
Thanks.
I hope Mahinmi gets better tham what He is playing right now,but I havenīt seen a player who is not producing in Europe,doing something any better on the NBA.
I say,another season in Europe will do him, and his BBIQ better tham playing in the Dleague.
I just think the situation with Pau might be bad for him. Before thinking he's a bust, I'd like to see him on a different European team or with the Spurs (and perhaps be sent to the DLeague on and off).
Petro. He isn't playing great in nba but he was as bad as Mahinmi when he played in europe.
noone called Scola a bust.
IMO he likely would pay big dividends, like Nocioni does in Chicago
FO blew it last year, when they decided to invest their money in Butler instead of signing Scola to the contract he demanded.
talking about young players, there is a point, when you can no longer argue, that they are just 20 or just 21.
in the case of Sanikidze you have to say, he is already 21.
it's not that you can expect a 21 years old to progress as if he just turned 17 and is still growing. , he get's tons of DNPs at one of the worst teams in the Spanish league. some argue, that the Spanish league is a though pro league. yes and no. some (much better) teams have players who are just 18 and get 10 times more PT than Sanikidze. fact is, that he isn't different to the player he was at 18. (I know, he was injured a lot, but that was also a bit because of his highschool player frame).
Sanikidze can be labeled a bust, till something miraculous happens and he turns into a NBA player. but for how long did we have to call him "young project - you have to be patient".
till he is 30?
Mahinmi is similar. but other than Sanikidze he has the body to play NBA bball. so there is some hopw left. on the other hand, he was a 1st rounder.
and he also didn't show much progress. you can point out, that he started late with playing organized basektball and that's why he is still raw.
sure, but Tim also started late.
you have some talent or you don't. talent isn't something that suddenly shows up after 5 years of training. right now I can't see, that there is the talent (for NBA) when talking about Ian.
he did, that's right. he might have turned out to be a decent pick for a late 2nd rounder. not a steal like some thought before the accident, but maybe a solid back-up center like Rebraca.
Sanikidze turned all of 21 yesterday,Just for the record, his birthday is April 1 - he's not 21 yetin the case of Sanikidze you have to say, he is already 21.
There's nothing unusual at all in Euroleague about young players new to teams not seeing many minutes their first years with those teams...it's like a respect thing if there is a more established or older player playing the same position.
Pau Gasol couldn't get off the bench his first year in Euroleague either. He averaged 4 ppg.
They use the Stephen Jackson plan in Europe too...
Very nice write up Kori and thanks for doing it.
Scola, if the Spurs were to bring him in, sounds like his best fit would be backing up Duncan. His playing style might not work as well with Timmy on the floor as they want to be in the same area.
Ian and Viktor are still too young to call a bust. Sanikidze is going to have to gain some body mass via muscle and loose the mullet. I personally still have high hopes for Mahinmi and that is based on nothing more than his body and athletic ability.
Javotkas may never make it to the NBA, at least with the Spurs. The combination of the motorcycle accident and now his age are increasing the odds against him.
Karaulov will never see an NBA court unless he buys a ticket.
Again, nice post......
Yes, he has.
Not necesserly.I havenīt seen a player who is not producing in Europe,doing something any better on the NBA
As I previously said, Ian's game may fit better in US than in Europe.
He's a bit stronger.
Raise your hand if you've seen Mahinimi play...
Any big man with those kind of hops and quickness is going to wind up in the NBA at some point.
Even in D-League his athleticism wasn't the problem...fouls were.
I don't see Pau making a real big attempt to develop him this year...but then again, what do they really have to gain by doing so?
Learns the system this year and then next year he becomes a factor and Pau makes a run for the Euroleague...both teams get something out of it.
Again I gotta say...there is nothing unusual about first year rookie level players getting jobbed for minutes behind inferior players in Euroleague.
Go look at all the players the other 29 teams drafted & you'll get the idea that its not only the Spurs who "squandered" away draft picks. There are plenty of guys that were picked very high up. even in the lottery that aren't even in the NBA right now for, example Tskitaschvilli was picked in the 5th spot & he cant even make a summer league team & he's back in Europe, Jiri Welsch is another one. The teams that picked guys like that would love to have that pick back. Not doing your homework & throwing away a lottery pick on a guy thats not even in the NBA anymore, that is squandering.
Like exstatic said, the Spurs are always picking at the end of the first & usually the end of the second, picks that have little value in trades. The players the Spurs have picked have not come to the NBA yet, so we dont know if the picks used were wasted or not. And we know at least Scola will bring in some type of value in a trade, whether it be in picks or a player. For somebody that was picked at the end of the 2nd round, I dont think you can ask for much more.
jesus. you are making quite a reach to somehow find arguments why Ian has to struggle in his first Euroleague season.
just to put things in perspective:
Pau was younger than Ian and other than Ian he played for on of the best teams in Europe, that was full with verterans.
Pau played behind Milan Gurovic, who back then was one of the best SFs in Europe (Pau didn't play center, just some minutes at PF). Barca played kind of twin tower back then (remember, they also had Elson on their team), so Renzitas, Duenas, Alston got most of the minutes in the big rotation.
averaging 4 PPG in limited minutes as a 19 years old player on that team isn't comparable to what Ian showed this season.
you ask if people have seen Ian play. if you had seen Pau play back then, you wouldn't even think of making a comparison like this.
at least we know that scola>any big name not name td on our roster
i rather have javtokas than oberto, this dude can n at least jump over a fukn coke bottle....
*snip*
On the contrary...I make no reach at all.
Pau has absolutely nothing to gain by developing Mahinimi this season. IE giving him substantial PT. And everything to gain by limiting his minutes this season....
And Pau Gasol is not the only player whose minutes were limited in the early years.
There's no great mystery about what is going on with Mahinimi here...
He's definitely got NBA athleticism.
He definitely plays hard.
And from all accounts I have read, he has a tremendous work ethic.
And I think the NBA looming in his future has done nothing to curb his desire or enthusiams.
He's jumped up a level in league and he is struggling making the adjustment against more talented players...minutes will fix this...but now, he's in sit, watch and learn mode...and Pau will be the better for it next season.
I can give you other examples of NBA Euroleaguers who got limited minutes early in their careers with Euroleague teams.
And teams in Euroleague do make more of a commitment to guys who they plan on being a bigger part of the team than guys they don't think will be around...
It's just good business...it'd be stupid to do it differently.
I've seen Mahinimi play...he made Petro look like dog .
He'll be in the NBA.
so did I.
unfortunatly more than once this season, I wish he didn't have joined a Euroleague team, then I wouldn't have seen him.
I never doubted that he has NBA level athleticismn.
I doubt that he has NBA level skills.
I see us make the same discussion 2 years from now.
even then some will claim, that he is young and raw, but has the body.
and btw. he isn't 7 foot like Petro.
he is 6-9 at best.
an athletic 7 foot guy doesn't need much skills to end up in the NBA and have a mediocre career.
a 6-9 player should have, athletic or not.
I'm looking forward to the 2007 draft hoping Spurs will finally get back the Karma of the before 2003 years and pick some guys that are worth talking and speculating about.
two decent picks and hopefully a final solution for Scola (either sign him or trade his rights) and I guarrantee, that in two years people won't evenremamber that we own the Mahinmi rights.
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