There are a large number of teams with trade exceptions (something like 10 to 12). Surely one of those may be interested in an athletic big on a small contract with one guaranteed season remaining.
Bonner fits a longterm need. Against certain defenses, you have to have a power forward next to Duncan who can shoot the ball. In Bonner, the Spurs found one who can do that plus rebound the ball and knock a few heads. He was too good of a fit to let go. Perhaps he still won't be needed next season because Horry will be around, but eventually he'll be needed.
Yeah, having a 4 with 3 point range to spread the floor and give TD room to operate is a significant plus for the team. Scola's value would be in what he can bring when TD is off the floor.
If you are gonna stockpile talent at the 11-15 theres no better way to do it than with affordable, functional bigs...you can afford to break the cardinal rule of "never trade a big for a small" if you really have to...There are at least 25 teams in the league that would love to have the Spurs "problem".
TD off the floor is a 10 minutes a night concern when it matters.
Unless you want to play Scola 15 mpg, He will play more than 5mpg with Duncan.
Splitter was a pick that changed a lot of things. Splitter will step right in for Elson after this season. Splitter will make like 1/4th as much money as Elson makes this year and will be able to do the same things on both ends of the court. Then I think that it's safe to say Splitter backs up Oberto until Splitter is ready to take the reigns as the starting center.
What's hard to figure out is where Butler and Scola fit in the mix. I think Butler has better potential than any big outside of Duncan. However, he's probably still a year or two from being ready to be championship caliber. Scola I think might even be better than Nocioni, but he doesn't exactly fit the current mold of the bigman rotation.
Where Oberto, Splitter and Bonner have the advantage is they are system players. They each have a role that they can do well. Scola and Butler are more multi-purpose players, but sometimes that works against you in the Spurs' system. Pop loved Malik until Malik had the audacity to look to shoot the ball.
I think Scola and Butler are too good to give away for nothing. It'd be great to work them into the system. Hopefully the Spurs can find a way to do that.
Dump Butler and bring him over. Id keep Elson because I still think he can be pretty good at times. Butler is young and has an upside, but I think Scola will be better than Butler in the long run.
TD played 34 minutes a night last season, so there's 14 for Scola right there.
"when it matters" = playoffs.
Dumping Elson lvs us in small balls territory again should the need arise.
Are you Elson Dumpers counting on Butler to be the other big?
Scola/Horry/Oberto/Butler next to Tim should be enough.
Sure, the Big 3 all see increased minutes in the postseason. It'd be nice to add a player who can help keep the Franchise's minutes down during the regular season.
I'm also not sure why Scola couldn't play with TD, especially for a limited amount of minutes a night. All Scola would have to do is cut to the rim occasionally, seal his man, and hit the offensive glass.
He can play with Duncan but what makes Scola a good player is his offensive game. Remove it and he is a bellow average player.
And all other Spurs are above average defensively? He can't be worse than Elson, that's for certain.
Not to get off subject, but it wasn't that Malik had the audacity to shoot. It's that he had the audacity to forget why he was valuable to the team and somehow felt compelled to live up to his ridiculous contract by doing the opposite of what earned him that ridiculous contract.
But I digress.... I don't see that Bonner has anything to do with Scola's playing time. It's not like Matt Bonner is a 40 minute a night player. He sat on the bench all of last season, I don't see why they would hesitate to sit his ass on the bench in favor of a better player (i.e., Scola). They gave him a $3M deal. Big whoop. That says to me, we like you, but if you do anything positive on the basketball court it's all gravy.
While it appears there is a logjam in the front court, who besides Duncan really has his minutes guaranteed?
Horry -- he's a thousand years old and going to hibernate until the playoffs anyway.
Oberto -- he had a nice playoff run, but let's not get carried away here. There's a reason that a free agent center who started on a NBA champion wasn't flooded with free agent offers. He's also foul prone.
Elson -- could he have been any less of a factor in the playoffs? He is fast though. If we ever have to run the hundred yard dash against the Mavericks, I like the way he matches up with Erick Dampier.
Bonner -- what can you say about him? He's white. Kind of like a red headed Larry Bird minus the cheesy stache, tight shorts and basketball skill.
Butler -- do we know anything about his abilities other than his ability to grow a really freaky looking beard?
Am I missing something here? How the could Scola not find minutes on this team?
And dumping Elson to sign Scola isn't a good idea.
Spurs biggest opponent is Dallas. Oberto can do a decent job on Dirk 20 mpg. Who do you want to play on Dirk the other 20 mpg : Duncan ? Bonner ? Old Horry ? Scola ? Small ball ?
Playoffs are all about matchup and Spurs need a player like Elson against Mavs.
Spurs aren't in it to repeat
or have you figure that out already
I'm all for that.
But I'll believe it when I see it...
How much is the Cavs trade exception?
the need for a PF to shoot 3s is pretty much overstated imo.
#1, Spurs had PFs to shoot 3s in the years past (Ferry, even Lohaus). They weren't the difference maker, guys who could penetrate and create shots were like Manu and Parker.
#2, I think people are too readily confusing Horry the player with the idea of the PF position. You can get PFs who shoot 3s on the cheap. Austin Croshere. Keith Van Horn. Cliff Robinson. Sean Marks was good out to a long two-pointer easily, and he was a vet-minimum guy. , if the Spurs wanted, they could have drafted Nick Fazekas and had him for cheap.
#3, as a result, just because Bonner can shoot 3s, doesn't make him a legit Horry replacement. Bonner will never get 5 blocks in a finals game. Bonner will never grab 9 rebounds in the first half of a finals game. Bonner will never be dependable to force multiple turnovers on inbounds passes with his crafty plays.
The only thing Bonner does even close to Horry is shoot from long range, and he's never done that in the clutch, ever.
Signing him to a contract nearly identical to the one Scola was asking for last summer is highly dubious.
$2.1M I think...
The primary reason for having a big with a J is that it opens up space inside for TD and to a lesser extent the perimeter players.
Then why is it Fabricio Oberto that plays the best off of Duncan?
I agree with most everything Objective said about the Bonner signing.
Because Oberto's man is providing help on TD. Horry/Bonner's man has much more ground to cover.
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