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I'd be shocked if the Spurs didn't pick up another wing player during the remainder of this season, but I'd also be shocked if they did anything about that between today and the January 24 date that Bruno calculated earlier in the thread.
http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/news/gr....html?rss=true
Courtesy of NBA.comGrizzlies waive swingman Jeremy Richardson
Memphis, January 7, 2007 – The Memphis Grizzlies waived guard/forward Jeremy Richardson, club General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
Richardson, a 6-7, 195-pound swingman, was signed on Dec. 20 and appeared in three games, totaling one rebound and one assist in 15 minutes played.
Prior to his GATORADE Call-up from the NBA Development League, Richardson was averaging a league-high 28.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.63 steals in 41.5 minutes in eight games this season for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
The current roster now stands at 13 players.
The Grizzlies, who have won two of their last three games, host Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at the FedExForum.
I wonder if the Spurs liked him in his workout, but the Grizz just beat the Spurs to it. You have to figure he'd at least be in the mix if the Spurs were to pick up another swingman in the future....provided he's not picked up again by another team.
I'd be shocked if the Spurs didn't pick up another wing player during the remainder of this season, but I'd also be shocked if they did anything about that between today and the January 24 date that Bruno calculated earlier in the thread.
The 24 Jan date has to do with keeping a player the remainder of the season.
If the Spurs wanted to, they could pick up someone on a 10-day contract (or two) after today and keep them on board until Barry gets back in the swing of things.
Then, when Barry is back, they can waive that player.
Point being, there doesn't HAVE to be someone on the Spurs roster filling those last two spots at all times.
....at least I think that's right, but I'm not the cap expert.
I'm sure that's correct, but I think the point is that there is only a finite number of days that the Spurs can pay a minimum contract without exceeding the tax threshold. If the Spurs sign a player today to a 10-day deal, as I understand Bruno's calculation, the date for acquiring a player to keep to season's end gets pushed back 10 days. That is, there is a period of about 17 days that the Spurs must be free of any additional salaries if they are to avoid the tax threshold. Whether that comes before they sign a player, between signings, or after they've signed a player, those days have to come and go. Unless there's some immediate need to fill that gap, I could see the wisdom in waiting for the next couple of weeks to let those necessary days pass and then pursuing a needed player.
True. They could turn around and sign DerMarr to a 10-day deal right after he clears waivers.
The timing isn't perfect, but it will be nice to have some roster spots open before the showcase. Works for the players too, though a couple just left this past week for Europe. I was hoping Brandon Bowman was going to stick around a couple more weeks.
It will be interesting to see what Spurs will do because he will give a hint about their priority.
If Spurs are focused on being younger, they can sign some prospects to 10 days contract and maybe keep one for the rest of the season if he is good enough.
If Spurs are focused on this year and if they aren't ready to spend time on some marginal prospect, they can sign a vet for the rest of the season. Given the lack of 3rd PG, signing a PG like Mike Wilks will likely be Spurs priority in that case.
If Spurs still consider a trade as something possible or if they think an interesting vet could be waived just after the deadline , they can do nothing before the trade deadline. Not signing a 14th player will give Spurs more financial flexibility to do a trade.
Resign Linton Johnson III.
Height: 6'8
Position: SF/PF
Strengths: Good defender. Solid rebounder at either forward position. Highly athletic and strong. Has a developing offensive game with an already potent 3 point shot.
Done.
CJ Watson just signed with the Warriors. I'm glad to see that hes not on the Spurs wish list.
I feel the F.O. is completely overanalyzing this situation. They've had a good look at 3 quality players, now they need to decide what direction to go in and stick with it. I feel Johnson has more short-term upside to offer this year. I don't feel as though someone will come and steal Langford away. Washington is safe in Europe right now.
And Marcus Williams....yeah...need I say more.
They may have already decided -- but unless they think that player is worth ~$3 million, they aren't going to be signing him right now.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblog...onald_d_9.html
Jeff McDonald: DerMarr and Keith, we hardly knew ye
OAKLAND -- The concurrent DerMarr Johnson/Keith Langford eras in San Antonio are over. The Spurs waived the two swingmen, essentially on loan from the Austin Toros, on Monday.
The move didn't exactly come as a shock. Johnson and Langford were signed and called up out of the NBA's Developmental League a little more than a week ago, when Manu Ginobili and then Brent Barry went down.
With Ginobili back on the active roster, and Barry nearing a comeback, Johnson and Langford became expendable.
If they remained on the roster by Jan. 10 -- three days from now -- the Spurs would be required to guarantee their contracts. Waiving them now allows the Spurs to maintain some roster and salary cap flexibility, as well as remain below the luxury tax threshold.
Johnson, an 8-year NBA vet, played in three games for the Spurs and averaged four points and four minutes per. Langford, a rookie, played in two games and scored two points.
It was fun while it lasted.
I hope so. I would feel more comfortable knowing this.
However, their job security doesn't rely on whether I sleep well at night or not reguarding their decisions.
Last edited by remingtonbo2001; 01-07-2008 at 07:06 PM.
Apparently most players who tear up the D league still can't make it in the NBA--or have enough talent to make the old luxury tax bugbear go away.
This situation is getting a bit overcooked. Do we even know what the Spurs are looking for, in terms of up and coming, talent? At this point, it's hard to tell. For the past 2 seasons, they've auditioned a few guys, but nobody seems to be able to stick.
My concern is that due to the length of time it seemingly takes to learn the system, the Spurs should at least have 1-2 guys in their pipeline now. This is especially important given the assumption that there will be some roster changes after this season - especially at the 2-3 position. It's vital that these players can become immersed into the Spurs systems and their culture. If it means D-league apprenticeship, that's better than nothing.
It just seems the Spurs are spinning their wheels. I just can't figure out what they're doing.
You lose sleep over the 14th roster spot? Perhaps you should switch to decaf.
The way I see it, they are concentrating their efforts on finding a young point guard and at least one swingman. The reason they haven't kept any on the roster the entire season and don't have any now is the luxury tax, plain and simple. Until they can pick up another player without breaking the bank, they'll keep an eye on the Toros, the showcase and the waiver wire.
Agreed. They're keeping their eyes on PGs and swingmen. They obviously are interested in defenders but seem to be more intent on finding a shooting scorer first and foremost. To be fair, they want the next Matt Carroll.
I'm sure they would take a Carroll, but only one of the candidates had a really reliable outside touch. They'll seem to take their scoring any way they can get it if the player can do it as a Spur.
Perhaps that's why they had their eyes on Korver.
Langford and Johnson getting waived isn't a surprise. Those who saw the crunched numbers realized this was going to happen once they were signed.
I think the next thing you will see is a bunch of ten-day contracts. If I'm the Spurs, I want until giving someone a guaranteed contract for the rest of the season. The reason being that there is no obvious hole on this roster. Even without Barry, Udoka doesn't get playing time. To add yet another swingman behind Udoka doesn't really make much sense at this point.
The bigman rotation is also pretty packed. Elson might suck but you aren't going to find a DLeague bigman better than him at this point. Maybe someone like PJ Brown or Dale Davis will want to play for the Spurs but I'm not sure the Spurs would be interested.
To me, if the team stays healthy, the last roster spot might as well go to a third point guard. As Bruno said, someone like Mike Wilks makes a lot of sense. Wilks is basically a younger Vaughn who could step in and play a solid emergency role. Point guard is the only position on the roster that is only one injury away from a player being needed. While Ginobili and Barry can play some backup point, Pop has always shown that he's not a big fan of that alignment.
What makes sense to me is to hand out a couple ten-day contracts here and there and wait for about the beginning of April. At that point, if there are no significant injuries, I'd find a sound point guard in the Mike Wilks or Andre Barrett mold. If there is an injury or a trade that weakens the swingman or bigman rotation, then you might think about bringing back someone like DerMarr Johnson or a bigman to use in practice like Kris Lang.
I liked DerMarr but DerMarr post-accident just doesn't move too well laterally. Sad but true. However, if a swingman goes down or gets traded, he might be brought back just so the Spurs have another shooting threat stashed on the bench in case Udoka never finds his shooting stroke.
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