LUDDEN: Spurs will make changes to keep pace in West

[Streakyshooter08]

If Thomas stays for the minimum you have to keep him.

[K-State Spur]

he couldn't match up because he's slowed due to age.

If he's re-signed, there's no time for Mahinmi. Pop won't sit Thomas and Oberto both, the temptation to quit on Mahinmi after one dumb foul with both Thomas and Oberto available will be too great.

So, we're going to play the majority of next year with just 3 bigs?

[T Park]

i think the 3 biggest blunder in the duncan era the FO d up on was

1. lowballing stephen jacksons extention offer...fukn lame as
2. not drafting josh howard who was still on the board
3. trading barboza

the season jax left, we couldve repeated had we kept him instead of signin turgo...

They didn't sign Turkoglu they traded for him.

They never wanted Barbosa, the Suns wanted him the whole time. Plus hes a choking non factor in the playoffs, he would be worthless.

Josh Howard while good has also appeared to be a choking cancerous ball hog.

Keep the genius takes coming

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

3. trading barboza

Not this again.

[K-State Spur]

i think the 3 biggest blunder in the duncan era the FO d up on was

1. lowballing stephen jacksons extention offer...fukn lame as

This has been discussed to ad nauseum, but I'll re-iterate two points:

a) it's not a lowball offer when it's the biggest one on the market, by a good margin.

b) sign Jax for what he wants, and you likely lose Manu to Denver 2 years later.

[T Park]

So, we're going to play the majority of next year with just 3 bigs?

Ignore him.

Mahinmi will get time.

Thomas will only play against certain matchups, but is good to have in there when Duncan is on the bench. An offseason of rest, but a full training camp and season with em will improve his role in the offense.

[T Park]

This has been discussed to ad nauseum, but I'll re-iterate two points:

a) it's not a lowball offer when it's the biggest one on the market, by a good margin.

b) sign Jax for what he wants, and you likely lose Manu to Denver 2 years later.

The problem is hindsight. AT THE TIME, Stephen Jackson had 1 good playoff run, he was still an unknown, if you give him a big contract will he slack and not perform? They didn't know. THey offered a fair 3 year 12 million dollar deal. He wanted 5 and whatever else. Turkoglu would've been a good replacement had he had a set of juevos, and thats how that whole scenario wound up going bad.
No sense living in the past.

[objective]

So the Spurs need to get younger and faster and the solution is to re-sign a guy who will be 36 next season?

Kurt Thomas isn't the answer, he'd just be another old guy on an old team, with no room for Ian Mahinmi or Splitter if Splitter changes his mind on an extension.

Kurt Thomas will be worse next year. His jumper, not as reliable as people think already, will get worse. His speed will get worse.

Let him go.

[PDXSpursFan]

Sasha Vujacic impressed Spurs officials throughout the series.

I would welcome Sasha. Manu could be moved moved permanently into the starting lineup, with Sasha as backup. During the regular season they could split minutes close to 50%-50% (keeping Manu fresh for the playoffs).

[Holt's Cat]

No, they shouldn't have resigned Bonner for more than minimum salary.

Yes, they should have played Bonner if they had him. At least he was youthful.

Bonner's contract doesn't hurt the Spurs at all.

[T Park]

So the Spurs need to get younger and faster and the solution is to re-sign a guy who will be 36 next season?

Kurt Thomas isn't the answer, he'd just be another old guy on an old team, with no room for Ian Mahinmi or Splitter if Splitter changes his mind on an extension.

Kurt Thomas will be worse next year. His jumper, not as reliable as people think already, will get worse. His speed will get worse.

Let him go.

What speed?

He never had speed. Thats like people saying Duncan is "slowing down" He never was quick to begin with.
Once again, your not gonna find a big on the open market as good as Kurt Thomas. Hes coming back so deal with it.

[MoSpur]

To me letting go of S Jax was a bad thing. He showed in that playoff series what he was made of. Jackson > Finley. Its hindsight as stated above so no need to dwell on it. The Spurs need to be very creative this off-season. Horry and Finley need to go 4 sure. No questions about it. I don't care too much about basketball IQ when they can't hit a shot. Pop talks too much about Horry's bball IQ, but the dude never played so what good is his IQ???

Why not let Ian learn on the fly?

[T Park]

I would welcome Sasha. Manu could be moved moved permanently into the starting lineup, with Sasha as backup. During the regular season they could split minutes close to 50%-50% (keeping Manu fresh for the playoffs).

Sasha would come off the bench as the permanent backup point guard.

Its all moot though case he isn't coming, LA will resign him.

[T Park]

To me letting go of S Jax was a bad thing. He showed in that playoff series what he was made of. Jackson > Finley. Its hindsight as stated above so no need to dwell on it. The Spurs need to be very creative this off-season. Horry and Finley need to go 4 sure. No questions about it. I don't care too much about basketball IQ when they can't hit a shot. Pop talks too much about Horry's bball IQ, but the dude never played so what good is his IQ???

Why not let Ian learn on the fly?

Yeah that BBall IQ never came in handy vs the Suns or the Hornets.

Great take

[T Park]

Bonner's contract doesn't hurt the Spurs at all.

He hasn't understood it for 10 months, I doubt the blockhead is gonna understand it now.

[K-State Spur]

So the Spurs need to get younger and faster and the solution is to re-sign a guy who will be 36 next season?

Kurt Thomas isn't the answer, he'd just be another old guy on an old team, with no room for Ian Mahinmi or Splitter if Splitter changes his mind on an extension.

Kurt Thomas will be worse next year. His jumper, not as reliable as people think already, will get worse. His speed will get worse.

Let him go.

If Thomas' value was in his jumper or in his speed, he'd have been out of the league 12 years ago.

He's a bruiser. Outside of Duncan (who you'd like to keep out of foul trouble), the Spurs have - let me think - ZERO other guys who could fit that role next year. That's true even if Mahinmi/Splitter join the club.

Nobody is saying re-sign Thomas for 8 mil/year. But for somewhere near the minimum, he fills a role.

[Holt's Cat]

The Spurs shouldn't waste much time on Vujacic. The only way they would be able to land him is by putting together some long-term full MLE offer that the Lakers feel is too much. Plus you know that would tie up precious time during free agency.

[T Park]

If Thomas' value was in his jumper or in his speed, he'd have been out of the league 12 years ago.

He's a bruiser. Outside of Duncan (who you'd like to keep out of foul trouble), the Spurs have - let me think - ZERO other guys who could fit that role next year. That's true even if Mahinmi/Splitter join the club.

Nobody is saying re-sign Thomas for 8 mil/year. But for somewhere near the minimum, he fills a role.

Even at a million or 2 or 3 hes still very damn valuable.

Thomas was not even close to being part of the problem.

look at the small amount of time he got last night and dude puts up 11 and 7.

Yeah hes washed up

[T Park]

The Spurs shouldn't waste much time on Vujacic. The only way they would be able to land him is by putting together some long-term full MLE offer that the Lakers feel is too much. Plus you know that would tie up precious time during free agency.

Agreed. Take the same at ude with him, as they did when Kobe Bryant was a FA in 05 I think.

[Holt's Cat]

If Thomas' value was in his jumper or in his speed, he'd have been out of the league 12 years ago.

He's a bruiser. Outside of Duncan (who you'd like to keep out of foul trouble), the Spurs have - let me think - ZERO other guys who could fit that role next year. That's true even if Mahinmi/Splitter join the club.

Nobody is saying re-sign Thomas for 8 mil/year. But for somewhere near the minimum, he fills a role.

You need to keep Thomas. He's a very solid rebounding big, a smart player, and Shaq is still in the conference. Something like 2 years, $8 mil would be sensible for him.

[K-State Spur]

To me letting go of S Jax was a bad thing. He showed in that playoff series what he was made of. Jackson > Finley. Its hindsight as stated above so no need to dwell on it. The Spurs need to be very creative this off-season. Horry and Finley need to go 4 sure. No questions about it. I don't care too much about basketball IQ when they can't hit a shot. Pop talks too much about Horry's bball IQ, but the dude never played so what good is his IQ???

Why not let Ian learn on the fly?

There's a 2 year gap in between Jax & Finley - so it wasn't an either/or between those two.

It's a more a case of either Jax or Manu.

[T Park]

There's a 2 year gap in between Jax & Finley - so it wasn't an either/or between those two.

It's a more a case of either Jax or Manu.

Tough choice, but I think I'm ok with the choice made.

[T Park]

You need to keep Thomas. He's a very solid rebounding big, a smart player, and Shaq is still in the conference. Something like 2 years, $8 mil would be sensible for him.

Exactly. Kurt Thomas is a must for this team and he doesn't hurt them one iota by being there.

I'm very interested to see how he would play next year after being with the team through a full training camp.

[TDMVPDPOY]

isnt matt bonner on 3m a season?

[Spur-Addict]

This franchise owes it to Tim and Manu, who both left money on the table in order for the team to remain le contenders for years to come. It would be a disservice to them, if they continue with their present philosophy of only acquiring AARP- eligible players.

Well said...