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There are so few good options and so many holes to fill the Spurs just might go for this bozo.
But I doubt it.
Meanwhile Harvey is getting paid for essentially a 'Post Reply' to one of this forum's threads.
Buck Harvey: J.R. gamble would be up to Popovich
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.3ac3698.html
Web Posted: 06/21/2008 09:15 PM CDT
Buck Harvey
[email protected]
The one who makes the most sense for the Spurs is the one with the least sense.
That would be J.R. Smith, the flawed diamond of this summer's free-agent class. He has been everything the Spurs are not, and he also has everything the Spurs need.
For one, he can dunk.
So he's worth a look. And if the Spurs go in that direction on July 1, and if they interview Smith, then what follows will hinge on this:
Can Gregg Popovich see something he likes in someone he shouldn't?
Next season might hinge on it, too. The Spurs likely won't get enough from the draft to help them immediately, even if they find a way to move up.
The other free agents are equally uninspiring. Role players are available, not much more.
But then there is Smith, a remarkable athlete who the Spurs previously tried to acquire in a trade. Then, just before the 2006 trade deadline, a deal fell through that would have sent Brent Barry to New Orleans in exchange for Smith.
Byron Scott had given up on the kid, but the Spurs thought they had missed out. Given their locker room, couldn't they have reached Smith as they once did Stephen Jackson?
Smith eventually went to Denver instead. In 2007, against the Spurs in the playoffs, Smith gave the Spurs little reason to regret anything.
Smith committed such a sequence of selfish, foolish plays in one game that George Karl benched Smith for the finale. “I just love the dignity of the game,” Karl said of Smith's play, “being insulted right in front of me.”
A headline from the Denver Post then summed up Smith's standing: “Who shot the Nuggets? J.R.”
The absence of gunfire is one of Smith's few selling points. He is a middle-class, gangsta wannabe. He's been suspended a couple of times, brawling both on the court and off, and all he's ever led the league in is apologies.
Jackson once proudly called himself the anti-Spur. Smith comes closer to being the anti-human.
His life has included tragedy. He once ran a stop sign, which ultimately resulted in the death of one of his passengers, a childhood friend.
And his life has included comedy. He yapped at Kobe Bryant in a playoff game this spring — while Bryant was going for 49 points.
Then there's the defect that would never work on a Popovich team: Scouts say he is “an unwilling defender.”
Given that, maybe the Spurs decide they would be crazier than Smith to consider him. Unlike Jackson, after all, this risk would require a financial investment.
Still, there's no one out there like Smith. He's 6-foot-6 with 30-foot range, and he's only 22. He averaged more than a dozen points for the Nuggets last year despite averaging less than 20 minutes. That's also why the Nuggets want him back.
But the Nuggets are being squeezed. After Allen Iverson chose not to opt out of his contract last week, Denver has eight players with guaranteed contracts totaling more than $78 million. If the Spurs dangle, say, $4 million a year, would the Nuggets want to match the offer and pay even more luxury tax?
Smith may get a better offer elsewhere. Smith also may not want to play in a regimented system.
But if he's open to the Spurs, and Popovich is open to sitting down with him, a franchise-changing decision would come down to one thing. Popovich's gut.
Popovich hasn't had to do this lately. Mostly he's been talking someone such as Michael Finley into signing. This time Popovich would be listening.
Statistics wouldn't matter, nor would stories from the past. It would be about Popovich getting a sense of Smith; knowing Popovich, he might challenge Smith, as he once did Dennis Rodman, just to see the reaction.
If Smith walked away with an at ude, then Popovich would save money and time. But maybe something else happens, and maybe Popovich thinks a follower such as Smith might prosper following Tim Duncan.
This is all the Spurs can go on, and this is how they would make such a gamble. Good sense has little to do with any of it.
There are so few good options and so many holes to fill the Spurs just might go for this bozo.
But I doubt it.
Meanwhile Harvey is getting paid for essentially a 'Post Reply' to one of this forum's threads.
Good article by Buck. It's another SpursTalk remix but at least someone in the media is willing to write about how JR Smith might be worth the drama (and money).
It will be really interesting to see if the Spurs even pursue JR. If JR has any hope of becoming a winner and getting his life on track, he'd be smart to jump all over a Spurs offer. If he wants to continue his Thug Life or whatever, it'd be best to avoid SA.
Barry for Smith...it was all too simple to ever work out.Then, just before the 2006 trade deadline, a deal fell through that would have sent Brent Barry to New Orleans in exchange for Smith.
Oh, what could have been...
if smith has gotten tired of his old ways, then maybe he could be a better player, especially in the spurs system. with tim, manu, and the rest of team as his mentors, he's got the best team players. plus, he's in a team with a better chance of getting that ring.
I'm thinking you can't reform a player whose had problems at two previous stops.
I've never believed in the theory that classy veterans can influence gangsta wannabes.
Hi Buck.
SpursTalk has better, more articulate arguments than most anything I find nationally or from the local SA sites. It wouldn't surprise me at all if any writer covering the Spurs hangs out here to see what's being tossed around.
Hi yourself.
Historically, the Spurs don't give guys like JR long-term deals (see Stephen Jackson and Derek Anderson). They especially don't offer long term deals to that ilk if they haven't even been on the team yet.
So unless JR will take a short "make-good" deal (with an completely unforceable promise for a longer deal if things go well) no way JR and the Spurs reach a meeting of the minds. No way.
In short, too many obstacles for both sides to overcome.
Only 22 years old? Wow!
Believe it or not, this is the element of his game that worries me most.
I could see him giving us that instant offense that we so desparately need. I just wonder if he he's ready to grow up, become disciplined and actually become part of a winning culture. It'll be interesting to see how or if this goes down.
Russ nails it.
he refuses to work on d because melo does
I don't disagree at all. I'm curious if anyone else is concerned about his utter carelessness on the defensive end? I could see that element driving Pop absolutely mad. Smith would spend as much time in Pop's doghouse as any rookie.
Of course people are concerned about his no-defense rule, as well as his habitual flakiness. I doubt his scoring can be proven to win many games, as he gives up plenty on the other end both individually and in team defense. The MLE is a lot of jack for a 'guess he'll shape up' personnel move.
He won't be a Spur. He's a unicorn fart.
Buck roasting JR a bit too much in this article, take it easy pal "anti-human".....
Was Finley any better on defense?
Touche'
Defense or offense for that matter.
Thank God someone else was thinking this. Halfway thru every Spurs 1st quarter Pop would pull Finley, not just because he wanted Manu in the game but because by then Old Mike would've let his guy score about 8 points.
I'm not saying JR would be ideal for us but at this point haven't the Lakers and the Celts show us that a solid starting wing man is needed to compete? I really don't think Finley that guy and Manu helps us more when he comes off the bench. JR might just be semi-solid but I'll take him over cornball Finley any day.
No way I'd give this kid the MLE. Perhaps some team will, but the Spurs will not. For that amount of money, I'd rather invest in Pietrus.
I have to vote no. The unwillingness to play defense is usually a pretty good indication of at ude. I just think it's rare for a guy who has been playing hoops his entire life and isn't interested in D to suddenly turn it around. Look at Amare-- he obviously has the strength and athleticism to be a defender, but even after years of being told that his D needs to improve, he still just doesn't seem interested. In theory, a super young athlete like JR playing alongside Melo, AI, Camby, Kleiza, Martin & Najera should result in one of the best teams in the NBA, but it just doesn't. And if he drives Karl crazy, he'd probably put Pop in the emergency room...
So either the Spurs make a gamble or else morons will scold the front office from here on.
I agree. Pietrus or Azubuike.
Pietrud? Ugh...
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