Buck Harvey: J.R. gamble would be up to Popovich

[Spurtacus]

Artest or JR Smith. I hope we land one of those guys.

[The Truth #6]

We need someone young who can score so we can use them throughout the regular season to save energy for our big 3. His role in the regular season doesn't need to be the same as in the playoffs.

The issue isn't defense. As many have mentioned, Finley was horrible on defense, absolutely horrible. However, the issue is will JR rock the boat so much that he drags the team down? If he can score buckets and not disrupt the rest of the team, that's not perfect, but about as much as we should expect from any new player. If JR can deliver offense and not sabotage the team, I don't see how we can be upset.

We have to roll the dice in some way because we're vulnerable. Playing it safe with Pietrus means we don't win a le next year in my opinion.

However, knowing Pop we'll probably recruit a foreign born player - either Sasha, Pietrus or Azub. If that's the case hopefully it's Azub, though that still isn't going to get us over the top.

[Kori Ellis]

I don't think the Spurs will offer JR Smith the whole MLE, but I think they'll go after him. I don't think they have many concerns about his lack of D - as many pointed out here, he's super young.

I think they'll offer him something like 3 years - $11M with an option on the third year. And that's not going to be good enough to get him, unfortunately.

[kobyz]

even if the spurs will offer him the whole MLE, the Nuggets will probably match it

[ChumpDumper]

even if the spurs will offer him the whole MLE, the Nuggets will probably match it

I'm not too sure about that. Smith's salary would be doubled for the Nuggets next season, who will be over the tax threshold might already be looking to dump contracts.

I'm fine with taking a flyer on him -- I can't think of another free agent that has anything near his upside.

[m33p0]

for $4million? bait him.

[Bruno]

Smith is a damn talented player. I don't think his at ude is a big problem.

IMO, Smith won't look for a long term contract because he could be worth $10M per year soon.
Spurs should offer him a 2 or 3 years full MLE contract. 2 years or 3 years with a team option on the third year would ideal towards the 2010 plan.

[SenorSpur]

I don't think the Spurs will offer JR Smith the whole MLE, but I think they'll go after him. I don't think they have many concerns about his lack of D - as many pointed out here, he's super young.

I think they'll offer him something like 3 years - $11M with an option on the third year. And that's not going to be good enough to get him, unfortunately.

Salary wise, that's along the lines of what I'm thinking. Smith is super-talented, but not worth the entire MLE. My fear is that some team WILL ante up and overpay him in excess of that amount.

If I recall correctly, isn't that the same contract terms offered SJax before he turned it down and bolted for ATL?

Still, I'd love for them to acquire this guy. , I wanted him 2 seasons ago when the Barry trade fell through. They need a player of his ilk more than ever now. He'd provide just the kind of socring and athleticism boost this team has lacked - but not for the full MLE though.

[mrspurs]

dont know bout anyone else....but pops last moves had completely disappointed me to the point.........i dont trust pops gut anymore.....and all buck can ever come up is with negative storys for the most part....how on earth would i know if jr smith is a thug...ive never seen his police record, to me its all hear say....now if i was jr. smith theres noway i would want to take a chance on pop....remember this is the the guy who yells at everyone from the top to the bottom....but he doesnt really yell at duncan, (he does, so the others dont feel out of place imo) thou jr. is a better then average player...he would be in pops doghouse real quick....and another thing....since when has karl ever been a good coach...he sucked as a spurs player, he sucks ever more as a coach...so anything karl says i throw out the window....would jr. smith fit here.....no, he doesnt defend and thats a must in our system first, but most of all, he is a choke artist under just a small amount of pressure....i think he would choke if he had to turn the water on in the showers......but ill say this about bucks article...it made a little sense. only thing jr. smith would do is help keep manu off the floor during the season, that is if they find another backup point for tony......go spurs go

[Buck Harvey]

Hmmmm. Nice.
[scribble scribble]

[ducks]

spurs should front load the deal as much as possible
denver would not match

[The Truth #6]

The Nuggets shouldn't match a full MLE unless they move AI or Melo, I would think. They should move AI and go with JR, but I don't see anyone who would want to take on AI's contract right now.

[exstatic]

For a player of his talent, I don't think the full MLE is overpaying. You limit your financial exposure by limiting the years. Offer two years, and either party can opt out of year 3. If he works out, great. If not, you're only on the hook for 2 years of MLE money, and you proceed with the 2010 plan. You can also put some nasty poison pills/bonuses in there. If the team doesn't make the second round of the playoffs, you can kick in a bonus. We always do and they never do, so it penalizes them if they match. A short contract would also ensure that IF they match, we can pursue him again in 2010. Every player and their mother will want to be a FA in 2010 to go after all that money that teams are ready to throw at 'Bron. There will be a lot of disappointed teams looking for fallback options.

Are they really going to tear down their team for money to retain a bench player that they'll realistically only be locking up for two years, only to see him unrestricted at that point? A short full MLE deal is expensive enough for them to have to do major roster surgery to match, but short enough to make it not worthwhile.

[clubalien]

our FA target should be ron artest
our long term free agent plan should be lebron james ie Kidd 2.0 but it works this time

I think this article just means pop wants JR and he is using the media to warm the fans to the idea

[Ronaldo McDonald]

Smith is a damn talented player. I don't think his at ude is a big problem.

IMO, Smith won't look for a long term contract because he could be worth $10M per year soon.
Spurs should offer him a 2 or 3 years full MLE contract. 2 years or 3 years with a team option on the third year would ideal towards the 2010 plan.

This is why he won't sign with us. He knows if he's on the Spurs he's going to to be a 4th option and not be able to showcase all of his talent so that teasm would be willing to pay him that 3 years down the road.

[Ronaldo McDonald]

oops.

[SenorSpur]

This is why he won't sign with us. He knows if he's on the Spurs he's going to to be a 4th option and not be able to showcase all of his talent so that teasm would be willing to pay him that 3 years down the road.

You'd have to wonder about his financial motives right now? Where is he at? Is he looking to parlay the next couple of seasons into a max deal? At age 22, he very well may be looking to go to the highest bidder. Any why wouldn't he. I'd love to have him aboard, but I just don't know how realistic a possibility he is for the Spurs.

[Marcus Bryant]

The problem for Smith is that if he isn't able to attract a deal from a team with more cap room than the MLE, then the max starting salary he will receive will be the MLE. The Nuggets are unlikely to be willing to agree to a sign and trade given their payroll situation.

The Spurs could be the "max bidder" if they wanted to.

[Sway]

our FA target should be ron artest
our long term free agent plan should be lebron james ie Kidd 2.0 but it works this time

I think this article just means pop wants JR and he is using the media to warm the fans to the idea

Dude, slowly step away fron the bong... No way Lebron leaves Cleveland for a small market team. It is in his financial interests, and his sponsors, for him to sign with a big market (big media) team i.e. New York, LA, etc. If people think otherwise they are fooling themselves.

That is the problem with the 2010 plan, you gamble the next two years on the hope the FO can attract a big name FA, which unfortnately small market teams dont have a good track record of doing.

[SequSpur]

Why would JR Smith want to come here and play Pop's musical chair bs at the shooting guard position? or play behind a 39 year old Bowen. JR Smith ain't coming here. Move onto something else.

[wildbill2u]

Keep in mind that the kid is only 22 years old. He is still very impressionable and he hasn't really had the type of team mates or coaches to help in sink in. I said in a different thread that JR is just what the doctor ordered - but perhaps looking at it from his perspective, the Spurs are just what the doctor ordered.

Weren't most of your values and your personality traits in place by age 22?

You think joining the Spurs would prove to be an epiphany for this kid?

I think our management will consider his demonstrated lack of profesionalism--on and off court--before they'd make an offer

Oh well, desperate times call for desperate measures. We're in a serious box for rebulding for the future, not just for next year. So If Pop and FO want to try him, it's OK with me. I don't guess we have much to lose if he doesn't work out.

[VaSpursFan]

a 22 year old athletic swing that we can insert into the starting lineup who can hit the 3 and create his own shot. sign.him.up.now.

at this point, his lack of d doesn't really bother me. finley started and we got no d nor offense from him. our problem last season was putting the ball in the basket. there were stretches all season where the d would hold but then we couldn't score. we need a scorer and this kid is fearless.

he's just what we need...imagine going small with tp, manu, jr, and TD...you can't double off anyone.

[Spurs Brazil]

Smith is a damn talented player. I don't think his at ude is a big problem.

IMO, Smith won't look for a long term contract because he could be worth $10M per year soon.
Spurs should offer him a 2 or 3 years full MLE contract. 2 years or 3 years with a team option on the third year would ideal towards the 2010 plan.

I agree with bruno

I think the only chance to bring Smith is offer the full MLE. I hope he agrees to a 2 or 3 year deal because I don't think the Spurs will offer him the whole 5 years.

JR is my 1st option, Azubuike is the 2nd and R.Davis is the 3rd.

We need a guy to score that's why I don't want Pietrus, Barnes or Delfino

[meestahmeestah]

Long time reader, first time poster...so go relatively easy on me. I live in Denver and I've seen quite a few Nuggets games since I moved here, and J.R. Smith is a very exciting player to watch when he's into the game. The problem is simple...when he's not into the game, he's a waste of a roster spot. Maybe it's a product of coming off the bench on a team with 2 of the biggest ball hogs in history, but if he doesn't hit his first couple of shots, he jakes it the rest of the game...he stands around on defense pouting and takes even more ridiculous shots trying to jumpstart his game. Best case scenario is that he hits his first few shots and goes on a tear...which means he'll stand around on defense itching to get back to the other end. And that's not even mentioning the off-the-court problems. Granted, the off-the-court issues don't bother me as much as it does some...if you show up on time and you work hard and you're a team player, what you do on your own time is your business, not mine. Yes, he's got incredible athletic skill but at this point, he's just too into his own game. I've just seen too many games at the mausoleum known as the Pepsi Center, a building that will be as quiet as church if it's a tight game but will blow up if Melo or J.R. Smith throws down a nasty dunk even though they're down by 15. The Nuggets have really good talent at all 5 spots on the floor, and a pretty decent bench, but they don't have any concept of team at all.

Maybe taking Smith from that sort of "team" and putting him on a "team-first" squad such as the Spurs would help his maturity...and for all the Spurs' deficiencies, we know that "maturity and experience" is definitely not lacking. I'm just not willing to take a huge gamble with the MLE on a streaky, selfish guy who'll throw up 25 points one night and 4 points and 6 turnovers the next. We need help in a major way at the 2/3 and unless you mitigate a possible Smith signing with another 2/3 via the vet's exception or the draft, you're blowing this year's MLE on a guy you cannot count on from quarter to quarter, much less game to game.

Frankly, I think it's all moot because Denver will likely match any offer for him and the Spurs aren't dumb enough to make an offer on a RFA and sit back and wait while that money's tied up and the Nuggets wait until the last second to match. All the signs point to Smith re-signing with the Nuggets, although with AI choosing not to opt-out, I think the Nuggets will definitely look to trade to reduce the cap number for next year. Up until now Nuggets ownership had no problem going over the luxury tax threshold but they don't seem willing to spend as freely as they had. I still believe they'll keep Smith and deal in other directions, but I might be totally wrong on that. They're dealing with the AI thing and they're having a meeting with Melo and his agent tomorrow to discuss his future in Denver. If they do wind up working something out (biggest rumor being Melo to Detroit for Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince) there's going to be a need for scoring and Smith can fill that for the Nuggets on the cheap.

[exstatic]

This is why he won't sign with us. He knows if he's on the Spurs he's going to to be a 4th option and not be able to showcase all of his talent so that teasm would be willing to pay him that 3 years down the road.

What better showcase than 2 years of playoffs with the Spurs? Over the last six years with our core players, the average playoff penetration is 3.167 rounds deep. He's only going to get one round or none with most of the teams willing or able to offer him the MLE.