Trade talk travels on Spurs' trip
Jeff McDonald
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. A product of the digital age, Spurs guard Roger Mason Jr., is familiar with the World Wide Web. He knows how to locate Hoopshype.com, a repository of rumors and rumblings from across the NBA.
So, yes, Mason has heard that his name has been on the trading block, recently linked to a rumored proposal that would bring Vince Carter from New Jersey to San Antonio.
I haven't heard anything officially from anyone, Mason said. But you do see it out there.
Mason's preferred trade destination, of course, is nowhere.
I'd like to play here for a long time, he said.
With the trade deadline fast approaching, it appears likely Mason and any other Spurs who would like to remain Spurs are going to get their wish.
Teams have until 3 p.m. Eastern today to consummate all trades. The prevailing belief across the league seems to be that the Spurs' quest for reinforcements will ultimately go unfulfilled, though not from lack of trying.
Mason's name surfaced in recent days in reports of a complicated deal that would send him, Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and George Hill to New Jersey for Carter, an eight-time All-Star.
Yet that deal appeared dead Wednesday afternoon, as league sources indicated the Nets were no longer engaged in talks with the Spurs.
The Spurs also made a pitch for Sacramento's John Salmons, dangling Bowen and Ime Udoka. That deal also disintegrated Wednesday, when the Kings sent Salmons to Chicago as part of a massive seven-player swap.
The Spurs are believed to still harbor interest in trying to pry Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee. Any deal there would likely involve using Robert Horry as sign-and-trade bait, which would push the Spurs into luxury-tax territory.
That idea, too, is probably a non-starter. With the tax threshold expected to drop next season for the first time in history, the Spurs like other small-market teams are wary of absorbing big, multi-year contracts.
I don't think you're going to find us doing something that's going to put us way over the (luxury tax) cap right now, said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who is more heavily involved in player-personnel decisions than many NBA coaches. We'll just go with what we have.
Still, anything could change at any moment. And the Spurs might be more motivated buyers once the extent of Manu Ginobili's right ankle injury is fully known.
Amid swirling trade winds, the Spurs go on with their rodeo trip, which makes a stop in Detroit tonight.
It can be a difficult task for a player to go about his business when he isn't sure what city he will call home tomorrow. Mason has ridden the trade rollercoaster before, having been dealt from Chicago to Toronto in December 2003.
He is philosophical when it comes to his latest involvement in Hoopshype-fueled trade hysteria.
In this economy, a lot of people are worried about losing their jobs, said Mason, who is in the first year of a two-year contract with the Spurs. So I can't complain.
Still, if Mason's previous dalliances with the trade market taught him anything, it's to be prepared.
You always have a suitcase packed, just in case, he said.
Spurs forward/center Kurt Thomas has also spent time on the trade-rumor Tilt-A-Whirl. He heard talk he might be dealt in advance of last season's deadline, and he was from Seattle to San Antonio.
You just block it out, Thomas said. You block it out and do your job. You have no control over it.
If Mason has his druthers, he'll still be a Spur when tonight's game tips off.
I guess we'll know soon, he said.
Reply With Quote
