Game chat: Spurs sign Williams, waive Hairston
By Joe Alexander
The Spurs play the Portland Trail Blazers today at 6 p.m. (note start time) at the AT&T Center. Join Jeff McDonald and Mike Monroe of the Express-News for a live game chat beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The Spurs signed guard Marcus Williams this afternoon. To make room on the roster, the waived Malik Hairston.
Williams was picked 33rd overall by the Spurs in the 2007 draft. He played one game with the Spurs during the 2007-08 season.
Williams played for the Austin Toros this season, averaging 23.0 points in 45 games.
Hairston played in 15 games for the Spurs this season. He averaged 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds.
Spurs Sign Marcus Williams
SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed guard a href="/playerfile/marcus_williams/index.html">Marcus Williams. Per team policy terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Williams was an All-League First Team Selection this season with the Austin Toros, the Spurs affiliate in the NBA Development League. In 45 games with the Toros, Williams averaged 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He was named the D-League Performer of the Week for the week of 3/30 after averaging a triple-double with 27.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 11.5 assists in three games.
Williams, who is in his second year, appeared in 11 NBA games last season (10 with the L.A. Clippers and one with San Antonio) where he averaged 0.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 3.3 minutes. He also spent 36 games with the Toros where he averaged 19.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Williams was drafted by San Antonio with the 33rd overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
The 22-year-old Williams was an early entry candidate for the 2007 NBA Draft. He played two years at the University of Arizona, earning First Team All-Pac-10 honors after averaging 16.6 points and 6.7 rebounds as a sop re.
At the same time, the Spurs announced that they have waived guard/forward Malik Hairston.
Williams better have improved drastically since the last time I saw him play or this is a horrible move. Last time I saw Williams, he had a hitch in his jumper, slower feet than Udoka and was basically a power forward in a shooting guard's body.
Hairston, on the other hand, was a three-point stroke away from being someone you could put into the rotation.
Not cool.
McDonald, earlier today.
If Williams is in, then who is out?
By Jeff McDonald
The Spurs are still working to finalize a deal this afternoon that could make Marcus Williams their latest call-up from the Austin Toros.
Williams, a 2007 second-round pick of the Spurs who appeared in one game with the team last season before being waived, has been tearing up the Developmental League. In 45 games this season, he is averaging 23 points, seven rebounds and 5.3 assists.
He averaged 25.1 points during the month of March.
A 6-foot-7 swingman out of Arizona, Williams became brighter on the Spurs' radar after Manu Ginobili was sidelined for the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right leg. The Spurs cannot receive any sort of injury exemption for Ginobili, meaning if they sign Williams, they will have to waive a player to create roster space.
The most likely candidate for dismissal would seem to be Malik Hairston, Williams' teammate with the Toros. Hairston, a rookie swingman, is guaranteed only the remainder of his $314, 392 contract, making him that the most cost effective option, at least.
The Spurs front office has been high on Hairston, so whatever choice the team makes is sure to be a difficult one.
WTF??? How could Pop not like Hairston, he was a beast defensively, raw but the tools were there. Hope he isn't picked up and gets and Pop promised a training camp invite. Anyone think that happened?
I don't get it at all
Do they actually plan on using Williams this year when Hill can't get off the bench? It doesn't make sense. And as others have noted, Hairston plays pretty good defense and he's athletic, two things the Spurs are lacking right now. Why Williams over Hairston?
How long ago was that? I hope awhile, cuz chump and others who have seen him recently say he's much improved. I still wish they didn't sign Marcus Williams so the Wolves couldn't get him, what if Hairston is picked up? It'd be like dropping a puppy to catch and old, 3-legged dog infected with rabies(maybe Hairston isn't that much better, but you get my point.)
I don't like this move, waiving Hairston is re ed. Period.
So can he play in the playoffs? If he can, I doubt he will, but just curious.
Definitely a head-scratcher.
Finley and Bowen were aging. Spurs have now solved the SF dilemma for the rest of the Duncan era with the signing of a future HOFer.
Dell Demps was interviewed during the halftime of the Toros game and he was quite low on Hairston. He wasn't impressed by his ability to go to the rim because it wouldn't work with a paint defended by a legit NBA bigman. He said that he really needed to improve his shoot. I guess the reason why Spurs don't keep him is because they don't believe he can improve it.
Bad move, Hairston seemed to have alot of potential and could have been Bowen's replacement had he worked on his jumper. I've only seen D-League highlights of Williams but his game did not impress me at all.
Wait a minute! I thought only teams with as much as 4 injured players can have an exception? So is this under that rule? Are we being given a free pass?
spurs must have REALLY liked williams to take action this late in the season. i would think they would have wanted to waited until summer camp before choosing between hariston and williams. they must be really high on him to make this change. if i recall correctly, the spurs signed hariston to keep another team from doing it. now they are singing williams and waiving hariston to keep williams from being picked up. spurs must really like him.
Why does every team do this? What's the point?Per team policy terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Well Williams is my boy from Arizona but I don't like this move at all unless he has improved a lot. I just hope that Hairston isn't picked up by someone else I like him.
Why waive Hairston!
Williamsss???
I'm assuming other teams were zeroing in on signing Williams so the Spurs signed him to protect his rights. I'm sure they'll just send him back to the D-League. I'd be surprised if he gets even a minute of playing time with the Spurs this season.
By doing this, the Spurs will have Williams' rights going forward. Previously, Williams could do whatever he wanted. But now the Spurs don't have any rights on Hairston.
On defensive potential and athleticism alone, I like Hairston much more than Williams. Williams is borderline too slow for the NBA. Hairston, on the other hand, has just gotten more and more athletic as he's shed his baby fat.
I guess we have to hope Hairston doesn't garner any outside interest and the Spurs will be able to let both play on the summer league team and in training camp next year.
Marcus Williams is Finley Part II
So they pick a guy who modeled his shooting form after Bill Cartwright
Waiving a player like Udoka or Vaughn wouldn't have been more costly for Spurs.
Spurs weren't high enough on Hairston to keep him over Vaughn.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
