My personal top 3: Dice Sheed and Good
Don't worry, Gortat will be in Europe in a few years. The Spurs are not even looking at him. But, Sheed is on the radar.20 mil over 4 years...This would ruin the one of the best offseasons in recent spurs history..SAY NO TO JEROME JAMES, i mean GORTAT
Sheed is going to bring at ude and swagger to the team!!! Yeah!!!
I would stay away from Gortat. The only role i could see him fulfilling successfully if he were to sign, would be strictly as a backup for Duncan - much like he was for Howard. Im not sure how much he can help playing with Timmy, clogging up the lane, because he doesnt have a jumpshot. Not that i have seen anyway.
So, paying the full MLE, or close to it for a 10-15 MPG backup is too much IMO.
no way I pick Anderson over Varejao. Varejao has 5x more impact on the game
Not the Jerome James thing again. Didn't you go there in the Think Tank thread too? Seriously, if you can't come up with anything better than that then just don't bother responding.20 mil over 4 years...This would ruin the one of the best offseasons in recent spurs history..SAY NO TO JEROME JAMES, i mean GORTAT
I'd go with McDyess over Wallace. I'm not sure Wallace's 3 point ability makes up for the Ts, and McDyess' jumper is very solid out to the range where opposing defenses will give TD the space he needs. That said, if it's Wallace instead of McDyess, I'm not losing any sleep.
While getting a shotblocker would be nice, I'm not sure it's a prerequisite for another championship. They do need a starting big opposite TD who can make his defensive rotations and hit the boards. McDyess is the man for that. Plus he also tends to play closer to the rim and his rebounding stats should that, in contrast to Wallace's.
Varejao makes a lot of sense if the Spurs strike out on the top two. He's been a very good frontcourt role player in Cleveland. Above all else, you need someone who can defend the post and rebound. Plus he has plenty of postseason experience.
I think if the Spurs don't land either of the top two, then in addition to whoever they sign to start they also need to add a cheaper, solid defensive bigman for the bench who can defend the bigger centers in the NBA (Yao, Shaq, etc...). At the top of that list is Radoslav Nesterovic. I think he can be had in this market for the LLE. I'm not sure if he'd be inclined to return to SA, but I never got the sense that he held any grudge for being traded. I've never been a fan of his, but there's a difference between being the starting center and coming off the bench in spots. I think the Spurs will need someone other than just TD as capable of matching up against true 5s. Nesterovic fits the bill.
Bringing Gooden back and adding Nesterovic might not be a bad Plan C or D. I think that the longer Gooden plays with TD the better chemistry they can develop, plus with Gooden you get a post threat when TD is out of the game. And Gooden can definitely rebound the basketball.
The Spurs will probably end up with a good starting bigman out of free agency using the MLE. If it doesn't work out, they should have a tradeable asset on their hands.
The wild card in all of this is Mahinmi and Blair. If those two are good for 35 minutes a night, then the Spurs should be able to get by with an average starting big.
Excellent summary of available options. I ask the question " If the worst case scenario becomes a reality and TD continues to be hobbled by his knees next season, who is the Big FA who can best approximate what TD does? Spurs bought insurance in the form of RJ just in case Manu continues his physical struggles but what about TD insurance?
Looking at the choices, my guesses would be:
1. Rasheed
2. Rasheed
3. Rasheed
It just goes to show how unique and valuable TD is that it was so difficult to find a replacement to fill his shoes just in case. Rasheed has the size, length, talent, BBIQ.. can play offense, defense.. not the best in each category but the overall package he's the best. Now, if only we could transplant McDyess' blue-collar, no-nonsense personality into Rasheed's body.
Yep -- the game that ended the Lakers' threepeat.Hey RUSS
In your sig, is that after game 6 against the Lakers in 2003?
Or as it is sometimes known to Spurs fans, "The Crying Game."
Did you rehearse that?Yep -- the game that ended the Lakers' threepeat.
Or as it is sometimes known to Spurs fans, "The Crying Game."
Best sig on ST
I'd probably go:
1. Gortat
2. McDyess
3. Wallace
4. Pachulia
5. Javtokas
6. Anderson
7. Villanueva
Don't like anybody else on the list who I think could actually be signed or is worth having.
I've re-thinked some things, and here's my list:
Wallace
Pachulia
Gortat
Andersen
Gooden
Damn, Gortat number one? You aren't worried about the drastically different system or the small sample size we've witnessed thus far? How much would you be willing to give him?
Another thing that makes me hesitate about Gortat is he sucked in D-League. He didn't play there long but I find it odd that he didn't do much better.
No McDyess?
Actually, yes, I am worried about all those things. And posted about all those things on the various Gortat threads during the playoffs, riling up the pro-Gortaters.
I have him there by a razor thin margin. But I like the fact that at his age the wheels aren't just going to fall off at a moment's notice like they might do with Dice and like I believe has already happened with Sheed. He may be a bust, but a young bust. At worst, he's a proven, legit back-up to TD for the rest of his career.
MLE I'd be fine with. I'm not gung ho, but considering that the other under-30 candidate, Pachulia, is coming off a 4/16 deal, the market for young bigs is a lot of money.
Besides, I'm thinking he'll get a bigger than MLE deal from one of the few teams with caproom, maybe Detroit.
If there are two categories, big men that could be theoretically had for LLE or less ($2 mill approx for 2 years) and big men who would take up the majority of the MLE ($4 mil +) . . .
Then my ranking for Javtokas goes higher with the lower price tier. He's limited, but knows his role. He won't turn the ball over like crazy like Pachulia (who should be in the higher $ category) and actually blocks shots. Pachulia is tough and stands up to people, but so is Javtokas. I don't think anyone else on the list has put a player in the hospital with a broken face from a deliberate fighting elbow smash. He'll set picks, finish strong, and be a useful utility big man.
I forgot to mention it somewhere but I lowered Gortat and Pachulia a little bit because Pop specifically said that they were going to spend the MLE on a "4". If you have Gortat or Pachulia in mind, you aren't going to say 4. It's questionable to me whether a starting lineup featuring Duncan and a center is quick enough to survive in today's NBA.
Wallace and McDyess aren't very quick but they are definitely 4s. Anderson is more 4 than 5.
Sideshow Bob is the wild card. He supposedly wants more than the MLE. If he can't get it, I wonder if the Spurs look at him as the third option with a short, lucrative contract. He very well could be the best defender on the list.
my top 5- sheed, gooden, mcdyess, pachulia, villanueva
Rasheed has been known to play pretty good D when motivated, and block a shot here and there.
I don't think at this point in his career Wallace can qualify as a 4. He was the starting center for Detroit this year. When he played, he was the center. Sometimes they started at power forward Amir, sometimes McDyess, sometimes they even went small with Tayshaun at the 4.
But Rasheed is so broken down now he's a center. In fact he's been the starting center ever since they let Ben Wallace go.
I don't think Javtokas would come for LLE money. He can likely get more money and more perks in Europe.
And Javtokas would only really make sense as a Mahinmi replacement. Going with Javtokas, Mahinmi and Blair as three of the main bigs in the bigman rotation is too much inexperience, IMO.
I would rather have McDyess then Rasheed, simply because Antonio is a better compliment to Duncan and he is a man who will bust his ass. Damn we are speaking about him as a center, and when he was starting his career he was a SF.
Anyway second guy is Wallace, if those both guys will go elsewhere, we should try Gortat.
It's really tough to say how is his IQ will go on. He seemed to be lost many times on O (like LJ said) but IMO SVG was screwing this.
Umm, Gortat is a Pops kind a player. Hard worker and with geat at ude and a guy that can level up the chemistry.
Damn it's pretty tough to find a really usefull big man this days.
Maybe. But I don't know if the exact wording equals so strict an interpretation. After all, Pop when he was talking about getting a "4" didn't strictly say MLE or mid-level. He said "middle class". Of course, we all know he means mid-level exception aka MLE. So I feel comfortable assuming that when he says "4" he could mean any big.
McDyess has always been a bigman . . .
To be fair to Pop, that's what it used to be called.
I just don't think if Pop's plan is to sprint after Gortat or Pachulia as even second or third options that he'd say 4. Maybe I'm wrong but that sounds like Wallace, McDyess, Varejao and Gooden.
And yeah, despite Wallace slowing down, I still consider him much more 4 than 5. Especially on the offensive end, he has drifted far away from the basket. Perhaps he's more of a 5 these days in terms of his lack of quickness but that's about it.
I'd consider McDyess more of a 5.
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