Reply With Quote
bonner and finley for battier
i was thinking about that earlier
what if houston wanted to start to rebuild because of yao and if artest walks and make room for 2010 or soemtbing
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...ith_Spurs.html
Finley stays; big, tall task left for Spurs
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News
Web Posted: 07/01/2009 12:00 CDT
The first piece of the Spurs' free-agent puzzle fell into place just before lunchtime Tuesday. That's when Michael Finley informed the team that he didn't want to be one.
Finley, 36, eschewed a second consecutive summer of free agency, exercising a contract option to stay in San Antonio that will pay him $2.5 million next season.
If the Spurs' next offseason move is a success, Finley probably won't wind up having to play center next season.
At the stroke of midnight in New York, which signaled open season on this summer's free agents, Finley — 6-foot-7 and a swingman by trade — officially became the fourth-tallest player on the Spurs' roster.
As this summer's free agency opens, this much is clear: The Spurs plan to do most of their shopping at the big and tall store.
The trade last week that brought in Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee also sent forwards Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto packing. After Drew Gooden became a free agent Tuesday night, the Spurs enter July with just three big men under contract — Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and Ian Mahinmi.
The good news for the Spurs is that they have options for filling out their frontcourt. Enough so that they didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on the Jefferson deal.
“There are more names at (the) four that we like than there are at the three, as far as free agents go,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
On the heels of perhaps their most successful June that didn't culminate with the raising of the Larry O'Brien trophy — adding Jefferson and drafting lottery-worthy talent DeJuan Blair in the second round — the Spurs are hoping for a July-August encore.
In order to accomplish that, they will need to attract a veteran big man who could plausibly start alongside Duncan.
Some of the Spurs' first calls are likely to go to a pair of Detroit Pistons — Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess — believed to be the cream of this year's big-man crop.
Wallace, who made $13.9 million last season, would have to take a substantial pay cut to extricate himself from what is shaping up to be a messy rebuilding situation in Detroit.
McDyess, meanwhile, re-signed with the Pistons after being included in the midseason Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson deal with Denver. He is expected to court a handful of suitors during his latest flirtation with free agency, the Spurs among them.
The Spurs have other options as well.
They might also talk about re-signing Gooden, who arrived for the April stretch run last season. They also could discuss bringing back Oberto, once Detroit waives him as expected.
One player not expected to be of much immediate help to the Spurs: Tiago Splitter.
The Spurs' first-round pick in 2007, Splitter is expected to remain in Spain for at least one more season.
“Anything can happen,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. “But we're not planning on him this summer.”
The Spurs, who now have nine players under guaranteed contract, have at their disposal a mid-level exception due to be worth approximately $5.5 million. Majority owner Peter Holt, in keeping with his offseason mandate for the front office to be aggressive in re-tooling the team, has given Buford the green light to spend it all if need be — even with the team already blowing past the luxury tax threshold with the Jefferson deal.
“Peter and his group have given a lot to this city, and this is another example of that,” Buford said. “They've challenged us to make this thing better.”
The Spurs also have a biannual exception, expected to be worth a shade less than $1.9 million, though they have never used that financial tool before.
Given the “whatever it takes” nature of the offseason so far, it also wouldn't be surprising to see the Spurs explore trade options involving the rest of their expiring contracts — Roger Mason Jr., Bonner and now Finley.
Much of the Spurs' offseason strategy could depend on how Blair, the 6-7 former Pittsburgh All-American considered a second-round steal on draft day, fares in the Las Vegas summer league later this month.
Meanwhile, the Spurs will have decisions to make regarding their own free agents.
Along with Gooden, Ime Udoka and Jacque Vaughn also saw their contracts expire Tuesday night. As with Gooden, the Spurs will talk to Udoka about re-signing but will likely want to survey the rest of the free-agent landscape first.
The Spurs are not expected to bring back Vaughn, a 34-year-old third point guard who logged just 292 minutes in 30 games last season.
bonner and finley for battier
i was thinking about that earlier
what if houston wanted to start to rebuild because of yao and if artest walks and make room for 2010 or soemtbing
It's becoming clearer and clearer that Jeff McDonald gets half of his info from Spurstalk
Sheed and Dice = Plan A
Plan B?????? Let's hope the Spurs don't get there.
The Spurs, who now have nine players under guaranteed contract, have at their disposal a mid-level exception due to be worth approximately $5.5 million. Majority owner Peter Holt, in keeping with his offseason mandate for the front office to be aggressive in re-tooling the team, has given Buford the green light to spend it all if need be — even with the team already blowing past the luxury tax threshold with the Jefferson deal.
“Peter and his group have given a lot to this city, and this is another example of that,” Buford said. “They've challenged us to make this thing better.”
Is that accurate? I thought they used the LLE at some point in the last 5 years.The Spurs also have a biannual exception, expected to be worth a shade less than $1.9 million, though they have never used that financial tool before.
Yeah, they owe the Spurs one.
I thought they used it on Manu when they first brought him over in the summer of 2002.
Is that accurate? I thought they used the LLE at some point in the last 5 years.
Then they should see what it takes to pull off another salary dump trade to bolster the bench, such as for a Nocioni or a Foster.Given the “whatever it takes” nature of the offseason so far, it also wouldn't be surprising to see the Spurs explore trade options involving the rest of their expiring contracts — Roger Mason Jr., Bonner and now Finley.
I like it.
salaries pretty much matchup
battier is owed 5 million the next 2 seasons
hope the spurs might call houston on this one e ally if they have no chance of being contenders this season
Yeah, I was thinking about this one also, but the Rockets aren't giving him up without getting at least something in return (Hill or picks) in addition to Bonner and Finley (that and I don't think the salaries work for just those two, unless we have a trade exception). Maybe if he begged them, after all he's done for them... but I doubt it.
Edit: According to shamsports.com, Battier will be making $6,864,200 next year. Bonner and Finley total $5,756,500.
I think the Spurs have learned their lesson about dealing within the division.
Anyways, some teams are hurting financially around the league. Milwaukee seems to be in some real trouble, but the Spurs have already gone to that well.
Battier, Nocioni or Foster that would be awesome if we could trade for one of those guys.
IMO the Spurs really should definitely be looking at those types of trades with Bonner, Finley and Mason Jr.
If the Spurs make a trade it will be for size in the frontcourt. I could see the Spurs revisiting trade deadline proposals with the Clippers, who now have an even deeper frontcourt with the addition of Blake Griffin.
Camby or Kaman are the most likely, though it would probably cost Mason. I'm sure free agency is the first option.
Great to see Peter told RC to keep going for it all.
Hopefully everything in that article is true. With McDonald, it's tough to tell when he's using his own opinion or when he's getting information from the Spurs.
If true, it sounds like the Spurs are heading in the right direction
Trade these three for Camby.
At least they shouldn't have a problem competing with a full MLE offer for Wallace or McDyess. Part of the question will be the # of years, while the other will be if they can sell either on joining the team. At this point I think anything up to 3 years is feasible. After the 2011-12 season they can pare down the payroll and rebuild the team around TP with picks and other cheap players.
Fellas, no way in you get Battier for that piddling sum. Get real.
Well he had the Finley info the night before it became official.Hopefully everything in that article is true. With McDonald, it's tough to tell when he's using his own opinion or when he's getting information from the Spurs.
If true, it sounds like the Spurs are heading in the right direction
He might be finally making some inroads into the organization sources wise, wich would be nice, I've felt bad for him because its been painfully obvious he's had ZERO friends in the organization and from what I've heard about him, he's a bust ass reporter.
One of McDonald's better efforts.
Yeah he's getting better, and alot of it IMO is from finally maybe getting sone contacts within the organization.One of McDonald's better efforts.
Doubtful unless Hill is included, at a minimum. Maybe the Clippers can shave a little bit off their payroll with such a trade, but the Clippers turned down a more attractive offer from the Spurs at last February's trade deadline that offered the Clips Bowen and Oberto's partially guaranteed contracts and Hill. The Clips could have saved $5 mil in the upcoming season and landed Hill. I think the Spurs will land their starting big in free agency and then will add either a solid big or swingman to the bench via a trade, preferably using Bonner and Finley.Trade these three for Camby.
And there's always the LLE to use (assuming Holt has given the green light) as well.
Would be awesome to sign a Rasheed, then take Finley and Bonner and turn them into a James Posey type.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
