Free Agent: Drew Gooden

[timvp]

Maybe I'm just way off but I think that Gooden, at this stage in his career, is not that far off from McDyess. What is it about Dice that makes him a better player?

McDyess is a pro's pro who works hard, bring great character and only cares about winning. Gooden is a space cadet who is in his own world.

[EricB]

Drew Gooden would be my absolute LAST option.

It makes me puke just thinking he would be all they would get htis summer...

[The Truth #6]

Typically, a player's value declines after playing for the Spurs. With the exception of the contract Orlando gave Hedo, I feel like most teams don't want players after they go through the Spurs. I'm sure I'm forgetting some players, but that seems like how I typically remember it going down. If that's true, then we may have lowered Gooden's market value, which could be to our advantage.

[benefactor]

I think there's a fairly big dropoff from McDyess to Gooden, especially for this team. McDyess' baketball IQ is much greater than Gooden's. He's also a system player unlike Gooden who is more of an isolation player. McDyess is also better defensively.

Indeed...but the jury is still out on whether or not Gooden could play within our system. He showed some flashes of good last year, but he also showed some flashes of bad. All in all, he really didn't have enough time for us to get a real sample of what he could be. With addition of RJ I think Gooden could become even more effective on the offensive end. A starting lineup of Duncan/Gooden/RJ/Mason/Tony is a lot of damn scoring options.

[Mark in Austin]

Is anyone holding out hope that Gooden could be brought back as the starting big? A lot of Spurs fans thought that a full training camp and preseason could do Gooden a world of good. Now Gooden is an afterthought by just about everyone on the board.

I don't love him as a starter but I'd probably take him as the starter over Bass at the MLE.

I just don't think he has the mental chops / discipline to master the offense and defense the starting unit runs.

As an off-the-bench, bull in a China shop option playing the 2-man game with Manu, I think he could be really effective... but for the full MLE? Not unless all starting quality bigs are gone and only for a year to (help) keep him focused.

Hate to say it but at this point I think Blair has more promise for true Spurs Basketball than Gooden.

[Vic Petro]

Indeed...but the jury is still out on whether or not Gooden could play within our system. He showed some flashes of good last year, but he also showed some flashes of bad. All in all, he really didn't have enough time for us to get a real sample of what he could be. With addition of RJ I think Gooden could become even more effective on the offensive end. A starting lineup of Duncan/Gooden/RJ/Mason/Tony is a lot of damn scoring options.

True, but the acquisition of RJ will go a long way towards solving our scoring deficiencies. I think the most glaring place the Spurs fell off last season was in playing defense and defending the rim. For a Popovich team to be successful it's imperative the players commit on the defensive end. McDyess has a proven ability to help there. I've already seen Gooden miss enough defensive rotations to last a career.

[benefactor]

True, but the acquisition of RJ will go a long way towards solving our scoring deficiencies. I think the most glaring place the Spurs fell off last season was in playing defense and defending the rim. For a Popovich team to be successful it's imperative the players commit on the defensive end. McDyess has a proven ability to help there. I've already seen Gooden miss enough defensive rotations to last a career.

Agreed...which is why I said a trade for Collison or Foster is necessary if we sign Gooden. In Gooden's defense(no pun intended), he actually played passable man defense while he was with us last year.

[cheney212]

id take goodens d over bonner i actually want to sign gooden cuz hes a good second unit guy but pop screwed him with DNP

[Obstructed_View]

Is anyone holding out hope that Gooden could be brought back as the starting big? A lot of Spurs fans thought that a full training camp and preseason could do Gooden a world of good. Now Gooden is an afterthought by just about everyone on the board.

I don't love him as a starter but I'd probably take him as the starter over Bass at the MLE.

I keep coming back around to that. I hope the Spurs don't screw around dancing with other guys that might not be as good as Gooden and end up losing a guy who, let's face it, CHOSE to come to San Antonio and sounded like he wanted to stay here for a while. The guy's put up better numbers than McDyess has at any point since he left Denver, and is probably as good as anyone else the Spurs are going to get and cost less money. I'm still not convinced that the "low basketball IQ" argument is valid, as a camp being told where he needs to be and when isn't going to suddenly make him less than the 12 and 9 guy he's managed to be all along.

[Spurs Brazil]

I rather have Gooden than Bass

[spurspokesman]

I rather have Gooden than Bass

My god if he only had A defensive bone in his body. The beast he could be. I'm still convinced that that can be added to his game.

[Allanon]

Drew Gooden was a great stop-gap player during mid-season.

But given a full off-season to pursue choices, Drew Gooden should be very low on the Spurs list.

However, if he agrees to the vet minimum, then that's a no-brainer pickup.

[venitian navigator]

Till now, our front line is (considering our good chances to sign our draft choices ) :

- Bonner - Duncan -
Blair - Mahinmi
(Gist)
I think that the good development of Blair and Mahinimi need some players that are good ones but not so good to eliminate any chances to play good minutes.

So I don't see as a bad option the MLE - LLE idea of Gooden and Nesterovic

Line up :

Parker - Mason - Jefferson - Gooden - Duncan
Hill - Ginobili - Finley - Bonner (Gist) - Nesterovic
De Colo - Mc Clinton - Hairston (M. Williams) - Blair - Mahinmi

[timvp]

The teams I wouldn't mind going to, Spurs, Cav's, Magic, and Golden St! What do you guys think?

http://twitter.com/drewgooden

I guess the Spurs haven't closed the door on him yet.

[bigdog]

I guess the Spurs haven't closed the door on him yet.

I think it's funny that he put the Cavs on there. I wouldn't mind him back if it was for cheaper than the MLE.

[loveforthegame]

Why GS?

I think he'd fit with Nelson's system but that would mean that Wright is probably on the way out. I don't like that at all.

[Allanon]

Why GS?

I think he'd fit with Nelson's system but that would mean that Wright is probably on the way out. I don't like that at all.

You don't need to play any defense while playing for Nellie, very understable that Gooden would love to be there.

Sure the Warriors aren't contenders but he'd look like the DPOY while playing next to those guys

[Brazil]

^ Odom to the Blazers / Gooden to the Lakers !!!!!

[Allanon]

^ Odom to the Blazers / Gooden to the Lakers !!!!!

Thank you for the suggestion, but I will sacrifice for the good of the Spurs.

I REALLY look forward to seeing Gooden start with Duncan for the the Spurs this year.

[Obstructed_View]

Did I read something somewhere that Gooden visited Orlando in the last couple of days?

[bigdog]

Did I read something somewhere that Gooden visited Orlando in the last couple of days?

Gooden was in California the past couple of days, and just flew to Orlando, where he lives.

[Obstructed_View]

Gooden was in California the past couple of days, and just flew to Orlando, where he lives.

Aha. I read that he was flying to Orlando and assumed the Magic were interviewing him. If they were it might keep them from going after Dice as hard.

I'm starting to get my hopes up about Dice. Can you tell?

[bigdog]

Aha. I read that he was flying to Orlando and assumed the Magic were interviewing him. If they were it might keep them from going after Dice as hard.

I'm starting to get my hopes up about Dice. Can you tell?

Yeah. Word is Orlando is also interested in Bass. So, the more guys they're interested in, the better chance we have at getting Dice, unless Orlando's targeting Dice as their #1 option.

I really think it's between Detroit and San Antonio, and now that Detroit has hired their coach, hopefully Dice decides soon.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Marc Stein:

Big Baby and Drew Gooden are among the big-man targets for the Pistons now that JoeD is moving Afflalo, Sharpe and $350K to Denver. #fb

http://twitter.com/STEIN_LINE_HQ/status/2617613702



Looks like we might be swapping PF's this year!

[Marcus Bryant]

Perhaps Gooden might be squeezed by the current market and could be enticed into sticking around in SA for the LLE for a year so that the Spurs would have his Early Bird Rights next summer...but one would think he'd get some kind of 3 year, $14 mil deal from somebody, like the Pistons, as mentioned above.