Just pondering on some more posts about Mahinmi.
You know, he is only 22. At 6' 11" and with incredible athleticism, he is worth keeping, even if it's at the 15th spot on the team. He is paid only $3M over the next 2 years (not his fault the Spurs are paying luxury tax $$$). That is incredibly cheap for a big.
He will mature greatly over the next 2 years and develop his confidence in this Spurs system over that time. I thus think that 2011/2012 will be the time frame to see him excel. Yes the time is now for the Spurs and we are thinking championships, but is the 15th spot really going to change that? I don't believe so. But keeping him in the system, keeping him practicing and developing his confidence will only help Mahinmi reach his full potential. I think the Spurs will take the option on Mahinmi's contract and that 2011/2012 is the season he breaks out. I can picture him, Tiago and Blair on the court at the same time, all in beast mode! Best of all, when he does break out of his s , he will still be cheap as compared to other bigs.
That said, don't expect too much from this guy this year. Yes Blair is a beast but if Blair was common then we wouldn't be salivating at his performance would we? If it was common every team would have their own Blair story. But they don't.
Mahinmi is gonna take a little more time to develop, but again, he is only 22. I can wait for his beast mode to develop. Waiting until he is 24 seems reasonable given the monstrous upside that still exists with this young kid.
There is just too little the Spurs know about Ian and his game. Ian still has a lot of work to do with his game to justify a contract. I agree that he will be cheap (if you look at his contract in isolation), but that is not the position the Spurs are in.
He should get time to prove himself.
One of the basic rule when you have a choice to make is: wait as much as you can and collect as much elements as you can before making your choice.
Ian's option must be picked or declined before the end of the month. There are practices, 6 friendly games and 2 regular season game before the deadline. The smart thing to do for Spurs is to wait and see how Ian performs in these events before making their choice.
This next month is pretty much put up or shut up time for Mahinmi. The Spurs need to make a decision by month's end so he doesn't have much time left to make that impression.
This.
Spurs are in an unfortunate situation with the cap next year because of Manus status. The finances are not as fluid as they were for this season. As a result, Ian has limited time to prove his worth.
He doesn't have to be great, he just has to show some consistency..
I really want Ian to succeed, it would obviously be a huge asset for this team..his physical presence alone is better defensively than any of our bench bigs outside of Ratliff..it's going to take time for him to get it together, but he just needs to show something..
The Spurs are rooting for him, as you can see by the comments and encouragement..he'll get a good chance this entire month..let's hope he can show something..
BTW, the last time Ian played for Spurs "first" team before yesterday was 23 months ago (November 2007).
I would love it if Ian and Blair could play in the second unit together. Potentially a nice pairing.
I truly think (or maybe I am confusing my wants/hopes) that Ian can play. His very short stint with the Spurs first team looked promising and he has had a ton of promising moments with the Toros. Ian just needs to play to his strengths and continue to work at developing his game.
It'll be interesting to see how many spots the Spurs decide to go with in the frontcourt..Ian didn't play well last night, but he still looked better than Haislip and Jones..Jones is fodder, but I don't really see what Haislip can bring to this team..if his defense looks as bad as expected, he doesn't give us any kind of upgrade over Bonner, making his presence on the team pointless..
If Ian doesn't make the team, that will mean Ratliff is gonna have a much bigger role than expected in the regular season..I can't really imagine Pop leaning on one of the oldest guys in the NBA for significant regular season minutes..I really, really don't wanna see any Bonner-Blair lineups..
^ If Ian and Haislip suck, I can see Pop going with Bonner/Duncan to start the game, Blair/McDyess as second unit and Duncan/McDyess to end games. Add to that Ratliff playing some minutes in case of foul troubles or in some matchups.
I think the spurs should trade him now because tiago is coming next year.
I don't think Ian will be making the rotation this year. I don't see him making the rotation next year either if we sign Thiago Splitter and Blair progresses as we expect him to do.
Sent him to Europe for 2 years to see what he is really worth, and keep his rights. Would that even be possible?! If yes, thats what I would do.
Otherwise ship him to Larry Brown, he seems to think high of him.
Let's remember that 2 years from now, it's quite possible that Duncan, Ratliff and McDyess could be gone. The NBA landscape isn't littered with young, athletic bigs. Even if Ian isn't a finished product yet or ready to be a rotation big now, the Spurs need to continue polishing this stone. They owe it to the future of the franchise to see this project through.
I think they have to pass on his option. He has to prove he can play. A contract year is a good omen for that...
He cant prove anything if hes injured all the time
I don't think a few preseason games and regular season games is enough to determine whether Ian will succeed as an NBA player. For many players, it takes more than one season, after they are drafted, to find their way. Ian is basically a rookie and is finally going to get some playing time at the elite level.
Less fluid next year? How? Ian is not any kind of cap breaker, his contract is cheap. Manu's contract will most likely be less than this year if they choose to resign him, which they will unless he has a total breakdown. The Spurs still will be over the luxury cap , but Ian has little to do with that.
Ian will be history by the end of the month. He is just not NBA ready and I doubt he'll ever be ready.
I see this happening too, but maybe Pop will start Blair for the first few months. He did say he was going to start the vets slow.
This is something too. If the front office is positive they'll land Splitter maybe they'll be trading Jarrells/Jones/Mahinmi for someone.
I somewhat agree with the OP. He is very young and definitely has the physical tools. Here's the real question. What extremely athletic big can the Spurs find on the cheap who is still young enough to be taught the fundamentals and has enormous growth potential? I can't think of any (not that I know of every free agent out there). It's all going to come down to cost and if the FO is down with swallowing the lux tax because, and we all know this is true, Ian is not going to show anything in the next couple of weeks that forces them to pick up the option. At best, he'll show improvement. But isn't that all we want to see?
So many fouls, so little time.
Right. 17 minutes.
His spatial reasoning and footwork suck and if he didn't have ankles, he would need to gain 30 pounds. Too bad he doesn't spend 12 hours a day in a gym with Mr. Robinson for 3 months. (Problem solved.)
If the Spurs can bring Splitter over next year then Drop Ian.
If they can't, then you keep him.
For two season at that price you keep him anyway, unless you trade him...also if he can become just a good back up. He's young, he knows the system, he jumps, he run and now he's finally healthy. We can wait that he gests accostumed to the "real" players in "real" playing time...when all he will be asked to do will be playing back up minutes.
Everything more than this will be something more that we'll gratefully accept...
What would they do with him if they finally decide not to wait on his maturation process (learning how to play the game for Christ's sake) anymore? Waive him for nothing? Try and trade to some really down team?
I think you keep him and see if he can survive the season without injury an by adding an ounce or two of BB brain.
We're in the position of a stud poker player who drew a straight in the first five cards, couldn't drive out a couple of players with raises, and is looking at a possible/probable flush or full house. It's hard to let go of the big pot without seeing the last raise.
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