10 Top Worst Moves by the Spurs Front Office this Season.

[ceperez]

Okay here's it is....

#10. Not being able to trade away expiring contracts like Mason, Finley and Bonner for anything of value.
#9. Starting and playing Finley at expense of other player development, only to see him skip town when he lost playing time.
#8. Playing an injured Parker.
#7. Not picking up Mahinmi's contract and not having him play to avoid the embarrassment that he can actually play.
#6. Missing out on acquiring any of the Wizard players that were dumped prior to the trade deadline. Butler and Waywood are an enormous upgrade for the Mavs... who were acquired for... Gooden who we dumped.
#5. Going over the luxury threshold with Jefferson's salary.
#4. Signing a aging power forward in McDyess for $5M/year for 2 years and expecting him to play center.
#3. Signing Keith Bogans and playing him major minutes despite any evidence of ability or production.
#2. Claiming to limit Duncan's minutes at the same time trading away Ratliff and benching the other center Mahinmi.
#1. Not extending Ginobli's contract despite the fact that he contributes a lot of intangibles to the Spurs game.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

10. Tough call since it was obvious the FO didn't want to take any contracts running after 2010, so who'd want our trash expirings for (supposedly) better expirings?
9. 2008 forum
8. Link to where it says PF heals magically with a couple of months rest only? Or do you mean just shutting him down for the season?
7. Why would they guarantee money ( +lux tax ) to a player who won't be in the NBA next season anyway?
6. Dallas's offer and willingness to take on another bloated contract was much better than anything we could have offered, if you can't grasp that you're delusional.
5. While you're right that his contract is very bad, simply letting Kurt, Bruce and Fab expire would not have helped make the team more compe ive this season, as we were already above the salary cap.
4. Who would you have signed instead for less than the MLE in order to squeeze in Blair's contract too?
3. A min player playing better than the supposed level of a min player, not his fault Mason's and RJ's balls have shrunk.Who else would you have brought for the min?
2. Ratliff was never going to play any significant minutes anyway, Duncan's minutes have been well limited. Mahinmi is not an NBA player.
1. It's easy for a fan, not so easy for the FO to throw about $50 mil just like that ( salary + lux tax ) with no health insurances.

[objective]

#10 and #6 seem to be the same thing.

[will_spurs]

7. Why would they guarantee money ( +lux tax ) to a player who won't be in the NBA next season anyway?

How much do you bet Mahinmi gets picked up by a team next year?

[ceperez]

How much do you bet Mahinmi gets picked up by a team next year?

If Mahinmi were in fact as bad as everyone seems to claim, then why wasn't he trade like Ratliff for a 2nd round pick?

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

How much do you bet Mahinmi gets picked up by a team next year?

5 million internet banana dollars, how's that for a bet?

Seriously though, he wasn't in demand at the trade deadline, was he? Theo Ratliff was... apparently.

You got me though, some team might offer him the min, but how much do you bet anyone pays Mahinmi the $2 million ( that's $ 4 mil with lux tax ) he was supposed to get if his option had been picked?

[objective]

Maybe nobody will want Mahinmi. It's possible, and teams will be even less prone to carrying more than the minimum number of players as they continue to be affected by the economy.

though let's not forget, nobody wanted Scola either. Spurs couldn't get anyone to offer them jack for him even though everyone had seen Scola play for years at the highest levels in europe.

In the end, only two guys wanted him. Ferry, who had been in the Spurs FO and only offered a 2nd rounder, and the stat-nerd that was hated on for being hired while Dawson's groomed successor was shown the door and landed with the Spurs. And stat-nerd who uses EA Live sports games to scout players got him for a 2nd plus the cost of eating a single year of 2.5 million worth of coat-thief.

All it takes is one guy to throw Mahinmi a bone. Low risk, high reward. Invisible bone chips, Lots of french. It's all good.

[superjames1992]

If Mahinmi were in fact as bad as everyone seems to claim, then why wasn't he trade like Ratliff for a 2nd round pick?

Maybe no one wanted him? Who knows?

[Spursfanfromafar]

None of the Top 10 Moves can be pinned against the Front Office, which in my opinion has done all that was needed except for this -

Trying to get a trade done during the Trade Deadline. Much more could have possibly been done to pry a Marcus Camby or a Tyrus Thomas or a Brendan Haywood.

Other than that, there is little to crib about the FO's moves.

As for Coach Pop's - his insistence on small ball was a major irritant and so were his inconsistent starting lineups. Other moves such as underplaying Hairston, Mahinmi would not have resulted in anything better in terms of wins for the team, I am sure of that.

RJ's under-achievement, TP's major ailments, Manu's and McDyess' slow starts and Duncan's wearing down of late are the major reasons for what the Spurs are now.

[TJastal]

None of the Top 10 Moves can be pinned against the Front Office, which in my opinion has done all that was needed except for this -

Trying to get a trade done during the Trade Deadline. Much more could have possibly been done to pry a Marcus Camby or a Tyrus Thomas or a Brendan Haywood.

Other than that, there is little to crib about the FO's moves.

As for Coach Pop's - his insistence on small ball was a major irritant and so were his inconsistent starting lineups. Other moves such as underplaying Hairston, Mahinmi would not have resulted in anything better in terms of wins for the team, I am sure of that.

RJ's under-achievement, TP's major ailments, Manu's and McDyess' slow starts and Duncan's wearing down of late are the major reasons for what the Spurs are now.

Duncan is wearing down because he's had to carry the paint defense all year long thanks to Popovich not playing the only guys on the team that can help in that dept (Theo and Ian)

He should have at least made an attempt to do one or the other, the fact he did neither is inexcusable.

[rascal]

Doing nothing at the trade deadline was a big failure for the front office. It was apparant the spurs were not good enough this year to contend for a le and still they could not upgrade the roster while other teams did.

[TJastal]

I do agree with you on the trade deadline though, contrary to what some think on this forum I don't think Popovich tried hard at all.

[gospursgojas]

A lot of those are coaching decisions.

I guess you can consider that FO. But I would make a list of pure FO decisions, like aquiring and letting go players.

Signing Rj, dice, waiving fin, not trading at deadline, not extending manu or ian, not acting on earlier season trade opertunites like jack.

[Cane]

Nobody ing wanted to make a deal with the Spurs; you look at the trade deals that happened and the Spurs didn't have the contracts or players to make a deal unless you throw in George Hill, Manu Ginobili, or DeJuan Blair which would be dumb to do.

Mason Jr. almost got traded to Miami for a second round pick but their trade exception retired. Theo is a ty and older version of Marcus Camby except he only statpads blocks and little to nothing else; Bonner, McDyess, and Blair all contribute more. Theo is better than Ian though but when it comes to garbage minute players, la-dee- ing-da

No trade would've made the Big 3 younger, Parker healthy, or greatly improve this squad and there was none that the Spurs could really capitalize on.

[TJastal]

Nobody ing wanted to make a deal with the Spurs; you look at the trade deals that happened and the Spurs didn't have the contracts or players to make a deal unless you throw in George Hill, Manu Ginobili, or DeJuan Blair which would be dumb to do.

Mason Jr. almost got traded to Miami for a second round pick but their trade exception retired. Theo is a ty and older version of Marcus Camby except he only statpads blocks and little to nothing else; Bonner, McDyess, and Blair all contribute more. Theo is better than Ian though but when it comes to garbage minute players, la-dee- ing-da

No trade would've made the Big 3 younger, Parker healthy, or greatly improve this squad and there was none that the Spurs could really capitalize on.

Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, EricB. Spurs had decent expiring contracts to dangle (Roger Mason/Bonner) as well as 1st round picks and even the rights to Splitter. They could have pried Thomas with those assets given the scraps the bulls settled for from the bobcats.

Theo is doing quite well on the bobcats and could have done the same for the spurs (been the starter w/ limited minutes). With a full year under his belt he would have been a valuable piece by now and a great help to Duncan in the paint.

Really, just stop trying to sugar coat these failures, you just keep making yourself look dumber.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, EricB. Spurs had decent expiring contracts to dangle (Roger Mason/Bonner) as well as 1st round picks and even the rights to Splitter. They could have pried Thomas with those assets given the scraps the bulls settled for from the bobcats.

OK, I'll play along, what makes you think our ( eventual ) offer would have been better than Bobcats'? How is 2 expirings + 1st round pick from the Spurs better than 2 expirings + 1st round pick from the Bobcats?

[ElNono]

I'll just point out one mistake that I think has been glaring since last season: We've been needing a legitimate backup point guard for a long time now.

[TJastal]

OK, I'll play along, what makes you think our ( eventual ) offer would have been better than Bobcats'? How is 2 expirings + 1st round pick from the Spurs better than 2 expirings + 1st round pick from the Bobcats?

Spurs could have simply made their pick unprotected, thus insuring the bulls got the pick instead of gambling on whether or not they make the playoffs.

And even if they made it protected (like the bobcats did) it would be more attractive to the bulls than the bobcats' pick given the spurs chance of making the playoffs and securing it would be higher given their rank in the standings and past performances.

This is to say nothing of the Splitter rights they could have used that the spurs will (probably) get nothing for now when Splitter decides to play out his contract and stay in Europe.

[pad300]

Greatly improved this squad? Get John Salmons. Look at that trade

John Salmons + 2 2nd round picks + First round exchange rights with the bulls in 2010

for

Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick (2 expirings worth 5.5 million combined...)

Would John Salmons upgrade our wing rotation? He'd be the 2nd best wing on our team... Manu, Salmons, RJ,...

Could we do 2 expirings worth 5.5 million? Easy Peasey! Would we have happily skipped either one of the 2nd round picks or the first round exchange rights, yep! Gee we could have offered a better package than MIL!

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Spurs could have simply made their pick unprotected, thus insuring the bulls got the pick instead of gambling on whether or not they make the playoffs.

And even if they made it protected (like the bobcats did) it would be more attractive to the bulls than the bobcats' pick given the spurs chance of making the playoffs and securing it would be higher given their rank in the standings and past performances.

This is to say nothing of the Splitter rights they could have used that the spurs will (probably) get nothing for now when Splitter decides to play out his contract and stay in Europe.

So you'd give out an unprotected 1st round pick? And you critisize the FO? Laughable.

Bobcats' pick is deffinitely more attractive than the Spurs', can't see how you can argue that.

As for Splitter, how can you possibly think his rights could be the sweetener that'd swing the deal in the Spurs favor and in the same time predict he'll stay in Europe? Surely you'd realize this makes no sense at all.
And gifting his rights hmmm, do you also critisize the FO for the Scola deal?

[in2deep]

Luis Scola is the #1 worst move every season

[TJastal]

Thomas and Ratliff have put up 40 blocks so far for the bobcats in just 9 games. Larry Brown obviously values rim protection and defense, it's too bad Popovich doesn't anymore.

[TJastal]

So you'd give out an unprotected 1st round pick? And you critisize the FO? Laughable.

Bobcats' pick is deffinitely more attractive than the Spurs', can't see how you can argue that.

As for Splitter, how can you possibly think his rights could be the sweetener that'd swing the deal in the Spurs favor and in the same time predict he'll stay in Europe? Surely you'd realize this makes no sense at all.
And gifting his rights hmmm, do you also critisize the FO for the Scola deal?

So you're saying the spurs would get a higher impact player in the 1st round than what Tyrus Thomas is doing right now for the bobcats? I'm sorry, but that's what is really laughable

And the bobcats pick was protected, meaning if they miss the playoffs (which at the time of the trade deadline looked fairly likely) the bulls miss out on the pick. Spurs' pick would have been much more secure bet for next season. That you debate this is laughable as well.

As for Splitter, just because it's my personal belief that he is staying in Europe doesn't mean everyone else does. There's always a chance he could come and teams might be willing to gamble on that chance. It makes perfect sense in that light, if I was the spurs F.O. and it was my opinion he was going to wig out on my team again then I am going to get something of value for him while I still can.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

So you're saying the spurs would get a higher impact player in the 1st round than what Tyrus Thomas is doing right now for the bobcats? I'm sorry, but that's what is really laughable

And the bobcats pick was protected, meaning if they miss the playoffs (which at the time of the trade deadline looked fairly likely) the bulls miss out on the pick. Spurs' pick would have been much more secure bet for next season. That you debate this is laughable as well.

As for Splitter, just because it's my personal belief that he is staying in Europe doesn't mean everyone else does. There's always a chance he could come and teams might be willing to gamble on that chance. It makes perfect sense in that light, if I was the spurs F.O. and it was my opinion he was going to wig out on my team again then I am going to get something of value for him while I still can.

I'm not saying the Spurs would have gotten a better talent, I'm saying that from the Bulls perspective the Bobcats pick is better and no they don't miss out on it, it's much more complicated, you just don't know the facts - google it, read, then argue.

If the FO already knows that Splitter will stay in Europe, then it'd be extremely naive from you to think other teams are not aware of it as well. If he's not coming then his rights have no value at all and would be of no interest to anyone. If there's a chance he'd come, then the Spurs would be wise to keep him, as the Scola deal has proved. Now, if you think the FO did great with trading away Scola, then fine.

[Cane]

Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, EricB. Spurs had decent expiring contracts to dangle (Roger Mason/Bonner) as well as 1st round picks and even the rights to Splitter. They could have pried Thomas with those assets given the scraps the bulls settled for from the bobcats.

Theo is doing quite well on the bobcats and could have done the same for the spurs (been the starter w/ limited minutes). With a full year under his belt he would have been a valuable piece by now and a great help to Duncan in the paint.

Really, just stop trying to sugar coat these failures, you just keep making yourself look dumber.

Nah, Theo is just a stat padder with little to no impact on the game; worse than even Marcus Camby and he'd likely get eaten alive in the West. Who the is EricB?

And now you pulled out bull that we could've gotten Thomas and say I'm "sugar coating" that failure? GTFO, no wonder you can't start threads

The only trades available were to cash in expirings like Mason and Theo for future draft picks unless they throw in Blair, Hill, or Ginobili which would be dumb as .