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Raja Bell is free...
too late
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_14720998
No kidding. Diop is awful and his contract is worse. I'd rather have Fransisco Elson back.
Raja Bell is free...
too late
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_14720998
If Splitter does come over for most of the MLE (Thats a big IF), then I'd consider bringing in Bell over Bogans or Mason for the vet minimum giving us...
Manu, Jefferson, Hairston, Bell, and our draft pick (if its a wing)...as our rotation.
^^How are we supposed to win a le without our centerpiece? asdf!!1
I am not at all sold on bringing Bell in. I don't think he has much more than Bogan's left in him. If it is the vet min, sure, but even then I don't know what to expect and I would rather have Malik get the minutes.
Malik would still get plenty of minutes. Bell would be a no brainer for the vet minimum if he's healthy.
I don't know his current game at this point of the season. But if he's nearly the guy that defended the Spurs in 07, we should look for him.
Bell is done..we need younger better players next year.
Unfortunately, those two things are frequently at odds.
This has been my thinking for some time. I'm not in love with the idea of another 34 year old, un-athletic player joining this team, but I'm a realist and I know there's a good chance that Bell is the best the Spurs can do when it comes to at least temporarily filling the role of wing stopper. That being said, it'll probably take the bi-annual exception to sign him.
We know he'd fit in with the Spurs culture and even at his advanced age (though this is somewhat tough to tell considering he basically hasn't played this season) he should be able to offer better defense than Bogans and better 3-point shooting than Mason has provided this season. That's what the Spurs need, someone to combine defense + 3 point shooting on the wing, so that they can condense their rotation.
Supposedly the Spurs have been interested in Bell all season and if they're smart they should have called his agent today to express interest immediately. Be the first team to contact him, show him that they have serious interest, plant the seed and maybe they can secure his commitment early or at least early in free agency and have one area taken care of.
Last edited by TD 21; 03-21-2010 at 10:57 PM.
Not when we are talking about raja bell..there are plenty of younger & better players.
There are, but name one that the Spurs could realistically attain, particularly if they sign Splitter with the majority of, if not all of, the mid-level exception first? Bell basically combines Bogans and Mason, only he's better than both at their supposed specialty.
Matt Barnes? Good defender who is a good 3-point shooter and who can drive to the basket and score. Good size(6'7"). Will be a free agent this Summer.
If the money is even close, it's probably unlikely he'd leave the Magic, who are one of the three best teams in the league. Also, he's shooting .318% from 3 this year and .329 from 3 in his career, so he's not a good 3 point shooter, in fact he's a sub par one and a significantly worse one than Bogans. Bell shot .444% from 3 this season (small sample size) and shoots .411% from 3 over his career. He's an excellent 3 point shooter and a more proven defender than Barnes.
But Bell will be 35 next year, while Barnes is 4 years younger and is 2 or 3 inches taller. I also worry about Bell's inactivity along with his age, but if the price is right, I'd take a flyer on Bell.
Spurs have had multiple chances to sign Barnes and have passed for their reasons. You should exclude him from your notion.
Sure he's old, but I don't give a crap. This team IS getting younger, so getting a nice rotation player like Bell will be awesome. He could start or come off the bench. Even at his age, his defense should be just fine, while his 3pt shooting is simply awesome (41.1% for his career).
His defense can't be worse than Bogans on most nights, while his 3's are MUCH better. This could drop Bogans entirely from the lineup while we play him and more of Hairston, since Mason will be gone. Hill can get minutes at the 1 and 2, while manu will also alternate between the 2 and 3, hoping he is resigned for next season.
Sure he's old, but I don't give a crap. This team IS getting younger, so getting a nice rotation player like Bell will be awesome. He could start or come off the bench. Even at his age, his defense should be just fine, while his 3pt shooting is simply awesome (41.1% for his career).
His defense can't be worse than Bogans on most nights, while his 3's are MUCH better. This could drop Bogans entirely from the lineup while we play him and more of Hairston, since Mason will be gone. Hill can get minutes at the 1 and 2, while manu will also alternate between the 2 and 3, hoping he is resigned for next season.
no.
That's nice, the reality is Bell is a better fit (and he'll be 34 this year/next season, not 35) and probably still a better player. In terms of a starter, the Spurs more pressing need is at SG than SF (Barnes is an SF and a small ball PF, but lacks the ball skills to play SG). Let's face it, Jefferson is more than likely going to be their starting SF next season (at least until the '11 trade deadline) and he is playing at a decent level fairly consistently now. SG is a different story. The Spurs clearly prefer Ginobili off the bench and Hill is too small to be a full-time starting SG. Bell may not be at his 01-07 defensive level anymore, but he's got to be still at least a notch or two above Bogans and he's a significantly better shooter.
I'm not worried about the inactivity because his wrist will be fine soon and he can play and get/stay in shape throughout the entire summer, this is not a Ginobili summer of '09 case.
I heard the spurs have this guy named Hairston who's been playing pretty good ball lately and is looking for more consistent minutes.
Oh, and he's young.. AND he's talented.
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