48MoH: Roger Mason Jr.: An unfinished portrait

[ElNono]

Is he even going to find another job in the L? I guess the T-Pups always have a spot open for scrubs like him.

[sabar]

Funny how he did small times of PG before being coached under Pop without having a total meltdown in shooting ability.

[Mel_13]

Is he even going to find another job in the L? I guess the T-Pups always have a spot open for scrubs like him.

Assuming that he's willing to take the vet min, he'll get a job with some lux tax team that needs to fill required roster spots on the cheap.

[koriwhat]

out with the old... hopefully in with the new.

[carina_gino20]

While it was painful to see Mason's open shots bounce out of the rim time after time, what really pissed me off was his piss poor effort on defense. That was the main reason why I didn't want to see him on the floor late in the season. Missing open shots while dealing with a hand injury, I can deal with. Merely watching as your man blows by you to the basket, nope.

[TD 21]

Trade request plus poor performance means there's almost no chance we see Mason next year.

Bonner returning with a significant pay cut remains, unfortunately, a possibility.

Corporate knowledge, stretch 4, sandwiches....

Assuming Splitter signs and McDyess isn't traded, I don't see it. He's not young, not athletic, but is in the prime of his career and his performance hasn't significantly tailed off. So to expect him to accept being a fifth big and taking a drastically reduced salary is unrealistic. Maybe, because of the financial climate of the league, he has to take a slight pay cut, but I can't see the Spurs paying much more (if any more) than the minimum for their fifth big and Bonner's not going to make the minimum or in the vicinity of it.

The more likely scenario, as I see it, would see the Spurs looking for a cheaper option to fill this role. At this writing, I can't come up with a more likely candidate than Tolliver, even though he's a mediocre three-point shooter. But he probably will make in the vicinity of the minimum, probably will accept being a fifth big, plus he's relatively young and the Spurs are obviously familiar with him.

Sure, the Warriors probably want to retain him, but so did the Wizards with Gee. The reality is the Warriors already have five bigs ahead of him (though two can play SF), often play small and are probably going to look into acquiring a front line big. So there's a good chance opportunity will be more limited their than it may seem on the surface.

[Mel_13]

Assuming Splitter signs and McDyess isn't traded, I don't see it. He's not young, not athletic, but is in the prime of his career and his performance hasn't significantly tailed off. So to expect him to accept being a fifth big and taking a drastically reduced salary is unrealistic. Maybe, because of the financial climate of the league, he has to take a slight pay cut, but I can't see the Spurs paying much more (if any more) than the minimum for their fifth big and Bonner's not going to make the minimum or in the vicinity of it.

The more likely scenario, as I see it, would see the Spurs looking for a cheaper option to fill this role. At this writing, I can't come up with a more likely candidate than Tolliver, even though he's a mediocre three-point shooter. But he probably will make in the vicinity of the minimum, probably will accept being a fifth big, plus he's relatively young and the Spurs are obviously familiar with him.

Sure, the Warriors probably want to retain him, but so did the Wizards with Gee. The reality is the Warriors already have five bigs ahead of him (though two can play SF), often play small and are probably going to look into acquiring a front line big. So there's a good chance opportunity will be more limited their than it may seem on the surface.

Well, you're not going to get me to make a case for Bonner. My point was merely that I view the chance of Mason returning as very close to zero. While I view the chance of Bonner returning as small, it is greater than Mason's.

As for how much of a pay cut, if any, Bonner has to accept, I guess we'll see. It is a little noted truth in the NBA that a number of proven NBA vets are involuntarily retired every year. You see that article in late September about vets without a job and how few roster spots are left unfilled in the NBA. It's a brutal numbers game and there are losers every year. Bonner's a smart guy and I think he'll cut a deal quickly and not risk getting into that situation. He still has ties to Toronto so maybe that's where he ends up. I'm ready for the end of the Bonner era in San Antonio.

Finally, the Tolliver and Gee situations are not really comparable. Washington had no rights to Gee. The two teams were on an equal playing field and the Spurs offered a better deal. IF Golden State wants to keep Tolliver, they can make him a restricted FA by tendering a qualifying offer of just under 1.1M. If they do that, they would have the right to match any offer he receives. I don't have any idea how much the Ws value him or whether the Spurs would consider the idea of a second chance for Tolliver. We'll see.

[TD 21]

Well, you're not going to get me to make a case for Bonner. My point was merely that I view the chance of Mason returning as very close to zero. While I view the chance of Bonner returning as small, it is greater than Mason's.

As for how much of a pay cut, if any, Bonner has to accept, I guess we'll see. It is a little noted truth in the NBA that a number of proven NBA vets are involuntarily retired every year. You see that article in late September about vets without a job and how few roster spots are left unfilled in the NBA. It's a brutal numbers game and there are losers every year. Bonner's a smart guy and I think he'll cut a deal quickly and not risk getting into that situation. He still has ties to Toronto so maybe that's where he ends up. I'm ready for the end of the Bonner era in San Antonio.

Finally, the Tolliver and Gee situations are not really comparable. Washington had no rights to Gee. The two teams were on an equal playing field and the Spurs offered a better deal. IF Golden State wants to keep Tolliver, they can make him a restricted FA by tendering a qualifying offer of just under 1.1M. If they do that, they would have the right to match any offer he receives. I don't have any idea how much the Ws value him or whether the Spurs would consider the idea of a second chance for Tolliver. We'll see.

Agreed.

It is, but Bonner will be a commodity on a team that can cover up his glaring weaknesses better than the Spurs can. Stretch four's are all the rage and in terms of three-point percentage, Bonner is one of the best. Plus, he's significantly cheaper than a lot of others filling this role (Murphy, Lewis, etc.). The Raptors have no use for Bonner and I'd be surprised if he returned their, even though he probably wants to.

Right and I think that's what they'll do with Tolliver. I have no information on this, just a guess.