What if...

[mike20spurs]

Ginobili hadn't been re-signed.. how much cap room would we have assuming jefferson had still opted out?

[ducks]

enough to get wade

[Mel_13]

About 12M. Not enough for Wade.

[BackHome]

Like Wade would want to move from South Beach to SA...hahaha

[Obstructed_View]

They'd have ended up paying Manu twice as much to keep him or would have ended up paying more for a lesser replacement.

[Mel_13]

They'd have ended up paying Manu twice as much to keep him or would have ended up paying more for a lesser replacement.

Pretty much. Extending Manu was a cost effective no-brainer.

[TimmehC]

Manu's cap hold would have kept the Spurs from getting anyone, unless they renounced Manu's bird rights.

[Juanobili]

They'd have ended up paying Manu twice as much to keep him or would have ended up paying more for a lesser replacement.

[Big P]

Not sure how correct this is, but this is what hoopsworld.com had to say about it a couple of days ago.

Manu-mental Mistake: The San Antonio Spurs have to be regretting their early April decision to give Manu Ginobili a three-year, $38 million contract extension. By rushing to extend Manu they took themselves out of the biggest free agency period ever.

With Richard Jefferson off the books the Spurs have $52 million in contracts for next season, putting them just under the projected cap of $56.1 million. The first year of Manu's extension pays him $11.8 million. Had they held off on extending him they'd be one of the major players in this year's free agent market with roughly $16 million to spend. That'd put them in the race for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade but the Spurs probably would have gone after another big man like Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire instead.

San Antonio has a lot of advantages that the other teams with cap space don't. They already have two proven All-stars in Tony Parker and Tim Duncan along with one of the game's greatest coaches Gregg Popovich. Their four championships since 1999 leave no doubts about the organization's desire or ability to field a contending team. It would have been very tough for opposing teams to beat the Spurs out for whoever ended up at the top of their wish list. Landing a big name free agent wouldn't mean that Manu would have to go either. Because they have his bird rights they still could have re-signed him even after using their cap space. The same goes for Jefferson as well.

Manu's importance to the Spurs and the San Antonio community cannot be overstated. He's a vital part of the franchise and he still has a lot left to give despite what some may say. Locking him up that early was unnecessary though and now the Spurs are paying for it. There was no serious threat of losing him by waiting. Now instead of being able to truly form a big four like they tried to last offseason with Jefferson they only have the Mid-Level Exception at their disposal. They'll likely offer the majority of it to 2007 first round pick Tiaggo Splitter, but whether or not it's enough remains to be seen.

They can also re-sign or sign-and-trade Jefferson. The Spurs are unlikely to be interested in giving him the multiyear deal for $8-10 million per that he's seeking. Don't expect the trade offers to be great either, after all this is a guy that was traded for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas last offseason. Pieces like that won't help the Spurs get back to where they were, but a big time free agent could have. Unfortunately a major acquisition like that is out of the question because of Manu's extension.

[angelbelow]

They'd have ended up paying Manu twice as much to keep him or would have ended up paying more for a lesser replacement.

.

[montgod]

Not sure how correct this is, but this is what hoopsworld.com had to say about it a couple of days ago.

Manu-mental Mistake: The San Antonio Spurs have to be regretting their early April decision to give Manu Ginobili a three-year, $38 million contract extension. By rushing to extend Manu they took themselves out of the biggest free agency period ever.

With Richard Jefferson off the books the Spurs have $52 million in contracts for next season, putting them just under the projected cap of $56.1 million. The first year of Manu's extension pays him $11.8 million. Had they held off on extending him they'd be one of the major players in this year's free agent market with roughly $16 million to spend. That'd put them in the race for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade but the Spurs probably would have gone after another big man like Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire instead.

San Antonio has a lot of advantages that the other teams with cap space don't. They already have two proven All-stars in Tony Parker and Tim Duncan along with one of the game's greatest coaches Gregg Popovich. Their four championships since 1999 leave no doubts about the organization's desire or ability to field a contending team. It would have been very tough for opposing teams to beat the Spurs out for whoever ended up at the top of their wish list. Landing a big name free agent wouldn't mean that Manu would have to go either. Because they have his bird rights they still could have re-signed him even after using their cap space. The same goes for Jefferson as well.

Manu's importance to the Spurs and the San Antonio community cannot be overstated. He's a vital part of the franchise and he still has a lot left to give despite what some may say. Locking him up that early was unnecessary though and now the Spurs are paying for it. There was no serious threat of losing him by waiting. Now instead of being able to truly form a big four like they tried to last offseason with Jefferson they only have the Mid-Level Exception at their disposal. They'll likely offer the majority of it to 2007 first round pick Tiaggo Splitter, but whether or not it's enough remains to be seen.

They can also re-sign or sign-and-trade Jefferson. The Spurs are unlikely to be interested in giving him the multiyear deal for $8-10 million per that he's seeking. Don't expect the trade offers to be great either, after all this is a guy that was traded for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas last offseason. Pieces like that won't help the Spurs get back to where they were, but a big time free agent could have. Unfortunately a major acquisition like that is out of the question because of Manu's extension.

I am sure if you point this out to Hoopsworld now, they would approve a retraction immediately!

[Shastafarian]

Not sure how correct this is, but this is what hoopsworld.com had to say about it a couple of days ago.

They're usually-to-always wrong

Manu-mental Mistake: The San Antonio Spurs have to be regretting their early April decision to give Manu Ginobili a three-year, $38 million contract extension. By rushing to extend Manu they took themselves out of the biggest free agency period ever.

Doubtful they regret it because they missed out on "the biggest free agency period ever". The Spurs FO isn't full of sensationalists who think signing big free agents is easy.

With Richard Jefferson off the books the Spurs have $52 million in contracts for next season, putting them just under the projected cap of $56.1 million. The first year of Manu's extension pays him $11.8 million. Had they held off on extending him they'd be one of the major players in this year's free agent market with roughly $16 million to spend.

Clearly they don't know how to calculate salaries and holds. No way the Spurs would have $16 million.

That'd put them in the race for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade but the Spurs probably would have gone after another big man like Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire instead.

Manu's importance to the Spurs and the San Antonio community cannot be overstated. He's a vital part of the franchise and he still has a lot left to give despite what some may say. Locking him up that early was unnecessary though and now the Spurs are paying for it. There was no serious threat of losing him by waiting.

So completely wrong.

[alchemist]

JJ got stupid money, you think nobody would offer Manu stupid money after James/Wade are signed up?

Anyways, even if the Spurs had the money to spend do you think the "big guns" are coming to San Antonio? I don't and neither did the F.O.

[kaji157]

Not sure how correct this is, but this is what hoopsworld.com had to say about it a couple of days ago.

Manu-mental Mistake: The San Antonio Spurs have to be regretting their early April decision to give Manu Ginobili a three-year, $38 million contract extension. By rushing to extend Manu they took themselves out of the biggest free agency period ever.

With Richard Jefferson off the books the Spurs have $52 million in contracts for next season, putting them just under the projected cap of $56.1 million. The first year of Manu's extension pays him $11.8 million. Had they held off on extending him they'd be one of the major players in this year's free agent market with roughly $16 million to spend. That'd put them in the race for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade but the Spurs probably would have gone after another big man like Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire instead.

San Antonio has a lot of advantages that the other teams with cap space don't. They already have two proven All-stars in Tony Parker and Tim Duncan along with one of the game's greatest coaches Gregg Popovich. Their four championships since 1999 leave no doubts about the organization's desire or ability to field a contending team. It would have been very tough for opposing teams to beat the Spurs out for whoever ended up at the top of their wish list. Landing a big name free agent wouldn't mean that Manu would have to go either. Because they have his bird rights they still could have re-signed him even after using their cap space. The same goes for Jefferson as well.

Manu's importance to the Spurs and the San Antonio community cannot be overstated. He's a vital part of the franchise and he still has a lot left to give despite what some may say. Locking him up that early was unnecessary though and now the Spurs are paying for it. There was no serious threat of losing him by waiting. Now instead of being able to truly form a big four like they tried to last offseason with Jefferson they only have the Mid-Level Exception at their disposal. They'll likely offer the majority of it to 2007 first round pick Tiaggo Splitter, but whether or not it's enough remains to be seen.

They can also re-sign or sign-and-trade Jefferson. The Spurs are unlikely to be interested in giving him the multiyear deal for $8-10 million per that he's seeking. Don't expect the trade offers to be great either, after all this is a guy that was traded for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas last offseason. Pieces like that won't help the Spurs get back to where they were, but a big time free agent could have. Unfortunately a major acquisition like that is out of the question because of Manu's extension.

That is incorrect, you either have the space, or the bird rights on Manu and RJ.
This way they retain the bird rights on Manu, have already locked up 3 allstars. The posibility to sign n trade RJ, and the posibility to trade Tony or Manu for a star player in a sign n trade of theirs.

I think the options are bigger this way, mainly because most FA are going to move away from their homes, thus, making a sign n trade the only chance for their actual teams to get something in return and making the spurs very flexible in that area.

[Big P]

Don't shoot the messenger...lol

[Agloco]

enough to get wade