McDonlad just reported Malik Hairston won't be on summer league team.

[coyotes_geek]

Who out of this roster has the best shot to make the team??? aside from Blair of course...

Anderson's obviously a given to make the squad.

After him though, I'd say whoever impresses more between Gee or Temple.

[RiverwalkParade]

My bold and pipedream trade prediction-

Spurs Send in a S&T:

RJ-32.5M over 5 years (team option year 4 and 5) + Malik (non guaranteed $854,389)

For

Shane Battier

[clubalien]

i think some people after dogging mcdonald need to give him props for the scope of the hairston trade.

[Bruno]

Interesting it could be nothing but the timing perfectly fit with a trade.

If it's an injury, I don't think it will hurt significantly his chances to make the team next year. Training camp and preseason games will have way more weight than SL when Spurs will decide who should be kept at the end of the preseason.

[Blackjack]

Whatever the reason for Hairston's absence, his chances of making the team next year just took a hit. This was his chance to show he's a legit NBA player.

I don't follow. He did about as much as he could and the Spurs could want for him to show in last year's SL and off-season, yet still wasn't given the opportunity over a guy like Bogans -- someone he easily beat out for a job by any on-court measure.

The Spurs pretty much know what Malik is and what he's going to be, I seriously doubt this was his chance to show he was a legit NBA player.

probably trying to send RJ off in a S&T at 7Mil a year, no team is going for it, so they lower RJ's pay and throw in Malik to make the numbers match up.

The team receiving can waive Malik because of his non-gauranteed contract and get RJ at the price they want.

But something like this could definitely be in play and probably makes the most sense since there's been no word of injury (even if it's possible there was some type of ankle injury they don't want to exacerbate with a flight and al ude). The timing definitely would seem about right that Malik's non-guaranteed contract could be on its way out with RJ, or at least thought to be with a deal in the works.

[urunobili]

mmm maybe he'll help a team clear some cap space and then re-sign with us? I'd hate to see him bloom somewhere else... that would also finger point the Toros program not providing a single quality rotation player for the Spurs with Marcus Williams, Mahimni and Hairston not panning out.

[timvp]

The Spurs wouldn't take Hairston off the summer league team even if he were to be shopped in a trade. Hairston's trade value is tied to his unguaranteed contract -- not his actual play. He could blow out a knee and his trade value would be the same.

I don't follow. He did about as much as he could and the Spurs could want for him to show in last year's SL and off-season

Hairston was pretty damn bad in the final few SL games last year. This year, he could have used SL to prove he's a good defender who can also space the floor with a three-point shot. By outplaying Gee and Temple, he could have really helped his chances of making the team.

[ace3g]

RJ + Hairston for Josh Childress or trade exception

[Blackjack]

Hairston was pretty damn bad in the final few SL games last year. This year, he could have used SL to prove he's a good defender who can also space the floor with a three-point shot. By outplaying Gee and Temple, he could have really helped his chances of making the team.

Sure, he could've improved the opinion and done nothing but helped himself by a good showing, but the Spurs' coaching staff was raving about the guy's improvement after last year's off-season concluded -- Bud or Brown going as far to say they'd never seen a player improve as much in one off-season.

Personally, I think they're higher on Gee and Temple's just about a mortal lock to be on the team because of his 1-2 ability -- it's much more likely that Hairston and Gee would fight for the same spot, even if what they bring to the table isn't the exact same skill set or same look. They're likely to choose which one of the scorer (Gee) or utility player (Hairston) they find more suitable and I'm guessing they lean towards Gee if they wind up picking between the two.

[HankChinaski]

timvp what are your thoughts of the spurs just looking to get a better look at gee and others during summer league since they've seen what hairston can do and will consider just giving him his chance during preseason?

[Bruno]

The Spurs wouldn't take Hairston off the summer league team even if he were to be shopped in a trade. Hairston's trade value is tied to his unguaranteed contract -- not his actual play. He could blow out a knee and his trade value would be the same.

If a player has an injury while playing with a non-guaranteed contract, his team must pay his salary until he is healthy again even if they waive him.

[RiverwalkParade]

If a player has an injury while playing with a non-guaranteed contract, his team must pay his salary until he is healthy again even if they waive him.

So then keeping him off the floor could be a move to keep him from getting hurt, right???

[ChumpDumper]

Well, this will put more of a focus on Temple and Gee (and I guess Neal) for scoring, and Gee will have more opportunities to show he can guard the perimeter. Cuffee was just a decent player in the D-League and played in Italy's 2 league last season, so he isn't going to take anything away from those guys.

[yavozerb]

I just saw Hairston being interviewed on fox news last night and he indicated "I am working on my outside shooting, in particular my corner 3's, and my defense." In my opinion this could mean 2 things:1, he is involved in someway in a trade about to go down or 2, the spurs do not want to risk injury to the guy since he may be playing at the 3 in coming season and they already lack depth at that position. I would guess the trade scenario since in the interview I stated, there was no mention of an anykind of injury.

[EricB]

McDonald tweeted he talked to budenholzer apparently there's nothinfor him to show they know how good he is. "he has a lot of fans here"

[Spurs Brazil]

JMcDonald_SAEN
Why Hairston won't play in Vegas: "I think we're comfortable with what he can do," Coach Bud says. "He's already got a lot of fans here."
5 minutes ago via web

[ElNono]

I said it, I said it!!! They're saving him for the regular season!

[EricB]

Good timing brazil haha

[DesignatedT]

Well good for Hairston if true. He deserves a shot.

[SpursTillTheEnd]

hariston will make the spurs team hariston>bonner,jefferson spurs you already made a mistake with bonner dont make a mistake and trade hariston

[lurker23]

Direct quote (on Twitter, and still less than 2 sentences):

@JMcDonald_SAEN

Why Hairston won't play in Vegas: "I think we're comfortable with what he can do," Coach Bud says. "He's already got a lot of fans here."

http://twitter.com/JMcDonald_SAEN

-----

Sounds like he's on a higher level than the other guys. At most, it means his roster spot is almost assured. At least, it means, "We know you well enough that your stock will be determined in training camp, not in summer league."

[Blackjack]

[HarlemHeat37]

I don't know if I buy that reason yet, we'll see..it doesn't surprise me though, because this is what some of us have already been saying the entire time..all the signs point to the organization being high on Hairston, a lot of key guys have given him high praise(Manu, Parker, Elliott, RC)..

This could be a smokescreen for a trade though..even if they are as high on Hairston as we think, holding him out of SL seems stupid, unless they're really trying to see what they have in Gist/Temple/Gee..I was really looking forward to seeing him in SL, so this sucks, unless it leads to a trade that gets Jefferson out of here..

If it's true and they're high on him, it's great to hear that he's working hard on his outside shooting, it's obviously the key to his game advancing into a rotation player/starter for the Spurs..

[angelbelow]

Good news

[Spurs Brazil]

This could be a smokescreen for a trade though..even if they are as high on Hairston as we think, holding him out of SL seems stupid, unless they're really trying to see what they have in Gist/Temple/Gee..I was really looking forward to seeing him in SL, so this sucks, unless it leads to a trade that gets Jefferson out of here..

Agree. Even Blair is going to play, why not Hairston