Spurs may bring back Lower-price Jefferson

[AFBlue]

I think it also has a lot to do with who's offering him the other deal worth more money and years. While it's obvious he wants more years and job security, I'm not so sure he would pass up a 4 year deal with us to go sign a 5 year with a team like the clippers or wolves. He still wants to be on a winner.

Two things I think you overestimate...

1) RJs desire to be on a winner in lieu of getting paid.

2) Spurs being classified as a "winner" in years 2-4 of the contract.

Having said that, I do think that if the money is similar (i.e. Spurs offer 4yrs @ $7M/yr, or $28M, other team offers 5yrs @ MLE, or ~$32M), then the Spurs do have a legit shot at bringing him back.

My question: Is RJ at an average salary of $7M/yr for the next four years going to do more harm than good in the long-run? It's debatable.

[DesignatedT]

Two things I think you overestimate...

1) RJs desire to be on a winner in lieu of getting paid.

2) Spurs being classified as a "winner" in years 2-4 of the contract.

Having said that, I do think that if the money is similar (i.e. Spurs offer 4yrs @ $7M/yr, or $28M, other team offers 5yrs @ MLE, or ~$32M), then the Spurs do have a legit shot at bringing him back.

My question: Is RJ at an average salary of $7M/yr for the next four years going to do more harm than good in the long-run? It's debatable.

1) RJ for sure wants to play for a winner or at least not a "loser" he didn't necessarily enjoy his time in milwaukee.

2) The spurs will be more of a winner than the clippers will ever be... even 2 years down the road. credit our FO.

I don't think it's that much of a risk IMO. Next year you have TP coming off the books, 2 years from now you have Duncan coming off the books and 3 years from now you have Manu coming off the books. His 6mil a year contract won't be that hard to work around when all the money becomes available. plus, Spurs are in win NOW mode... how unrealistic that may sound, they owe it to Duncan and will do everything possible to put together a team to win in the next 2 years no matter what financial burdens it might create once hes gone. They will not start to rebuild or start Hairston at SF as long as Duncan is our starting PF.

[baseline bum]

I wouldn't pay the MLE for Jefferson. I don't care what the name on the back of his jersey says or how good he used to be; he doesn't fit this team. He doesn't address a single need. All he would be is a warm body.

[Ditty]

I think a guy giving us 12 points a game for a little over the mle is not bad i believe

[in2deep]

life

[in2deep]

i wouldn't pay the mle for jefferson. I don't care what the name on the back of his jersey says or how good he used to be; he doesn't fit this team. He doesn't address a single need. All he would be is a warm body.

+ 100000000000000

[G-Dawgg]

I think a guy giving us 12 points a game for a little over the mle is not bad i believe

Exactly. Everybody get of the Jefferson hater trip cuz if he comes back he's not gonna be making 14 Million anymore. Find me a player we can sign that is as talented as Jefferson for the mid-level exception -good luck.

Jefferson on this team for mid-level money is a steal. Period.

He can still produce at a high level if given the right situation to flourish in, all he needs is a bit of attention from the coaching staff.

You can't go from 20 a ppg player to absolutely worthless in one season without injuries, and he wasn't injured.... so obviously it's up to the Coach to utilize him properly or call his number a bit more.. utilize his skills, play him to his strenths rather than expect him to do the things he can't. Maybe add some wrinkles into the offense to accomodate him. Blame can't all be on Jefferson's shoulders the coaching staff is more to blame for not knowing how to use a VERY GOOD weapon...don't say he's not a good fit, the FO knew what he was bringing to the table when they traded for him. THE COACH has to figure out how to use him!!!!!!

[ohmwrecker]

This actually makes me feel better about the Spurs re-signing Matt Bonner.

[baseline bum]

ing . Re-signed Bonner. Now they're going to re-sign . Might as well go out and get Sidney Green and Paul Pressey too.

[MaNu4Tres]

6-7 million a year for RJ is a great deal and is pretty much the best the Spurs can realistically do to fill the starting small forward spot.. I love how people are wanting a better fit at the position but can't come up with a realistic solution for it. Did RJ fit perfect? No it's impossible for a player to fit as well as Bowen. RJ still had many productive outings and gets blamed too much..he was not the problem last year.I'm all for giving him 6-7 mil a year for 3-4 years

[DrSteffo]

6-7 million a year for RJ is a great deal and is pretty much the best the Spurs can realistically do to fill the starting small forward spot.. I love how people are wanting a better fit at the position but can't come up with a realistic solution for it. Did RJ fit perfect? No it's impossible for a player to fit as well as Bowen. RJ still had many productive outings and gets blamed too much..he was not the problem last year.I'm all for giving him 6-7 mil a year for 3-4 years

Yes but not more than that because basically he sucked.

[Agloco]

I wouldn't mind considering what the current options are.

Am I correct in assuming that re-signing Jefferson has no affect on the LLE or MLE?

Correct. Unless, for some inexplicable reason the Spurs used one of those exceptions to resign him. That would make no sense though because they hold his bird rights.

[Agloco]

I wouldn't pay the MLE for Jefferson. I don't care what the name on the back of his jersey says or how good he used to be; he doesn't fit this team. He doesn't address a single need. All he would be is a warm body.

/thread

It's not about RJ's market value. It's about his value to this team. Given that, IMO 6-7 million is overpaying him.

[spursfan1000]

I hope this situation gets resolved soon.

[DesignatedT]

just bring him back then start lookin to sign some shooters with the lle and vet min.

[DPG21920]

Gross. Bonner & RJ for 4 more years!

[DPG21920]

Like I said, LLE Dorell Wright is a better fit.

[Agloco]

/thread

It's not about RJ's market value. It's about his value to this team. Given that, IMO 6-7 million is overpaying him.

6-7 mill for what he provides is about right. He just needs to work on the 3 a bit and play more at an even level. If Dice is worth 5.7 Rj is worth 7.

You missed my point. He doesn't provide much of anything that the team requires. I'm not arguing his "market" value. That's for foolish franchises like Minny.

1) Good three point shooting.
2) Solid perimeter D

In addition to being a generally bad fit, RJ does neither particularly well thus lowering his value to the team IMO.

[Mark in Austin]

You missed my point. He doesn't provide much of anything that the team requires. I'm not arguing his "market" value. That's for foolish franchises like Minny.

1) Good three point shooting.
2) Solid perimeter D

In addition to being a generally bad fit, RJ does neither particularly well thus lowering his value to the team IMO.

Really good point. Best case scenario if resigned is if he can recapture the chemistry developing between RJ, Manu & Blair off the bench before Parker went down.

[Vic Petro]

Best scenario is a S&T for a trade exception and then doing a 2nd S&T to acquire Morrow, Matthews or Korver. If the FO can't find a way to get that done, then yeah, just sign RJ up for the least amount of years possible.

[kaji157]

I really don´t like him very much, but is hard to argue that a player that can give you 12 points on his worse season and can drop 30 any given night is a good signing at or below 7 millions.
But i would explore every sign n trade scenario before signing him.
Getting guys like Ariza, Battier or Pietrus should be a priority after signing Splitter or any other big.

[jimo2305]

no jefferson has scored under 10 pts numerous times.. i'd be happy if we got 12 pts outta him

[ohmwrecker]

no jefferson has scored under 10 pts numerous times.. i'd be happy if we got 12 pts outta him

He averaged 12 ppg.

[objective]

he averaged 9 ppg in the only games that matter: the playoffs

[ohmwrecker]

he averaged 9 ppg in the only games that matter: the playoffs

Just stating fact. And yes, I do realize that 12ppg was his lowest since his rookie year . . . However, that could be easily remedied with the Spurs running more plays for him. I expect him to have a much better year.

We might as well accept that we are stuck with the guy and wish him success.