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Nice article and well thought out. You can hate on RJ all you want, but he is a quality player who should better this year. Especially now that the system is not so foreign.
Richard Jefferson: In Focus
Reigning Black
A lot can change in a year.
A lot.
Relationships, jobs, finances -- for better or worse -- and even your outlook on some of the most significant and insignificant things in life, change is inherent all around us. What's here today is gone tomorrow; absence often makes the heart grow fonder.
Often -- exceptions abound.
When Richard Jefferson exercised an opt-out to forgo a $15.2 million salary in his final year, relief and good fortune seemed to rule the day. The Spurs were viewed as being "let off the hook," no longer an albatross or hindrance weighing them down or holding them back. The Spurs had been given a mulligan, a second chance. This time it was with Jefferson's departure -- last year it was upon arrival.
Needless to say, roughly three weeks after Jefferson decided to opt out, the celebration of R.J.'s resigning was muted, if even existent. Jefferson has his fans, and the team signing his checks are among them, but to some it signified a death knell of sorts. An end to championship aspiration. The Spurs -- as we've come to know them -- were done; Riverwalk parades reserved for a distant memory.
Things are generally never as or bad or good as they may seem, so in order to move forward and digest all that really happened -- and why what happened did happen -- it's best to look at the facts as we know them. Paint the picture, step away from the canvas, then critique the work.
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Nice article and well thought out. You can hate on RJ all you want, but he is a quality player who should better this year. Especially now that the system is not so foreign.
So the Spurs passed on Carter because he has a longer contract only to get the other guy whom now has a longer contract?
Also, I don't think anyone has a problem with the initial trade. There were a few people who were skeptical of the "fit", but it was overwhelmingly the right decision back then without the benefit of hindsight.
They took a gamble (which was calculated) and it did not pay off, because as the article stated, they probably could have done better had they waited and RJ did not really have much of an impact. But it was still the right move with the right idea in mind; to win basketball games.
It is the extension that is going to be critiqued & criticized. This, unlike the initial trade was not about winning basketball games. It was about saving money. This is still a business and I understand if they know they won't win a le as is, to make a smart business related decision.
This gamble caused them to quite easily out bid themselves for RJ (although RJ might not of opted out had they not given him that 40M number). This is the one they missed on.
I also see no legitimate reason to say this "re-structuring" of RJ's contract made the difference in getting the players the Spurs did. I have seen absolutely nothing to suggest the Spurs would not have signed Tiago had they remained over the tax.
Last edited by DPG21920; 08-23-2010 at 10:28 PM.
The also needed to give up Hill to get Carter
I am not saying I would rather have Carter (although he is better). I was just refuting the point that it was simply the contract seeing how the Spurs have RJ for another 4 years guaranteed.
Jefferson + reigning black + relationships
All in the same article
I like where this is going.
This.
As a fan I don't give a damn about how much money the owner saves, I care about maximize the talent on the floor. The long-term gift to Rj was certainly not trying to maximize the talent of this team in the future. If Holt was worried about the decline in fans before Rj, then just wait till year three of the Rj contract.
I thought the article was good.
Actually:
As bad as the re-signing looked initially, for its length and total with Jefferson's apparent market value, the extension really doesn't bother me much if at all anymore. Could it potentially screw them up a bit after Tim's gone? Possibly. But I highly doubt it, and they certainly weren't going to be able to field a team with enough talent had RJ walked this year.For all intents and purposes, the decision came down to Jefferson or Carter. They went with Jefferson: shorter contract and -- more importantly -- it wouldn't cost them of Hill.
RJ is anything but an ideal fit for the Spurs but there's at least a glimmer of hope that he could be good enough to be a net positive when all is said and done -- it's better to have and ill-fitted talent with some upside than a nice fit that will guarantee you nothing more than a spinning of the wheels.
As for the contract, the Spurs would've been roughly $7M over the tax next year had RJ not opted out and had the Spurs fielded the same team, which they would've as that was the understanding when acquiring RJ. Holt knew he'd be spending for at least the remainder of Tim's window.
What the Spurs did with RJ's contract makes a lot more sense when you look at the realities around them and try to view it from the eyes of an owner. He's the guy you want comfortable with the move, as it affects the product on the floor for years to come.
The Spurs saved between $16-17M next year with RJ at 8.4M instead of 15.2M -- 6.8M on the contract, 6M+ in LT and ~3.3 in redistribution. So the final 3 years of RJ's contract only costs Holt an additional 14M, not nearly as painful a pill to swallow.
I think it's been pretty well established with the regulars here over the last year or so that I wasn't a fan of RJ's acquisition or some beacon of optimism with the prospect of him panning out the way we all hope. But I've come to terms with him being a Spur. Really, I don't think there's all that much of a choice. The Spurs need him to pan out and I think the Spurs knew that the day they acquired him -- time isn't and wasn't on their side, nor were the right piece or pieces available to them for that short time.
It is what it is. And whether what "it" is is good enough ... well, it hardly ever is -- we just some fortunate, spoiled, high-expectation son es.
As an aside, I think my burnout's starting to thaw. That might be the first legit post I've had in a month.
Baby steps . . .
The RJ situation notwithstanding, this is the part of the article that rings loud and clear for me. These issues were present before the RJ signing, they're STILL present today and likely will be when this upcoming season is over.After downing the Mavs in six games, the Spurs met their match in the Western Conference semi-finals. Phoenix was clicking on all cylinders and presented a matchup the Spurs simply couldn't match-up with. The Spurs lacked 3-point shooting, bench production and the necessary defensive mobility on the perimeter. No longer was Bowen available to pester and disrupt Nash and the Suns' offense; no longer was Duncan able control the paint on both ends. The Spurs' season would abruptly come to an end with a sweep (0-4). An uneven ending to a frustratingly uneven year.
The troubling fact is these issues first began to appear during in the '08 playoff series matchup versus the Fakers. The cracks in the foundation have only gotten progressively worse since then. While there have been 3 young, suitable, building block pieces added in consecutive drafts since then (Hill, Blair, Anderson), there have been no specific moves made, that could help stave off the overall rapid decline. I'm not even sure it's possible.
The addition of Splitter will surely help Duncan, but to assume an aging Duncan and the rookie Splitter will allow the Spurs to, once again, control the paint is quite a reach. Furthermore, the Spurs perimeter defense WILL continue to suffer because of the lack of even one adequate, on-the-ball, perimeter defender.
As stated in the article, the Spurs had very little wiggle room this past summer. If they had the benefit of foresight, perhaps a different player could've been brought in. However, the fact remains that the lingering issues, that have plagued this team as it's gotten older, are still just that - lingering issues.
I totally agree with the "all-in", "go for it", strategy designed to take advantage of Duncan's final couple of seasons. Ownership and FO are to be commended for it. I only wish there had been different options available, at their disposal. And perhaps the plan would've been better served had it been launched in the summer of '08, as opposed to the summer of '09? Who knows?
i trade his ass for jax right about now
Carter is more selfish than Jefferson.. I the RJ will be a lot better this upcoming season
To me, that's a flawed logic.
The money saved this year in luxury tax will be spend next year in luxury tax. In 2011-2012, Spurs payroll will be really high if Parker is re-signed. Even if there will have a new CBA, chances are high that the luxury tax system still exist and Spurs pay tons of them.
While the RJ new contract could theoretically cost only $14M more than his previous one to Holt, it likely will cost way more than that. Spurs have signed him to that big contract because they think he will help them.
Bottom line is that Spurs have spend $50M for Jefferson and Bonner and when I look at Spurs payroll and see that they will pay $17.7M in 2013-2014 for 33 years old Jefferson and Bonner, these moves look awful. Spurs have throw crazy money to questionable players and it could end up as a nightmare in 2 or 3 years.
Will the Spurs be able to afford to keep Parker with paying RJ and Bonner like this long term?
And even if they are, will they then be able to re-sign George Hill? Hill is already a better performer than either RJ or Bonner and they won't be able to keep him at 800k.
This is the point I have been making. The Spurs have robbed Peter to pay Paul this year. There very well could be financial ramifications in the next few years. They also took these risks with only the hope of marginal returns. Sometimes, like the article says, a move or moves are the right ones even if they don't work out. Such as the RJ trade.
This extension does not fit into that. Plenty of people disagree w it.
"But they will be great expiring deals!"
There is a chance (albeit a slight chance) that Tim opts out of his contract after this year and signs for less, so that the Spurs can re-sign Tony and stay under the luxury tax. I may be dreaming here, but he has taken less money before, so you never know.
Yep, it will be mentally dishonest for me to bash the RJ trade with hindsight while I was thrilled by it a year ago.
Regarding Spurs signing RJ this summer, there are 2 distinct scenarios:
Scenario 1: RJ opt out on his own and Spurs offered him a new contract in July.
Scenario 2: There was a pre-arranged deal in June between Spurs and RJ.
These 2 scenarios raise totally different questions:
In scenario 1, the question is: could Spurs have done better in the FA market than signing RJ for $39M?
The answer is obvious, yes. For example, they could have offered the rest of their MLE and promising a starting spot to Matt Barnes. I'm quite confident he woudl have accepted it. RJ is better than Barnes but nowhere near justifying all his additional cost.
If RJ has opted out on his own, the RJ re-signing sucks. I don't get at all why Spurs did that. It's as crazy as the Bonner re-signing.
In Scenario 2, the question is: What is better RJ with $15M/1 year or RJ with $39M/4 years?
It's really hard to see all the exact financial implications with the new CBA, Spurs' maybe rebuilding their team, Parker and Duncan future...
Even if it's hard to see whole picture, it seems obvious for me that RJ for $15M/1 year was the better solution.
It would take gigantic nuts for Pop to ask Tim Duncan: "Hey, Timmie, could you take a pay-cut for the second time in your career because we have spend $50M on Richard Jefferson and Matt Bonner? "
And if Duncan did it, he will be the first man to be a first-ballot Hall Of Famers and to be sanctified by the Pope.
Hahaha, true that. Maybe they could work out something like Dice's final year of his contract: Timmy opts out, signs a two year extension, with the first year at a lower salary and the second year partially guaranteed. The partial guarantee would equal the amount of $$ he'd be giving up in his first year, or even a little bit more.
It would be a weird way for Tim to retire (in this scenario, I think he would have to be "cut" in the 2nd year of the contract), but if that's what it takes to re-sign Tony, then why not? Plus, everyone will know that he took less money for the good of the team again, so the fact the Spurs had to technically "cut" him wouldn't look so bad.
Most interesting point to me in the article:
"For essentially the same price, the Spurs have added Jefferson, McDyess, Blair, Splitter and Anderson -- along with Neal, Temple and Gee -- to the talent base of '09. And with the "refinancing" of Jefferson, the Spurs will only be spending $14-15 million dollars more on Jefferson's final 3 years (and $14-15 million over 3 years for Jefferson seems much more palatable). "
It could be a good idea and Spurs plan but it won't be easy to be bellow the tax in both 2012 and 2013 if Duncan doesn't sacrifice money. Spurs will be in a tight financial situation in both years.
I'm also not sure the league would also accept these restructuring. Even if nothing forbid it in the CBA, it's against the spirit of the CBA.
Bottom line is $50 millions for Jefferson and Bonner, two ageing role players who can't play any serious defense, and can't exploit the opportunities of playing with Manu and Parker on offense.
Expensive tools with a solid history of failing under pressure in PO games.
There are two scenarios here.
1) We totally ignore personal facts about the life of R. Jefferson, which prevented him to perform at a level remotely close to half the cost of his -present- salary. The FO knows these "problems" have been "solved" and this guy can still play a role in a winning enterprise over the next 4 years. We ignore the long term benefits of eating sandwiches at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2) The FO gets older, and likes to age with their fellow players alongside. No younger, cheaper strangers admitted.
I am bending toward the second explanation.
I think we both agree the Spurs never do anything without a plan/gameplan and though it's impossible to know exactly what it is, I feel it's been made pretty well known that it starts with them fielding a team talented enough to compete for a championship in Tim's final years.
So while I understand how you can come to your conclusion, based solely on the dollars, I think that's where we differ: the Spurs had already said goodbye to the money they'll save next year, imo, and you feel it's money they've found that they won't use or would be foolish to use.
They absolutely believe he can help them. But more importantly, they don't believe there's anyone out there they could get their hands on that could help them more for the next 1-2 years compete for a championship.
What people have to consider is this: The Spurs needed a player that could supplant at least 1 and possibly 2-3 of the Big 3 in the pecking order; the perfect fit of a player (someone who possessed more talent than a role player but the perfect skills for the role); or they could possibly get by with an All-Star talent who might take some time to adapt and become that "Spur," corporate knowledge and all.
I believe they felt, or maybe just hoped (you can't underestimate the desperation of a closing window and seeing Duncan struggling to finish a season while Ginobili watched his team get eliminated from the bench in '09), that RJ could fall into the latter: an All-Star talent that could potentially adapt with time. And while I was against the trade when it happened, hindsight's given me the perspective to feel they did the right thing. They gave themselves a shot, and as unlikely as I (and maybe even they), felt it was, they made a promise to Tim. It was the best they could do to honor it, imo.
It could, but that's the risk they were willing to take. The championship window could already be closed, but they're going to make sure it is and not concede that it is.
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Holt knew that after the '09 season; and he and the Spurs know championship windows don't open all that often, if ever, when you own a team in San Antonio. They'll take their lumps in the wallet for a few years if need be, but I'm pretty sure it won't be the nightmare you believe it could be.
They've got a plan. Holt and the boys know what they can and can't stomach.
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