24writer 24writer
"You have to call his college coach,"-Pop on what he knows of newest #Spurs player Malcolm Thomas.
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24writer
24writer 24writer
Newest addition Malcolm Thomas on the floor right now working in the post with coach Newman and Marks in the post. CJ out here too. #Spurs
Last edited by ace3g; 01-11-2012 at 08:00 PM.
Some vintage Marks defense there.
Don't bet against it. Pop has a history of throwing guys out there in their first game just to see their reaction/play level, even if it's for 4-5 minutes.
When Scola starts torching them, Pop might as well try him.
Tiago did fine on him, hopefully pop goes to that more.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Thomas turns out to be the defensive big the Spurs have been missing. He did real well with Leonard in college and probably should have been drafted based on his defense alone. If he does, that changes everything defensively.
This guy will be fabulous, a sure All-star. I watched the video and he shoots 100% and gets every rebound, blocks every shot, and can clap his hands real good.
Not saying he's an All-star anything but before people jump at what he can do as a Spur,
it helps to know what people thought about him when he decided to leave San Diego State.
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...m-Thomas-5055/
I see...good WEAKside blocker.
He seems to be a tweener SF/PF, but with good defensive instincts as shown when he was Leonards teammate. If he can give some of that defense without being pushed around by the bigger PFs and block shots, I think he will make this team. He has the leaping and lateral movement ability that it is no wonder the Spurs jumped on him quickly.
We'll see if he gets any time in the next two games. If not, I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing against Frank Hassell in Austin next Wednesday.
Still psyched about the Spurs finally going after a project shotblocker.
Heres to the next great Spurstalk man-crush.
::blush::Still psyched about the Spurs finally going after a project shotblocker.
I've seen two references now that the Spurs signed Thomas to a 3-year contract. They aren't giving a D-League callup guaranteed money. Anyone know what the story is?
As I understand the rules for a non-drafted rookie, it is entirely possible that they signed him to a three year contract with little or no money guaranteed.
Thanks. I don't remember ever seeing that before. I guess you can't read anything into it except they've got him locked up if he works out.
Three years for a D-League callup, but all of it non-guaranteed? Still smh.
Interesting. Link? I haven't seen that ... but then again, I haven't read much about the signing since these things rarely work out.
Yeah, you can sign second round draft picks or undrafted players (or first round picks drafted three or more years ago) to any contract you wish by using cap space or the MLE.
Da'Sean Butler was signed to a three-year contract. Same with Gary Neal. The Spurs have done it a few other times recently.
The thinking behind giving players a three-year deal is you guarantee them a certain amount of money in exchange for the player giving up control of their free agency status for a few years. It's actually a genius way to do it and can save tons of money. For example, if Neal would have been a free agent this past offseason, he would probably cost at least three or four times as much as he costs this season. Maybe more.
With Thomas, if the Spurs did give him a three-year deal, they probably gave him sort of amount guaranteed this year in exchange for control for the next two years. For Butler, the amount was $100K. For Neal, the Spurs had to guarantee the entire first year in exchange for two unguaranteed seasons. Unless there was a bidding war for Thomas, I assume the Spurs probably guaranteed him $25-75K in exchange for the control.
In the grand scheme of things, this doesn't mean too much other than Thomas will probably stay around until he at least plays off the guaranteed portion of his contract. It also means that the Spurs used a portion of their MLE to sign him because regular minimum deals can only be two years long.
Well, now that I think about it, not having their entire MLE could be an issue if they get in a bidding war for someone like Wilson Chandler, Kenyon Martin or JR Smith. That means the Spurs must be reasonably high on Thomas to take themselves out of full MLE bidding wars.
That's the part I couldn't understand. Two years okay... but three? I never even considered the MLE angle.
I wondered if it meant they consider him a full-on project, that they are willing to commit to. I know the way they signed him before the showcase looked like they were afraid someone else would pick him up. But, like I said, it probably doesn't pay to read too much into ANY D-League callup.
I saw a reference to the 3 years earlier in the week, but wrote it off (sorry, can't remember where). I saw it again on RealGM this morning. Nothing to say two sources can't be mistaken, but it made me wonder.
If this contract is true, that shows me that RC trust his scouts on Thomas. I'm sure, because of Leonard, Spur's scouts got a lot info on Thomas as well.
One other thing on the contract possibilities. In normal years, players on non-guaranteed contracts have their deals fully guaranteed for the remainder of the season if they're still on the roster on January 10th. That's also the first date that 10 day contracts can be utilized. I believe the date for the this season is February 6th, which is also the last day that teams can dress 13 players.
Perhaps the Spurs guaranteed Thomas an amount equal to the salary from the date he was signed until February 5th. Kind of a probationary period. If he sticks past February 6th, then he gets a full year NBA salary and the Spurs get him for two more seasons on a non-guaranteed deal for minimum salary.
I really appreciate the people here who talk basketball. Thanks.
There was an interview with Anthony Mason Sr. on the D-League website about getting called up. He talks about finding the "right situation". I've always had this idea that it was like American Idol - that there are a few players out there who could have made it if they had just gotten the (right) opportunity. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.
Anyway, here's part of the interview:
Mason:...Nah, they’re both talented. It’s not even about who’s got the best chance, it’s about who’s got the best situation. When I was in the CBA, you had people go up and come back, go up and come back, and you’d have somebody go up that wasn’t that good and ended up in the perfect situation and ended up sticking.
Suppose you need just a hustle guy, just a plain hustle guy, you don’t want him to score, you just want him to aggravate people. If a team needs that, that’s who’s gonna stick.
A lot of these guys that I watch, the way they play in the D-League, and they used to be guilty of it in the CBA, too, is just jacking the ball up figuring if you score 30 I’m gonna go up there. Most teams have a scorer or two or three. They want the intangibles, and that’s more valuable.
Even with my accolades and my success, All-Star and all of that, I got in on playing defense and hustling, that’s what Riley liked about me. I developed my game more when I got in there.
NBADLeague.com: When you were in the CBA, were you ever nervous that you wouldn’t get to the NBA?
Mason: I was 30 and 15, so I wasn’t even really worried about it. I wanted to go to the right situation. I got called up to Denver and came back, thank God – back then, Denver was…woooh.
But I mean I got called up in different situations, and it just wasn’t right. When I got called up to the Knicks, they had their stars in Patrick Ewing and [John] Starks and they had Oakley, but they needed other role players and forces and I fit right in.
NBADLeague.com: Have you had a chance to see any other games this week? Has anybody impressed you?
Mason: [Erie guard] D.J. Kennedy, Anthony’s old teammate from St. John’s, he’s pretty impressive. He’s playing the same kind of game he was playing at St. John’s.
One of the biggest things, too, is make it or don’t make it, but play your game. Be who you are. To me, the one thing that baffles me about the next level is some people bring people to their team and find out what they can do after they get there. If I’m a coach on that level, I wanna know this guy’s a big man that can shoot, or a small guy that can rebound. It’s not gonna be a surprise.
I tell these guys stay on your game until you end up in the right situation. A lot of guys try to conform, like, ‘OK, I’ll play careful,’ or ‘I won’t do what I usually do.’ And you usually don’t look good doing it.
What do this FO have against guys that are 6'10'' or taller?
Most of the 6'10" or taller guys are jags. If they were half decent, NBA teams would be scooping them up.
Yea, because theres a pile of 6'11 and 7'0 studs chillin' in the D-League waiting for teams to call.
You realize that the D-League is the bottom of the barrell, right? Guys that are down there are down there because they have flaws.
Sorry, Dwight Howard Jr. isn't playing for the Texas Legends.
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