Now Official: Spurs Trade RJ for Stephen Jackson

[timvp]

As a scorer, he's inferior to RJ, as bad as that sounds..

SJax is a much better scorer when you're talking about straight up points. These days, RJ can't create anything for himself while Jack still can.

Now if you're talking about shooting, then yeah RJ is a better shooter.

[DAF86]

Stephen Jackson's stats:

2003
Points per 36 mins: 15.1
TS%: .526
RB%: 7.4%
AST%: 14.1%
TOV%: 16.4%

2011
Points per 36 mins: 18.6
TS%: .520
RB%: 7.7%
AST%: 18.1%
TOV%: 14.9%


So if Jackson can even revert to his form from last season, he's basically what he was in 2003. His points per minute will come down in San Antonio, which will help his true shooting percentage a little bit. He's a slightly better rebounder these days and a much better playmaker.

Here are SJax's numbers from the 2003 playoffs:

Points per 36 mins: 13.6
TS%: .529
RB%: 6.6%
AST%: 14.1%
TOV%: 19.0%

It's really not a high bar when hoping SJax can regain his 2003 form. He could regress a little bit from last year and still be in the ballpark.

And on top of that, it's possible he can bring intangibles like toughness and confidence to the table that RJ would never bring.

I just hope he hits his threes at a respectable rate kinda like RJ was doing.

[Kori Ellis]

Mike Brown was the guy that kept Pop and SJ from killing each other. I wonder who will fill that role now...

Actually Timmy and Malik are really the ones who did that, and it wasn't long before Jack bought into Pop's way of thinking anyway.

[timvp]

I want to go on record saying that I think S-Jax will suck and may not even be a rotation guy come playoffs time.

I think there's a decent chance that happens. Maybe as high as like 40%. But even then, the financial considerations of this trade make it worth it. And on top of that, opening minutes for Kawhi and losing RJ makes it even more worth it.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I just hope he hits his threes at a respectable rate kinda like RJ was doing.

Considering SJax has never even got close to this year's RJ 3 point % in his career, these are some lofty expectations.

[slick'81]

we got rid of rj and that contract wtf r people complaining about ?!?

we could me minus rj with no jax and be better off

[SenorSpur]

In the postgame following the victory over the Magic, Pop mentioned how much he likes going with both RJ and Khawi at the same time to create a more versatile lineup. Imagine how much better that lineup will be with Jax and Khawi, seeing as how JAx is a superior defender to RJ?

So now who starts? Khawi or Jax?

[coyotes_geek]

I just hope he hits his threes at a respectable rate kinda like RJ was doing.

Doubtful. Low 30%'s is the best you can hope for. So far this year he's in the high 20%'s.

[Spursfan092120]

I think there's a decent chance that happens. Maybe as high as like 40%. But even then, the financial considerations of this trade make it worth it. And on top of that, opening minutes for Kawhi and losing RJ makes it even more worth it.

This...great deal no matter what. But I think Jax will be beneficial to this team.

[Obstructed_View]

If the Spurs trade RJ for Jack on the same day Syracuse gets bounced I might celebrate it as a holiday every year.

[will_spurs]

So, if Kaman or Diaw were to get bought out, when is that projected to happen?

Within next week. I don't expect a contender to go hard after a player that can't play in the playoffs, and I don't expect a player to accept a buyout (= losing money) if he can't sign with a contender.

[bigfan]

Thing about SJ is he is just as likely to punch you in the mouth as RJ is to fade into oblivion. Welcome back SJ!!!

[Libri]

I just hope he hits his threes at a respectable rate kinda like RJ was doing.

So that is what his role will be, 3-point shooter?

[timvp]

I just hope he hits his threes at a respectable rate kinda like RJ was doing.

No way that happens, tbh. RJ had morphed into one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA. SJax will be doing well if he's shooting 34-35% on threes. The difference is that SJax is more well-rounded on the offensive end and actually looks forward to shooting pressure threes. RJ's first instinct in pressure situation was to pass.

SJax is going to miss a whole lot of threes. That's just he does. But there's hope that he'll knock down a few huge shots when it counts.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

This board is going to have Meltdown of the Decade when Jackson misses a buzzer beater and we lose a game by one basket

[ThaBigFundamental21]

So we screwed up our cap for next season, when we could have actually had money to sign a Center. Gave away our first round pick in a deep draft. Got older today. And got even older for next year. And have no way of reloading with youth next year. And oh yeah, Stephen Jackson is hurt and shooting 35% this year. At least with Jefferson we could have amnestied his ass. !

[Drachen]

Ok. Sign him up, HEB.

[Bill_Brasky]

I want to go on record saying that I think S-Jax will suck and may not even be a rotation guy come playoffs time.

Needless to say, I hope I'm wrong.

Were you not watching when Jax effortlessly dropped 34/8 on us earlier this year? The guy is still incredibly effective when he wants to be.

[Trill Clinton]

I wonder if RJ is going to thank the Spurs fans for their support during his tenure here

[Thomas82]

I'm wondering since we gave up our 1st round pick in the draft, if we might be secretly targeting a player again this year, and put together a package to give a team for picking that player for us on draft day. Either that, or the Spurs don't value their first round pick this year. I want to believe the front office might have something up their sleeves for the draft.

[DAF86]

I think there's a decent chance that happens. Maybe as high as like 40%. But even then, the financial considerations of this trade make it worth it. And on top of that, opening minutes for Kawhi and losing RJ makes it even more worth it.

I understand that but the fan in me wants to make the best out of this season. I like Kawhi getting more minutes but if S-Jax doesn't produce, with Ford gone and Green sucking we suddenly lost a whole lot of depth, not to mention the catastrophe that would be another Manu injury (knock on wood).

[Spursfan092120]

So we screwed up our cap for next season, when we could have actually had money to sign a Center. Gave away our first round pick in a deep draft. Got older today. And got even older for next year. And have no way of reloading with youth next year. And oh yeah, Stephen Jackson is hurt and shooting 35% this year. At least with Jefferson we could have amnestied his ass. !

And if we get Kaman?

[DAF86]

Were you not watching when Jax effortlessly dropped 34/8 on us earlier this year? The guy is still incredibly effective when he wants to be.

Weren't you watching the other 25 games he played?

[oligarchy]

Stephen Jackson's stats:

2003
Points per 36 mins: 15.1
TS%: .526
RB%: 7.4%
AST%: 14.1%
TOV%: 16.4%

2011
Points per 36 mins: 18.6
TS%: .520
RB%: 7.7%
AST%: 18.1%
TOV%: 14.9%


So if Jackson can even revert to his form from last season, he's basically what he was in 2003. His points per minute will come down in San Antonio, which will help his true shooting percentage a little bit. He's a slightly better rebounder these days and a much better playmaker.

Here are SJax's numbers from the 2003 playoffs:

Points per 36 mins: 13.6
TS%: .529
RB%: 6.6%
AST%: 14.1%
TOV%: 19.0%

It's really not a high bar when hoping SJax can regain his 2003 form. He could regress a little bit from last year and still be in the ballpark.

And on top of that, it's possible he can bring intangibles like toughness and confidence to the table that RJ would never bring.

Compared to Jefferson:

2010-11 Playoffs
Points per 36 mins: 8
TS%: .544
RB%: 8.3%
AST%: 4.6%
TOV%: 14.3%

2011-12
Points per 36 mins: 11.7
TS%: .556
RB%: 7.1%
AST%: 7%
TOV%: 8.6%

[timvp]

Hollinger on the trade:

Golden State: D+

Golden State gets the better player in Jefferson, and he may help them with their playoff run. But wait, aren't they trying to tank? Wasn't that half the reason for the Monta Ellis trade? My brain hurts.

At any rate, this is a bad trade for completely different reasons -- Jefferson has one more year left than Jackson, one in which he makes $11 million. Having already taken themselves out of the free-agent race in 2012 with the original trade for Jackson two days ago, the Warriors now have punted on 2013 by taking on Jefferson; add an extension in the $10 million range for Stephen Curry and they're capped out with Curry, Jefferson, David Lee, Andris Biedrins and Andrew Bogut, and they've already used their amnesty.

By 2013-14 the Warriors are likely to be swashbuckling with the luxury tax, and that will be a much more punitive monster that season than it is now. All this might make sense if they were locking in a championship contender, but they've basically committed long-term to a fairly uninspiring nucleus. The absolute best-case scenario is that they're the West Coast Atlanta Hawks.

They also got a first-rounder from San Antonio, but it will be a very late one in all likelihood. Plus, nobody pays $11 million for first-round picks. Well, except Cleveland, I guess.


San Antonio: B

It's an odd trade for a team in the championship race to make, since Jefferson-for-Jacko is a slight downgrade at this point in their respective careers. But the long-term savings were simply too good to pass up; San Antonio now has massive cap flexibility in the summer of 2013.

Additionally, one can argue it made a potentially difficult move much easier. The Spurs were likely going to have to bench Jefferson, who has started all 41 games but has by far the worst PER of San Antonio's 10 rotation players. With Kawhi Leonard playing well and Manu Ginobili likely to return soon, they sidestep a potentially sticky problem and can bring Jackson off the bench in a more limited role.

$11 million for a late first rounder. GG, GSW

Unless you watch the Spurs every game, you don't really understand how much RJ was hurting the team. Yeah he'll put up better stats than SJax most likely but RJ was choking the life out of this team. He desperately needed to be benched a la 2003 Steve Smith. As Hollinger pointed out, that would have been an odd dynamic. So trading him away was probably the best solution.

And on top of that, the Spurs get Stephen Jackson.

Got damn, what a great trade.