But have the Spurs ever ignored a player's request to not bother matching though? His agent could probably insist on a few ridiculous clauses to force their hand on the matter as well. I'm not saying it'll be a piece of cake but if he doesn't want to come back after his current contract is up it's not like he won't have options.
At his salary their best bet is to go for draft picks imo because you won't really find too many teams willing to give up younger bigs who are still on rookie scale.
It's a no-win situation for the Spurs since they probably won't be able to get back/draft anybody as good as Splitter though I suppose it's better than letting him walk to Houston for nothing. If anything, I think they try to get a back-up point guard for him.
Last edited by TheSkeptic; 04-13-2012 at 05:29 PM.
Last year Splitter played 12min per game.
Last 2 games he played 15 min and 13 min. With Diaw in the team we'll see Splitter's minutes
The bad news for him is that he played less than ever against Lakers and Memphis..... 2 playoffs teams....it could be a sign.
He's in his prime.If Pop doesn't trust in him now I can't see the point to match offers for him.
I don't recall such a situation in the past.
The CBA doesn't allow the sort of "poison pills" you suggest.
The only option he has to guarantee getting out of San Antonio would be to accept the qualifying offer. That would make him an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2014. Of course, it would also mean playing for substantially below market value that year and leave him without the security of a long term contract. An injury that year could leave him out tens of millions of dollars. A most unlikely scenario.
TPark thinks we can get Taj Gibson and a box of Mallomars for him.
It'd be a hard sell but i think RC could convince Thibbs to pull the trigger.
Ian Mahinmi?
Younger than Splitter and getting minutes on last year's world champion team.
Hmmm.
I don't really remember who it was but I did read one story about a player who did something like that and the front office honored his request.
They don't have bonus clauses anymore? Something like if he averaged less than x amount of minutes then they'd have to compensate him for it would be a step in the right direction imo. Or if nothing else they could tell the other teams to front load and maybe try to inflate the price that way...
Why'd we let Mahinmi go again? I just don't understand what happened there.Ian Mahinmi?
Younger than Splitter and getting minutes on last year's world champion team.
Hmmm.
Only if that 6'11 guy can space the floor.
I don't recall any RFA matching situations where the Spurs didn't match based on the player's request. The Spurs didn't match a very small offer to Devin Brown in 2005 because they had signed Michael Finley to fill his spot on the roster. Then Finley asked to be waived in 2010 so that he could sign with the Celts after Pop stopped playing him, and the Spurs complied with his request.
Yes, there are bonuses, but the cap hit is spread over the life of the contract. If the contract is for something near market value, there's really nothing the offering team can do make it so unpalatable that the Spurs would refuse to match. The only way to get them not to match is to pay way more than market value.
I see. Thanks.
Can players really just ask to be waived like that? If so then Tiago might be able to take the Finley route or ask to be amnestied or something. I'm sure his agent would know the ins and outs.
That said, I hope he stays and that Pop changes up the rotations.
Actually Gibson would be a perfect fit. He's capable of shooter the jump shot, although offensive really isn't his thing. But he wouldn't get in Duncan's way either.
Defensively is where he really shines though. Above average rebounder, good shot blocker for his size, mobile, smart, plays within the system. I would definitely do the Gibson for Splitter trade.
However, its extremely doubtful that the Bulls consider this trade, even though Tiago makes sense for them too. The reason is that Gibson is cheaper and they already have a fine back up center in Asik.
Asik, like Tiago will be restricted unless they accept their qualifying offers. So depending on what happens to Asik, the Bulls might be interested in Splitter.
Last edited by angelbelow; 04-13-2012 at 06:48 PM.
Rather than talking about Splitter's future, we should be talking ways to ship out Bonner and Blair.
Finley was an old player in the last few weeks of his contract. He had been relegated to the end of the bench. He had no value to the Spurs and they lost nothing by granting his request.
Splitter, obviously, is a very valuable asset. The possibility that they would grant a release request approaches zero. The most likely outcome by far, IMO, is that he signs his next contract with the Spurs.
The problem is our coach.
If he wasn't so hung up on small-ball, his rotations, and his system we could amnesty one and trade the other for draft picks.
Fair enough. I'm just not sure what they could get in exchange for him if they were to trade him though. He's playing significantly below his market value.
From a fan perspective, yeah, letting him go was kind of a bummer. I wish we could have kept him too. BUT..
Letting Mahinmi go made a lot of sense for the front office and I don't hold it against them. In fact, if I were in their shoes, I would do the same thing without hesitation.
Ian Mahimni was slotted to be the 6th big and a 4th string center (behind Duncan, Dice, Splitter.) Because of the players in front of him, there was 0 opportunity for him to play. So he left for two main reasons:
1. Re-signing a 6th big 1.7 million a year because of luxury tax is a bad move. And the keyword is re-signing because...
2. Our other bigs had long term contracts (Splitter just signed a fresh deal, Bonner and Blair also had long term contracts already.)
Therefore, it was both a business and personnel decision to let him go. Too bad it didn't work out because his size would be beneficial this year.
Fortunately, there's no reason to trade him.
Actually, before letting him go, the Spurs picked up his option. THAT is the head-scratcher.
As an agent point of view, don't you think it is better a trade in the end of this season, new franchise, lots of minutes and hopefuly for the agent and Splitter a bigger contract in 2013? Or spending around 13 minutes on court will give them the same contract? I don't think so.
An agent could very well have that view. The team has no obligation to change team goals and plans to satisfy the agent.
There is a process to get to free agency and have the freedom to make that choice. It involves fulfilling the current contract.
Totally agree with you. However if the agent somehow convinces Tiago about his views (let say he thinks like that), we may end up the season with Tiago asking for a trade and then our options would be terrible. Either trading him for almost nothing or having him in this organization against his will.
Anything is possible, but that seems extremely unlikely. Dangerous game for an agent to play before the second contract is secured. Even if Tiago plays another year at 20 mpg at his current level, he will be in line for a huge increase in salary in the summer of 2013.
let's hope for the best
I understand what you're saying but would requesting a trade with a year left on his contract really be that much of a problem if he does it in a clean manner? I mean it's one thing to have stats showing that you can produce at an elite level and something else entirely to actually do so.
Playing 20 mpg when he doesn't have that kind of time career-wise could be an expensive mistake in terms of money he isn't able to command as a free agent right? Opportunity cost and all that.
I think it depends how confident he is about his game, skills and lack of opportunities.
If he really thinks "I'm the man" then asking for trade seems the best option for him cause playing 30MPG will increase his chances to get a nice contract.
On the other hand if he isn't really confident, he might think "better be here cause I have an excuse for the fact I don't play a lot of minutes. Tim Duncan. If I move on to another franchise and fail my big contract's gone."
I don't see that much harm in a trade request from Tiago's camp. It puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the Spurs if hes foolish enough to be demanding about it.
For example:
-The Spurs are going to have to decide whether or not to bench him and tell him to stay home during the process. That kind of situation is always a distraction and what worse is that we'd be left without a center (ofcourse this is going to depend on how our offseason goes.)
-It's difficult to replace Splitter's skill set when we're searching for value around his contract's price range. We'll likely have to downgrade and get someone like Ed Davis in return.
-Trading him for a top 10 first round pick might be the best case scenario. But anything after pick 15 or so and it becomes more and more risky.
-Duncan is going be another year older, we actually need to count on Tiago to spell him some minutes next year.
Mel has a great point too, its risky from Tiago's perspective as well. But I think it would hurt the Spurs more for him to act out.
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