Snap Judgments on Each Player's Future

[AFBlue]

At age 23 and just completing his third NBA season, is it too early to say DeJuan Blair is a complete product? I get the "bad fit" label mostly because DeJuan doesn't have the perimeter game to space the defense and he's a liability at center. But, is it possible he develops into a competent enough shooter from 12-15ft (a la Fabricio Oberto) to keep the defense honest?

I just see a kid with a lot of fire/intensity, who has seemingly matured professionally and I think there's a spot for him on this team. I understand listening to offers, but I hope he gets a chance to play out his contract.

That is, unless the return is an athletic shot-blocking big or athletic playmaking guard.

[tesseractive]

Boris Diaw
I was pretty damn high on him until the Thunder series. Then OKC gave a blueprint on how to defend Diaw: Ignore him. If you don't defend him, he still won't shoot and you can defend 5-on-4 to close up his passing lanes. Maybe a full season with the Spurs would have helped him but I'm wary. He strikes me more as a rich-man Bonner than a playoff warrior you want to go to battle with. Then again, when it comes to stretch fours in the NBA, the pickings are slim. If you can re-sign Diaw for a reasonable rate, you probably gotta do it. But anything north of $3.5 million per season would make me think twice.

If this is in any way a realistic contract figure, it means we could try to split the MLE between Diaw and Lorbek (and bring in De Colo on the biannual exception), which would be fantastic.

If we could trade Bonner for a second round pick somehow (as opposed to having to amnesty him, buy out his contract, or basically pay another team to take him), I would be thrilled.

That would give us:

C: Duncan, Splitter, Blair
PF: Diaw, Lorbek
SF: Leonard, Jackson
SG: Green, Ginobili, Neal
PG: Parker, De Colo, possibly Mills

With Joseph in Austin for another year, and Byars having summer league and camp to convince the team to extend him a contract and try to develop him.

The net result is a lot like this year, but with possible solutions plugged in for our two biggest problems: Matt Bonner, and the lack of a backup at the point.

Beyond that basic structure, if there's a guy we like, I still like the idea of possibly trading Tiago to try to get into the middle of the first round. Arnett Moultrie, for example, is fantastically athletic. If we thought we could coach some defense into him and help him develop a midrange jumper and/or some post moves, he could give us a much higher ceiling than Tiago ever will.

[Mugen]

I don't see a realistic scenario where trading Tiago makes sense.

Big 3/Jax/Kawhi/Tiago should be locks to come back. Everyone else is fair game.

You dangle Matty in front of Golden State and try to convince them that one gy Wonder Twin is useless without the other.

[SenorSpur]

Matt Bonner
The number one priority of the offseason should be to get this guy off the team. He's the most dangerous type player: Bonner is good enough in the regular season to earn a consistent role, however HE CHOKES LIKE GOT DAMN CLOCKWORK IN THE PLAYOFFS. By any means necessary, Pop needs to get rid of this bad habit.

I can remember as recently as 2 seasons ago getting into discussions with some posters who wanted to defend Bonner vociferously. I'm so glad that folks are now buying into what I, and some others on this board, have been saying about Bonner all along. Unlike Horry, who could do a bit of everything and demonstrated supreme confidence under pressure, Bonner has been the exact opposite. He's been a one-trick pony, who even chokes during some high-pressure regular season games. Now, he's firmly sealed his reputation as a perennial playoff choker. The sooner he's off the roster, the better off the Spurs will be. What the Spurs were thinking when they gave him the extension last summer, is beyond my comprehension.

[Richie]

C: Duncan, Splitter, Blair
PF: Diaw, Lorbek
SF: Leonard, Jackson
SG: Green, Ginobili, Neal
PG: Parker, De Colo, possibly Mills

That team is still no better defensively than we are now. Lorbek blocks and rebounds at a Bonner-esque level, we need someone long and athletic who can give our frontline some defensive presence

[timvp]

As it was, Westbrook was the Spurs best defender in this series. Literally the only times the Spurs got a big stop was when Westbrook did something stupid. Thankfully that happened about 10% of the time.

If you're saying you want 23-year-old Westbrook over a 30-year-old Parker, I guess that's reasonable. But for this year and next year, Parker is easily the better player.

Once Westbrook figures out how to actually play the game, the Thunder will be pretty much unbeatable, tbh.

[coyotes_geek]

If the Spurs don't want to pay Blair next offseason (and they shouldn't) then they need to move Blair in this offseason.

[tesseractive]

In a perfect world, I would like Spurs to get both. If it's not possible, Spurs should go with Lorbek. Lorbek is a risky move because it's not sure he will make the transition to the NBA but he has bigger upside. At that stage and with Duncan and Ginobili decline, Spurs have to take some risks.

What is Lorbek's upside, in your view?

My (purely second-hand) impression was that his defensive ability was more Matt Bonner than Boris Diaw, and his offense was as a taller Matt Bonner with some post moves.

Is that mistaken, or is that approximately right, but you still see it as a net improvement over Diaw because of Diaw's disastrous tendency to pass up the shot?

[timvp]

only reason WB would fail in San Antonio is because Spurs gameplan and Pop.

Westbrook = Parker

trying to say Westbrook's game is more hurtful to X team than Parkers is homerism to the nth level

This one hurts

Manu only fan dismissing Parker like it's a novel thing to do

Manu only fan thinking he's the only Spurs fan who doesn't like Bonner

[timtonymanu]

I don't see a realistic scenario where trading Tiago makes sense.

Big 3/Jax/Kawhi/Tiago should be locks to come back. Everyone else is fair game.

You dangle Matty in front of Golden State and try to convince him that one gy Wonder Twin is useless without the other.

Agreed.

[DPG21920]

If the Spurs don't want to pay Blair next offseason (and they shouldn't) then they need to move Blair in this offseason.

Agreed. It will be tough to have a young guy around that you don't want to pay just to absorb minutes then dump for nothing because you don't want to pay him.

If they get an offer that is reasonable, I have no issues about them making a financial move like they did with Hill even though I like Blair and he won't fetch nearly as much as GH3.

[Richie]

As it was, Westbrook was the Spurs best defender in this series. Literally the only times the Spurs got a big stop was when Westbrook did something stupid. Thankfully that happened about 10% of the time.

If you're saying you want 23-year-old Westbrook over a 30-year-old Parker, I guess that's reasonable. But for this year and next year, Parker is easily the better player.

Once Westbrook figures out how to actually play the game, the Thunder will be pretty much unbeatable, tbh.

That would be true, except in a years time Ibaka and Harden both become restricted free agents. Harden will get a max offer, and looking at what DeAndre Jordan got I wouldn't be surprised to see Ibaka get one too.

Unless they want a Laker-esque payroll, they are perhaps never going to be better than they are this year and next

[tesseractive]

That team is still no better defensively than we are now. Lorbek blocks and rebounds at a Bonner-esque level, we need someone long and athletic who can give our frontline some defensive presence

Don't disagree. Which is why I suggested trading Tiago later in the same post. I'd absolutely love to bring in someone athletic who we think we could be a better defender.

But even returning a roughly equivalent defensive team with some possible improvements on offense is still not such a terrible thing for a team with a .758 winning percentage. Keep developing our younger players, keep playing at a fairly high level, keep looking for an opportunity to make a strong move to improve the team.

[Trill Clinton]

soon as I get some info on who will and won't be with the team next season the ST fam will be first to know.

[DPG21920]

We need someone who can play next to Tim. If we can't get that, than IMO, if you get an offer for a top 15 pick, you take it, get some youth and hope that you land another Kawhi-type player.

Not saying that you force a Tiago trade; I agree he's much too valuable. I am saying that he should be on the table a little more than Timvp appeared to let on IMO.

[DPG21920]

soon as I get some info on who will and won't be with the team next season the ST fam will be first to know.

Except for the honky's.

[mavs>spurs]

Yikes, this thread was painful to read with DPG chiming in every other post begging for attention in yet another timvp thread. Talk about overly opinionated..

We get it, you think you're the spurs expert. Even after you were wrong and couldn't find the courage to own up to it.


That said, I agree with everything in the OP except maybe signing patty mills. The spurs strategy of competing while always on the look out for young players and key acquisitions has proven to pay off. Your scouting has been amazing, from ginobili and parker to leonard and green. That's the difference between the spurs and mavs FO, while Cuban tries to buy a winning team the spurs quietly surrounded their aging core with the young additions of Green, Leonard, Blair, Neal, Splitter, and also made good free agent acquisitions in Diaw and Jackson. I wish our FO was as competent as you guys, the job they have done over the years is nothing short of amazing.

[ChumpDumper]

We need someone who can play next to Tim. If we can't get that, than IMO, if you get an offer for a top 15 pick, you take it, get some youth and hope that you land another Kawhi-type player.

Doubt that would be offered for Tiago.

[tesseractive]

I don't see a realistic scenario where trading Tiago makes sense.

Big 3/Jax/Kawhi/Tiago should be locks to come back. Everyone else is fair game.

You dangle Matty in front of Golden State and try to convince him that one gy Wonder Twin is useless without the other.

What has Tiago done that's made him untouchable?

I wouldn't want to trade him for the sake of trading him, but I think he's one of the few assets we have with some real trade value, so if we think we can get someone better back, we should do it.

[Trill Clinton]

Except for the honky's.

I'm off that nonsense bruh. just got bored and decided to go back n forth. no hard feelings?

[timtonymanu]

That said, I agree with everything in the OP except maybe signing patty mills. The spurs strategy of competing while always on the look out for young players has proven to pay off. That's the difference between the spurs and mavs FO, while Cuban tries to buy a winning team the spurs quietly surrounded their aging core with the young additions of Green, Leonard, Blair, Neal, Splitter, and also made good free agent acquisitions in Diaw and Jackson. I wish our FO was as competent as you guys, the job they have done over the years is nothing short of amazing.

At least you guys rang recently.

Spurs haven't won a le since I was in high school.

[DeadlyDynasty]

We need someone who can play next to Tim.

He's got 2 years left at the MOST.

[timvp]

We need someone who can play next to Tim. If we can't get that, than IMO, if you get an offer for a top 15 pick, you take it, get some youth and hope that you land another Kawhi-type player.

Not saying that you force a Tiago trade; I agree he's much too valuable. I am saying that he should be on the table a little more than Timvp appeared to let on IMO.

I wouldn't trade Tiago unless the Spurs get back a top ten pick, tbh. Competent centers are extremely valuable. Even if Pop "hates" Splitter, having Splitter on the team makes it easy to keep Duncan's minutes in check during the regular season. You trade him and don't replace him with a similar player and Duncan's aging process speeds up.

[DPG21920]

I never had them. Ive been a Trill fan for a minute...

[DPG21920]

He's got 2 years left at the MOST.

Tiago will be 30 then and if he is as injury prone as some believe, that's an issue.