Tonight is why trading Neal might not be worth it...

[Em-City]

rofl the Patty love on this board is actually quite overrated and I myself am a Patty fan too. There are a number of guilty posters who overhype the guy.

You realise it's because there's a bunch of Australians on this forum. one-eyed countrymen piss me off.

[bigfan]

Not sure of his contract status but Ive never understood the logic of those wanting to unload the guy. We got him cheap and he is by far the best cold blooded shooter on the team. He may lack a bit on defense and yeah, he aint a point guard but who gives a ? When he is hot like tonight he is damn deadly.

[Chinook]

With the team we have right now, Neal is not just a shooter - he is the only player not named timmy or tony who is able to create his own shot when teams are rotating hard whilst we swing the ball. Manu used to be this guy, but his iso-play is just not there this year, and let's face it although he's been improving offensively most of his success has come when manu has played within the team's flow.

Now i know "hero-ball" is the mis-used term of the month here at ST but when it comes to playoffs, you need a man like Neal who can do it for himself to take the pressure off the team when our opponent is filling the passing lanes and roughing us up.. especially when tony is off. I'm not condoning Gary as the PG - i feel he's best at SG but trust me, if we got rid of him, we're gonna have a moment or two in the PO's where the opponent goes on a 7-0 run in the 4th qtr of a close one, and we're gonna say "i wish we had somebody like neal to step up and hit a big 3 to take the pressure off".

I'm sure there'd be times that Neal would come in handy. He's a good player (improved more than he gets credit for), and he has a role on this team. Danny Green does too, as he demonstrated tonight, but people seem to think that's easily replaceable for some reason. What I'm saying is that if Pop thinks getting player X fixes the Spurs' issues to the extent that they don't even need someone to play "hero ball" as much, trading Neal makes sense. There may not be a trade like that out there. But that's not the issue. If the Spurs dump Neal for nothing, I'd be upset. But even if they traded him for someone like Larry Sanders, I'd understand, because I'd trust Pop would have a plan to replace Neal's offense.

[SpurSwag]

neal needs to stay, and tbh i don't see him asking for much as a free agent. spurs have always been open to discounts, and i could easily see the spurs giving him 3-4 million a year. tiago is a problem though, whereas i think neal is perfectly happy with his situation and would give up money to stay, tiago might want a better role and might leave. I definitely want them both to stay though and would much rather trade patty/danny green than neal

[Boomersgold]

I wouldn't trade him. Every team needs a player like Neal. I'm glad he's on this team despite his bad decision making at times.

You're a ty poster. Check your posts in the game thread to see why that's the case.

I try to have fun. What can I say, ty poster?

How does Patty Mills relate to any of this at all? (Another great post by lakerhaterade.)
I gave my opinion on whether or not Neal should be traded, and you should too. Stay on topic, man.

[letmk]

It's not even hard to do that. We've been talking about this in the Think Tank for weeks now. There are teams like the Wolves, Sixers and Suns who'd love what Neal. What we've been debating is whether players like Derrick Williams, Marcin Gortat, Paul Millsap, Larry Sanders and the like are what the Spurs need. That's definitely something worthy of discussion, and you have every right to challenge that. But our opinions on it doesn't matter, because it's all about what Pop thinks is best. And that's what I'm saying: If he has the chance to acquire whatever he thinks the Spurs need, Neal should absolutely be part of that package. He's not untradeable just because he's good.

Among the names you mentioned, I think only Gortat could still potentially benefit us with the minus of Neal. Not all the rest are scrubs as Millsap surely has values, but they cannot help Spurs more than Neal.

On the other hand, although he is very important to what Spurs are doing now, unlike Leonard, Neal is not your legit starting SG. So for a tanking team, why do they want Neal for their future? I'm not saying they don't want Neal, but they definitely don't give up Gortat or Millsap to the Spurs with Neal as the centerpiece of the trade. You need to give up Leonard and draft pick, etc.

Then hypothetically, even if Spurs is willing to give up Leonard for Gortat, they sure don't want to add Neal into the package. They will only insert Mills/Blair/Bonner if the other team asks, but not Neal. So we are back to square one, it's hard to trade Neal --- as the centerpiece --- to get a more valuable player back.

[Paranoid Pop]

neal needs to stay, and tbh i don't see him asking for much as a free agent. spurs have always been open to discounts, and i could easily see the spurs giving him 3-4 million a year. tiago is a problem though, whereas i think neal is perfectly happy with his situation and would give up money to stay, tiago might want a better role and might leave. I definitely want them both to stay though and would much rather trade patty/danny green than neal

Neal is not giving up any money, played 3 years for chump change, he already did the discount thing technically.

[Boomersgold]

Neal is not giving up any money, played 3 years for chump change, he already did the discount thing technically.

Neal's worth much more than he's being paid. He could get more elsewhere.

[Em-City]

Neal is not giving up any money, played 3 years for chump change, he already did the discount thing technically.

.. and on top of that, he came to the league at a later point in his career - he'll be looking to secure his future tbh, since this will probably be his only chance at a big contract.

[SpurSwag]

Neal is not giving up any money, played 3 years for chump change, he already did the discount thing technically.

danny green stayed, patty stayed...there's no reason to believe neal won't, plus no ones gonna throw him a ridiculous amount. It's not like any team thinks he can be the star of their team, his role on the spurs is pretty much his potential

[Em-City]

danny green stayed, patty stayed...there's no reason to believe neal won't, plus no ones gonna throw him a ridiculous amount. It's not like any team thinks he can be the star of their team, his role on the spurs is pretty much his potential

Green wouldn't have got too much more elsewhere, and I think he knows that most of his success needs to be attributed to the system he's playing in. Also, green is 3 or 4 years younger than neal.

[spurraider21]

He's a free agent after this season and will ask for a large amount. Spurs will have cap room, but they might want to use it to get a good big. I like Gary and would love to see him back, but I would rather the Spurs deal him now and get something back than watch him walk and get nothing.

I'd rather keep him for this season as he will help us make a run, more so than anything we will get back for him. We will have cap space next year to more than make up for the loss of Gary Neal

[Chinook]

Among the names you mentioned, I think only Gortat could still potentially benefit us with the minus of Neal. Not all the rest are scrubs as Millsap surely has values, but they cannot help Spurs more than Neal.

On the other hand, although he is very important to what Spurs are doing now, unlike Leonard, Neal is not your legit starting SG. So for a tanking team, why do they want Neal for their future? I'm not saying they don't want Neal, but they definitely don't give up Gortat or Millsap to the Spurs with Neal as the centerpiece of the trade. You need to give up Leonard and draft pick, etc.

Then hypothetically, even if Spurs is willing to give up Leonard for Gortat, they sure don't want to add Neal into the package. They will only insert Mills/Blair/Bonner if the other team asks, but not Neal. So we are back to square one, it's hard to trade Neal --- as the centerpiece --- to get a more valuable player back.

That's your opinion of Neal's relative value, and you're very much en led to it. You should go over to the Think Tank for more-directed discussion on trade ideas. I'll say this here, though: There is no reason why Neal can't be a starting two-guard. There are systems like Phoenix' from years past and Orlando with Howard where Neal could start just fine. The reason he doesn't have that opportunity with the Spurs is that Danny Green fills the role better. Ideally, the Spurs' wings would be interchangeable, defending and shooting corner threes. Neal can't really play small-forward though, so that hurts his value in the starting line up. That's also the reason why Pop pushes for Neal to play the point off the bench.

Also, he can certainly be the centerpiece for teams like the Wolves. If they want to trade Williams, and (key phrase) if Pop thinks Williams could help the Spurs this year (and he'd have to, to commit the Spurs to that contract), then a Neal + filler for Williams deal is very possible. The better Neal plays, the more possible those deals become.

[letmk]

That's your opinion of Neal's relative value, and you're very much en led to it. You should go over to the Think Tank for more-directed discussion on trade ideas. I'll say this here, though: There is no reason why Neal can't be a starting two-guard. There are systems like Phoenix' from years past and Orlando with Howard where Neal could start just fine. The reason he doesn't have that opportunity with the Spurs is that Danny Green fills the role better. Ideally, the Spurs' wings would be interchangeable, defending and shooting corner threes. Neal can't really play small-forward though, so that hurts his value in the starting line up. That's also the reason why Pop pushes for Neal to play the point off the bench.

Also, he can certainly be the centerpiece for teams like the Wolves. If they want to trade Williams, and (key phrase) if Pop thinks Williams could help the Spurs this year (and he'd have to, to commit the Spurs to that contract), then a Neal + filler for Williams deal is very possible. The better Neal plays, the more possible those deals become.

First of all, if you think Williams helps Spurs more THIS season, you are out of your mind. 3/5 years down the road, that's another story. Remember, all Spurs do is for now.

Second of all, Neal is already 28 years old. For a tanking team, they are not aiming for this season --- actually they are probably aiming for losing. They are praying for their Rose/Irving/Davis in next year's draft. So going into next season, Neal is 29 years old undersized SG, do you think they can wait for him to grow with their franchise player?

I'm not saying no bad/young teams would want to sign Neal as a free agent next summer. However, it's a totally different story for them to give up their Millsap/Gortat for Neal.

[DatBoyGood]

Would be cool if Neal was in the 3 pt shooting contest this year

[Chinook]

First of all, if you think Williams helps Spurs more THIS season, you are out of your mind. 3/5 years down the road, that's another story. Remember, all Spurs do is for now.

Second of all, Neal is already 28 years old. For a tanking team, they are not aiming for this season --- actually they are probably aiming for losing. They are praying for their Rose/Irving/Davis in next year's draft. So going into next season, Neal is 29 years old undersized SG, do you think they can wait for him to grow with their franchise player?

I'm not saying no bad/young teams would want to sign Neal as a free agent next summer. However, it's a totally different story for them to give up their Millsap/Gortat for Neal.

I'm not saying anything about how good Williams is right now. What I am saying is that there is a possibility that the Spurs could see him (or some other trade target) as the piece they need to complete their bigman rotation. If they do, and the trading team asks for Neal, it would make sense to move him, because the Spurs (in Pop's opinion) would be able to handle the loss of Neal and be even better with their acquisition. It doesn't have to be Williams.

Secondly, a team doesn't have to be tanking in order to trade a piece the Spurs want. The Suns may be a bad example, but the only reason why we're talking about them right now is because you think Gortat is the only piece that could help San Antonio. (Incidentally, I don't agree he would make the Spurs better than they are right now, not even ignoring Neal's departure.) Neal would not be the centerpiece in that type of deal anyway. On the other hand, the Wolves do not fancy themselves a tanking team right now. They are trying to win this year, which is why they signed Kirilenko and Roy, and why they want to trade for Gasol. Neal gives them scoring that they sourly lack, leading some members of this site to argue they make a good trade partner.

The argument I'm making here is that Neal is not untouchable by any means. Making the argument that the Spurs can't trade away really good players skews the very logic behind trades. The Spurs have great depth right now, and there have been plenty of nights were Mills has been the instant offense instead of Neal. Pop may believe he can coach Mills into doing that consistently. If he does, resigning Neal may not even be a priority for the Spurs in the offseason. Under those conditions, the idea of trading Neal for something that can better balance the team is very appealing.

[MaNu4Tres]

I don't understand why some people are so results oriented after one game. Especially after a single great offensive performance against one of the worst (if not worst) defensive teams in the league (before this game, Neal had been chucking up a whopping 39% from the field the past 11 games, attempting 12 shots per contest-- but hey lets make this thread after crushing the defenseless Rockets). By no means am I trying to rain on Neal's parade, he had a great game and took advantage of the opportunities he received tonight ( kudos to him), but it's pretty foolish for people to use this circus of a game as excuse for him being untradeable. Those wide open efficient shots/opportunities that Neal gets against these type of teams won't be there when games really matter (if there will be any, there will be very few).

Regardless of this game, Spurs should keep Neal on the trade market to see if the right trade comes along that can improve the team, especially considering how resigning Neal for 4-5 mil per year (around his market value) makes little sense considering their salary cap situation come summer time.

But of course, if nothing worthy materializes on the trade market for Neal/Blair's services, they're better off just keeping both players to make the best push possible come late spring/early summer.

[tmtcsc]

Gary Neal should not be in any trade conversations this season. He's a clutch shooter and a big part of what this team does. Move Blair and/or Bonner if it makes sense, but don't move Gary Neal.

[Brunodf]

Gary Neal should not be in any trade conversations this season. He's a clutch shooter and a big part of what this team does. Move Blair and/or Bonner if it makes sense, but don't move Gary Neal.

Neal is a good shooter but he doesn't have space in the Spurs rotation(once Kawhi and Jack are health).

[Slutter McGee]

Big difference between baseball and basketball. In baseball you trade Neal. In basketball you dont.

ter McGee

[NASpurs]

I don't understand why some people are so results oriented after one game. Especially after a single great offensive performance against one of the worst (if not worst) defensive teams in the league (before this game, Neal had been chucking up a whopping 39% from the field the past 11 games, attempting 12 shots per contest-- but hey lets make this thread after crushing the defenseless Rockets). By no means am I trying to rain on Neal's parade, he had a great game and took advantage of the opportunities he received tonight ( kudos to him), but it's pretty foolish for people to use this circus of a game as excuse for him being untradeable. Those wide open efficient shots/opportunities that Neal gets against these type of teams won't be there when games really matter (if there will be any, there will be very few).

Regardless of this game, Spurs should keep Neal on the trade market to see if the right trade comes along that can improve the team, especially considering how resigning Neal for 4-5 mil per year (around his market value) makes little sense considering their salary cap situation come summer time.

But of course, if nothing worthy materializes on the trade market for Neal/Blair's services, they're better off just keeping both players to make the best push possible come late spring/early summer.

I agree with everything you said plus people here want to trade our trash in order to get gold back and that usually doesn't work unless you're the Lakers.

[spurs1990]

he can get 5-7 mil this offseason

Regardless of this game, Spurs should keep Neal on the trade market to see if the right trade comes along that can improve the team, especially considering how resigning Neal for 4-5 mil per year (around his market value) makes little sense considering their salary cap situation come summer time.

Incredible that Gary is on the verge of commanding an annual contract 2 to 3 times what he made his entire 3 seasons in San Antonio. I think he's one of the most underpaid players in the NBA.

[Chinook]

Gary Neal should not be in any trade conversations this season. He's a clutch shooter and a big part of what this team does. Move Blair and/or Bonner if it makes sense, but don't move Gary Neal.

Yeah, because teams are willing to give the Spurs good pieces for players that San Antonio doesn't want... It's like people don't understand why teams make trades in the first place. It's usually not just to get rid of players. If the Spurs move Neal, it'll be because they like what they are getting back more than what they are giving up. I trust them on that.

[DPG21920]

Yeah, because teams are willing to give the Spurs good pieces for players that San Antonio doesn't want... It's like people don't understand why teams make trades in the first place. It's usually not just to get rid of players. If the Spurs move Neal, it'll be because they like what they are getting back more than what they are giving up. I trust them on that.

Scola says hi #bluefont

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I don't understand why some people are so results oriented after one game. Especially after a single great offensive performance against one of the worst (if not worst) defensive teams in the league (before this game, Neal had been chucking up a whopping 39% from the field the past 11 games, attempting 12 shots per contest-- but hey lets make this thread after crushing the defenseless Rockets). By no means am I trying to rain on Neal's parade, he had a great game and took advantage of the opportunities he received tonight ( kudos to him), but it's pretty foolish for people to use this circus of a game as excuse for him being untradeable. Those wide open efficient shots/opportunities that Neal gets against these type of teams won't be there when games really matter (if there will be any, there will be very few).


Regardless of this game, Spurs should keep Neal on the trade market to see if the right trade comes along that can improve the team, especially considering how resigning Neal for 4-5 mil per year (around his market value) makes little sense considering their salary cap situation come summer time.

But of course, if nothing worthy materializes on the trade market for Neal/Blair's services, they're better off just keeping both players to make the best push possible come late spring/early summer.

It's not because of one game. Neal has had 6 games of 17 points or more, as well as multiple 20+ point games already this season. He can be a little inconsistent at times, and I still cringe when he has to play PG for the Spurs, but I think he's on his way to his best season yet with the team. Factor in the improved defense and you've got a bargain on your hands.

I understand the logic of Neal being considered expendable because of the logjam in the backcourt, but I'd be much more on board of letting him go if we can get a solid big back. People assume because of this team's high powered offense that replacing Neal would be very simple (Patty Mills has a good imitation I'm sure) but I think a lot of fans would be surprised on the nights that the Spurs do struggle offensively, how the lack of Neal would really be felt.

The Portland game (27 points from Neal) and the Houston are both games we should have lost. Other players deserve credit, don't get me wrong, but Neal just takes over and more often than not and delivers.