Spurs interested in Thomas Robinson

[ThaBigFundamental21]

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...Robinson-5496/

Measured at 6'7.75 during the draft. Unless he had a very late growth spurt, I doubt he's even close to 6'10. He my have grown half an inch to be a legit 6'8.

He is listed at 6'10 on ESPN. Someone is lying here. Either way, at his price tag, I am on board with adding talented youth. The Spurs would be a good spot for him. Pop can work with him. I will take the trade if we aren't giving up a ton.

[Steve-O-Matic]

, so basically other than him being a top 5 pick you have no idea why him joining the spurs would be a good idea (a steal, in your words). Just thought you may know something we didnt about TR, you dont.

Umm, no, there are a plethora of reasons why Robinson joining the Spurs would be a good idea - all of which I'm fully aware of and have to do with things like his rebounding ability, athleticism, youth, motor, the position he plays, his inside/outside offensive potential and so on. I never said that Robinson simply being a top 5 pick last year makes him a good target on general principle. Those are your words, not mine. Nice try, though.

[ThaBigFundamental21]

The cap IS going to be at $58.5 Million.

Also, without actually doing your calculations, I don't understand your conclusions:

The Spurs have $19.3 Million in space not counting Ginobili, Neal or Splitter. The Spurs don't have to agree with Ginobili right away; they can just renounce his rights (eliminating the hold) and sign him to whatever's left after all the moves are made.

Splitter takes $7.5 Million, so that leaves $12.3 Million (the team gets a $490k roster charge taken away).

Neal takes $1.1 Million so that leaves $11.7 Million

Robinson takes $3.4 Million, which drops the cap space to $8.8 Million.

Provided they keep their pick (unlikely if they're making this trade, but whatever), the final cap number is around $8.4 Million. So the team has a lot of room to sign Ginobili to a fair deal AND still bring in a player like Aminu or make a bid World Peace, AND sign a backup point-guard like CJ Watson.

Or Splitter and Neal don't come back. We give Neal's minutes to Nando, who is bigger, and is a better playmaker. Splitter gets his broke ass out of town, and we sign a quality big man for 13-14 million a year.

[Mal]

The Spurs have $19.3 Million in space not counting Ginobili, Neal or Splitter. The Spurs don't have to agree with Ginobili right away; they can just renounce his rights (eliminating the hold) and sign him to whatever's left after all the moves are made.

What about Bonner ? how much extra space cutting him would make ? Half of his 3,4 mil ?

[lurker23]

Oh I see someone knows something more about it. Why Spurs need to keep Ginobili`s rights ? They wont go over the cap with his bird rights and he is UFA. Why keep him with 19mil cap hold ?

I guess there are several ways you can go about it. You're right that Spurs don't necessarily need to keep Manu's rights, but it all depends on how much money (or lack thereof) he's willing to take. Once you renounce his rights and start using that cap space, then your only methods for re-signing him are:
a.) cap space
b.) "the room exception," which is basically an MLE available to teams who were previously under the cap; I think that value is a max contract of 2 years, $5 million, but I don't know if that changes for this year, or
c.) he could sign for the minimum

So, if you assume that Ginobili wants more than 2 years/$5 million, then you either have to sign him using Bird rights, or make darn sure you have enough cap space to re-sign if you renounce those rights.

[Chinook]

I guess a third team must be involved if the Rockets want to go into July 1st ready to make Dwight an offer, rather than work out a deal first with the Spurs then make the offer.

Nah, there's still the moratorium to consider. The Rockets can use that week or so to agree to a deal with Howard (pretty simple seeing as he'll get the max) and work out a trade (which we're assuming they already did on draft night). Then, when the moratorium ends, they can fax in the trade to the league office, have Howard sign his contract and fax that into the league office -- in that order. All that happens on July 8th or 10th, or whenever free agency officially begins, and it should only take a few minutes total.

[TrainOfThought5]

Would be a solid pickup for the right price

if his first team was the Kings then it doesnt count.

[Mal]

I guess a third team must be involved if the Rockets want to go into July 1st ready to make Dwight an offer, rather than work out a deal first with the Spurs then make the offer.

Oh wait, I think I`ve got it. Probably Rockets want draft pick this draft, and stash him in Europe. That make sense and must involve 3rd team.

[yavozerb]

Umm, no, there are a plethora of reasons why Robinson joining the Spurs would be a good idea - all of which I'm fully aware of and have to do with things like his rebounding ability, athleticism, youth, motor, the position he plays, his inside/outside offensive potential and so on. I never said that Robinson simply being a top 5 pick last year makes him a good target on general principle. Those are your words, not mine. Nice try, though.

Other than his youth I have yet to see any of those other attributes you mentioned. Not saying he cannot do any of those things, but after 1 year his youth is main and only asset.

[Chinook]

What about Bonner ? how much extra space cutting him would make ? Half of his 3,4 mil ?

Well, either the Spurs can agree to extend his deadline so they can amnesty him, or they'll waive him and drop the initial cap number to $18.8 Million. It's also possible that they'll trade him to Houston on draft night and be done with it. A Spurs/Rockets deal might end up including players like Royce White and Nando De Colo. Or it might include a third team like Sacramento absorbing Bonner's deal in exchange for cash and a second. But either way, unless the Spurs keep Bonner on their roster next season, his contract won't make too big of a difference.

[Steve-O-Matic]

Other than his youth I have yet to see any of those other attributes you mentioned. Not saying he cannot do any of those things, but after 1 year his youth is main and only asset.

Then you obviously haven't been watching. You're done, yav.

[Chinook]

Oh wait, I think I`ve got it. Probably Rockets want draft pick this draft, and stash him in Europe. That make sense and must involve 3rd team.

It doesn't have to. Teams can agree to draft-night trades to only take effect after the moratorium. There's no need to involve a third team if the Spurs agree to pick a certain player Houston wants and then to trade that player for Robinson as soon as free agency starts.

[lurker23]

The cap IS going to be at $58.5 Million.

Also, without actually doing your calculations, I don't understand your conclusions:

The Spurs have $19.3 Million in space not counting Ginobili, Neal or Splitter. The Spurs don't have to agree with Ginobili right away; they can just renounce his rights (eliminating the hold) and sign him to whatever's left after all the moves are made.

Splitter takes $7.5 Million, so that leaves $12.3 Million (the team gets a $490k roster charge taken away).

Neal takes $1.1 Million so that leaves $11.7 Million

Robinson takes $3.4 Million, which drops the cap space to $8.8 Million.

Provided they keep their pick (unlikely if they're making this trade, but whatever), the final cap number is around $8.4 Million. So the team has a lot of room to sign Ginobili to a fair deal AND still bring in a player like Aminu or make a bid World Peace, AND sign a backup point-guard like CJ Watson.

I hadn't seen the report about the $58.5 million (which I just found, thanks for mentioning it). I still wouldn't bet against the cap ending up at $59 or $60 million, but $58.5 is as good a guess as we have now, so I'm fine using that.

For the contracts on the books, the total is $41.66, which would leave less than $17 million under the cap (ignore cap holds for the second). I'm guessing you're counting on the Spurs waiving Bonner? As much as Spurs fans speculate on that, I haven't seen any indications from Pop or anyone else that this is imminent. (For what it's worth, I think the more likely scenario is the Spurs package him on draft night to a team looking to shed some salary.)

[Chinook]

Or Splitter and Neal don't come back. We give Neal's minutes to Nando, who is bigger, and is a better playmaker. Splitter gets his broke ass out of town, and we sign a quality big man for 13-14 million a year.

I guess. But I was explaining how much cap room would be left if that scenario.

[Captivus]

We're talking about essentially swapping him for Bonner here. Worst comes to worst, he sits on the bench all year or gets traded as an expiring at the deadline. Best case? Productive big to put next to Duncan and Splitter for the next few years. Could easily be a Hickson-type of player.

THIS and THIS.

[Seventyniner]

Damn, I hate quoting myself accidentally. It's so conceited.

I'm not too fond of GreatYacht either.

[yavozerb]

Then you obviously haven't been watching. You're done, yav.

4 ppg and 4 reb a game while averaging 15 min. There you go, now im done..

[Chinook]

I hadn't seen the report about the $58.5 million (which I just found, thanks for mentioning it). I still wouldn't bet against the cap ending up at $59 or $60 million, but $58.5 is as good a guess as we have now, so I'm fine using that.

For the contracts on the books, the total is $41.66, which would leave less than $17 million under the cap (ignore cap holds for the second). I'm guessing you're counting on the Spurs waiving Bonner? As much as Spurs fans speculate on that, I haven't seen any indications from Pop or anyone else that this is imminent. (For what it's worth, I think the more likely scenario is the Spurs package him on draft night to a team looking to shed some salary.)

The Spurs tend not to keep partially guaranteed deals on the books outside of the ones they give to rookies. So I'd say it's very possible the Spurs waive/amnesty-waive Bonner. Getting Robinson would only increase the likelihood of that happening, as that would give the Spurs six bigs, and one of Bonner or Robinson would be at best fifth big. That's too much money to pay for an end-of-bench player. Whether it's literal or figurative, I think we'll see a Bonner-for-Robinson swap if the Spurs acquire Thomas at all.

[Texas_Ranger]

4 ppg and 4 reb a game while averaging 15 min. There you go, now im done..

still better than Tiago in the finals....

[Chinook]

4 ppg and 4 reb a game while averaging 15 min. There you go, now im done..

Pretty much a double-double per 36. That's not bad, actually.

[SenorSpur]

Living near Sacramento, I follow the Kings pretty closely. It's brutal what the franchise has gone through the last few years. I'm really hoping the new ownership can turn it around.

There haven't been any rumblings about Robinson being a bad buy, lacking work ethic, problem child off the court, whatever. As far as I can tell, he's fallen victim to lack of leadership, no direction, and players dictating stuff. The same thing happened to Donte Greene, Omri Casspi, JJ Hickson, and a few other guys. They'd be playing and producing, you could see the potential, and then they wouldn't play for 3-5 games.

I really like what I see from Robinson and assuming the Spurs don't have to give up a lot, I think he'd be worth the gamble. I think he'd flourish with the Spurs system and leadership.

From a distance, that pretty much what I had surmised about Robinson. There was no chance in for him to develop in Sacramento, what with him firmly entrenched behind Jason Thompson, the lack of leadership and that "me-first" culture that permeated the entire team. Houston never had any plans for him. They're simply clearing space to try and acquire Dwight Howard. I believe this kid may very well be salvageable. A high motor and good rebounding skills usually translates well to the next level. I'd really like to see what he could do as a Spurs - assuming they could pull it off. It would be a low-risk move and would provide some measure of youth and athleticism to their frontcourt.

[lurker23]

Chinook and others, thanks for helping me see that renouncing Ginobili's rights is actually a viable option. Personally, I think Manu will get something like 2 years, $10 million, and Splitter will get something relatively close to his cap hold (say 3 years, $27 million); if that comes to pass, the Spurs don't really have a ton of room to maneuver under the cap, but something like this Thomas Robinson deal is certainly a possibility.

[BatManu20]

Bonner for Robinson.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=p5cocd5

They're trying to get rid of him to clear cap space.. Unless I'm missing something, they won't trade him for another player, esp not an overpaid one like Bonner, even is his contract is expiring.

[SenorSpur]

Robinson would be a low-cost, low-risk move and just the type of under-the-rader signing the Spurs have been known to make.

[Steve-O-Matic]

4 ppg and 4 reb a game while averaging 15 min. There you go, now im done..

Again, nice try, but cherry-picking out rookie year stats on the internet from a limited sample size is hardly a player assessment, never mind a contextual predictor of his future potential or suitability to be a Spur. You've already declared you know absolutely nothing about Thomas Robinson other than the fact that he played for 2 teams this past season, so it'd be best if you just quit while you're behind because neither the facts nor the masses are on your side.