Spurs reach agreement with Jeff Pendergraph (Report: 2 Year, ~$4 million)

[Juan]

What were Splitter's per minute stats in the playoffs? You know, the only time it really matters...

[Darkwaters]

It is to early to tell if kawhi will get the max or not. For the most part, his new contract or his extension would be evaluated next season when he moves in as a legit 2-3 option. I trust the spurs to make the right decision, but you can bet money that a handful of teams would have evaluated his worth for what he did in the post season and possibly give him the max..It does not matter though since he is a RFA.

Solely based on his importance and playoff experience, kawhi is worth 11-13 million dollars a year IMO.

The truth about the NBA is that most GM's are seriously worried about their jobs, and don't know year to year if they'll have a job. The same is true for head coaches. So as a result these GM's are often willing to "make a splash" in free agency in the hopes of striking gold. If they instead hit a dud, well, the future be damned. They won't be around the organization to deal with the aftermath anyways. As a result you get crazy like the Hornets giving an old worn out Peja Stojakovic 64M over 5 years in order to entice him to leave Indiana. Crazy.

So yea, the likelihood of some GM throwing out some crazy big money is very real. But is the player worth it? I'm thinking Kawhi will get there, but he definitely doesn't rate it yet.

[Drom John]

What were Splitter's per minute stats in the playoffs? You know, the only time it really matters...

What were Pekovic's stats in the playoffs?

[Juan]

What were Pekovic's stats in the playoffs?

Since Pekovic gets to play with Tony, Tim, Manu and Pop right? Lol

Guarantee you he wouldn't log 4 minutes in a game 7 NBA Final.

[Darkwaters]

What were Pekovic's stats in the playoffs?

Stab to the heart of all T-Wolves fans who might happen to be cruising through at this moment.

The Timberwolves haven't made the playoffs since 04-05. The dude hasn't logged a single post-season minute.

[SenorSpur]

I thought this was a thread about Jeff Pendergraph.

[TheGoldStandard]

See, this is the kind of mentality that leads people to be surprised at the contracts players get. Splitter has great per-minute numbers (16 and 10 per 36) and really good advanced stats (18.7 PER and .188 WS/48). Leonard has no where near that level of production yet (13 and 7 per 36 and a PER of 16.5 and .168 WS/48). The Spurs have every reason to think Splitter will excel in an expanded role, especially to the extent needed to be worthy of his contract. (He was great off the bench when Ginobili was healthy.) But outside some flashes that get massively overrated on this board, Leonard hasn't shown he can be a max player. If he does that next year, great. But it's going to take more than just remaining on this improvement curve to justify giving him more than $12-13 Million a year.

PER doesn't tell the whole story because there are a lot of players who have high numbers but are completely worthless as players. Kawhi is the future face of this franchise, Tim Duncan has hinted at this and I think Pop is going to start using him more in the offense which I see him taking big strides in as well. If we look at the small improvements that Tiago has made and then look at how much more of a complete player Kawhi is becoming over the least 2 seasons I think it's perfectly reasonable to see Kawhi getting offered a lot of money to play elsewhere. I know he's restricted but once we put that qualifying offer in someone can offer some huge ass contract and we'd have to match. If Kawhi decides to take an extension we should be so fortunate that he likes this city and it's people to play for the amount that's offered.

[AFBlue]

This is a blatantly "glass-half-empty" post, which completely ignores that Ginobili had already regressed last season and the team still got to game 7 of the Finals. Parker is in his prime and will, more than likely, retain his skills (I don't see him dropping off a cliff). Timmy is in incredible shape and has progressed in his last couple of seasons. Even if he does regress slightly, he's still better than most bigs in the post. It's his lack of athleticism and his intelligence on how to overcome it that has contributed to his renaissance.

Why do you so badly want to blow the team up when they only needed a couple of tweaks here or there to win it all? You cannot deny that one rebound, one better pass, one more made basket would have made all the difference. Why destroy half the team for an UNKNOWN variable, when you already have is pretty damn good?

Don't be a cynical Spurfan, they're not done winning basketball games yet.

I didn't deny anything that was stated from the "glass half full" post, simply provided the counter-argument. I understand the argument that the Spurs were a rebound, made free throw or missed three away from winning the le. That still doesn't mean Manu @ $7M, Splitter @ $9M for four years, and replacement-level players in minor roles is the best possible outcome to keep the Spurs in contention.

"Blow it up" is the wrong phrase to describe what I was advocating. It's more like retooling on more prominent roles. As one example...I'd rather have Millsap @ $10M for two years next to Duncan than four of Splitter at close to the same cost. Disagree of you want, but don't dismiss the validity in my supposedly "glass half empty" post as cynical.

Oh and T Park, you can with your bull generalizations.

[Chinook]

PER doesn't tell the whole story because there are a lot of players who have high numbers but are completely worthless as players. Kawhi is the future face of this franchise, Tim Duncan has hinted at this and I think Pop is going to start using him more in the offense which I see him taking big strides in as well. If we look at the small improvements that Tiago has made and then look at how much more of a complete player Kawhi is becoming over the least 2 seasons I think it's perfectly reasonable to see Kawhi getting offered a lot of money to play elsewhere. I know he's restricted but once we put that qualifying offer in someone can offer some huge ass contract and we'd have to match. If Kawhi decides to take an extension we should be so fortunate that he likes this city and it's people to play for the amount that's offered.

Leonard is not going to even get to restricted free agency. He's going to get an extension next off-season. There will not be a market for him, because he won't be on the market. He can't just go by what he thinks he'll be worth the next season, because seasons are really unpredictable. That's a major reason why players on rookie deals ALMOST NEVER get max extensions: They can rarely leverage it. Leonard, for a much as people are pumping him up, has nowhere near that amount of leverage needed to do that. That's not an insult to him. Only players like Rose, Durant and Lebron get that leverage.

Could Leonard refuse to accept a sub-max extension and play his deal out? Sure. But that's taking a very big risk, one which he wouldn't be wise to take.

[TheGoldStandard]

Leonard is not going to even get to restricted free agency. He's going to get an extension next off-season. There will not be a market for him, because he won't be on the market. He can't just go by what he thinks he'll be worth the next season, because seasons are really unpredictable. That's a major reason why players on rookie deals ALMOST NEVER get max extensions: They can rarely leverage it. Leonard, for a much as people are pumping him up, has nowhere near that amount of leverage needed to do that. That's not an insult to him. Only players like Rose, Durant and Lebron get that leverage.

Could Leonard refuse to accept a sub-max extension and play his deal out? Sure. But that's taking a very big risk, one which he wouldn't be wise to take.

I understand the reasoning but at the same time Tim/Manu will be just about done and if he has a pretty solid season you don't think fan support will usher in those kinds of talk being a future star? I'd hate to think that they'd go out and overpay some FA and not pay Leonard a deal when he looks like he might be the next big player on this roster.

[Baam]

JJ Hickson has a superior PER and he's getting 5M*3years... Much younger as well...

Sure he's a weak defender right now but still there's a lot more upside... With Hickson at 5M and Kawhi you get every single rebound you can get basically and you have money to throw at AK47...

[TheGoldStandard]

JJ Hickson has a superior PER and he's getting 5M*3years... Much younger as well...

Sure he's a weak defender right now but still there's a lot more upside... With Hickson at 5M and Kawhi you get every single rebound you can get basically and you have money to throw at AK47...

Perdergraph FTW

[Chinook]

I understand the reasoning but at the same time Tim/Manu will be just about done and if he has a pretty solid season you don't think fan support will usher in those kinds of talk being a future star? I'd hate to think that they'd go out and overpay some FA and not pay Leonard a deal when he looks like he might be the next big player on this roster.

$60M/5 is a "future" star contract. It's just not an "established star" deal, which is what a max contract signifies. The closest example to Leonard's potential rise would be Rondo a couple of seasons ago. He had been a key role-player to a ring, and he quickly becoming the star of the franchise. He got a $55M/5 extension. It looks like a steal now (well maybe not NOW, but you know what I mean), but it was a very reasonable contract for both sides when he signed it.

[mosdef17]

And in the finals he had 26 field goals to 22 turnovers. That's astronomical. So no he's not that far off from having more turnovers to made field goals.

Is he going to face LeBron and Wade every night during the regular season and be forced to do that much ball handling? Regular season is a walk in the park compared to the NBA Finals. My sample size is 60+ games against the whole league, your sample size is 7 of the most intense physical games and against some of the leagues best defenders...

[BackHome]

You know we were saying in the beginning of the season that we wanted a backup PG and people were saying that if we didn't it would bite us on our butt..IT DID...........I understand the hate for Manu but put it on RC and Pop for making players play in positions that they should not be playing........He is a SG keep him at that role and get a freaking backup PG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[therealtruth]

Pekovic probably owes Splitter 3M.

[Marcus Bryant]

Spurs started this season with a late first round pick and very good financial flexibility. They are now at a stage where they can only offer min contracts and what they have done is basically standing pat with Belinelli replacing Neal and Pendergraph replacing Blair. Jackson/McGrady hasn't been replaced for the moment.

You can spin it as much as you want with saying that Spurs should be fine next season, which is true, and that they will have tons of cap space in 2015, which is also true but the bottom line is that Spurs of season has been a big disappointment. They had an opportunity to get really better and they did nothing.

No spin, it's the reality of what they had to do. They were at risk of losing two rotational players, including their starting 5 (or having his price driven up significantly) if they didn't commit early. Ginobili I grant you was in part a loyalty signing, at least as far as him getting $7MM per instead of the MLE.

Had they the flexibility without that uncertainty, then sure, they could've played the market more and attempted to use their cap flexibility to participate in some trades as a 3rd party, or to take a player from a team that didn't want his contract in a salary dump.

[Marcus Bryant]

Spurs have had max cap room numerous times before and the biggest free agent signings have ended up being their own. It's the reality of being a small market team in the NBA free agent market.

[DesignatedT]

I agree. The Spurs likely had ideas and interest elsewhere but they weren't willing in taking the risk at losing what they had because they were chasing other players. They played the Splitter situation right by not letting Dallas and others have time to even think about getting an offer ready.

I do think the Spurs could have played the salary game better though. I'm not talking about Tiago and Manu's contracts but they had a chance to shed $3M with Bonner and didn't take the chance and other opportunities to get under the cap and create a good amount of cap space to spend even after the Tiago and Manu signings.

[TheGoldStandard]

I agree. The Spurs likely had ideas and interest elsewhere but they weren't willing in taking the risk at losing what they had because they were chasing other players. They played the Splitter situation right by not letting Dallas and others have time to even think about getting an offer ready.

I do think the Spurs could have played the salary game better though. I'm not talking about Tiago and Manu's contracts but they had a chance to shed $3M with Bonner and didn't take the chance and other opportunities to get under the cap and have a good amount of $ to spend even after the Tiago and Manu signings.

Bonner makes little sense after they signed Pendergraph.. You spend an extra 2 Mil on a guy who we don't know will fit the system and going off of "potential" when the other moves look like they're going for broke over the next 2 seasons.

[Marcus Bryant]

If we jokers can figure out the Spurs flexibility under the cap and what is possible, they certainly know it and they know which free agents actually have an interest in signing as well as which teams will deal with them and who will not.

The Spurs have built their team through savvy drafting, some luck, and finding low cost decent value free agents who fit their system. It is what it is. We don't have a Trader Bob in the front office anymore.

[TheGoldStandard]

If we jokers can figure out the Spurs flexibility under the cap and what is possible, they certainly know it and they know which free agents actually have an interest in signing as well as which teams will deal with them and who will not.

The Spurs have built their team through savvy drafting, some luck, and finding low cost decent value free agents who fit their system. It is what it is. We don't have a Trader Bob in the front office anymore.

I just don't get some of the decisions for a roster this season, very little makes sense trying to convert guys into a particular position. The weaknesses that we experienced last year that we were exposed on did not get fixed. Plus some of these salaries.. just don't get it.

[DesignatedT]

If we jokers can figure out the Spurs flexibility under the cap and what is possible, they certainly know it and they know which free agents actually have an interest in signing as well as which teams will deal with them and who will not.

The Spurs have built their team through savvy drafting, some luck, and finding low cost decent value free agents who fit their system. It is what it is. We don't have a Trader Bob in the front office anymore.

I trust the Spurs and what they are doing. Still think they could have played it a different way. They seem attached to Bonner though, I mean were going on 8 years here. Incredible.

[TheGoldStandard]

I trust the Spurs and what they are doing. Still think they could have played it a different way. They seem attached to Bonner though, I mean were going on 8 years here. It's rafter talk time

This.. I've never seen him do something that another player couldn't do. He's never won ball games for us, put us in a position to win games, or done anything that another cog couldn't do.

[DesignatedT]

I'm not slamming Bonner. I don't dislike the guy or his game. Just think the Spurs could get another player that could really be a difference maker.

Another thing is the 2015 situation. The Spurs might be unwilling to give out any contract past 2015 (with Splitter being the exception) and that's why they have decided to virtually do nothing. People may not agree with it but they must want flexibility that year.