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I am not that old
They must have liked something from Hanlan then. I didn't know they had to give up Diaw + 2nd rounder to make the trade happen.
I wonder what (if any) other deals the Spurs had offered for Boris. I'd argue that they paid to move him. Harlan is a decent prospect, but he was going to be cut if he forced his way into camp. The same thing goes for him in SA. In fact, he didn't even seem to make the SL roster for Vegas. Maybe that means he's agreed to stay overseas. That would be a good thing for the team. But yeah, giving up a pick for a time after LMA and Green will possilby be retired and Kawhi may have left the team is interesting.
I dunno. Anderson does have a baby face still
Seriously though, watching him in SL has me optimistic, I am rooting for him. The team needs the young guns to take a massive step forward if we want a chance at beating the Warriors.
Keep in mind that most reports had SA trying to accommodate Boris by dealing with teams he preferred. If that is the case, even if SA had a little better deal (keeping their pick) they viewed giving up a future second as a small fee to do right by their player.
Plus, you can always acquire picks in any draft if you want so I feel they think they can easily recoup that if need be and it was a fair price to do right by Bobo.
So they did have to pay to dump him for Gasol.
Unfortunate.
I will miss Diaw. Sure, he needed imspiration to play but those outstanding passes and those acrobatic moves under the basket were extremely skillful. To the many French fans in this forum, I can imagine your sadness. The Argentine fans in this forum will be even sadder when Manu is no longer with the Spurs (I am not from Argentina, I'm from Texas).
I think Boris will take it in stride and keep on enjoying life.
Boris was over the hill for the Spurs.
So glad I don't have to watch him pass up another open 3.
Though we do have to watch Kyle do it....
Boris got lazy and uninspired...dont want that on the team.
Kyle has so much confidence during summer league but would like to see that consistently during the regular season.
I think the starting lineup may be the most offensively talented Spurs SL in some time. Spurs have not had this level of spacing in the front court in the Pop era.
I was looking over Gasol's stats; over the past two seasons has shot 47.8 % and 45.2 % on mid range jumpers from 16-23 feet, while taking 1/4 and 1/3 of all his shots from there, that is insane. He is also a great defensive rebounder, passer and FT shooter.
LMA and West played well together last season, I would expect LMA and Gasol to work just as well. LMA should have plenty of room to operate with Gasol able to shoot like he can.
The front court depth could be an issue. Anderson, Bertans, LJC, Dedmon, and potentially Milutinov/ LaLanne/ or another cheap big is pretty underwhelming as of now. I expect/hope Pop to play small ball more next season with LMA and Kawhi logging about 5 minutes at Center and PF in the closing lineups
I thing Leonard and Aldridge will have to play more; Leonard around 33 mpg, and Aldridge 32 mpg. I could see both averaging 20 ppg, which would be the first time in the Pop era. Parker had a much better season overall than the two years before it. I am hoping that he can at least play up to last seasons levels, but I think both PG and SG could be an issue at times next year.
I am curious to see if Anderson slides into the backup PF spot how he performs there. I would hope that he shows improvement as a 3pt shooter, at least from the corners, to maximize spacing. He can pull up off the dribble for mid range jumpers. I also like the idea of him grabbing the defensive rebound and pushing the ball up the floor with shooters shooters surrounding him and Dedmon running hard to the basket.
Bertans, I assume, would be backup 3 to go along with Mills, Manu, Anderson, and Dedmon. I have only seen brief highlights of his game but he seems to be of the Belinelli mold but five inches taller with a high release.
The Spurs need as much spacing as it can get; the Spurs were second in 3pt % shooting last year but took very few of them. A bounce back season from Green, Leonards improvement as a shooter, and Bertans shooting ability along with Mills and Manu will help boost the Spurs 3pt shooting.
I am still unsure of how good the Spurs will be next season, they are definitely worse but the West, besides GSW, isn't so much better. I could see them winning 55-60 games and finishing second. I am not worried about the Clippers or Memphis being much of a threat in the west. So hopefully the Spurs can make it to the WCF but I think that it is still a transition year with so many young players developing.
It has a chance to be, but it depends on a variety of factors. Do Parker and/or Gasol further decline? Does Green regain his stroke? Is there superior chemistry from having had a season to play with Aldridge? Does Leonard improve incrementally?
They're not signing Milutinov this summer and LaLanne has yet to (and could easily never) prove himself worthy of a roster spot. Besides, teams don't carry 5-6 rookies, especially when they're trying to contend and 3 of their top 6 are old - ancient.
Expect a veteran power forward (my guess is Scola) to be signed and for him to battle Simmons and Bertans for the final rotation spot. The final roster spot probably goes to a youngish big or a guard, that can shoot.
Yeah, volume three-point shooting was something I harped on all of last season. When you already can't get to the line, you can't compound that by barely making any threes.
55-60 wins and a 2nd or 3rd seed is the most likely outcome, followed by a 50/50 WCSF against the Clippers and should they prevail, a definite WCF defeat.
Just say "No" to Scola. Figure out a way to acquire another Leonard (Meyers). We will improve to the extent that 2016-17 Pau is better than 2015-16 Tim and also the extent to which Danny and Patty bounce back to 2014 form and Kyle finally probes he really belongs (and possibly Simmons). I am keeping my fingers crossed that being around The Spurs and our veteran bigs somehow Dedmon can take his game up a notch.
To me 55 wins would be great.
Be realistic... signing a young center like Leonard will be a big stretch.
I didn't say "sign" him, I said "figure out a way to acquire" him. Yeah, it is low probability, I admit. But, while I do not know what the Blazers FO thinks of him, I have read dismissive comments from Blazers fans. I find it a little intriguing that Portland has not signed any of its RFAs, but that is probably working to their advantage.
Agreed. I don't know Dedmon much but I bet he hasn't played with passers the likes of which we have in our bench. I have high hopes for Kyle. I think he will thrive in a role he was meant to play now that two terrific passing forwards in West and Diaw are gone. I also think he will shoot the 3 much better. It looks like he's worked on it and compe ion with Bertans will motivate him. I have mixed reviews on Simmons based on his SL, but I think having other playmakers in Manu/Kyle will allow him to be a beast off the ball, cutting, and pushing the pace in transition and he will likely get chances to drive, but not that many. I don't ever see him as ball dominant as he's been in summer league, that is an experiment.
An article I found that shows players basically peak at 27. http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=2953 That is Simmons' age next season. I don't think he has any upside at this point and he needs to find a niche. Stick to what he does well if you will and stay away from what he doesn't.
This is alarming for quick guards like Tony:that basically jibes with what we expect to see in an aging curve -- you peak at around age 27, then slowly go downhill until your mid-30s, when you fall off a cliff (unless your name is "John Stockton", apparently: the Pasty Gangsta still had an absurd 11.65 WS3K at age 40!)
In average guards do disappear sooner than players at other positions, starting at age 32. The conventional wisdom is that smaller players who rely on their speed/quickness tend to lose that ability (and therefore their viability as NBA players) in their early 30s; bigger players, of course, lose it at that point too, but it doesn't matter as much for them because they were never very fast to begin with. Based on these results, I'd say the conventional wisdom has been confirmed -- guards do appear to "lose it" sooner than big men, starting in their early thirties.
The "peak" data are basically isolating physical development. The reason guys play at a high (even higher) level in later years is due primarily to the fact that they continue to develop mentally (or even develop at an accelerated rate). If Simmons could develop mentally, he could still have quite an upside. The problem is: I do not see him doing that. He continues to make the same mental errors this summer that he did last summer.
Good point. Players who rely on skill do have a longer shelf life than guys who rely on being an elite athlete. JSimms is in the latter category.
Brown talking about Ben Simmons, he's excited. I hope he pans out. He will certainly at least be entertaining, but a lot of work on that shooting is needed.
Yeah, but I would much rather have him than Ingram. Hard to see how he was the #2 pick based on this single game. Frankly, on the same 1-game sample, Dijon excited me more.
Yay yes! I hope we got the steal on Dijon, would crush Lakers lol
I haven't been able to watch the games but what's been his issues?
IMHO, he has not developed his handles at all. That is made more problematic because he has no sense of when he is about to find himself in trouble. He cannot foresee when he is going to dribble into the teeth of the defense, or when the defense is about to trap him. If he could develop that sense, he would be a great weapon on the give-and-go. Plus he needs to develop a mid-range game. He is so intent on finishing at the rim that he misses a ton of opportunities for a jump stop and short jumper. (I know people really want him to improve his 3-point shot, which would be great, too. But I see him more as a homeless man's DWade.) I thought Pop and RC had initially touted his vision and passing instincts. I just don't see them. He has attempted a few of those cross court passes to corner shooters and hasn't connected. Maybe the passes are wild, or maybe the spot-up shooters are not in position (which was obvious on one such pass). Perhaps we will see some improvement when he and Kyle are back playing with regular rotation players in the pre-season. I have rooted for the guy since his arrival in San Antonio - going so far as to call him a Spur TNG. But this summer he has shown no improvement, so I have my doubts - especially with the arrival of Dijon.
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