Zach Lowe: Spurs losers in Free Agency

[webshad]

The Warriors players didn't fear the Spurs... Who gives a ?

Im sure they didn't fear Cleveland when they blew them out by 40 in the regular season. Still got smacked the up when it mattered.

OWNED! ouch!

[TheGreatYacht]

OWNED! ouch!

[BackHome]

Stokes sucks on defense

[J_Paco]

First of all, he talks about conversations in the Warriors' locker room. Was he in the locker room? Doubtful, since he didn't report it before now. So he's gone and interviewed Warriors players after the fact? And they told him that they were never worried about the Spurs - after the fact? That's not a stance. That's getting down on your knees.

As for the Spurs free-agency this year - part of the cap bind they are in now is simply the price to be paid for winning #5. And Timmy was lost in December of last year, not this week.

So for all practical purposes, the Spurs started this season without Timmy, and without a lot of money to hire free agents. They picked up Pau Gasol and Dedmon, on their limited budget. We'll just have to wait and see which of their Euro players make the final cut. But until we see who is on the final roster, and how well they stack up, it's a little premature to say that they had a bad offseason.

After picking up Durant, the Dubs are an odds-on favorite to win the West, if not the whole thing. That's a given. So there are going to be a lot of second-rate "journalists" slobbering all over them. And why not? It's easy. One thing everyone needs to keep in mind - none of these jackasses were picking the Cavs to beat the Warriors this time last season. No matter how stacked the Warriors are, there's a reason they still play the games.

Oh, and Zach Lowe.

Amen....

[J_Paco]

Ya, I don't really know what Lowe expected..the options in FA for penetrating/explosive guards were scarce, tbh..

There's no way in I'm paying 150 million for a 3rd-tier PG like Mike Conley

Finally, we completely agree on something. In a market that overpays Mike Conley, Kent Bazemore and Solomon Hill (amongst others) standing pat at the guard spots (as much as I hate it) was the best course of action. No one available, minus an in his right mind "Indiana" Lance Stephenson, was going to improve the backcourt enough especially at the ridiculous price ranges ($10+ million to both Jeremy Lin and Tyler Johnson) being set.

Gotta hope Simmons improves into a 7th/8th man caliber guard or the Spurs find a "Gary Neal" type diamond in the rough in the Summer League.

[Prose]

"Golden State's players chatted in the locker room about how the Spurs posed no threat to them in a seven-game series"
THAT IS THE SAME THEY SAID ABOUT THE CAVS

[spurs10]

Warriors suffered an historic loss this year. I bet that more Zach Lowe didn't have his money on the Cavs. Their supposed locker room banter shows why they got smacked down. 'Oh yeah...and Zach Lowe.'

[Russo21]

I'm looking forward to seeing that Dedmon guy play for us. He could have a breakout year. There are some holes in the roster still but happens.

[spursistan]

Lowe is so damn biased to the organizations he has a good relationship with and it's clear that the Spurs aren't one of them, which is why he's mostly ignored or made snide remarks about them for two years.

He keeps stating that the Warriors "never feared the Spurs", as if that automatically gives credibility to the notion that they couldn't beat them. I also don't know where he got the notion from, that the Spurs have "never been able to score against these Warriors", when prior to last season they owned them.

He goes on to contradict himself, essentially calling the Spurs antiquated, yet he likes how the Jazz match-up because of their size. Unlike the Spurs, their starting bigs provide little in the way of post up threats/floor spacing and offer similar rebounding.

I have noticed this a bit, too (since his move to ESPN)..i liked the more detached analyst hat he wore in Grantland..now, he's starting to become a borderline "embedded" writer for teams that gives him the quote/access (Warriors/Thunder (Presti in particular)/Bulls etc..)r ..he is still good read overall but this is such a sloppy passage on the spurs, and as you said, he would have probably avoided mailing it in if he wwas hobnobbing with our higher-ups/executives on regular basis..(in one podcast he raved about how it was easy for him to ask for GSW players to go out for dinner with him during the finals)

[Kawhitstorm]

Especially, when your best player is one of the most efficient iso-scorers in the league.

Should you put him spotting-up in the corner most game ignoring his real strenght?

Also, the only reason Kawhi isn't on par w/ Carmelo is b/c he doesn't get calls.

[SpursBig3s]

ridiculous

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I have noticed this a bit, too (since his move to ESPN)..i liked the more detached analyst hat he wore in Grantland..now, he's starting to become a borderline "embedded" writer for teams that gives him the quote/access (Warriors/Thunder (Presti in particular)/Bulls etc..)r ..he is still good read overall but this is such a sloppy passage on the spurs, and as you said, he would have probably avoided mailing it in if he wwas hobnobbing with our higher-ups/executives on regular basis..(in one podcast he raved about how it was easy for him to ask for GSW players to go out for dinner with him during the finals)

I have listened to and read everything Zach has put out for about the past 5 years and he doesn't have a bias against the Spurs, or for anyone else for that matter. He even mocks himself when he sounds biased.

IMHO Spurs did about the best they could in a very tough FA period. 2016-17 will be a consolidation and learning year. So be it.

[z0sa]

He's right tbh. The Spurs lost Tim. That automatically makes them the biggest losers of the offseason.

Yep. More uncertainties going forward than at any point in recent Spurs history.

[FromWayDowntown]

Yep. More uncertainties going forward than at any point in recent Spurs history.

That was always going to be true in the immediate aftermath of TD's retirement.

What is truer now than I think most ever expected is that the Spurs don't have to immediately go to the bottom in order to get back to compe iveness post-TD. For all of the uncertainties, they do appear to have a cornerstone and a solid sidekick (as well as Pop for a bit at least), which is far more than I think most of us expected them to have a few years ago (2009 or 2010) when projecting life after the Duncanpocalypse came.

[tmtcsc]

To call the Spurs losers in Free Agency was pretty inaccurate. As others have mentioned, they were able to get 1 of the 2 people they targeted and filled an immediate need. I'd call that a success.

I'd like to see them add another experienced (I didn't say old or has-been) point guard.

[playbonner15]

Well, if Gasol gets sidelined (higher risk of injuries because of his age), then there's gonna be little hope for a le, unless FO can sign an amazing backup (who???).........

[z0sa]

That was always going to be true in the immediate aftermath of TD's retirement.

What is truer now than I think most ever expected is that the Spurs don't have to immediately go to the bottom in order to get back to compe iveness post-TD. For all of the uncertainties, they do appear to have a cornerstone and a solid sidekick (as well as Pop for a bit at least), which is far more than I think most of us expected them to have a few years ago (2009 or 2010) when projecting life after the Duncanpocalypse came.

I own a positive outlook. At the same time, I think it's going to take another big jump for Kawhi for us to be legit contenders considering the Bay Area's bevy of bonafide ballers.