He was not an exclusive third unit player at all. He played a lot of third unit minutes to develop because so many games reached garbage time early... but depending how you define "third unit" Boris was that very often.
Last edited by SAGirl; 07-30-2016 at 06:20 PM.
I agree with this being the depth chart in all likelihood. I expect the team will be better with Bertans or Anderson at the 4 eventually instead of Lee, but it's impossible to predict that right now with us not knowing if Bertans will be good enough his rookie season at anything else other than shooting a 3, such that Pop will play him. That's just how Pop is. I do hope like others that he makes it.
I never said he was. He was a third unit caliber player though.
This is all more or less semantics anyway. Whether he's proven himself an NBA player or not, he hasn't proven himself a rotation player. I don't care how Pop utilized him. Back in '09, Mason and Bonner were starting, but that didn't make them starters.
Bertans will probably be the 12th man. His minutes probably come down to how much/well Anderson and especially Simmons shoot the 3. If they provide enough to get by, he has no chance at cracking the rotation.
Well a lot of it is subjective for your standards though and yes semantics. If at some point a guy started, he was a starter. If a guy was in the second unit rotation, he was at that time a rotation player and considering his age, this is how many players in good teams start in the league.
There are some who start the opposite, come in young to a lottery team that feels compelled to play them, they prove to be not worth it and fall off the face of the earth. If they persevere maybe after a few years they emerge as a roleplayer somewhere. Considering he started the opposite, earning his playing time the hard way, it's not like one would expect him at his age to stall or regress. He has made small improvements gradually, not a flash in a pan like Simmons to fizzle out either. He obviously doesn't or didn't have a complete game. He didn't come into the league as a shooter and he needed to shoot the NBA 3 badly, but it looks like he's making progress there. Considering he rebounds, and defends at a better than average player, I don't know how you can say he's not an NBA player.
Edit: I had to edit bc I missed the Simmons comment. I do think if Simmons is not shooting the 3 he's reduced to playing the SG spot when Manu is resting or someone is injured and even in that case, he might face compe ion from Dejounte who Pop may want to see in those games too. He passed up a lot of shots in SL, and he was doing that in the RS too. He shot at an acceptable % but still passed way too many shots when he was open, and with bad results TO the ball. I expect him to be motivated to play well enough bc it's a contract year for him, but he's unpredictable.
Last edited by SAGirl; 07-30-2016 at 06:57 PM.
Of course it's subjective, but a lot of times it's common sense. I already conceded that it was debatable in his case as to whether he's proven he's an NBA player, but predictably you and others have gotten hung up on that.
The point is, generally speaking, I don't see how anyone could say, at this writing, that the backup front court is "solid". If you predict it will be, fine; that's subjective obviously. But right now, it's a bunch of question marks and he's one of them.
Fair enough. I got your point.
I think one of Anderson/Simmons will not stay on the team, and may be traded alone (for a pick) or together (for one player) to set the roster.
So far Anderson is reliable in some situations but unplayable in others, seems like a player that would thrive in an offense around him, but he might never get that in the NBA.
Was very good when he had to decide, but the reality is that Spurs need players to perform at certain roles, and Anderson performs well at a role not needed now, but not so well at what the team needs from him.
If by "unplayable" you mean the OKC series, I think he deserves a shot at redemption. We all got the case of the over confidence bug and frankly they surprised the whole team.
As for what the Spurs need? Sure having cookie cutter type players to plug in here or there are great for a coach but I think the Spurs know who KA is and will probably give him a legitimate shot at what his strengths are because it would be a complete waste to go half way with him.
What are his strengths?
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Lee is going to be used on offense in a similar manner to Tiago aka as a roll man (Lee's shooting chart in Dallas was basically the same as Tiago's career shooting chart). I actually feel like the best combination is Dedmon/LMA & Pau/Lee since LMA doesn't want to play center while Pau prefers to camp in the paint on defense. Dedmon's stone hands also won't be an issue if he plays w/ LMA/Porker since he won't be getting many passes.
Lee would be fine w/ Pau on offense since Pau is an excellent mid-range shooter & can play high-low if Lee has a mismatch in the post against backup 4s.
Passing....having the ball in his hand
I am rally intrigued what Simmons looks like with a consistent 3pt shot, he shot the ball at a high percentage last year but that was at a low volume (less than 20% of his shots came from 3pt). He seems to have a knack to be able to attack closeouts and get to and finish at the rim which is rare for a Spurs perimeter player not named Parker, Manu, or Leonard. If he can be more of a threat then that could open up his drive game, I think the same can be said for KA.
The Lee signing means that he likely won't see nearly as much floor time as he would have had KA played the backup for and Simmons was the backup 3. He's the 3rd SG, like you said but I don't see Pop giving minutes to Murray at the 2 guard over Simmons in the event of injury/rest. Simmons contract situation is similar to Bobans in the sense that he is an Arenas FA. His minutes being cut helps aid the Spurs in keeping him but also makes the possibility of him emerging as a rotation player unlikely this season
I think both factor into the Spurs future plans. Simmons and KA only combine to make $ 2 million this season and Simmons is has a QA of $1.2 million after next season, if the Spurs really like him and think that he can be the answer at backup SG in the short term post Manu then they have an opportunity to lock him on a reasonable contract and expect him to outperform his new deal.
I don't think Simmons would net more than a second rounder and KA may net a future first, if a team really likes his game but I think that they are more valuable to the Spurs. Spurs aren't necessarily hurting in terms of picks and young prospects either so move Simmons for a second doesn't make much since when they have all of their picks going forward (except for a 2022 second rounder)
I don't get why some commentators are so quick to want to trade these two players when they earn so little money. What the do they think they can get from them? Another 2nd round draft pick that needs to go to Austin to be serviceable? Young serviceable players go for a lot of money these days!!
Dude is a good roll man. Aldridge is not used much as a roll man and actually doesn't even finish as well as Tiago.Lee is going to be used on offense in a similar manner to Tiago aka as a roll man (Lee's shooting chart in Dallas was basically the same as Tiago's career shooting chart). I actually feel like the best combination is Dedmon/LMA & Pau/Lee since LMA doesn't want to play center while Pau prefers to camp in the paint on defense. Dedmon's stone hands also won't be an issue if he plays w/ LMA/Porker since he won't be getting many passes.
Lee would be fine w/ Pau on offense since Pau is an excellent mid-range shooter & can play high-low if Lee has a mismatch in the post against backup 4s.
Nothing against them, but if you look at better prospects that have been here, George Hill was here and was trade, Joseph and Blair were let go. I think if the Spurs FO feels these guys are good but donīt cut it maybe theyīll try a trade to get something for them.
For example, imagine Arccidiacono is cut now but gets a toros contract, and KA and Simmons have trouble staying in the rotation, then you can package both with Mills and go after a 5 million player before the deadline. Not bad for me.
I donīt think the FO will repeat what happened with Cory and DeJuan.
can we stop bringing this point up? the spurs will be reluctant to move him because of "loyalty" and nobody wants him anywayFor sure - the potential for SA to have no shot at truly adding to the roster next year is definitely there, but that is just one year.
I do think that it's pretty unlikely that all the guys opt in but the most important one is Pau. Have to see how he fits and SA may want to keep him. Plus, for 2 years in a row now, SA has traded someone to help free up space.
If Pau opts in (and he's healthy and fit well) SA could still free up his money by moving TP or Danny and be in the same as if he opted out (or close). It's definitely a tougher path that will cost players if all of them opt in, but there are ways as you know.
I mean, the guys like Dedmon hopefully do opt in because having cheap role players is great, but that probably only happens if they play bad which means SA might not want them
Mostly agree on the first point, highly disagree on the 2nd point. But if it comes down to SA getting Westbrook I can Absoultely see SA having that trade on the table (even if it's unlikely).
Blair had an excellent rookie season but continued to decline until his fourth year he was out of the rotation, after Splitter rolled his ankle and Diaw had surgey he had a good couple of games in the 2013 playoffs but he was largely done as a rotation player by the end of his time here, the Spurs let him walk in FA.
Spurs wanted to keep Cojo but had to renounce him for the LMA signning
when you compare Cojo's first two years to KA's first two seasons, KA had a significantly better start to his career and looks more of a polished product when compared to Cojo who showed flashes of game but was inconsistent.
If the Spurs were to package all three players they would be able to get a player(s) making about $8.5 million back but would certainly lose depth. Mills averaged about 21 mpg last season, essentially splitting the PG 27/21 with Parker, unless Murray is way ahead of schedule or the Spurs want Manu to play backup PG that is highly unlikely to happen. KA is the backup 3 and may wind up playing backup 3 and 4 in a series against the Warriors. Simmons at this point is a depth guy behind Green and Manu. I don't think there is an impact player worth shorting the Spurs depth for $8.5 million.
Spurs need to stop signing washed up Davids...
What do you mean repeat what happened to Cory and DeJuan. Spurs maximized their potential on cheap contracts. I'm not sure how you can trade an expiring rookie scale contract and parlay that into a better player. At best you go the George Hill for Leonard route. However, I doubt many teams were lining up to trade their first round picks for either Cory or DeJuan.
President of my company is from SF and has been a Warriors fan since the 70s. He gave me his 2 cents on the signing:
"Good team guy and was really part of the original resurgence of the Warriors along with Steph. He was very popular in the Bay Area. He’s been an All-Star a handful of times and was a 20 – 10 guy for the Knicks before he was traded to the Dubs. Not much of a defender but pretty good scorer, rebounder and passer. Dubs didn’t have much room for him because he couldn’t defend. I think he’ll be a great part of Pop’s culture in SA."
Wouldnt go THAT far but his posts almost always lean negative.
The Spurs get a proven rebounder and scorer for the minimum.
but argues Kmart and his empty stats is a better player?
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