Reply With Quote
training camp/preseason games should be interesting...
They can easily retain Mills, if they so choose.
A lot can change in a year, but to say right now that some camp invite is a future replacement for a sixth man, is ridiculous. All camp invites are long shots to be NBA players period, let alone rotation ones. If one of them is on the team in '17-'18, they'll have done well.
Also, having an entire bench of fringe young players, is a good way to piss off Aldridge and to a lesser extent Gasol. Doing so will only make it more difficult to lure the next significant free agent.
training camp/preseason games should be interesting...
He's definitively not Campazzo TBH
I agree that they can retain Mills if the want, but I am not sure they will prioritize him over other guys, or that they should. I am ambivalent on Mills myself. I really don't care. I think he fits in the future if they want to retain him, but also, he really is not irreplaceable. He has one of the most replaceable skills of anybody in the "core" bc he's a small no defense bench SG whose best skill is shooting and tends to be streaky. If he's having a streaky shooting night then you are fried. He doesn't get inside or draw fouls and he won't be great setting others up or finding other ways to put points on the board. He's definitely not a guy to build a bench around.
I highly doubt they'll choose to retain Mills. It just doesn't make much sense to me. Plus, I do know the coaches haven't been thrilled with his progression since 14' in other areas of the game outside of shooting.
Agree with how crazy it is for some to say Larpo is a future six man replacement or saying he has value because of how strong he is and how he can protect the ball well (may as well go the nearest fitness expo and teach the strongest guy how to dribble the ball up the court then).
Agree all camp invites like Forbes, Arci, Larpo and Garino are long shots to be NBA players -- especially rotation ones. It's hilarious to see some people try to compare these undrafted guys to proven NBA starters and role players. And then thinking these undrafted players will be able to carve out a role sooner than Murray. Its mind boggling how some posters think so highly of these undrafted players. They are like the new girls in school -- all fives in the objective eyes but they look like 8 or 9's to some guys only because they are new.
Last edited by MaNu4Tres; 08-26-2016 at 04:44 PM.
I don't find it so hilarious bc Mills himself was barely an NBA prospect. He was drafted 55 and was out of the league. He was basically a rescue pet project by the Spurs and as Pop said: "a little fat ass" Credit to himself for whipping himself into shape, but all these guys are about the same possibly as the Mills when he was 22 years old.
None of these guys are a lock for anything at this point, but it's also silly to think they just pick random guys, IMO. I'm fairly sure there's a plan somewhere for each one of these guys that might pan out or not. Especially when you're talking about guys that are not your average d-leaguers looking for a shot, but guys that have played in different leagues professionally already (which the Spurs seem to prefer).
Time will tell, obviously.
I was talking about short term. Some expect these guys to be relevant this year and next by suggesting they're probably doing this because they don't see Murray being ready in the next 2-3 years. That rationale is just silly. Sure there's a plan, but that plan has nothing to do with this year. It's about planting seeds for the future by developing most of these guys in Austin for a year or two and then maybe, just maybe one might be able to carve out a spot on the roster and a small role.
Sorry man I'm following your wicked example.Anyone that knows me knows I root for ALL Spurs players. That said I've seen nothing from LJC that makes me think he's deserves a spot on the team. I know Chinook's reasons (ethical and otherwise) why he should make the squad and Chinook does some fine work on this site, but I just can't shake the feeling that we're going to be forced to cut a better player to keep LJC.
LJC was a first round pick. His deal is guaranteed. He won't be waived or cut. Spurs have 14 spots locked up.
Us Argies
Apparently you are going to have to.
Yea that is why i didn't comment on it, and a lot has been said elsewhere by chinook, nono and others, about the contract, the Spurs honoring the deal, etc.
Other than that he's an athlete who is 6'9". As we saw in SL the crop of bigs who is not under some team's control is awful. The SL team was playing as bigs some guys who were 6'6" or 6'7" and the guys who were 7" were clearly very unskilled. Bottom line, Livio was an NBA prospect when he was drafted, but RC can't have a 100% record on drafting NBA players at the end of the first round, and it is looking like LJC is going to be one of those who don't pan out. In reality though I don't expect him to be under pressure until next season. They have to give him the same chance they have given others bc it's a contract. He's a 1st round pick and that is that. Maybe they could have not stashed him and developed him themselves, but since they didn't this is what they have to work with.
I'm pretty sure the FO expects Murray to pan out, but there's absolutely zero wrong with both having insurance and giving him some compe ion.
What "other guys"?
If you consider Mills a core player, then yeah, he's the most replaceable; but every team needs a guard of his ilk off the bench. If they let him go and promote Forbes, they'll have gotten worse and for what?
All this talk of flexibility sounds great, but Paul is the only game changing guard up soon and there's no reason to think he won't re-sign with the Clippers.
Also, if something significant comes up and they have to clear salary, if Mills is as valuable to other teams as many seem to think he'll be, they should have no trouble dumping him.
The front office's track record suggests they usually keep people as well liked as Mills, at least until they're finished.
If the alternative is going with all unproven guards behind Parker and Green, then why even sign Aldridge and Gasol?
They signed them because they wanted to continue to attempt to contend. That's not happening with an entire bench comprised of young, unproven players, who aren't exactly considered world beaters as prospects.
Of course not. Teams obviously pick players they like and hope to develop into NBA players, but I doubt Laprovitolla has anything to do with Mills' future.
The other guys I am talking about are Pau (who has a player option and can opt out of his contract for more $) and Dedmon (who has another player option and is more likely to opt out of his own contract bc he accepted a very small deal). They both have more rare skills and difficult to acquire talents than Mills. I would prioritize re-signing them than Mills all things considered. As I said, he really is not that irrepleaceable and in the absence of Manu next season they may even prefer to go with a guard who has more playmaking ability than Mills has for their bench. In addition to that there is the possibility they want to just move Tony to the bench and sign someone else to start. There are any number of ways they can spin things next summer that really do not include prioritizing Mills and his $ demands. I think they have in their minds a figure they are willing to pay him (considering other guys they want to sign, Pau/Dedmon, cap etc) as well as taking into account wage increases for guys they want to retain in a couple of seasons (at least one of Anderson or Bertans) and Mills may command a figure that exceeds what they project to afford. It's really very easy to see why he could be gone in the summer.
Edit: But I will backpedal a bit bc the whole thread is about Laprovitolla. I am not saying he makes Mills expendable. The whole paragraph above ^ is about the offseason and takes into account a lot of other scenarios and players, not Laprovitolla specifically. With him, it seems the Spurs are looking at a 3rd string PG at this point, bc they maybe want to give Murray time in the dleague to learn and don't want to keep him in the deep bench (thus not playing unlesss it's garbage time, but also not getting better). They could afford to do that for Anderson (let him gobble up as many minutes as he could in the dleague his first season) bc Marco was in the team and it helped Kyle a ton bc his improvement from season 1 to 2 was noticeable in all categories. They likely want to do the same for Murray, not bc they think he sucks or anything, but rather bc they see a lot of potential in him and want to get him as many minutes as possible so he can work on his game and weak areas, and he won't get to do that as a deep bench reserve, where he will likely play off the ball and off other ppl, when they want him to develop his ballhandling, decision making, give him a green light to shoot within the offense, etc.
Although I like Garino for that 15th spot, it may really come down to one of the 3 guards depending what they see in them, and Laprovitolla has the experience they may want in case there is rest, or injuries and they need someone. Last season they were disappointed in Ray Mac and I bet they don't want to put Murray under the same pressure to produce in a single season since he's that much younger, Ray Mac at least had 2 seasons in the league, Murray does not.
Last edited by SAGirl; 08-26-2016 at 07:30 PM.
How did Lapro perform in the Olympics? I failed to turn up his stats. I did notice that he shot .456 and .457 from 3 in the Brazilian league the last two seasons.
who's gonna sign campazzo?
According to some Argie media, it's not just the Spurs that are after him, but also the Bucks and Wolves. Apparently he'll be flying to Texas in a couple of days though, to meet with the Spurs...
People begging PATFO to cut LJC for UDFAs...
It's one of the strangest developments on ST this summer. Dude is locked up under team control for two to nine years. Plenty of time to see what he has, and instead people are worried about low-ceiling guys. Livio may never amount to anything, but he's definitely a better play than the runner-up of this compe ion between the 15th-18th guys in camp.
It's like people are so used to "Spurs players" that they are struggling with the idea of the team actually developing a prospect.
It will be interesting how they develop LJC and Bertans. Are they both more natural at the 4? I heard Bertans say PATFO wanted him at the 4.
This.
Everyone starts somewhere. Not all good players come from the first round. International players are the likeliest to surprise as they don't have much evidence either way.
Perfect! That's just about how long it took Mahinmi to become a legit NBA player. Of course, Mahanmi has a pretty serious size and strength advantage over LJC, but NBA bigs don't necessarily have to be big. Let's meet back here in 2026, and you can tell us all, "I told you so."
Personally, I look at Dedmon as a legit "prospect" that the Spurs are going to be assessing and developing. Maybe LJC, six years out? Except that he also has NBA size and strength that LJC does not. Dedmon hasn't done a whole lot yet, but he has shown signs of being able to. What I saw out of LJC, I wouldn't devote a roster spot to - and a lot of other people saw about the same. You can make all the snarky comments you want, but you aren't the only person to ever watch young basketball players before.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
