Whether a person likes DDR's style or not (and I don't) he's a career 20 ppg scorer. Also, the Spurs signed Rudy Gay a week before the Leonard trade (when PATFO must have known it would happen) and Gay is a 17 ppg career scorer.
So it's clear enough PATFO was doing the best they could to try to make up for the loss of Leonard's scoring. As far as just that much goes, they did ok. They got the scoring stats.
The best move would have been to make him sit another year, as many of us wanted at the time..
However, the DeRozan trade accomplished what Pop and RC wanted..get a player to help them remain compe ive, no more drama, and get something else on top of it(Poetl and a pick)..
Just the reality of the situation, Pop is a class man, he wasn't going to take the bitter route like the fans wanted..
you reaching and fooling yourself, no way kawhi is toxic and spurs had the power to cause him play out the season...
I'm as bitter about the Kawhi situation as anyone, but I fail to see how that would've been beneficial.
1. The entire situation would've continued to be a huge distraction to the team and a PR nightmare.
2. Spurs look like the bad guy for holding an unhappy player hostage or trying to "force him to play" for another year.
3. Kawhi walks this summer and the Spurs get absolutely zero assets out of it, short of opening up a $23M roster spot this offseason that would probably be wasted because no FA wants to come to a Spurs team that is solely led by an aging Aldridge.
If the most the Spurs were angling for is money coming off the books, they can still get that when DeRozan's contract comes up in 2021 which also fits the timeline of our young players anyways. It would have made no sense to just give up on Kawhi and let him walk out of spite.
Maybe they should have held their cards until the trade deadline and seen if they could've gotten more, but I think they were just ready to be done with the ordeal and focus on this season rather than have those question marks looming until February.
I disagree..your points are valid, but:
1. Yes, it would have been a PR disaster, but who cares? The Spurs are already viewed as the bad guys, even after trading him..they're STILL getting killed by the mainstream media and virtually nobody has taken their side
2. People would have forgotten about it..look at the Pelicans and Davis, everybody stopped discussing it about a month later..I forgot that Davis even existed..instead, everybody is roasting the Spurs now and Kawhi is being viewed as a hero, this is the most love he's ever received from the media and fans and it isn't even close..
3. None of the assets they received for him are relevant..I like Poetl, but he's nothing special, neither is a late 1st round pick.. I'd rather have nothing than watch him embarrass the franchise less than a year later
It's a moot point, anyways, Pop would have never taken the bitter approach .
Good breakdown
Nephew's value was actively sinking. If he would have started sitting out the season, his value would have taken another massive hit.
No team was offering anything close to equal value and it was getting worse. As it was, scrubs like Kuzma and Saric were being dropped from trade proposals
However, the DeRozan trade accomplished what Pop and RC wanted..get a player to help them remain compe ive, no more drama, and get something else on top of it(Poetl and a pick)..
Just the reality of the situation, Pop is a class man, he wasn't going to take the bitter route like the fans wanted..
The NBA allowed one of their premier players to screw one of their premiere franchises.
They should have had independent doctors determine whether he was healthy or not and even if you want to pull the "no one knows your body like you" card, fine, but at the very least he should have had to have been present and released his medical information to his employer that was paying him roughly $18.6M.
Basically, they should have done everything in their power to ensure that if it did end in a trade, the Spurs had every opportunity to extract max value (like the Pelicans supposedly will for Davis). Instead, their "model franchise" has been destroyed, reduced to rubble.
This series is over.
media being obsessed with the Spurs after this season. Sure they rubbed it in this season but now with the Spurs officially being dead as contenders i don't see them caring anymore to bring up the Spurs when talking about #2.
I already answered this. He either should have been forced to report to collect his money and repair his trade value or if they didn't have the balls to go through with that and were willing to accept pennies, at least traded to some dead end team.
He probably does believe that, but I'd be shocked if he left. He's got everything his sleazebag uncle brainwashed him into thinking he should want.
No, the media is about who plays their game. The Spurs never did, so they despise them. The Raptors clearly do.
Exactly.I'd rather have nothing than watch him embarrass the franchise less than a year later
It's a moot point, anyways, Pop would have never taken the bitter approach .
Pop should have had the decency to "get over himself" and do what was best for his franchise. Instead, he gutted them and their reputation.
Chucho
lol, this is how you justify pop! that soft and weak man!! you talking about a one in a lifetime player, you don't give him up like that!
Last edited by kobyz; 05-24-2019 at 05:21 PM.
I fail to see how any of this is an "embarrassment" to the Spurs franchise. Unless you believe the theory that he was "mistreated by the medical staff," the Spurs were innocent bystanders in this guy's holdout. They couldn't do anything to convince him to stay, so what is there to be embarrassed about?
I already answered this. He either should have been forced to report to collect his money and repair his trade value or if they didn't have the balls to go through with that and were willing to accept pennies, at least traded to some dead end team.
Instead, they gave away what should have been a top 3 asset in the league and rewarded him with the opportunity to get to the Finals (which meant a Curry/Durant injury away from a legit shot at a championship) because they couldn't handle a few uncomfortable months.
It's like spursistan and me are Frank Grimes. How are so many of you not seeing it our way?
I actually agree with that. I also advocated for making him wait until his contract was up. But I also understand why they might not have done that. Given the awful situation Kawhi caused for the franchise, they didn't have any clearly good options. So not really embarrassing, just unfortunate.
After Kawhi went down in the WCF against the Warriors, The Spurs re-signed LA after a terrible series. Then gave Pau a 3 year contract...alot of us saw Kawhi leaving just not the fashion that be did it after that...Lets face it, if Kawhi was on the Spurs still he wouldnt have the cast to do much especially in the WCF as great as he is. It hurts like to see us at home and he on the verge of the NBA finals. Oh that old hype and excitement of the glory days it reminds us all of... both sides were at fault. Nothing we can do but rebuild and try to remain compe ive. U think its bad now, wait till Kawhi is on the Lakers doing this. If he doesnt win a le thats where he’s going and its gonna last for the next 7-9 years. Lol hes only 27
but, but....they would have been in the finals (if all of the GS team was involved in a horrible car accident).
Sixers didn’t even want to trade Fultz and then salary dumped him. They could have probably had Kawhi for the Jimmy Butler (plus a bit) or Harris package.
Celtics fell apart in spectacular fashion. Serves them right for taking advantage of Billy Jean King and then getting IT injured and costing him tens of millions. Kyrie was the one who imploded that team.
Pop should've traded Kawhi to the Lakers. The haul would've been ridiculous.
As a TD and spurs fan, I feel your pain. It is more painful to see that KL is actually like TD in many aspects, a typical spur.
But when you think it over and over again, except for the Zaza , everything is doomed to happen. You have a very successful spurs dynasty for the past 20 years, and Pop and the front office would think they are superior or something (I am not a native speaker, so I cannot find the right word). Given that, who would think KL is a Jordan-like generational talent? Talent can only be evaluated ex post, not ex ante.
The spurs story confirms the old Chinese saying: a giant dynasty often breaks down due to small things, like the unfortunately zaza thing, but that is life.
I feel sorry for you, TD 21. With Pop approaching retirement and Spurs being a small market team, the future for spurs is not very bright. As fans, your happiness will suffer because of the sudden mediocrity of your beloved team. The best strategy is to stop loving your favorite team so much for a while, and time can cure everything.
My final words for loving the spurs for so long. I would have continued to follow spurs because KL is like TD. Now I am only a KL fan. Do not hate me, because I am a Chinese. Thanks spurs, TD, and Gino for the past memories. Best luck, KL, spurs fans and the spurs franchise.
And sadly, one of the reasons was unhappiness with the medical staff. Given both Green and Pau misdiagnosis/mistreatment Nephew was totally right in wanting to leave
Wouldn't wish watching Pop's 1992 system on anyone. Enjoy Kawhi's greatness
Plus, good luck attracting decent FAs after basically sitting Kawhi for a full season...
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