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There is nothing to showcase. There is no strategy where Walker returns something. S&T’s for RFAs are challenging to begin with…
if anything Walker playing this well just marginally ups his price if we decide to retain him.
Pop is throwing games …. And showcasing Lonnie
There is nothing to showcase. There is no strategy where Walker returns something. S&T’s for RFAs are challenging to begin with…
if anything Walker playing this well just marginally ups his price if we decide to retain him.
Last edited by KingKev; 03-01-2022 at 12:31 PM.
Why showcase and make other teams bid higher?
Either coaching a le contender and coaching a rebuilding team are very different skills (of which Pop has much more of the former than the latter), or Pop isn't actually going all out to win every game.
He gave the remaining non DJ minutes to Vassell as the primary option. Vassell made a jump in his playmaking that is what Pop is developing it looks like. Pop is already giving Lonnie 12 minutes of primary option minutes, he won't take Vassell's or DJ's.
That doesn't make sense. Murray and Vassell both have guaranteed non-Walker minutes if the concern is having them be top options for stretches, and if Walker's closing minutes are reallocated to other players, those guys also get their minutes. Pop doesn't control the offense to the extent that he designates the top options when guys are on the court, so I don't think Pop would be upset if during the minutes Walker is on the court with those guys he was being assertive. To the end, he's more likely to do so if he's already playing well than if he comes in. Unless there's evidence that Walker playing well diminishes Murray and Vassell, shifting Lonnie's minutes doesn't affect them.
Pop is the coach he controls the offense. Could've sworn they ran 3-4 dribble handoffs Tre to Lonnie going to his right and an out of timeout play of Lonnie off screen during that 2nd quarter stretch.
No, Pop doesn't actually tend to control the offense like you are implying. Coaches rarely do that. I've actually wanted Pop to do it more. You're correct that there are OOB plays that Pop specifically draws up, but most of the actions of an offense are based on players in the sets making reads. Whether Lonnie or anyone else decides to attack isn't because Pop specifically told them to do so on the play. It's because they feel like them doing so is the team's best chance to score or personally feel like they beat their guy. It's not exclusively their offense, but it's the default, with called plays being situational and relatively rare. That's been true for as far as I've paid attention to the team's offense.
Lonnie has turned the corner...at least he thinks he has.
Seeing if it holds up through remaining 20 games or so. If so, you have to re-sign him. He's our 2nd or 3rd best playerwhen he's playing like that.
Its an interesting conundrum to resign him or not. I do think they we force feeding him the ball to see gow he responds to get more information to help make that decision. That seems like common sense.
Lonnie with four games of 20+ points in his last 5 games and six straight games with 17+. It’s only been six games but this has easily been his most consistent stretch of his career. Lets hope he can continue to build on this.
Oh, he is going to get re-signed. The question is how much the Spurs are willing to pay him? Lonnie’s vicious dunks could get other teams getting intrigued.
I think there's a chance that Lonnie gambles on himself this offseason. If the Spurs extend the QO, maybe he just plays out the QO and hits the market as a UFA in a situation where possibly more teams have opened up cap space. His good play also opens up opportunity to include him as part of a sign and trade.
Thanks for providing 1 viable scenario, I get exhausted with spelling out everything to some of these posters.
You don’t spell out anything to anyone on ANY topic. You simply make 1 or 2 sentence remarks and add an exclamation mark dude.
No research. No insight. Just pure homer optimism.
That’s why I’m wondering if they even tender a QO. That scenario would be a disaster for the Spurs, because it’s considered a one year contract and he can’t be traded without his consent. With that being said, it could be a disaster for Lonnie, too, because why would you play him with other young mouths to feed? If he’s going for UFA in 2023, he’s likely a goner. I wouldn’t give him anything but garbage time.
Even with his recent play i’m not big on retaining him but if we did extend that QO, he becomes an RFA and if no other teams make an offer can we then negotiate a longer contract?
QO is just to lock him in as a RFA. The Spurs can negotiate with him as per any FA. If he signs he sign else they can wait and see whether any other team give him a better deal and Spurs can decide whether to match. If QO is not offered, he will be a UFA.
There's not much logic in this. If the Spurs and Lonnie both agree that he should play on the QO, there's no more lack of investment in him than there is in any other player. Don't get me wrong -- I do not anticipate them agreeing to that. But it's a one-year deal at a bit more than he's making this year. They just gave Forbes a similar contract. There's zero guarantee that the Spurs draft anyone who would play Walker's minutes. The Spurs can already afford to play him and Primo. Jones might want more minutes, but he's only signed for another season as well. Lonnie scoring 20ppg makes him WAY more likely to contribute than a random young player, and it's not clear the Spurs are willing to play next year like they have this season.
For Walker, having another year to showcase himself in a situation where he's already grown makes sense. For the Spurs, keeping their sixth man without having to commit multiple seasons would allow them to bring guys up slowly if need be. For both, a trade to the right situation could still be beneficial, as Walker could be in line for a decent next contract using just his NB rights ($32M/4). You're assuming an odd adversarial relationship between Walker and the team, and we haven't seen anything to indicate that.
Walker is 23, not 30. He's three months older than Derrick White was when White was drafted. I understand you place a huge premium on players being as young as possible, but Walker is likely to be better than the vast majority of rookies while also still having a similar potential developmental curve.
It’s probably better than any 3 game streak he has ever had LOL. He is playing great but possibly sealing his fate as his last season as a Spur.
Thanks, and I guess his cap hold remains at 13.3mm. This will be tricky.
I have a feeling some team is going to say it and offer Lonnie a decent chunk of change in the off season.
I could see him getting an MLE offer if he has a strong and consistent finish to the season and I hope we wish him well at that point.
You act like they both have to agree. They don’t. Lonnie can just sign it. Happened before, at least twice. Rasho and Olowokandi. Neither stayed with their drafting team.
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