Snap Judgments on Each Player's Future

[baseline bum]

I called for them to eat Bonner's contract and cut him the day after they signed his latest extension. I had also been calling for them to eat his previous contract and cut him. When the trade with Toronto was made I thought the Spurs lost bigtime even being able to jettison Nestrovich's ridiculous contract, and there is no time since where I wouldn't have wanted a trade-back. Bonner is the ultimate knife in the heart any time he gets on the floor, since he took Scola's ing spot.

[objective]

DUNCAN - fine, give him a deal, but let him know that the more he takes the harder it is to get better players around him.

MANU - he's no longer a consistent difference maker. What used to be a 'MANU-GAME' 9 out of 10 games, then 7 out of ten, then 3 out of 5, now is what, 2 out of 5? 1 out of 3? I love him. He might be my favorite Spur of all time. But he can't be counted on to bring it 4 times in a 7 game series anymore, and that's just the sad truth of time.

PARKER - had a good year. Not a top 4 point guard. That's not an attack, it's a league full of great points. But I'd rather have Westbrook, Rondo, healthy Rose, and Paul. Maybe Williams. Not good enough to win as the best player.

JACKSON - He came though. I will lose with Stephen Jackson any day. He gives a damn, and that might be what I value most in a Spur after so much Bonner and Jefferson the past two years.

LEONARD - LOVE HIM. Hope he improves his game and gets more touches in the offense next year. A bright spot.

SPLITTER - Time to trade him. I love him, he's been mis-used. But Pop has never respected his game and never will. Now he's in Pop's doghouse, and he's not getting out. Trade him to a team that will be smart enough to play him. Get someone that Pop will play. Veteran or draft pick, doesn't matter. Splitter is a walking Mahinmi at this point, let him go win his le.

GREEN - Qualifying Offer or bust. I could take him or leave him. He sure as isn't Jackson in 03, so they better not pay him better than what they offered Jackson back then. He's just a marginal NBA talent with decent size. Nothing special.

DIAW - I'm through with him. I'll take my chances with Lorbek over Diaw. He just puked up an awful game 6 and passed up shots all series. Nice guy. But he's a big game choker. Let's not forget, that he was invisible in game 6 for the Suns against the Spurs in 2007. He came back from his suspension and did jack all while the Suns went down. He just did it again here. He'll do it again if you let him.

NEAL - I'm through with him. Defense is too bad for his shooting to make up for (especially terrible, brick the Spurs into losing shooting). If he can be packaged in a trade, Great. Second rounder for Neal straight up? Count me in.

BLAIR - I'm through with him too. Him putting back on 40 pounds since his rookie year (per David Thorpe) shows how much he cares. He was too fat to even dunk for the first half of the year, and his fatness killed his only mealticket into the NBA in the first place, his rebounding. Package him in a trade, just finish him off already. Second rounder? Count me in. He's not helping the Spurs win with Duncan and I don't feel like watching him eat losses when the Spurs are a lotto team after Duncan.

MILLS - I want a defensive bulldog as a back-up to Parker, not a scoring streak shooter, or a bland unremarkable Joseph. It's why I wanted Shelvin Mack over Joseph, even if Mack isn't super.

ANDERSON - who cares

BONNER, THE PRINCE OF PLUS/MINUS - He's the worst thing to happen to the Spurs since Desert Fever. He's probably the next GM unfortunately, and will re-make the Spurs into his own choking, awful image.

[cheguevara]

oh definitely Blair needs to be gone.

He's useless in the playoffs just like BOnner. And he still has some kind of value for trade. GONE.

[AFBlue]

Also, I think Tiago needs to be on the table. I am about as big of a Tiago fan as you will find, but I don't see him flourishing here. He definitely has the tools to flourish in the NBA, but I am not sure if that is here and I am not sure the time is now.

With his age and those factors in mind, if a team is pretty high on him and it can net you a solid draft pick I think the Spurs should listen (even if that means taking a step back from a contention standpoint in the next two years- but he was used sparingly anyways and the Spurs still got to the WCF.)

I think they need to hold onto Splitter and look to re-sign him at the end of his current contract. Duncan found the fountain of youth during that amazing stretch, but I honestly don't know if he has more than a year left of high-mpg basketball. After next year, Splitter would be a natural fit to take the starting center role.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

We should trade Bonner for a late draft pick if possible

This draft is deep and we only have the last pick of the 2nd round

[timvp]

What do you think about Cory Joseph, timvp?

Cory Joseph
Summer league will be huge for him. If he doesn't at least show some potential, I'd be shocked if the Spurs pick up his option. His play in the NBA and in the D-League was about as bad as could be imagined out of a first round pick.

[z0sa]

Green played how rookies usually play. Young players with no experience in the playoffs usually choke. That's just what happens.

Meh, it wasn't just his shooting. His entire game went down the drain. That said, I wouldn't mind him back. I'm just indifferent. TBH at this point it's hard for me to make any kind of judgment because I'm not sure what the Spurs' MO is. Do they come back strong and look to win another like nothing happened? Do they blow it up? Does Tim retire, etc

He was pretty average to bad in half the games in the WCF.

34/7/6 in Game 5 is what I keep coming back to mentally. He played good enough for the Spurs to win the most important game of the series, and he played very well in both of our wins. Manu made this team go. His will to win almost singlehandedly overpowered OKC runs time and time again.

Almost every rookie in history has poor plus/minus numbers. That's nothing to worry about.

But he played well, improved himself every night, which is what concerns me. The numbers seem to be a strange anomaly if you take away the fact he's a rookie.

[timvp]

PARKER -I'd rather have Westbrook

If the Thunder had Parker and the Spurs had Westbrook, the Thunder would have swept the Spurs worse than the 2001 Lakers. Westbrook's sometimes airheaded play is the only thing that allows the Thunder to be even slightly beatable at this point.

[DPG21920]

Trading Splitter for a pick would be pretty damn dumb. As Duncan ages, the Spurs will need Splitter to grow into a larger and larger role.

If another team wants to give the Spurs a great deal, I'd listen. Otherwise he's too valuable to give away.
.

Splitter and Tim aren't going to play together it seems. Tiago still has some overall question marks about his game. I was talking more along the lines of the Hill trade where if he can net you a pick 15 or higher, that's not a bad option.

I guess my thoughts are what is the goal. If Tim plays two more years, that puts Tiago at 29/30 and what is his ceiling to help if the Spurs got the WCF without him playing much and when Tim and him won't see much time together?

I get that he needs to grow into a larger role, but that was my original point, I don't know if he can flourish here because of cir stance (Pop, injuries, Duncan...).

[Jumi]

Kawhi is the future. I'm not saying he's the franchise piece, but he's Silver and Black. The rest will work itself out. That rookie played huge! There's no way in you get rid of that with all the veteran tank jobs we saw in this series! NO WAY!

[Bruno]

Speaking of Europe, who do you like between Diaw and Lorbek now if the money is equal? Until the Thunder series, I was leaning toward Diaw. Now I might have changed my mind.

In a perfect world, I would like Spurs to get both. If it's not possible, Spurs should go with Lorbek. Lorbek is a risky move because it's not sure he will make the transition to the NBA but he has bigger upside. At that stage and with Duncan and Ginobili decline, Spurs have to take some risks.

[cheguevara]

If the Thunder had Parker and the Spurs had Westbrook, the Thunder would have swept the Spurs worse than the 2001 Lakers. Westbrook's sometimes airheaded play is the only thing that allows the Thunder to be even slightly beatable at this point.

Fail. Westbrook might be a chuker and bonehead sometimes, but he is the engine that powers OKC, same as Parker and Spurs. Him and Parker do cancel each other out but neither is more "bonehead" than the other.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Fail. Westbrook might be a chuker and bonehead sometimes, but he is the engine that powers OKC, same as Parker and Spurs. Him and Parker do cancel each other out but neither is more "bonehead" than the other.

lolwut?

LJ hit the nail on the head with his previous post. Switch PG's and that would've been 2001 Lakers-Spurs on crack.

[DPG21920]

Also, my point about Tiago is value. We all know he has talent. This is like Hill. You have to give something up to get something back of value. Right now in looking at everything we have, Tiago is the only that fits the mold of valuable and expendable due to age, role and situation.

[cheguevara]

lolwut?

LJ hit the nail on the head with his previous post. Switch PG's and that would've been 2001 Lakers-Spurs on crack.

wrong. Westbrook plays like that by design. WB/Durant = Fire/Ice. He is the engine of OKC and the #2 reason why they are in the NBA Finals.

[objective]

Considering their ages and games, I'll take Westbrook and not even feel bad.

-------

Give me Lorbek and De Colo, and I don't even like those two.

And I don't care how Quixote-ish I sound. I want Viktor Sanikidze. I want players who play with emotion, I want players who have passion, I want players who give a damn. Guys like Manu and Jackson. They make the Spurs worth watching, not guys like Bonner. I love Leonard who doesn't show you with his expressions, but does with his game and effort.

A pointless dream, I know. He's a mediocre 3-point shooter and with other questionable aspects to his game. But he was an MVP finalist for the Italian League, rebounds, and plays like he cares.

[timvp]

Fail. Westbrook might be a chuker and bonehead sometimes, but he is the engine that powers OKC, same as Parker and Spurs. Him and Parker do cancel each other out but neither is more "bonehead" than the other.

Manu Fan would literally travel to America to murder Westbrook if he was the Spurs point guard.

[DeadlyDynasty]

wrong. Westbrook plays like that by design. WB/Durant = Fire/Ice. He is the engine of OKC and the #2 reason why they are in the NBA Finals.

Oh...so he plays like a re in the 4th quarter by design?


Damn, what a crafty mother er

[cheguevara]

Manu Fan would literally travel to America to murder Westbrook if he was the Spurs point guard.

only reason WB would fail in San Antonio is because Spurs gameplan and Pop.

Westbrook = Parker

trying to say Westbrook's game is more hurtful to X team than Parkers is homerism to the nth level

This one hurts

[DPG21920]

Side note:Spurs meeting with Andre Drummond. Not that it means anything obviously, just due dilligence.

[Mugen]

Oh...so he plays like a re in the 4th quarter by design?


Damn, what a crafty mother er

[Richie]

wrong. Westbrook plays like that by design. WB/Durant = Fire/Ice. He is the engine of OKC and the #2 reason why they are in the NBA Finals.

Wrong. If anything he's #4 after Durant, Harden, Ibaka/Perkins great defensive frontline, then Westbrook. They maxed him out and they are going to regret it when they can't pay both Harden and Ibaka

[cheguevara]

Wrong. If anything he's #4 after Durant, Harden, Ibaka/Perkins great defensive frontline, then Westbrook. They maxed him out and they are going to regret it when they can't pay both Harden and Ibaka

you must have missed round 1 and 2

[Jumi]

Considering their ages and games, I'll take Westbrook and not even feel bad.

-------

Give me Lorbek and De Colo, and I don't even like those two.

And I don't care how Quixote-ish I sound. I want Viktor Sanikidze. I want players who play with emotion, I want players who have passion, I want players who give a damn. Guys like Manu and Jackson. They make the Spurs worth watching, not guys like Bonner. I love Leonard who doesn't show you with his expressions, but does with his game and effort.

A pointless dream, I know. He's a mediocre 3-point shooter and with other questionable aspects to his game. But he was an MVP finalist for the Italian League, rebounds, and plays like he cares.

My thoughts exactly! I want a team that actually hurts inside when they lose, so they leave everything on the floor! If the shot is off, they play hard defense! They high five when they make a good play and show desire to be the best! Duncan and Kawhi have inner fire! Manu and Jax have outer passion. TP is French so he gets a pass because he does bring it. The rest gotta seek employment elsewhere! I'm done believing, I want results!!

[cheguevara]

My thoughts exactly! I want a team that actually hurts inside when they lose, so they leave everything on the floor! If the shot is off, they play hard defense! They high five when they make a good play and show desire to be the best! Duncan and Kawhi have inner fire! Manu and Jax have outer passion. TP is French so he gets a pass because he does bring it. The rest gotta seek employment elsewhere! I'm done believing, I want results!!

"the engine"

"fire + ice"

good combination tbh