More like facepalm relief. I put it on ignore long ago.
^^^ This. The Spurs told Ron Mercer to just stay the away, and they paid him 2.5x what they were paying Butler. They could have just as easily told Butler to stay home & collect a check. The stupidest decisions in that mess weren't made by Hollinger.
Woj going HAM on Pera
Butler had flashes with the NYK. It surprised most everybody he was a complete turd.
But blaming the decision on the loss of Scola doesn't cut it. That's completely on the doorstep of Owner and Buford. That's a separate decision. Butler wasn't even making that much.
I thought Butler was a very good gamble at the time and I still think so in retrospect. Butler was a 20-year-old center who was about league average by every stat (even stats invented since 2006). Finding centers that young who already produce at league average rates outside of the draft is extremely rare. One that played that well under Larry Brown, who typically hates young players, is even rarer. The Spurs signing him for $5 million over two seasons made it an even better gamble.
As we now know, it didn't work out. Butler basically retired from basketball after he got that contract. He showed up to camp fat and wasn't interested in practicing hard. After his contract expired, he was never heard from again. Like I said, Butler got that contract and retired. That's why it was a gamble in the first place. Not much a team can do if a player has no interest in succeeding.
The real mistake, as others have mentioned, was using Scola to salary dump Butler after the gamble failed. The Spurs should have just held on to Butler. He wasn't making much money and that team didn't face a roster crunch. The Spurs panicked in an attempt to clean their books and made a stupid trade. Give credit to the Rockets, but it should also be noted that they basically cheated the salary cap to get Scola (Yao got Scola a lucrative shoe deal in China that was able to afford him the ability to pay for his buyout in Spain ... the Spurs obviously didn't have such a connection to maneuver around the salary cap like that).
The next time a young league average center becomes available, I hope the Spurs are in on it. Butler was a miss but the payoff is worthwhile if you strike gold.
That I didn't know nor had ever heard of before. But makes sense
Explains why no other team expressed even a hint of interest in him
Last edited by Maddog; 01-31-2013 at 04:03 PM.
so what? Hollinger was no part of signing Jeff and that was a great move
Hollinger will be just another average to poor GM. Cant' believe ppl think his numbers and bull formulas give him an extra advantage in real life
It was. People actually think Pop or RC would listen to Hollinger?
yeah, I thought that was supposed to be the crucial connection to Butler.
please no more spurs ed up. god what a waste of scola lol
but it bought us many more years of bonner
The best thing about having Jackie Butler was in the old blurry footage on YouTube it kind of looks like we've just had DeJuan since 2007 haha. Let's just go with that story and forget the whole thing ever happened... The number 45 must only be available in 4XL.
so what? Hollinger was no part of signing Jeff and that was a great move
Hollinger will be just another average to poor GM. Cant' believe ppl think his numbers and bull formulas give him an extra advantage in real life
Hollinger
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