That's correct
and, ergo, part of the reason why i'm acting as if the summer league is tantamount to watching the NBA playoffs. , i'll probably order wings for the wemby games. but i am definitely hoping that we see some improvement from blake and brenham in these games.
Maybe they drove such a hard bargain with Mamu because they could and the roster is pretty full on the front line right now. Champagnie, however, is a guard who came in and shot the lights out for the last few games. He may have more of the necessary skills that Pop is looking for and tehy wanted to tie him in for a longer contract.
Interesting that Spurs social media showing guys working out have had a number of photos of Cedi. Probably nothing but do you think he may end up sticking around rather than being shipped out? I also read there will be an HEB commercial featuring Manu and Mamu.
Think there is a path for Cedi to stay. Sounds like they are giving everyone a chance to fight for a spot during camp. Berch seems like a no brainer dump, so functionally it comes down to one more cut. I think they like Bullock and Graham, at least until Feb, so it's probably comes down to Cedi and Bassey.
The other move is a 2 for 1 trade before the start of the season for another, bigger, salary using Graham.
^ Bassey + Cedi for Valanciunas works btw. NOLA, who is thought to be looking to shed salary since theyre slated to pay the tax, would shed a good chunk of salary.
^ No chance Bassey gets cut. He's on a team friendly contract and is in line for a rotation spot.
The Osman picture likely seals Bullock's fate, but I'd have guessed as much to begin with.
bassey's spot is pretty safe tbh. contract is too favorable, and collins is on an expiring deal
im pretty convinced its between cedi and bullock. bullock is a better 3&D-ish player than osman, though his defensive impact hasnt really been consistently there (hence why we were able to get him the way he did). his 3pt shooting is fine for a 3&d type but not good enough just to be a shooting specialist (career 3pt% of 38.4). Osman isn't as good a shooter but does more "spurs-y" things as he can put the ball on the floor, and is a decent passer. more of a connector type than bullock.
basically if your plan is just to stick one of them in the corner, bullock is better. but with mcdermott still around, and champagnie emerging as a potential shooting specialist, think osman's skill set is more appealing.
still think the spurs will try to sell whichever one they keep at the deadline, and they'll have to weigh who they think is more likely to fetch a SRP at the deadline. on a competing team, "good bullock" is a more seamless fit, so they might gamble that he showcases well in his contract year
Last edited by spurraider21; 09-25-2023 at 04:57 PM.
Cedi feels like a guy they picked up because they actually liked him. The team is short on swingmen of that semi-old school variety. Right now it's just Dougie, Champagnie, and Osman. I don't think any of them are guaranteed time and I'm not sure what the pecking order would be, but I'd expect JC and Osman to get more than a shot as a sniper at range.
“No chance” is strong. He’s on a good contract, but that cuts both ways. They’d only have to eat $2.5M which is less than any other player.
Cedi fits the offense and can play backup 4. I think he makes more sense than other players even as a placeholder.
Bassey and Mamu got cut last year by their teams and picked up by the Spurs. Those two along with Graham are the ones most likely to choose from for the final cut. Cedi and Bullock likely have a bit of value during the trade deadline. Nobody wants to trade for Bassey or Mamu.
Mavs and Cavs didn’t just cut these guys, they gave up assets to get rid of them. They were even less desirable than mami and Bassey were
Fine, I'll amend it to placing virtually before it.
They don't have the C depth to withstand cutting him and even though Mamukelashvili is a virtual lock to make the team too, not sure why you'd think he's more likely to be retained when he's signed for one season compared to three for the former.
Yeah, just a wrong read all around.
Bassey and Mamu are young players who still have room to grow. Will they grow? Maybe, maybe not. But they have a potential future on the team. Bullock has absolutely zilcho future on this team. Cedi sort of does for now.
People who keep wanting to cut Bassey and Mamu - I just don't get it. Besides, they're pretty much our only backup bigs.
I don't think Bassey is likely to be cut, but there are multiple paths to it. Mamu could be him out, or Barlow could force his way onto the club. He could be traded. We all remember the guys who got Hinkie specials and ended up becoming decent players like Grant and Covington. But guys get signed to deals like that fairly regularly and still end up getting the axe. The long-term deal is much more of a sign of how little leverage Bassey had than how much the Spurs coveted him. If Mamu's deal is guaranteed, I'd take it as a sign that he had a stronger negotiating position than Bassey did. If all the Spurs had to do to get him on a four-year deal was guarantee money they were already going to guarantee, they would totally do it. But Mamu didn't have to give up tons of flexiblity to get a Bassey-like payout. It's very possible that Mamu would've required a much larger base salary to get that kind of contract length.
(As I said, this is assuming Mamu's deal is guaranteed. Also, I know by the time Mamu signed they didn't have the cap space to give him a four-year deal. But that's incidental. They could've forgone the Payne deal or even signed him to a two-year contract if they had the negotiating position to get that at no extra cost.)
A team trading an asset and contract is not necessarily a sign that the traded player can’t play. The asset is necessary for the receiving team to absorb the contract. The trade gives the trading team the flexibility it covets, but it comes at a cost.
Cedi is a foreign born vet that played a legit role on a playoff team. Bullock is a well liked vet with leadership skills and experience on playoff teams. Those are traits the Spurs desperately need so I will be surprised if those two are cut.
Two players will have to be cut, three if they want to convert Barlow early or keep an open roster spot like they often do, and it won't be young prospects. I'd say Birch is a lock as one of them, but the other almost certainly will be one of Cedi or Bullock. They have no future with this team, both because of the timeline, and the fact that they aren't as cheap as the young players, and have zero upside left.
Yeah. By all accounts it seems to be Cedi stays. Bullock was on a decline last year and he's pretty old. Might have value for a contender that needs some experience, but keeping him on the outside chance at an asset isn't worth cutting a developing young talent.
Bullock is the cut. Does not really makes sense on the court. No indication he is anywhere near San Antonio.
It seems Birch pretty much has no value to us and very little value around the league. Teams will wait till we cut him, and he will then sign for a minimum deal, play in Europe or China, or just call it a career.
Our last cut will be quite tough though.
Bullock is a vet with experience that teams like and can use, but don't really want pay for any more. Options for him are the same being cut, traded, or kept.
The spurs probably like Osman about as much as Bullock. He can be useful as a one year stop gap, but that's it, much like and older Bullock.
Bassey has a cheap contract which is easy on the budget even if we cut him but it would be a shame to do so since he's had very little time to show his skills.
Of course there is Mamu and Wesley. Mamu helped himself this summer by playing well for his country while Wesley didn't do much in summer league. Wesley needs to show something in training camp or he may end up in Austin all year. Fortunately he still has a contract, but that won't keep him from getting cut sooner than later.
Like I said its gong to be a tough call for the spurs. The spurs could surprise us with a 2 for 1 trade or even for one with future picks. It would solve a few problems, but I won't hold my breath. The spurs could also just cut 2 more guys and call it a training camp.
None of the bigs (excluding Birch, an automatic cut) are in compe ion for a roster spot. There's 18 of them and they comprise 6, which makes sense on a team seemingly slated to primarily play 2 simultaneously; especially when non are proven "innings eaters."
Bassey supposedly had 22 teams interested in him before he choose the Spurs. His contract speaks more so to a combination of saturation of the market for non "unicorn" bigs + the opportunity he has here.
It's a good rundown.
Here's the rotation of bigs:
Wembanyama
Zach Collins
Sochan
Bassey
Mamukelashvili
Dominic Barlow
That's it. None of them has more than two years of experience other than Zach. Three of them had injury concerns last year.
Wesley has huge question marks but there's no reason to cut him without seeing a second year of development. As for the rest, Bullock is 32 years old and has no future on the team. Osman can fill a role for a while. I don't see any of the bigs given the axe other than Khem. Guessing Bullock is sticking around in case he can be trade filler or a team decides they can use him.
I think he has the most trade value of the end of bench bunch, which is why I think he sticks around until Feb. I still think as between him and Cedí for the last cut it’s Cedi who is cut.
I still see a path where both stay, which is why I think more than most here that Bassey is on the bubble. They have Barlow on a two-way and can scour the g-league for another body is needed. It’s not like this team is set by any means, they’ll be churning through guys
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