Ludden: Swap of reserves lands Ely

[T Park]

you people arent using the secret CIA pop decoder ring when reading those comments......

[ArgSpursFan]

I've said "like Hermann".

My point is that this deal isn't only a financial move. After this deal Spurs are still over the luxury tax while they could easily do a trade to go under even without involving another bocats' player.

A financial move would have been : Charlotte waive Ely and then Spurs trade Williams + cash + 2nd for nothing. Spurs should have given more cash to cover Ely remaining salary but they would have saved more money with this trade becasue this deal would have put them under the tax.

Bottomline is that Ely will be more than a contract for Spurs : it's a gamble and they hope that he will help them this year. Another conclusion is that Spurs will still do another trade to go under the tax : they are now $300k over the tax and if they can lower their payroll by $300K, they will save $2.5M.

I hope it works out financially and on the floor too.
In my opinion they broght him as a Buckup PF,not to play along with Duncan,so i don´t see him playing that much when Bonner gets back to the rotation.
Elson and Oberto are gonna continue being centers,Eventhough I don´t think Oberto can do much for the spurs.
Hopefully the small ball minutes are gonna go down with this guy on the rotation.
In my opinion Horry is getting screw if Ely gets to see some playing time.

[VaSpursFan]

pop is full of . i get the feeling that he's going to throw ely right into the mix and let him learn the system like elson did. an ely with piss poor conditioning is better than the franberto tandem.

[ArgSpursFan]

pop is full of . i get the feeling that he's going to throw ely right into the mix and let him learn the system like elson did. an ely with piss poor conditioning is better than the franberto tandem.

listen,I know Oberto and Elson are playing bellow the expectations,but If you play a 6.10 Pf as a Center,we go back to the Small ball bull again,that I think Pop is getting tired about.

[VaSpursFan]

listen,I know Oberto and Elson are playing bellow the expectations,but If you play a 6.10 Pf as a Center,we go back to the Small ball bull again,that I think Pop is getting tired about.

ely has the weight, 260 lbs and the sick wing span to bang with centers. he has the athleticism also. oberto is too gravity challenged and too weak to bang down low. elson is just too light to bang. ely is a wide body that knows how to use it.

ely isn't small ball. there's only a 2 inch difference between a 6'10 center and one 7 ft. ely's wing span helps to mitigate that height differential.

[Testing]

I'm so tired of Pop and this organization's insistance on continuing to play guys who are clearly not producing: Horry, Elson, Oberto, Barry (defensive), Finley, etc. when he has guys like Butler, Williams (then), and now Ely on the bench not even getting a chance. What's he have to lose? I doubt Ely will get significant playing time to adjust his game and learn the system. Pop will most likely continue playing the scrubs in Elson and Oberto or Finley in smallball time.

[Mr. Body]

30 games isn't enough to bring a guy around slowly. Ely will get in the mix pretty rapidly, I'd say.

Olajuwon was 6'10". Mourning is 6'10". Saying a guy that height can't play center is dumb.

[ArgSpursFan]

ely has the weight, 260 lbs and the sick wing span to bang with centers. he has the athleticism also. oberto is too gravity challenged and too weak to bang down low. elson is just too light to bang. ely is a wide body that knows how to use it.

ely isn't small ball. there's only a 2 inch difference between a 6'10 center and one 7 ft. ely's wing span helps to mitigate that height differential.

I think you missed something,if you play Ely as a center,we go back to the lack of rebounding,ely averages 1.6 rpg.and he is not a good shot blocker.that´s not even half of the rebounds Elson gets.
So,no, he is a PF,not a center.
SMALL BALL MUST DIE!
remember that.

[cherylsteele]

30 games isn't enough to bring a guy around slowly. Ely will get in the mix pretty rapidly, I'd say.

Olajuwon was 6'10". Mourning is 6'10". Saying a guy that height can't play center is dumb.

Yes and add to that Ben Wallace is only 6'9"....7'1" with the afro.

[ArgSpursFan]

30 games isn't enough to bring a guy around slowly. Ely will get in the mix pretty rapidly, I'd say.

Olajuwon was 6'10". Mourning is 6'10". Saying a guy that height can't play center is dumb.

i know that,and barkley was 6.7 i belive.
but they all could rebound the ball,something Ely needs to learn(and quickly)

[mountainballer]

I've said "like Hermann".

My point is that this deal isn't only a financial move. After this deal Spurs are still over the luxury tax while they could easily do a trade to go under even without involving another bocats' player.

A financial move would have been : Charlotte waive Ely and then Spurs trade Williams + cash + 2nd for nothing. Spurs should have given more cash to cover Ely remaining salary but they would have saved more money with this trade becasue this deal would have put them under the tax.

Bottomline is that Ely will be more than a contract for Spurs : it's a gamble and they hope that he will help them this year. Another conclusion is that Spurs will still do another trade to go under the tax : they are now $300k over the tax and if they can lower their payroll by $300K, they will save $2.5M.

another CBA question for you Bruno:
I thought a veteran minimum contract only counts as a 2nd year minimum salary (744K) for the lux tax. if this is right, then Vaughn salary wouldn't count for the whole number ( 1.07 million). wouldn't this put the Spurs below the threshold?
(or do I mix some things up)

[AFBlue]

I think you missed something,if you play Ely as a center,we go back to the lack of rebounding,ely averages 1.6 rpg.and he is not a good shot blocker.that´s not even half of the rebounds Elson gets.
So,no, he is a PF,not a center.
SMALL BALL MUST DIE!
remember that.

You've got a good point, that Ely is not a rebounder...but that doesn't make him a PF instead of a C. It makes him a PF or C that doesn't rebound well....

[silk]

ely will certainly suprise you with his rebounding and shoblocking. Next to duncan he could flourish. when we say he's not GREAT at rebound and block it does not mean he's BAD, in fact he's solid .

[Bruno]

another CBA question for you Bruno:
I thought a veteran minimum contract only counts as a 2nd year minimum salary (744K) for the lux tax. if this is right, then Vaughn salary wouldn't count for the whole number ( 1.07 million). wouldn't this put the Spurs below the threshold?
(or do I mix some things up)

You're right on Vaughn but White counts to for $744K (slighty less in fact since he has signed few days after the start of the season) against the luxury tax.

The rule is :
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#16

For players who signed as free agents (i.e., not draft picks), and make less than the two-year minimum salary, the minimum salary for a two-year veteran is used in place of their actual salary.

Spurs salaries' breakdown against the luxury tax is:

Tim Duncan $17,429,671
Tony Parker $9,450,000
Emanuel Ginobili $8,250,000
Brent Barry $5,117,880
Bruce Bowen $3,750,000
Robert Horry $3,315,000
Melvin Ely $3,308,615
Francisco Elson $3,000,000
Michael Finley $2,889,000
Fabricio Oberto $2,500,000
Jackie Butler $2,200,000
Matt Bonner $2,000,000
Beno Udrih $967,920
Jacque Vaughn $744,551
James White $731,412
Rich Melzer $20,000
Jamar Smith $20,000

Taxable payroll : $65,694,049
Spurs are $274,049 over the luxury tax threeshold.

[AFBlue]

ely will certainly suprise you with his rebounding and shoblocking. Next to duncan he could flourish. when we say he's not GREAT at rebound and block it does not mean he's BAD, in fact he's solid .

He simply hasn't shown the propensity to rebound....it's a fact. He's currently below average in that category and if he shows something more, I guarantee he'll see more time.

He is, however, a GOOD shot-blocker. He averaged well over 2 blocks per game in college and has the athleticism & wing span to do so for the Spurs.

[SenorSpur]

30 games isn't enough to bring a guy around slowly. Ely will get in the mix pretty rapidly, I'd say.

Olajuwon was 6'10". Mourning is 6'10". Saying a guy that height can't play center is dumb.

Agreed.

This is especially dumb for a coach that extensively utilized former Spurs fan favorite, Malik Rose, at the backup center position. Rose was listed as an undersized 6'7" forward, but we all know he was closer to 6'5". He backed up Duncan for years. Even with that, he was one of our best "energy" players and usually played much bigger that his size.

[Spurs Brazil]

Portland will work hard to move center Jamaal Magloire, but the Blazers are looking for expiring contracts and draft picks. They had even contacted the Spurs about Magloire, with an eye on Eric Williams' expiring $4.3 million deal. Tuesday's Spurs-Bobcats trade means that won't happen, but the Blazers will continue to shop around.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...s.1fe127d.html

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

A highly connected scout once called Ely one of the mysteries of the league, physically blessed but tragically immature. "He just doesn't get it," was one description of Ely. His work ethic and at ude have long been questioned.

At this point, he's a bust. A bust who just received an opportunity for a fresh start.

Same description was used for Stephen Jackson when he came here.

He simply hasn't shown the propensity to rebound....it's a fact. He's currently below average in that category and if he shows something more, I guarantee he'll see more time.

Ely's rebounding average from last year currently would put him second on the team behind Duncan.

[mardigan]

I just dont see how people think this guy wont help, with what we have now Kevin Willis would have helped

[ArgSpursFan]

You've got a good point, that Ely is not a rebounder...but that doesn't make him a PF instead of a C. It makes him a PF or C that doesn't rebound well....

I know PHAT,but my point was that,If the spurs play him as a Center,we may end up going from lack of rebounding to a ¨no rebounding at all¨ issue.
I honestly think this guy is not gonna see much playing time this year,but If he works hard and shows Pop that He wanna take the Buckup PF spot or the starting Center spot,by his work ethic,he may have a chance to play big minutes next year once he gets use to the spurs D.rotation.
But if he thinks that he is gonna get minutes right away on a team like the spurs,while he wasn´t playing at all with the Bobcats,He´ll probably end up asking his agent to get him traded again at the end of the season.

[AFBlue]

I know PHAT,but my point was that,If the spurs play him as a Center,we may end up going from lack of rebounding to a ¨no rebounding at all¨ issue.
I honestly think this guy is not gonna see much playing time this year,but If he works hard and shows Pop that He wanna take the Buckup PF spot or the starting Center spot,by his work ethic,he may have a chance to play big minutes next year once he gets use to the spurs D.rotation.
But if he thinks that he is gonna get minutes right away on a team like the spurs,while he wasn´t playing at all with the Bobcats,He´ll probably end up asking his agent to get him traded again at the end of the season.

He's a FA at the end of the year, so if he shows the Spurs nothing, they let him walk. , if he shows the Spurs something, they may still let him walk.

He may not be a good rebounder, but he's no worse than what the Spurs have currently. I honestly doubt the Spurs could get worse. And he didn't play in Charlotte because he was in the coach's doghouse....it happens no matter how talented some players are (see: JR Smith).

I don't think he's going to get minutes right away, and I do think he'll have to show the Spurs something in their upcoming practices, but I think he's got a shot to be a rotation guy.

[Mr. Body]

Melvin Ely will be the most talented Spurs center since Rasho Nesterovic. Book it.

[AFBlue]

Ely's rebounding average from last year currently would put him second on the team behind Duncan.

I do not, however, agree with this statement. He may be better than what the Spurs have, but that's not saying much. The Spurs are getting heavily outrebounded and while playing Ely might shrink that differential, I'd equate it to putting a bandaid on a broken bone.

I like what Ely could bring...interior O & D, but I don't expect him to bring much else. If he does, I'll be pleasantly suprised.

[timvp]

ArgScolaFan in this thread is trying to convince the world that Ely is a buckup power forward because he wants Oberto to continue to be the buckup center. But the truth is that Ely is taller, heavier, stronger, has longer arms and can jumper higher than Oberto. Ely is more of a center than Oberto is.

[AFBlue]

buckup center

Funny, but not nice. You should just tell him he spells it wrong.

Args, honestly no disrespect...

It's backup, and...

than not tham