Spurs notebook: Horry says he wants to play another year

[whottt]

If Danny Ferry could contribute to a le at the age of 38....


Even if Horry is the last guy on the bench...it's better than him being the last guy on someone else's bench.


The good news is that he doesn't seem to have a problem with a reduced role(not that he has ever complained about PT anywhere)...

I wonder how much this announcement is Horry trying to find out how pissed the Spurs are and worried about PR...and how much is him trying to capitalize on punking the Suns...


It does sound kind of like he's worried about his future with the team.

[K-State Spur]

AFAIK, the Spurs don't easily discard a player with multi yrs contract after just one season, so i expect Elson & Butler to come back and atleast have the chance to prove their worth until next yr midseason trade window.

Oberto has shown what a yr of learning Spurs X&O can do for u, i don't really know about his contract situation though -IMHO this post season he truly earns his paycheck.

Mahinmi, i just hope this guy would get here as soon as possible, and AFAIK he doesn't have any contractual problem that could prevent him from signing with us earlier.

Oberto has 1 more year left.

If Butler truly is on the Stephen Jax plan, that would see him starting to be implemented next season. With Elson/Oberto/Horry/Bonner(?) playing with and backing up Duncan, hard to find any minutes there.

I think it all boils down to Butler. If Pop's happy with his development this past year, I wouldn't be surprised to see the team look into moving Elson (possibly along with Barry as expiring contracts). If Pop doesn't think Butler improved this past year, we might cut bait there as he is still very young and probably has some value to at least a few teams.

With Mahinmi, it's more a question of "do we think he's ready? does he think he's ready?" than any issue with his overseas contract. I haven't heard anything definitive one way or the other. Neither coming or staying would surprise me, I just don't think it's a slam dunk that he'll be here next year (and I'm not sure that's a bad thing).

I would say this is all my own personal speculation, but....I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Dex]

Horry will be a Spur next year. Book it.

Sounds like a guy who's just putting a little insurance on next season, via the media. Horry knows those comments will prompt the Spurs to think about his future, and I think it's fairly obvious that he wants to stay here. Especially as he's staring down his 7th le.

Just seems like another high basketball IQ move to me. By dangling that hook out there, it forces the Spurs to show interest. And it would be downright illogical to NOT to, as many have stated, so for some reason I'm only left to believe the number 5 will be occupied next season.

[ChumpDumper]

If Horry wants to play, it should be here. I can see the Spurs waiving and re-signing him for the minimum a la Brian Shaw if there is a luxury tax issue.

[Bruno]

Good news.
Waiving Horry will cost Spurs $2M, keeping him will cost $3.6M. Letting him go to save $1.6M will be stupid given how well he plays in these playoffs.

[venitian navigator]

Good news.
Waiving Horry will cost Spurs $2M, keeping him will cost $3.6M. Letting him go to save $1.6M will be stupid given how well he plays in these playoffs.

I also think we'll keep him, at this point...
For the rest, IMHO Elson and Mahinmi bring the some thing to the table...so, in case the french one comes here, the Dutch one will probably be traded.
Trade Elson along with someone else (Barry, Udrih...) could bring us something good...and I see the Clippers like a good partner (they need a fast and athletic center, they like Barry, they need a play to replace Livingston and an ancient Cassell).

[dav4463]

After the finals vs. Detroit....Robert Horry can be on my team as long as he wants.

[Texas_Ranger]

I for keeping him in the team.

[jmard5]

Switcheroo: Jacque Vaughn serves the same role for the Spurs that he did in 1998 for Utah, when he backed up point guard John Stockton the last time the Jazz reached the Western Conference finals.

The biggest difference between Vaughn then and now is the reliability of his perimeter shot. After working with Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland all season, Vaughn has gained confidence in his outside shot.

"Chip's been tremendous — just to take small pieces of my shot and be able to look at it on photo and see differences that we've made thus far," Vaughn said. "The biggest thing has been accepting the ability to change. I've been in this league a nice amount of years, but I'm still learning and improving and I want to improve. Chip's been great at helping me take my game to a different level.

"I wish I'd run into him a little earlier, but I'm going to treasure his help and value him right now."

Ok, so he's got his shooting skills a work in progress. Just continue to hustle, a playmaker and less driving into the hoop.

[WalterBenitez]

I think Robert has a good chance in NFL, that blocks he gave to Nash was really good; or we could freeze him til playoffs time

[picnroll]

And I left out his brief stay in Phoenix.

That video would have to include the towel to Ainge's face for whottt's purposes. Maybe the leadoff even.

[violentkitten]

uh, you bring him back if he wants to be back

[Jimcs50]

The question is, can his hip take the punishment?

[Jimcs50]

Are you kidding me?? I just knew he was going to do this, just can't hang it up.

Horry is the Evander Holifield of basketball.

[exstatic]

The question is, who else of that quality and clutchness are you going to bring in on a one year deal at that price in order to not up Big Plan '08?

If we were to win it this year, I'd feel a lot better about having Big Shot Rob in the holster when gunning for a repeat.

[Borosai]

Robert Horry must retire as a Spur... I can't imagine him in another uniform after donning the silver and black. That would be a shamockery.

[tmtcsc]

Elson has been terrible in the playoffs. He doesn't utilize the tools he has and is so under-weight that he can't get rebounding position or respond to more physical play.
It's so ridiculous when he over-exaggerates getting a rebound....WHEN NO ONE IS NEAR HIM.

Suckass.

[wildbill2u]

Mahimi is still a year or two away according to most reports--not fantasies. Butler will probably get his chance unless a trade comes along that demands him.

I don't see much change in the frontline except at SF where I hope they'll find a good young player to back up bowen.

Oberto has proved he's better than Elson. Time for Elson to move on.

[mattyc]

A 1 year deal doesn't hurt us one iota.

[boutons_]

Elson is the only Spur who shows total befuddlement by the game of basketball.

[samikeyp]

Yeah...it's not so much what Horry does when he's playing for you...it's what he does when he's playing against you.

If for no other reason...this is why you bring him back.

[michaelwcho]

Elson is the only Spur who shows total befuddlement by the game of basketball.

Might as well give him another year to see what he can do when he knows the system. These things take time.

[Chris]

Sign his ass now!

[my2sons]

Robert Horry must retire as a Spur... I can't imagine him in another uniform after donning the silver and black. That would be a shamockery.

This is one of the most ironic statements looking back at horrys career....

[my2sons]

as far as elson is concerned, barry looked lost his first year, fabs could barely get any playing time his first year, bonner shoots outside shots...players are lost in this system their first year. pop had to play cisco, and liked alot of what he saw, only the staff know how much he has learned and how much he can learn over the summer. true report cards historically come in the second year. given that evaluation, elson pretty much sucked this entire season, but again, i will leave it up to pops. as he's proven over and over and over...he knows best. how many people quit on this team long ago this season. spurs went from being old to being experienced. its amazing like a smart cia coach once said, its amazing how winning fixes things