Yeah.. the Spurs are just going to wait out this Free Agency

[tmtcsc]

Get Pau and Dudley and call it an offseason, tbh.

[HarlemHeat37]

I've been saying this all month, tbh..

It's not the money that has me concerned, though..it's the ty options that aren't worth long-term commitments..

[NASpurs]

today's NBA

[tav1]

When I was in primary school, I won dodgeball at every recess by hiding way back in a corner and letting the majority of the contestants eliminate one another. I'd engage once the game was down to a few players on each side. Compe ion is for losers, right?

I think of primary school dodgeball in moments like this and on draft nights when the Spurs most successful and proven strategy is simply to sit back and let 20 or 25 other teams themselves, then enter the fray and capitalize on some obvious collective mistake.

[TheGoldStandard]

Here's some of the potential 2017 Free Agents:

Stephen Curry, LeBron James (if he signs another one-year deal this summer), Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward, Greg Monroe, Derrick Rose, Rudy Gay, Andrew Bogut, Jrue Holiday, Danilo Gallinari, Andre Iguodala, J.J. Re , Taj Gibson and George Hill among many others.

So Spurs spend like 20 mil on George Hill? lol.. None of those guys are gonna want to play here. Maybe Gallinari Gibson but nah they'll get super over paid by someone.

[Kindergarten Cop]

So Spurs spend like 20 mil on George Hill? lol.. None of those guys are gonna want to play here. Maybe Gallinari Gibson but nah they'll get super over paid by someone.

I thought the whole "No premium free-agent will ever want to come to San Antonio" schtick died once and for all when LA signed last summer.

[Kikoluna]

The 2017 class everyone is talking is as good as this one. I don't know where all the "let's wait crap" came from. You're saying you rather have mouthpiece over Durant? Please

[TheGoldStandard]

I thought the whole "No premium free-agent will ever want to come to San Antonio" schtick died once and for all when LA signed last summer.

LMA was a special case.. Texas ties, close to his kid, family and quiet guy.. money was still gonna be decent, Spurs looked like they were a piece away from another le run. In most cases the players that will be free agents next season are gonna stay put and collect monster cash or teams are going to overspend and offer insane deals. Out of the lot a good number of those players are not in the Spurs mold either.

[Mr. Body]

This offseason will be a great case study in market inefficiencies. Teams need to take advantage of the colossal mistake the league made in not adjusting the rookie scale. Sign your promising internationals, take a flier on a extra rookie, target "young vets" who haven't found the right fit elsewhere. This is one of the rare years when carrying multiple rookies is a sound strategy for Spurs. The end of the team's bench should be filled with Murray, Bertans, LJC, Ndoye, and Hanga, or some such combination. Even useless vets, like Andre Miller and Rasual Butler, will make too much this offseason. It's stupid to carry those sort of players on one's roster this year.

There is no way Timofey Mozgov is worth his contract, especially, as Kevin Pelton reported, because it effectively cost the Lakers two-max status next summer. I doubt the Spurs would make that kind of mistake, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed they don't lose site of long term planning and commit a similar mistake of lesser degree.

This summer will likely work in San Antonio's favor, especially relative to free agency 2017. But in the short term, eating a year developing, say, Milutinov at rookie scale vs. spending on a player whom ultimately doesn't add more than a win to your record and won't move any dial in the postseason, is a no brainer. There is no question in my mind than Milutinov on a rookie deal is much better for Spurs, or any organization, than Mozgov at 4 yrs/64MM.

If I were the 76ers, I would not even worry about the salary floor. The penalty for missing the floor is so much less severe than spending foolishly on a multi-year commitment. If they can sign Crabbe or Barnes (I think he's mediocre, but whatever) to a deal, then do it. But otherwise, focus on Embiid and Simmons and Saric and Luwawu. Over the balance of the next decade, their franchise will be much better for it.

Getting Durant is still the best possible outcome for the Spurs, but otherwise returning a 67 win team with some tweaks is not so bad. The Spurs will have to catch a break (injury to Thunder or Warriors) and see a career year from someone like Green or get great minutes from Boban or a rookie, in order to win le, but those odds are so much better for Spurs than over spending on an end of rotation player.

San Antonio is in a can't lose position for the offseason. The franchise either wins small or it wins big, but the front office won't look back to rue July 1, 2016. And Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard's contract look like masterstrokes in retrospect. Two of the best contracts in the league. Kawhi's contract is probably only rivaled by Curry's deal. Parker's deal even looks really strong right now. Here's to the Spurs just not ing things ups.

Great post. This does seem like a cut bait year for the Spurs. Plan more for the future.

[jsandiego]

When I was in primary school, I won dodgeball at every recess by hiding way back in a corner and letting the majority of the contestants eliminate one another. I'd engage once the game was down to a few players on each side. Compe ion is for losers, right?

I think of primary school dodgeball in moments like this and on draft nights when the Spurs most successful and proven strategy is simply to sit back and let 20 or 25 other teams themselves, then enter the fray and capitalize on some obvious collective mistake.

Not that my opinion matters, but I approve of this analogy.

[HarlemHeat37]

Spurs are going to have a bunch of players that will be playing extra-hard to cash in as much as possible, tbh..

Aldridge and Kawhi are locked in and would get theirs regardless(due to their status as stars), but the rest of the team is going to be in $$$ mode, particularly Parker, Diaw, Mills and the unproven guys(Anderson, Simmons, etc)..

[BillMc]

Spurs are going to have a bunch of players that will be playing extra-hard to cash in as much as possible, tbh..

Aldridge and Kawhi are locked in and would get theirs regardless(due to their status as stars), but the rest of the team is going to be in $$$ mode, particularly Parker, Diaw, Mills and the unproven guys(Anderson, Simmons, etc)..

Not to mention assorted foreign guys who know they're a couple of years away from life-altering income.

[BillMc]

Locking up Kawhi and Danny at what are now good contracts and getting LMA. RC was in the zone last year.... This year, by default, will be more quiet (unless Durant falls from the sky).

[baseline bum]

I mean this guy isn't even as good as Kyle Anderson.

[Brian Windhorst]

Evan Turner's deal
Mozgov's deal
Bucks paying a 3rd string PG who can't shoot 10/year
all the teams with money to spend are shooting themselves in the foot right out of the gate

[313]

Parker's contract not looking so bad anymore. With the cap going up again next year, even Kyle Anderson will be making 15 mil a year

[baseline bum]

With the cap going up again next year, even Kyle Anderson will be making 15 mil a year

Well yeah, Solomon Hill is basically Kyle Anderson statistically and he's making $13 million a year. I have never seen an offseason anywhere like this one.

[HI-FI]

Yeah this is definitely turning out to be a bad year to want to sign valuable rotation pieces. If It's going to take 12-18 a year to sign a Mozgov or a Bazemore, I would rather just wait for a candidate to max out next year.

Old players, young overlooked UFA's, and overseas guys are what's for dinner. Teams that are dishing out 20+ a year long contracts to guys somewhere between Danny Green and All-Star are making a huge mistake.

Come home, Pau.

This.

if we can get TD to stay, get Pau, or hopefully both, then it will be a good offseason imo. Looking at all these terrible deals makes me appreciate that the Spurs think more big picture and can be very frugal at times.

[poeticism707]

I think each generation has trouble comprehending salary growth... Today, every 3rd string player makes significantly more than Bill Russell did in his prime, which is kind of mind-blowing!

Each generation doesn't get salary growth,

because so few actually get it.

Only 1% of the population,

including pro athlete lucky bas s,

ever even sniff salary growth.

So you'll have to forgive the 99% our ignorance.

[poeticism707]

Mozgov's agent must have had video of Jimmy plowing Jeannie on top of Dr Buss' grave or something to extract that $64 million contract out of Fredo.

[Budkin]

Evan Turner's deal
Mozgov's deal
Bucks paying a 3rd string PG who can't shoot 10/year
all the teams with money to spend are shooting themselves in the foot right out of the gate

Today's NBA

[rjv]

it's as if the NBA went from keynesianism to neoliberalism overnight.

[Keepin' it real]

it's as if the NBA went from keynesianism to neoliberalism overnight.

[spurtech09]

This.

if we can get TD to stay, get Pau, or hopefully both, then it will be a good offseason imo. Looking at all these terrible deals makes me appreciate that the Spurs think more big picture and can be very frugal at times.

agree

[DJR210]

These free agents demanding a ridiculous amount of cash wouldn't hurt us so bad if we didn't strike out in the draft every year since the Kawhi trade