This loss hurts

[Chomag]

Meh, most likely Thomas would not be getting any minutes anyway from Pop right now. However I agree if Spurs did get him and he wasn't given the Pop's vet corporate knowledge (ie gooden last season) treatment he would be helping the Spurs out immensely right now.

[Johnny RIngo]

Dude, you're preaching to the choir.

I don't remember the thread you posted (although I'm sure I posted to it), but you must've been looking over my shoulder when I entered the EXACT same trade scenario in the Trade Machine.

You damn right it would've worked. Those two players (Salmons and Thomas) are solid contributors on their current teams. Salmons is even being credited for sparking the 15-2 run that the Bucks are now on. Thomas has been instant energy, defense and shotblocking for the Bobcats, off the bench. Something the Spurs have so very little of. How much could the Spurs have used his skills against the Hawks the other night? A night when Al Horford and Josh Smith were literally jumping over the backs of both Duncan and Bonner for offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Outside of the Big Three, Hill and Blair, the Spurs do not have enough consistent contributors to keep up with the upper-echelon teams. The Spurs NEEDED to do this deal simply to upgrade the talent level on a poorly-constructed roster. Doing this deal, would've not only upgraded the talent level, but it would've allowed the Spurs to jettison some of the dead weight on the roster and somewhat reload on the fly.

I can't let this go because it absolutely made no sense NOT to get it done. If Pop and the Spurs brass REALLY wanted to give themselves a better shot to succeed in the playoffs, they HAD to get this deal done. By now and if they're honest with themselves, the FO and coaching staff should know they're not going very far with the roster, as currently constructed.

IMO, Holt probably came down hard on the front office after seeing how badly Buford/Pop mismanaged the team when they squandered his money on garbage players like RJ/Dice. That's the ONLY explanation I can think of for not making any moves before the trade deadline.

And yes, I wanted Thomas/Salmons too.