There are no contractictions in what I say.
My point is that trading Finley will hurt Spurs when they will try to sign FAs because FAs will less trust Spurs' FO.
A trade has more probability to hurt the reputation of a FO when :
- The player traded is an old vet. You can't act with a 10 years vet like with a rookie.
- The player traded is/was great. You can't act with a former all star like with a borderline nba player.
- The player is respected. You can't act with a great locker room guy like with a cancer.
- The player is with a small salary. When there are no financial reasons, justifying a trade is harder that when you want to dump a bad contract.
- The player has signed with the team for BB reasons and not for financial reasons and has taken a paycut.
- You trade this player for crap. When there are no strong BB reasons, justifying a trade is harder. When the player traded is a part of a package to get a great player, the trade is more understandable.
I fear that if Spurs trade Finley for garbage today, some FAs won't sign with Spurs because they will fear to be traded if they are bad during two months.
That's why I'm against to dump Finley who is cheap, a former all star, a great locker room guy, an old vet and who has spend 15 days to choose Spurs over a lot of other teams two summers ago.
Finley to Suns for Jumaine Jones.
Why do they do it? They aren't using him, and after signing Diaw to an extension, and with Marion's coming up, they are just into lux tax territory and want to get out, or so more than one Suns fan stated on Sportingnews blogs.
If they want more expiring contracts, give them Williams and Finley for Jones and X.
I guess everyone forgot about his performance in the playoffs last year, except for T-Park.
When Finley was playing like a madman in Dallas you all were saying he was one of the most valuable players on the entire team during that stint. He will be clutch in the playoffs, we need a veteran clutch player like Finley for the playoffs, "young legs" aren't important because we are winning because of the skill of the players not because they can dunk and run really fast.
Finley is a veteran shooter who can still knock down freethrows, big shots, AND he is one of the only Spurs who can throw down a sick dunk when they need it most. Remember his facials on Dallas?!
I've said it before, without Finley, we would have fallen to Dallas in five games. Not 7 with a good chance to win.
As his athletic ability fades, it's tougher for him to play defense, cut to the hoop, and elevate for the dunk. But the ability to hit an open jumpshot should be the last thing to leave him. So there isn't any reason to think that he can't break out of the slump just because of his age.
On the other hand, I find it being like the movie "Little Big League." Admittedly, not a great movie, but there is a scene in it where the kid is wondering whether to cut his aging favorite player, and gets excited when the guy hits a ground-ball single to right-field. The pitching coach looks at him and says, "Billy, don't you think there's something wrong when you get that excited about a seeing-eye single?"
I keep thinking that each make is going to break Finley out of this slump. Then I say to myself, "Don't you think there is something wrong when you get that excited about a wide-open 12 foot baseline jumper?".......
You might be able to get the old leather ball for him... which actually might be the thing that breaks him out of the slump (going back to the old ball). Finley had problems with his shooting in his rookie season in Phoenix. He was very inconsistent, but was also a young guy back then, so he could cut to the hoop and throw it down on people/get to the line when it wasn't clicking.
One of the things he said was that he had trouble adjusting to the leather ball from the one in college (something about the feel in his hands and it was slipping on his release or what not). A few days after those comments, he breaks out with back-to-back 30 point games while shooting over 50% from 3pt.
So, you never know, maybe he's having trouble adjusting to this ball and the return to the old one will help... and let's not forget that it always helps veterans (Horry, Jim Jackson, etc.) to be in the playoffs and turn it up.
The thing is that even if Finley was shooting well (50% fg, 40%3pt) he would STILL be a liability! Every other aspect of his game is subpar. I like Finley, but he's done.
Nothing wrong with having a low cost veteran like Finley on the team--if you keep him on the bench when he isn't producing. The problem is his minutes/production.
Right now, Spurs should treat him like Kevin Willis or any other aging veteran who can occasionally come in and do something for you or who can fill out the garbage time minutes.
I disagree there. Shooters always have value. Plus, Finley rarely gets embarrassed on defense and isn't a horrible rebounder for a wing.
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