Another possible long three who may be available

[Darkwaters]

I don't think Kinsey is any kind of solution, certainly not as a starter.

And Marcus Williams was supposed to be? Either this team was completely misinformed about Williams, or they have something else up their sleeve. And frankly, I don't think anybody in the front office was seriously thinking Marcus Williams could crack our starting lineup within a year or two at ANY point in the evaluation process.

[colargol]

what about ron artest? he's currently earning $8million a year for the kings. he can opt out of his contract next year and we will have empty seats on the bench next year. possibilities? or should we not even consider him?

pros:
*will definitely up our defense with him guarding the post.
*adds someone who can post up.
*he wants a championship.

cons:
*kings will definitely match any offer that is reasonable. he's severely underpaid at $8million
*past history.
*tendency to demand the ball.

the big issue of course is cap space.

Advance scouts chart every play call of their opponents. They see the team's hand signal, and then they know where everyone should go. And then they watch. Sometimes what they see is that some players are breaking plays. Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated: "'When Theus calls the play and it isn't for [Ron] Artest, he's so reluctant to let them get into a play he's not involved with,'' said an NBA advance scout who has been studying Artest recently. 'He'll be running down the floor and he should go through to the opposite corner, but instead he'll turn and post up. He might be open and he definitely is good enough that he can be effective in a quick post-up, but that's not the play. I can't tell you how many times that happened. He is playing like a very selfish player right now. Maybe he doesn't like the team, or he doesn't think the team is good and so he has to put up numbers to make up for it. I knew he was a time bomb in the past, but I always respected his game. But he has gone down a notch or two because of the selfish at ude.'"


If it's true Ron Artest can't even be consider as a possibility .....

[Horry For 3!]

Marcus Dove, mentioned earlier, would be fantastic. Very tall, long, fantastic defender, could be had early in the 2nd.

Dove is an excellent defender but thats all he really gives. Durant said he was the toughest player he played against last year.

[mountainballer]

my guess is James Jones.
he can opt out 2008 and I think he will do so.
the Blazers are stacked with many great young prospects at the wing and Jones will be realistic enough to see that he could play a more important role with another team (like the Spurs). if he doesn't opt out 2008 he might find himself without minutes in the 08-09 season and enter the strong 2009 FA market with bad numbers.

Spurs were very interested in him 2005 and I guess there was a good chance to get him if they didn't enter the Finley sweepstakes. (the contract he signed with the Suns was much in the typical Spurs price range).
IMO he would fit nice. provides the most important quality of a Spurs wing (long range shooting ability) and is decent in most other categories. and he's really "long". (measured 6-7.25 without shoes and has an outstanding 7-2.5 wingspan).
it should be possible to get him for half MLE or slightly more.
(and yes, I know it was him who caused Tim's injury)

[mountainballer]

While he's not as tall as you'd like for a Long Three, he's definitely thick and strong enough to fill that role.

he does have nice size for a SF, better than many other of the mentioned players and he has a great leap. (was a very good rebounder at LSU, 7-8 RPG, if I remember right)

[Darkwaters]

my guess is James Jones.
he can opt out 2008 and I think he will do so.
the Blazers are stacked with many great young prospects at the wing and Jones will be realistic enough to see that he could play a more important role with another team (like the Spurs). if he doesn't opt out 2008 he might find himself without minutes in the 08-09 season and enter the strong 2009 FA market with bad numbers.

Spurs were very interested in him 2005 and I guess there was a good chance to get him if they didn't enter the Finley sweepstakes. (the contract he signed with the Suns was much in the typical Spurs price range).
IMO he would fit nice. provides the most important quality of a Spurs wing (long range shooting ability) and is decent in most other categories. and he's really "long". (measured 6-7.25 without shoes and has an outstanding 7-2.5 wingspan).
it should be possible to get him for half MLE or slightly more.
(and yes, I know it was him who caused Tim's injury)

He does kind of seem like an under the radar Spurs' type pick-up. But he'll be walking away from 3M if he opts out. How much do we really think the Spurs would offer him? We only threw 1M at Udoka and a mere 3M at Michael Finley. Unless hes interested in 1.5-2M per then I don't think he comes.

[SenorSpur]

my guess is James Jones.
he can opt out 2008 and I think he will do so.
the Blazers are stacked with many great young prospects at the wing and Jones will be realistic enough to see that he could play a more important role with another team (like the Spurs). if he doesn't opt out 2008 he might find himself without minutes in the 08-09 season and enter the strong 2009 FA market with bad numbers.

Spurs were very interested in him 2005 and I guess there was a good chance to get him if they didn't enter the Finley sweepstakes. (the contract he signed with the Suns was much in the typical Spurs price range).
IMO he would fit nice. provides the most important quality of a Spurs wing (long range shooting ability) and is decent in most other categories. and he's really "long". (measured 6-7.25 without shoes and has an outstanding 7-2.5 wingspan).
it should be possible to get him for half MLE or slightly more.
(and yes, I know it was him who caused Tim's injury)

Hmmmm. James Jones, huh? Very interesting. I never considered this guy. Sounds like a very intriguing prospect for the Spurs. With the emergence of Travis Outlaw and with Channing Frye on board, I would guess it would be very tough for Nate McMillian to find minutes for them all. I just wonder if he's far enough under the radar where there will be a limited amount of bidding for his services.

With so many teams having limited dollars to spend, the Spurs should have their pick of many talented and athletic swingmen at a fairly reasonable price. They have NO excuses not to upgrade this position over the summer.

[tav1]

I've been thinking about this thread, and whomever posted that James Jones was ideal is right on. I watched part of last night's Portland game and was reminded just how nicely he would fit the Spurs' system. He's unrestricted, long, a competent defender and excellent shooter and would nicely replace Finley. I also think that he could play the 4 in an uptempo small ball situation helping ease some of the spacing burden that will be left when Horry retires, and, who knows, possibly freeing us from the burden that is Bonner. I wonder if the Spurs might be able to pawn him off the Trailbalzers between now and February.

[ss1986v2]

im a big james jones fan. but id really like to see what he can do over the course of the entire season before i put him above guys like deflino or buike on my "want" list.

right now, the guy is shooting outside of his mind (52% from the floor, 52.3% from 3!!!). but his career number are much more humble (40% from the floor, 39% from 3), but the outside shot is very respectable (which is probably one of the most important factors for wings on this team). plus the unrestricted part makes him much more obtainable than most of the other top players. if he can keep up solid PT and decent numbers in portland this year, id be happy to make a run at him in the offseason.

[tav1]

Jones was solid in Phoenix, too. I remember during the synthetic ball ballyhoo Jones didn't lose his minutes, eventhough his percentages were way down, because of his basketball IQ and defense, which isn't saying much because he was playing in Phoenix...

Nevertheless, his resume puts him atop my personal, no one cares wish list. In terms of obtainable guys, I like Allen and Ariza after him with players like Del Fino taking up the rear. I don't trust anyone that plays for Nellie--those stats are inflated and their system simply does not allow for a good read as to how they'd play in more controlled sets. I'd almost rather see the Spurs bring on a no name European or d-leaguer. At least the commitment and cost is low in that situation.

Right now--bound to change with each month--I'm cheering for Jones and Allen to replace Fin and Barry, Udoka to stay (his defense was impressive last night; he'll figure out the system in time) and Bonner to get traded for cap space. That means we'd have to sign another insurance big along to play behind Duncan, Oberto, Splitter and (maybe) Mahinmi. I'd just assume give Horry and Bonner's minutes to someone like Jones in small ball sets if no true big is available.

The jury is still out on D-Wash.

[SenorSpur]

im a big james jones fan. but id really like to see what he can do over the course of the entire season before i put him above guys like deflino or buike on my "want" list.

right now, the guy is shooting outside of his mind (52% from the floor, 52.3% from 3!!!). but his career number are much more humble (40% from the floor, 39% from 3), but the outside shot is very respectable (which is probably one of the most important factors for wings on this team). plus the unrestricted part makes him much more obtainable than most of the other top players. if he can keep up solid PT and decent numbers in portland this year, id be happy to make a run at him in the offseason.

Personally, I wouldn't put Defino of Azibuike in front of him. Jones has more "skins on the wall" and appears to have more of the pure, natural talent and skill that the Spurs so desparately need than either of those two.

[ss1986v2]

im a pretty big jones fan, but im not so sure about the whole "pure, natural talent and skill" thing though. kid is long, althetic enough, and shoots it pretty well from the outside (career 39%). he has a ast/to ration above 1, a lower pf/gm number than some, and a good stroke at the FT line. all of which i love. but he isnt a great rebounder for having all that size and length (career best of 3.4 @ 24 mpg) which is something the spurs could really use an infusion of. plus, even with his phenomenal start this season, he has a bowen-esque fg% for his career (40.2%, which is actually lower than bowen's 40.9%). and while i would never call his defense "subpar", i wouldnt rank it as "standout" either. nothing major, but just a few concerns overall.

and as i said, if he can keep up a good clip this season (45%+ from the floor, 40%+ from 3), id gladly take him without hesitation (at the right price that is). but i still really like delfino and buike.

delfino is a physical presence (6'6", 230, rather strong and very athletic). foul rate has been higher this season (to be expected), but its getting better as the year goes by and his career ast/to number are favorable. plus he is a very good rebounder (a need for the spurs) and a very solid defender. his offensive strengths are 3pt shooting and slashing (two things the spurs offense is built toward). and im sure he would mesh well with the team chemistry wise (manu and oberto helping greatly with that aspect). his biggest flaw is his shot selection. he started the season red hot, so no one was complaining, but he has hit a slump, and now hes getting called on it. but its just like with finley and the other spurs: keep shooting, if you pass on open shots, it'll get you pulled faster than taking and missing those same shots. as long as he can play within the offense, it wont be an issue.

buike is a bit of a wildcard. i like him, but not nearly as much as delfino (and possible james if he keeps things up this season). great frame (6'5", 220), surprisingly polished looking offensive game (great shooting percentages, both in the d-league and the nba so far), and another very solid rebounder. biggest issues are his ability (or lack there of) to take over games and his predilection to defer too much at times (his coach tubby smith put it best, saying, "he looks like tarzan and plays like jane.") and his defense. both might not be issues on the spurs though: spurs would rather he defer than try and take over games by himself and how can you say someone in nellie-ball is playing bad defense when no one is even playing defense j/k.

but again, jones would come much easier then either of those two (and probably a bit cheaper too). i wouldnt picket outside the spurs offices if they signed jones, id just probably rather have delfino on this team (and maybe buike if he keeps things going and jones slumps a bit the rest of the year).

[mathbzh]

Even if Udoka fails in SA, I rather see Spurs going after a player like Gelabale than Pietrus. Gelabale will be available this summer for a cheap contract and Spurs were interested by him in the past. I don't know if it's still the case.

Gelabale could be a good choice. He is a good defender and a smart player. I believe he would flourish in the Spurs system. Give him a cheap contract and the opportunity to show what he has in the tank.

[SenorSpur]

The prerequisites of a player at that desired position would be long, athletic, decent defender and can hit the 3-ball.

[Darkwaters]

There is another wing player that is now openly out on the market: Rasual Butler. Hes 6'7 with really long arms and a quality 3 pt shooter. Hoopshype is reporting today that the Hornets are looking to move him.

...of course, I was advocating for him 3 weeks ago.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/show...8&postcount=28

[AFBlue]

There is another wing player that is now openly out on the market: Rasual Butler. Hes 6'7 with really long arms and a quality 3 pt shooter. Hoopshype is reporting today that the Hornets are looking to move him.

...of course, I was advocating for him 3 weeks ago.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/show...8&postcount=28

Butler is a NICE choice....

Elson for Butler!

DO THIS DEAL NOW SPURS!

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Butler is a NICE choice....

Elson for Butler!

DO THIS DEAL NOW SPURS!

If we trade for Butler would that mean no more DerMarr?