Suns sign Barnes for the minimum

[kobyz]

we should sign him with the rest of the MLE

[Kori Ellis]

I don't even think Spurs were interested in him.

Spurs will likely have Ginobili, Bowen, Udoka, Mason and Finley at SG/SF for the next year. I highly doubt they are looking for a 6th vet swingman.

True. I'm a Barnes fan, but I think Finley is coming back and that's enough swingmen. I hope the Spurs are out looking for a backup PF right now, not a wing.

[Sissiborgo]

Spurs are ting their pants they aint signing any free agents! :/

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Not really. It's just not that easy to post with this iPod Touch.

Looks like we got a complain-bragger here.

[The Truth #6]

True. I'm a Barnes fan, but I think Finley is coming back and that's enough swingmen. I hope the Spurs are out looking for a backup PF right now, not a wing.

What you say sounds correct regarding Finley, but it's depressing, nonetheless.

A lot of people here are defending the FO by claiming that fans overhyped Matt Barnes into some type of messiah. No, fans knew we needed a wing that would be available, inexpensive, unrestricted, a capable defender, and athletic. Matt Barnes fit the description. Barnes was a smart choice. GS wasn't going to keep him.

And the reason people were curious about him is because they didn't want Finley back under any cir stances.

So, if the decision came down to pursuing Barnes or bringing back Finley again, how could anyone be happy with how this turned out?

We chose Finley. The unspoken bromance continues...

[loveforthegame]

True. I'm a Barnes fan, but I think Finley is coming back and that's enough swingmen. I hope the Spurs are out looking for a backup PF right now, not a wing.

So many seem sure Finley is coming back. I'm sure the interest on both sides is genuine but why haven't they resigned him yet?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

They are much younger. Dampier for all that people say, would dramatically improve the Spurs and so would Diop.

And neither one of them is available. Good call.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Hi, my name is Louis. I'm a Rockets fan. My team sucks so I have to go to other teams' message boards and attempt to but fail miserably at talking smack about their team because of it.

I have no game, so I can't get laid, so I hang out at spurstalk and have 45 aliases.

[Jahivah]

This is the worse news of the off season. The guy signed for the minimum. What are the spurs thinking? I know that Gist is showing promise but we could really use his athleticism. Guess our priority is Kurt Thomas.

[tmtcsc]

LOL at everyone being pissed they didn't sign this guy. He excelled in one the most disorganized and hectic offenses in the NBA under Nelson, aside from a slightly good season and really good playoff first round in 2007, this guy has done nothing except lose time to Azubuike.

Hey..hey..hey..don't you go making sense around here.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

This is the worse news of the off season. The guy signed for the minimum. What are the spurs thinking? I know that Gist is showing promise but we could really use his athleticism. Guess our priority is Kurt Thomas.

Sadly this probably means they are thinking they are going to bring back Finley and call it an off-season at the swing positions, which makes me want to puke.

[FromWayDowntown]

The Spurs wanted him so bad they didn't even offer him more than the league minimum for one year. I'm sure Barnes would have been willing to take the least he could possibly take in order to play for a rookie head coach and geriatric superstars.

Three things:

1. There's no proof that the Spurs didn't make Barnes an offer or what the extent of that offer was.

2. If the Spurs didn't make Barnes an offer, perhaps that was based upon conversations between Pop and Nellie about Barnes. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Pop puts a lot of weight into Nellie's assessments of players and it wouldn't surprise me, either, to learn that the Spurs do that sort of due diligence with available FA's of the Barnes caliber -- i.e., interchangeable sorts of guys who will be essentially making the minimum or slightly above. Say what you will, but Barnes lost Nellie's faith as last season progressed (apparently). There's probably a reason for that and it probably had something to do with the Spurs' decisions about whether to pursue Barnes or not.

3. Terry Porter is a lot of things, but he's not a rookie coach.

[VaSpursFan]

hmm...guess the spurs didn't want barnes after all.

[StoneCutter]

For the money it was a good pickup for Phoenix.

Barnes is 28 and the Suns will be his sixth team. That's not good.

I am also not sure how Barnes would have fit in the Spurs offense.

[Solid D]

Three things:
2. If the Spurs didn't make Barnes an offer, perhaps that was based upon conversations between Pop and Nellie about Barnes. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Pop puts a lot of weight into Nellie's assessments of players and it wouldn't surprise me, either, to learn that the Spurs do that sort of due diligence with available FA's of the Barnes caliber -- i.e., interchangeable sorts of guys who will be essentially making the minimum or slightly above. Say what you will, but Barnes lost Nellie's faith as last season progressed (apparently). There's probably a reason for that and it probably had something to do with the Spurs' decisions about whether to pursue Barnes or not.

While I'm disappointed that the Suns signed Barnes at that price, I think FWD's reason #2 has merit. Pop probably found out from Nellie what the meanings for some of the tatoos were and decided to pass.

[DPG21920]

And neither one of them is available. Good call.

Read what I say in context.

[DPG21920]

I think you are day dreaming if you think a team will offer KT the full MLE. It could happen, but I doubt it. That would make the Spurs think make them really have to be smart with their signings. However, like I said, the only true threat as of right now is that he is a UFA and does not have to give the Spurs a chance to match. But he will.

[DPG21920]

[QUOTE=ElNono;2676746]To be honest, I think I just want that situation to be over with. It's hard to really plan aheah when something like that is in the air. And as far as ridiculous contracts go, savvy big men are at a premium in this league, if you don't believe me go take a look at the Eric Dampier contract, or the brand new contract Diop signed. And to me, they're not even half the player Kurt is.[/QUOTE]

[DPG21920]

They are much younger. Dampier for all that people say, would dramatically improve the Spurs and so would Diop.

[spurman20]

For the money it was a good pickup for Phoenix.

Barnes is 28 and the Suns will be his sixth team. That's not good.

I am also not sure how Barnes would have fit in the Spurs offense.

Thank you that is what I have been sayn the guy is over rated

[kobyz]

the FO sucks, why they have not signed him, he what we need, and they could ofer him more than the Suns

[SenorSpur]

I will never understand the fascination that many here have for Matt Barnes. He is an immensely average player, but if all you read was this board you'd think he was some sort of God damn Walt Frazier.

If you look at what swingmen were left in the free agent "bargain bin", Barnes was clearly the best of the bunch.

[The Truth #6]

The prototypical Spur bench player is a journeyman, one who has had to play for little money on various teams. If Barnes is not a good prospect because he's played on a bunch of teams, then by that criteria, we shouldn't have had interest in Udoka or Bowen.

There are other issues at work here. Kori has mentioned that the Spurs have had interest in Barnes before. I'm not sure what would have changed, except that the situation was now in our favor. Now was the time to buy low. I'm not sure what the FO is doing right now. They could just be enjoying their vacation in the same way they were last season.

After losing Brent, they might have locked in to the idea that they had to bring Finley back. Why I"m not sure. Relying on Finley is a HUGE risk in my opinion, much more than rolling the dice with Barnes. We know Finley will struggle like he has for 85% of his time with the Spurs, and only more so next year as he ages more.

Also, they're not going to bid first in the KT auction and instead let someone else set his value.

And, they're waiting to see if any of the second round draft picks are worth keeping.

Obviously, that's only a guess as to their mindset. There is some logic to it. There also is a tendency to sit by and make the fewest changes possible.

[Obstructed_View]

Three things:

1. There's no proof that the Spurs didn't make Barnes an offer or what the extent of that offer was.

If the Spurs had offered him more than the minimum, or had offered more than one year, there would have been a discussion. That it didn't happen is enough evidence to me that nobody was interested in the guy.

2. If the Spurs didn't make Barnes an offer, perhaps that was based upon conversations between Pop and Nellie about Barnes. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Pop puts a lot of weight into Nellie's assessments of players and it wouldn't surprise me, either, to learn that the Spurs do that sort of due diligence with available FA's of the Barnes caliber -- i.e., interchangeable sorts of guys who will be essentially making the minimum or slightly above. Say what you will, but Barnes lost Nellie's faith as last season progressed (apparently). There's probably a reason for that and it probably had something to do with the Spurs' decisions about whether to pursue Barnes or not.

Bottom line is that it's not likely that he just wanted to play in Phoenix so badly that he shunned all offers except for the minimum he could possibly get.

3. Terry Porter is a lot of things, but he's not a rookie coach.

I stated that wrong; he is a coach in his first year with a new team. Barnes wouldn't have chosen to play for the Suns based upon their system, because they don't have one yet.

[StoneCutter]

[QUOTE=The Truth #6;2678192]The prototypical Spur bench player is a journeyman, one who has had to play for little money on various teams. If Barnes is not a good prospect because he's played on a bunch of teams, then by that criteria, we shouldn't have had interest in Udoka or Bowen.



I think Udoka and Bowen floated around from team to team because there were questions about their basketball ability. With Barnes the question lies elsewhere. Playing for so many NBA teams might indicate that he wears his welcome out pretty quick.

I think Barnes would have been an upgrade talentwise and for the money he would have been a low risk investment. I am not a big fan of bringing Finley back.

Maybe the Spurs have traded "Y'all ready for this" for "In Gist we trust."