Spurs part of THREE WAY TRADE! Hedo and Mercer to SA.

[Marcus Bryant]

What I and others here have attempted to explain is that just because they didn't get a second franchise player in free agency that doesn't mean that this team is headed to . Some of you don't seem able to understand this. Look, did the Spurs think they were guaranteed to get a star in free agency? No. So what do you think they thought? Well, if we don't get a star then we have the flexibility to still improve our team with other free agent signings and trades. And that's what they've done. Gnashing your teeth and whining like a Ghost because your favorite team just won the le and didn't land a second superstar in free agency is a bit silly and frankly, ignorant. I expect Ghost to have his Road to Damascus moment come next January or so and understand what just went down this week. But you are a wise young man, you should know better now.

[Admiral]

You are totally missing the point, Marcus. You're making way too many assumptions that are incorrect.

1. Winning the le is not related to how we fared in free agency this summer. Please stop acting like some of us are complaining about a le. That's stupid.

2. We're complaining because we failed this summer at bringing in a star to complement Tim Duncan. You were the ring leader in the movement to get Tim a star to play alongside (think Jason Kidd threads all throughout June), and you cited the front office as having the same desire. Too late to back out now.

3. You are in denial if you think that the Spurs didn't have tunnel vision with respect to signing a superstar this summer (namely, Jason Kidd). They weren't thinking about "flexibility" as the goal, although I'm sure they knew that would be the result if every superstar turned us down. Obviously the Spurs thought this through. We know they aren't stupid, but that doesn't mean we can't still disagree with their plan (or at least parts of it).

4. Nobody thinks we are screwed as a team. I have stated numerous times that I think we are in good shape. You seem to almost always overlook those comments.

5. The Spurs did a good job this summer recovering from all the rejection by superstar free agents. We made good deals considering the cir stances. We addressed some needs we had going into the summer. But we still didn't meet our goal of signing a star. And perhaps that's okay. Only time will tell.

[Ghost Writer]

Well put, Admiral. You are one of the few who "get it."

[Marcus Bryant]

3. You are in denial if you think that the Spurs didn't have tunnel vision with respect to signing a superstar this summer (namely, Jason Kidd). They weren't thinking about "flexibility" as the goal, although I'm sure they knew that would be the result if every superstar turned us down. Obviously the Spurs thought this through. We know they aren't stupid, but that doesn't mean we can't still disagree with their plan (or at least parts of it).

You are in denial if you think the Spurs front office thought that they were guaranteed an acquisition of a second superstar this summer. Think about what you are saying...that those people whose job it is to run this team did not think that there was the possibility that they wouldn't land any of them. I'm sorry, they don't need this spelled out to them as you do. What exactly is the worst thing that came from them making a play for a franchise player in free agency? They still were in a position to pursue the replacement for DRob that they wanted in the free agent market after the top two were unavailable.

Why shouldn't the Spurs take a run at talent like that this summer? Do you want them to play scared and assume that they cannot make a move like that? Don't you want them to do what they can to improve this team the most? I don't get it. As we've seen, they were in a position to make moves to improve the team after they couldn't sign a star in free agency.

They weren't thinking about "flexibility" as the goal, although I'm sure they knew that would be the result if every superstar turned us down.

The goal is to improve the team the best they could. That certainly starts with pursuing star free agents. If they don't get one, then they go from there. The 'flexibility' to improve the damn team was indeed their goal for this summer. They went after a star teammate for Duncan first. You are implying that these guys didn't think that one wouldn't come to SA. That is a dumbass argument on your part. These guys aren't naive people who know nothing about the business as you and Ghost seem to think.

I read these posts by Ghost and you and I wonder if you guys aren't Knicks or Hawks fans who stumbled onto this board by mistake.

[Marcus Bryant]

If the Spurs had "tunnel vision" with respect to signing a star wtf were they contacting lower tier free agents on day 1 of free agency? These guys have been through a NBA offseason before, not just sitting on a messageboard and writing circular love notes to themselves.

You guys are coming up with some rather lame arguments, Ghost and Ghost Jr.

[Ghost Writer]

I doubt the Spurs would invest two years of clearing cap space if they were not reasonably confident that they would come away with a max free agent this summer.

[Marcus Bryant]

Ghost, the Front Office doesn't sit around and talk about "ballas" and needing "credible blacks as coaches" like you do. They knew full well what they were doing.

[Ghost Writer]

So they willing invested two years into clearing cap sapce for Nesterovic and Horry?


Question.

[Marcus Bryant]

Again, they went through their rebuilding strategy to develop young talent and to use their cap room to make runs at top talent and if they didn't land any stars then they would seek out the best available. That doesn't mean that they expected to land one. This is not hard to understand. I think you do, but then you wouldn't have anything to complain about all the damn time.

You forgot Turkoglu, BTW.

[Ghost Writer]

So they didn't expect to land a star?

Then they must've expected to clear cap space for two years to get what we got.

Brilliant.

[Marcus Bryant]

God you are so redundant it's pathetic. No they didn't "expect to land a star". They wanted to make a run at one and they thought they had a good chance, but they certainly did not "expect" nor "plan" that they would be signing a free agent star this summer. I'm sure they thought they had a good chance, but that doesn't mean they didn't understand that they might not be able to.

[Ghost Writer]

So they knew going in that they probably wouldn't land a star, but sacrificed two years to clear cap space anyway.

I just want to be crystal clear here.

[Marcus Bryant]

They knew they had a shot so they took it. It didn't happen yet they were still able to find a replacement for David Robinson, which was the whole point.

[Ghost Writer]

Okay. I just wanted to understand why we cleared cap space for two seasons.

"THey knew they had a shot."


Harrrumph. Good enough for me.

[Marcus Bryant]

What exactly is your ing problem? You rail against the Spurs' front office forever because they never made a play for a star in free agency. Then all of a sudden it becomes a problem when they do?

Also are you really that naive to think that they didn't know what they were doing? In case you haven't noticed the Spurs apparently know how to manage their cap situation fairly well, unlike some other teams.

As of now all you are offering is Monday morning quarterbacking. They had the "balls" to try to pair up Tim Duncan with another franchise player as his teammate during his prime. I'm glad they took that shot and I'm glad they weren't a pussy about it like you suddenly have become.

[Ghost Writer]

The way they went about making a play for a star was flawed. I told you years ago that the Spurs couldn't get a star to come here and play under his free will.

We needed to trade for one.

Or rely on another #1 lottery pick.

[Marcus Bryant]

Oh so now it was "flawed" because they went through free agency? Right. You didn't seem to have a problem with them talking to Webber a couple of years ago though he was a free agent.

And for years before that you ed about the Spurs not making plays on free agents daily during the offseason despite them being capped out.

[Ghost Writer]

You know d@mn well taht trading for players has been my preferred method of getting star talent.

Free agency requires too many things to go right, like the player actually wnating to come to SA.

[Marcus Bryant]

Yeah I like how suddenly you've had a conversion. You know damn well what you whined about like a little schoolgirl all those years. yesterday you were still complaining about Webber in 2001.

[Ghost Writer]

Oaky. You got me.

I was a supporter of the Holt-ing Pattern all along.

I love doing nothing for two years in the hopes of landing a star free agent.

D@mn, you're good.

[Marcus Bryant]

No, you are just an idiot who will about anything.

[Ghost Writer]

B1tch?

Because I don't pretend that we missed the mark this summer doesn't mean I am complaining.

[Marcus Bryant]

Um, ok.

[Ghost Writer]

And you're a homer who will ignore basic truths, revise the past, change facts, and revise his opinions to support whatever the company line is.

Kudos for your spinning abilities. Iraq could use a propagandist like you.

Have a solid weekend.

[Marcus Bryant]

Yeah Ghost I'm still waiting for that breakdown of the Spurs' cap #s from you. I'm still waiting to see if you can figure out if the Spurs renounced Jack or not. You bring no value to this board whatsoever. Get out of my sight.