The Official Prospects Watch Thread

[ChumpDumper]

Jeremy Richardson was just called up from the D-League by the Hawks. Make of this what you will:

According to sources, he also received serious interest following the D-League Showcase from San Antonio, Miami, Dallas and Boston -- none of whom had an available roster spot immediately available, though.

http://draftexpress.com/blogs.php?blogid=6

Dijon Thompson is available again as well, as his ten-day deals with the Hawks have expired.

[ChumpDumper]

Forgot to mention Will Conroy notched his third triple-double of the season Friday

14 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds and only 2 turnovers.

15 points, 14 assists and 6 rebounds in regulation tonight.

Ho-hum.

And Vincent Grier has disappeared from the Sioux Falls roster. No word on where he's gone.

[Ariel]

Given that Spurs will need a shooter (other Spurs bigs aren't good shooter) and that Scola's trade value is higher than Bonner's one. I think that Spurs will/should re-sign Bonner and try to get something good for the rights to Scola.

Scola's trade value isn't necessarily higher than Bonner's. For one, people forget that the Spurs hold the rights to Scola, but they don't have him signed to a contract. That means, to any team over the cap interested in signing him would have to commit a large portion of their MLE on him. Meanwhile, the Spurs have Bird rights on Bonner which means they (or anyone who trades for him) can re-sign him and still use their MLE on other players.

I pray that it won't be a decision between Scola and Bonner.
I agree that it will take the same type of money, probably Bonner will be a bit cheaper, but as you mentioned, Scola has much more upside.
Scola could be a decent starter at PF one day, something I can't see with Bonner.
if Spurs could sign Scola (for the mentioned 3 million/per year), they should not hesitate to do it.
then the money Bonner would cost, will be better invested in a SF. (if they had not already aquired a SF via trade during this season, what most of us hope).
jury is out on Bonner anyhow, till POs are played. if he doesn't make an impact in the PO, the Spurs won't try to resign him, even if he plays nice this season.

The edge of Bonner over Scola is that he is a shooter and that Spurs won't have a big who can shoot after Horry's retirement. Not having at all a big able to hit 3's in a team isn't a good thing in the modern nba.

As I said above, the biggest difference IMO between the two is being overlooked in both these posts, and it has to do with the fact that one of them is signed and can be had without eating into the MLE, while the other cannot. Other issues, while valid, are secondary considering the context.

Let's say that Spurs can trade Scola for the 35th pick of the 07 draft, I take Bonner + the pick over Scola.

That's an incomplete portrayal of the situation. A more accurate picture would be: Scola + whomever you can trade Bonner for VS Bonner + whomever you can trade Scola for + whomever you can sign for the MLE portion Scola would command. You might still pick the latter scenario, of course.

and both will ask for 3 years contracts or longer.
considering that Spurs will likely have a time shedule for bringing in Mahinmi 2008, they won't want to sign 2 PFs for 10 million contracts each.
as often, they will go for a veteran, who signs a 1 year minimum contract, to play the 3rd string PF. (PJ Brown?)

I don't think Scola would demand a contract larger than three years: it'd be against his financial interest. If he wants to play in the NBA (meaning he believes in himself enough to be willing to take chance over security), he'll surely be looking forward to an eventual payday. And, if he proves he belongs like he'd be betting on, then those numbers sound rather meager. Bonner, on the other hand, probably would: he's pretty much a known commodity, and I'm sure he'd be looking for financial security and stability.

But anyway, I think a key issue is being left out in this discussion: if the Spurs decided they wanted to stick with Bonner over Scola, then it's probably better to trade Scola's rights altogether. However, if they intended to sign Scola instead (given the past, it'd seem a really, really far fetched scenario), they should still try to sign Bonner if he proves valuable and would command a a reasonable contract... even if not to keep him. The importance of his value as an asset shouldn't be dismissed, when the Spurs are looking at a major reconstruction of their supporting cast in the next two offseasons, considering: Horry, Finley are likely to retire; Bruce isn't that far off and regardless I doubt the Spurs pick his option for next year at 4M; we have no backup SF or PG; Barry is 35 and has only one season beyond this one.

So, when you have to anticipate the need to fill that many roster spots in short time and you have as little means as the Spurs (one low first round pick each year plus usually short term worthless second rounders, 2 MLEs and a LLE), it makes sense to stockpile assets even if only for a trade in the near future.

[wildbill2u]

This is the official NBA site for information about global players who are currently under contract to NBA teams.

http://www.nba.com/fedex/

[Bruno]

Scola's trade value isn't necessarily higher than Bonner's. For one, people forget that the Spurs hold the rights to Scola, but they don't have him signed to a contract. That means, to any team over the cap interested in signing him would have to commit a large portion of their MLE on him.

It's a solid point but don't forget that Spurs have asked a first round pick + cash for Scola last summer. Obviously, it was too much (they haven't find a taker for Scola) but it's way higher than Bonner trade vlaue that should be around a second round pick. Even considering your point, I still think that Scola trade value is higher than Bonner's one.

[Ariel]

It's a solid point but don't forget that Spurs have asked a first round pick + cash for Scola last summer. Obviously, it was too much (they haven't find a taker for Scola) but it's way higher than Bonner trade vlaue that should be around a second round pick. Even considering your point, I still think that Scola trade value is higher than Bonner's one.

The real value is set by what others are willing to pay, not by what you're asking for. It's been reported that about 4 teams were interested in signing Scola at his salary demands, yet none of them seemed to be willing to give up whatever it is the Spurs were asking for. It appears the FO's expectations may not be that consistent with market value. So, using those demands as measure of value may not be the best starting point to reach a valid conclusion.

Also, I think you're selling Bonner short. You'll forgive me if I'm reaching by making a -admittedly difficult to measure- comparison, but acknowledging they play different positions and all, I don't know that -other than Barry- we have a more capable backup than Bonner. Certainly not Beno or Vaughn or White, and at their present form, Finley or Horry either. So, provided he doesn't command much more than 3M a year, I don't know where we're going to find a better player than him for the price tag. And if his trade value is just a second rounder, then I'll throw in as many as needed to get a player of his caliber at every position we're sorely lacking.

[AFBlue]

BUMP

Since Scola is doing his thing in the Euroleague playoffs, I thought it appropriate to give an update:

His last game (second against Olympiacos), Scola went for 20 points on 6 of 13 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and two blocks.

On the season he's averaging 16ppg and 6rpg, shooting 58% FG and 73% on FT.

[ArgSpursFan]

BUMP

Since Scola is doing his thing in the Euroleague playoffs, I thought it appropriate to give an update:

His last game (second against Olympiacos), Scola went for 20 points on 6 of 13 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and two blocks.

On the season he's averaging 16ppg and 6rpg, shooting 58% FG and 73% on FT.

MVP of the year type of numbers for Luis.I still have some hope to see Scola with the spurs uniform next year.