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Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
4 hours, 31 minutes ago
It’s hot this summer in San Antonio, and the two men sweating most have to be Michael Finley and Robert Horry.
As the Spurs tinker with their roster in a bit of a youth movement this off-season, two guys who have played a role in their recent success seem forgotten.
They’re not forgotten. And it would be unfair to label them unwanted. Perhaps unneeded would more accurate.
Finley and Horry were disappointments last season, one (Finley) as he played a major role as a regular starter, the other (Horry) as he basically took the regular season off in hopes of storing maximum energy for the playoffs.
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Clearly, the Spurs are prepared to go forward without them. The club signed Roger Mason Jr. to play the same role as Finley—a spot-up shooter who could be used as a starter or off the bench. More recently, summer-league star Anthony Tolliver was given a contract, with Horry’s old seat on the bench a possible destination.
Make no mistake about it: If Finley or Horry offered to play for the veterans’ minimum in 2008-09, the Spurs almost assuredly would hand him an invitation to training camp. But given the increased level of compe ion for playing time, it’s pretty obvious each has a better option.
Stay tuned. Then again, given the Spurs’ current level of interest, there might be no news forthcoming.
Notes, Quotes
• The Spurs re-signed the top priority among their free agents, center Kurt Thomas. The 36-year-old got a two-year guarantee worth a total of $8 million. The Heat and Lakers had been considered the chief compe ion for his services.
• Robert Horry appears to be in no hurry to decide whether to retire or make a run at a 17th NBA season. “I haven’t even talked to anybody,” he assured as the calendar approached August.
• Anthony Tolliver agreed to a one-year deal with the Spurs after having been the club’s second-leading scorer (12.3 points per game) in the NBA Summer League. The 6-foot-8 forward began last season with the Cavaliers, but saw a majority of his playing time (25 games) in the NBA D-League, where he averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 rebounds.
• Manu Ginobili informed the Spurs he would be joining his native Argentina in its quest to defend the gold medal in Beijing. In his first action since seen limping away from the NBA playoffs on a bad ankle, the left-hander poured in 18 points in a recent exhibition win over Spain in Madrid.
Quote To Note: “It’s been a goal of mine to play 15 years. This will take me to my 15th season.”—Center Kurt Thomas, on his new two-year contract with the Spurs.
Roster Report
Draft Picks:
George Hill, G, 6-2, IUPUI—The Summit League Player of the Year is considered equally talented at both ends of the floor. The 22-year-old stood out at the NBA predraft camp in Orlando.
Malik Hairston, F, 6-6, Oregon—The run-and-gun Ducks were known for their offense, and Hairston (sixth-leading scorer in school history) provided his fair share. But he also was considered the club’s best defensive player.
James Gist, F, 6-9, Maryland—A powerful interior presence who made the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-defensive first team.
Biggest Needs: Stay healthy this summer. The Spurs will have one eye overseas, with Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina) far more active than the organization would prefer.
Free-agent Focus: Having convinced Kurt Thomas to return and imported Roger Mason Jr. via free agency, the Spurs now must turn their attention to loyalty issues. Do they owe Michael Finley and Robert Horry contracts as a partial repayment for past contributions? We’ll see.
Player Notes:
• A lot of people have had bad luck in Las Vegas. You can now add George Hill to that list. The first-round pick missed 23 of his 25 shots in three summer-league games in what can only be labeled as a nightmarish debut as a Spur. He did average 7.0 rebounds per game, but had as many turnovers (nine) as assists (nine) and totaled 14 fouls in three contests.
• If production in Las Vegas can be used as a guide, Malik Hairston is going to have a hard time making the Spurs’ regular-season roster next season. Despite taking the third-most shots, the Oregon product was just the club’s ninth-leading scorer at 6.3 points per game. He also grabbed only 11 rebounds in four games.
• James Gist helped the Spurs split four games in Las Vegas, shooting 62.1 percent and contributing 10.8 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. The former Maryland star led the team in blocked shots with three.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...pe=team_report
We miss you Johnny.
Argentina Lost
no. Sentiment has no place in making business decisions. Besides the Spurs already gave Finley and Horry one year too many.
Last edited by SenorSpur; 07-25-2008 at 10:08 AM.
well.. they DID give Malik Rose, AJ and Bruce more money on their renewals as a compensation for the lower contracts they had before
horry and finley should just leave
we already got them what they wanted last season, extention and rings in the pass
finley has to go, n dude earns 2 paychecks
All deserving. However in the cases of AJ and Malik, when it came time to decide whether or not they should be retained, the FO made the tough, but correct call to either trade them or allow them to walk. That is exactly what should be done here in the cases of Finley and Horry.
Last edited by SenorSpur; 07-25-2008 at 11:23 AM.
I agree with the youth movement that the Spurs are obviously engaged in right now, but it does seem strange that no one has talked to Horry at all, not even to casually discuss the team's direction. It seems like Horry and Finley, after all they've contributed, should at least get a couple of phone calls and be treated with respect. They're big boys-- I think they'd understand if Pop or RC told them that they feel like getting younger now is a necessity.
Sepaking of which, it's funny how Pop and RC are now finally infusing that badly-needed youth and athleticism into the roster. Yet Pop bristled publically, rejected and dismissed the notion any time the question was asked by the leering press.
That's just how Pop rolls.
Anyways, unless the Spurs can somehow pull some free agent out of their ass that is better than Finley, he will most likely be back in a Spurs uniform this season.
God help us all if that happens.
In the back of my mind, I expect it - but I don't wanna think about it.
Personally, I'd rather take a 1-yr flyer on Bonzi Wells.
i'm certain management discussed this with them during exit interviews at the end of the season. i just can't see the spurs FO being this callous. neither fin nor horry can be truly shocked by the spurs focus on getting younger and more athletic.
I don't know how to feel about it all. We know Horry isn't coming back, but Finley.. I just don't know. It's almost as if I wouldn't be surprised if he DID come back, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. I'm conflicted.
Finley earns 0 paychecks now. Both of his contracts are up. If the Spurs can sign him for another year for less than $3 million, I don't see why they shouldn't. Bonzi Wells is a lunatic, this is the guy who spit on his own fans in Portland, any team that he has played for other than Sacramento where he turned down a huge contract couldn't wait to get rid of him, keep him far away from SA.
I thought Tony had decided not to play for the International team this year?Biggest Needs: Stay healthy this summer. The Spurs will have one eye overseas, with Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina) far more active than the organization would prefer.
France didn't even qualify.
http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/basketball/index.shtml
You're right, Parker isn't playing this summer. Somewhere there's a quote where he said he was taking it easy this summer.
I thought Finley is still getting paid by Cuban... at least for a few more years. Cuban didn't have to pay him his normal contract salary with the tax amnesty.
its starting to sound like........horry and finley=brett farve
Finley was in the last year of his max contract that he signed with the Mavs. It expired on July 1st.
I really hope we don't re-sign Finley..he was arguably the worst defender at a starting position in the NBA last year..one of the worst passers in the NBA..he couldn't even make an entry pass to Tim half the time..there are better options out there..Mason is much, much better at this point, so he fills Finley's role well..
I love Horry, but I don't want him anymore..his offense is completely done..he can still play decent defense, but I don't wanna wait for him to get healthy and hope he still has something in him for the playoffs..
Finley's contract had a buyout provision that Cuban could pay him the $51M over 10 years. He's off Dallas' cap, but the contract technically has 7 years to run @ about $5M per year.
My bad. Thanks for clarifying.
Interesting. I had not heard that.
TP was quoted saying he was taking it easy this summer "to enjoy his wife."
He might have meant that he wanted to spend time with Eva, but that "enjoy his wife" came out.
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