For a guy that showed so much promise early last season James has really taken a step backwards this year. Earlier in the season he was given serious opportunity to carve out a role for himself but has been supplanted by other players on the roster.
The Spurs pulled the trigger on James with the 20th pick in the 2010 draft being in serious need of depth on the wing. The Spurs had been ousted in the playoffs largely because of a lack of quality pure shooters on their roster. Players like Jacque Vaughn, Ime Udoka, Michael Finley and the Centerpiece just hadn't been getting it done. James was meant to be the first step in the right direction to bring in capable shooters and rejuvenate an aging and inept swingman position. But since taking James Anderson the Spurs have made several other roster moves that have affected their swingman rotation, and many of them have panned out better than he has.
The following moves refer to movements since Anderson was drafted.
Subtractions:
George Hill - George came in to be the backup PG for the Spurs but spent a large amount of a time at the 2 for San Antonio, contributing at a high level. With him moving off the team it theoretically opened up more space for James to take.
Ime Udoka/Garrett Temple/Bobby Simmons/Larry Owens/Steve Novak/Othyus Jeffers - The revolving door of SG/SF that was last year. Ironically, one of those revolving door players was Danny Green, and he ended up sticking in the end. But really, none of these players were a major detriment to Anderson except for the fact that injury precluded him from competing against them.
Alonzo Gee - One of the revolving door players from the previous year. Came in with a lot of praise and acclaim but it just never worked out for him. While hes had a lot of success in Washington since moving on, Alonzo Gee wasn't a good fit and was off the roster quickly last season.
Additions:
Kawhi Leonard - George Hill was essentially replaced by Kawhi Leonard by the trade that gave the Spurs the 15th pick in the 2011 draft. But while Hill only spent some of his rotation minutes at the 2, Leonard spends nearly all of them playing one of the two swing positions which Anderson should be competing for. Essentially, the trade reduced the overall number of minutes theoretically available to James Anderson. And with Kawhi playing at a high level and showing noted improvement literally from game to game (already looking like he truly belongs in the starting lineup) it will likely be a continuing factor.
Gary Neal - Signed the same offseason as James, Gary Neal was surprise at summer league and viewed as a longshot to make the roster. But after being given a contract with the first season fully guaranteed it was apparent he would be around at least for the year. James Anderson was slotted higher in the depth chart for a number of reasons: as the 20th pick, with better size and athleticism, Anderson was deemed the better prospect. Neal was a cast off from Europe, never drafted, with less than ideal size and athleticism. He seemed to be somewhat of a longshot to make the Spurs (perhaps in the mold of Jack McClinton). It was mentioned how Neal might spend a good portion of the season on Toros and might be a prospect for the big leagues in a year or so. However, after Anderson was injured early in the season, Neal stepped in and hasn't looked back, carving out a nice role. Essentially, Anderson was supplanted from out of nowhere from a player nobody saw coming. Bad luck for him.
Danny Green - The story of Green is in many ways similar to Gary Neal. Green was a player that was signed to fill out the roster and basically just add depth. However, given the opportunity to play, Green took advantage of every opportunity and has excelled in all the areas that Anderson was supposed to (shooting) as well as areas that Anderson wasn't especially renowned for (defense, ball handling, rebounding). Green has turned out to be an all-around player and has shown up when it counted. Again, from out of nowhere, Anderson was pushed behind a player on a make-good contract that just wanted it more than he did.
TJ Ford - Ford was signed exclusively to play PG, make no mistake. While he was the George Hill replacement, his short stature has never allowed him to play as a combo guard. However, his surprising quality play did allow Tony Parker to slide over to the 2 and the Spurs to run a 2 PG set at times this year. This is not really the norm, and won't be a usual look for the Spurs, but it does cons ute another example of other players stealing minutes that Anderson might have otherwise been eligible for.
Cory Joseph - To date, Cory Joe hasn't really stolen any minutes from anybody to date. But if trends continue, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to Mr. Anderson.
James Anderson has suffered through some very unfortunate set backs. His injury seriously hurt his groove last season and hurt him while he was getting truly established. Several competent bargain bin signings by the Spurs in Gary Neal and Danny Green as well as a savvy draft move only further damned him. Anderson has been given opportunities to play, but hasn't responded at the same level as the aforementioned studs.
So what is his future? Where do we think we're going with him? Is he trade bait, pure and simple, or is he going to be a salary cap sacrifice?
Good post.
The compressed schedule, a longer rotation, and injuries to Neal, TJ, and Manu have provided ample opportunities for Leonard, Green, and Anderson to carve out a clear place in the rotation. Leonard and Green have seized the opportunity, Anderson has not.
January 25th is the deadline to pick up his third year option. He hasn't given the Spurs any reason to exercise that option with his play on the court.
I think Green has cemented himself into the rotation for now. He'll be a spur for awhile barring another team making a ridiculous offer for him next year (which I wouldn't rule out at this point). His defensive capabilities, rebounding, passing, ... heck everything.. is superior to Anderson's.
I get a feeling that JA will be competing with Gary Neal for that last guard spot on the team. Given what Neal showed last year, I think it's it's a no-brainer you keep him on the roster for those critical times you need clutch shooting/scoring or when you need to draw up a last second shot. He's a great decoy even if he's not the recipient. And he's a proven commodity in the league already. Anderson isn't.
Wouldn't surprise me at all to see the spurs deal Anderson or barring that, passing on his option this year for these reasons. Not that they are "giving up" on him they just have better options at their disposal now.
I think he has shown flashes of the player he can be. We gotta remember this is basically his rookie year. If he showed enough in training camp to where he was impressing the coaching staff and the players than I think you resign him. So far he has showed good defense when focused, and also the abilty to get his own shot off but nothing has fallen for him and he also showed decent pick n roll skills(better than I thought he would be capable of anyways). I still like his potential as a player and think it would be dumb not to pick his option up. I would rather trade Gary Neal than JA at this point.
Nice story..thumbs up
Gotta love the JA Fanbois, they are if nothing else supremely dedicated to this lazy POS.
lol lazy POS
No way Spurs would pick up 1,5 mln option. They can found similar or better player with vet min.
James Anderson is more of a "scorer" than spot up shooter needing to be set up by others to perform at his best. My guess is if he were to be able to execute better defensively he would be seeing more minutes regardless of his slump in scoring at this time.
Who knows....He just might be one of those players that has certain talent but that talent doesn't serve best the direction of the team thus leaving him the odd man out of the rotation.
Anderson needs to remember how to dribble and shoot, otherwise his future with this team will be a pretty short story.
Crazy talk. Neal is an NBA player, jury is still out on JA. You'd really rather keep him over some guy who came out of absolutely nowhere to make an All NBA Rookie First Team? Not to mention has certifiably large cojones? If anything that's what Anderson has lacked this season. When given the opportunities this season, he has been, as many Spurstalkers might say, a total mental midget.
he sucks.. send him to the toros
Good writeup, Darkwaters. Looking back on it, the 2010 draft was pretty damn horrible. I think Anderson still has a chance but if he ends up being a bust, he'll be one of many busts of that draft.
Personally, I hope the Spurs pick up the option. $1.5 million isn't very much and Anderson was supposedly really good in training camp so keeping him around another season to give him a chance can't hurt. Plus, next year he could get his first summer league and his first training camp.
As for the rest of this season, I'm not too hopeful. However, Pop keeps giving him chances and all it will take is one 3-for-3 from three-point range game to begin considering him for minutes again.
I was kinda/sorta with ya till that last part, Timvp. If all it should take is one random good shooting performance to earn minutes with Pop, then Bonner would be getting 35-40 a game.
Neal's injury will likely give another shot to JA. He'll still be after Green and Neal in the the pecking order. 9 days till the 25th...??
The kid is only 22. Hasn't even hit his primes. As long as your a shooter in this league, you will always have a spot on the roster. If Spurs give up on because of some cap room, that would be beyond dumb. I do admit he is in a slump, and should be sent up to Austin to work on his shooting, and ball control, but besides that he's fine, even his defense is at least average. He just needs that confidence, and the balls to step up. He sure is more talented than everyone on the wings besides Manu.
That's a good point. It's easy to forget that he missed SL and camp last season as well.
JA Fanbois coming in droves now.
You still butt hurt about George Hill?
Excellent post!
Not looking good for Mr. Anderson.
He certainly impressed Parker in the pre-season. Unfortunately, Neal and Green are just better players. Neal a more accurate and explosive scorer. Green a more all-around and better defensive player.
With Neal and TJ Ford injured, lets see how he responds.
Anderson is the 6th SG/SF behind Ginobili, Jefferson, Leanard, Neal and Green. It's hard to get playing time in these condition even with Manu out.
The key with him is his foot surgery. He had some good games before it but none after it. It's possible that this injury has taken away some athleticism from him. Before picking or not his option, I'm sure Pop and RC will have a long talk with Spurs medical staff about that.
This. For all pratical purposes, this is still JA's rookie year. I would give him one year to step up.
I've never realized it before but I think the Spurs problem is that they have too many black players' with white names.
Tim
Tony
Gary
Danny
James
Richard
Corey
WTF
Dejuan, Kawhi, and Malcolm are doing their part to even the balance.
What's the point? So the spurs can pay him to sit on the bench behind 5-6 other guys ahead of him in the rotation?
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