Hairston may have staying power
Jeff McDonald
LAS VEGAS For a player who appeared in all of 15 NBA games last season, Spurs swingman Malik Hairston certainly saw his name in the newspaper a lot.
Most of the time, it appeared in the transactions section.
Over the course of Hairston's rookie season, the Spurs waived him twice, re-signed him twice, recalled him from the NBA Development League once and assigned him there twice.
I don't think I ever moved around so much in my life, Hairston said. I know where home is, though.
Home, Hairston hopes, is in San Antonio.
The Spurs re-signed Hairston again on July 8, with designs on giving him every shot of making the team's opening day roster.
Between a stellar season in Austin, where he dominated the D-League between NBA call-ups, and a productive run at the recently completed Las Vegas summer league, Hairston seems on track to make good on that opportunity.
He was the Spurs' best shooter in Vegas, averaging 13.6 points while hitting 52.8 percent from the field, and did enough of the little things read: guarding people to give himself a chance to emerge from training camp with an NBA job.
He's starting to understand who he is and where he fits, said Spurs assistant Don Newman, who guided the summer league team. You want to see a guy who knows the game. So far, he's proven he does.
Summer league was kind to a number of Spurs players. George Hill solidified his standing as the Spurs' No. 2 point guard. Rookie DeJuan Blair proved he could bang and rebound with professionals. Ian Mahinmi, the team's 22-year-old enigma of a center, showed he might have a place in the Spurs' rotation yet.
Perhaps no Spurs player improved his stock more than Hairston. An athletic slasher who initially caught the Spurs' eyes due to his abilities as a perimeter defender, Hairston arrived in Las Vegas a remade man.
He's getting to the rim, and he's reading the defense, said Quin Snyder, who coached Hairston in Austin and helped out in Vegas. He's scoring in a number of ways. He's being versatile. That's important.
With a solid summer, Hairston has positioned himself to earn minutes behind Richard Jefferson and Michael Finley on the wing, and has greatly reduced the chances the Spurs will bring back free agent Ime Udoka.
Next up, training camp.
Originally obtained in a 2008 draft day trade with Phoenix the same swap that gave the Spurs the pick they used to take the ballyhooed Blair in this year's draft Hairston was the last cut in last year's camp.
The Spurs re-signed him Dec. 22, and he bounced between San Antonio and Austin before being waived again April 8 to create roster space for Marcus Williams, another former second-round pick whose career path has paralleled Hairston's.
All along, Hairston made fans in the Spurs' front office. Despite the serial waiving of him, the team still wanted to keep Hairston in the pipeline.
They told me I was always in their plans, Hairston said. They just wanted to see me grow. There just weren't minutes up top (in the NBA) for me to get playing time.
Hairston used his time in Austin wisely, working to add a catch-and-shoot element to his drive-heavy arsenal.
He averaged 22.9 points in 30 games and was selected to play in the D-League All-Star Game. He had to decline, however, due to a prior commitment. The game coincided with his short shift with the Spurs.
Hairston hopes all of that helps lift him to a more permanent place in the Spurs' plans. He is under contract heading into fall camp, but his deal will not become fully guaranteed unless he makes the team.
And as Hairston learned from his yo-yo rookie season, nothing is ever really guaranteed.
I feel like I'm going to have a great opportunity, Hairston said. I'm going to do everything I know I can do, and hopefully it works out.
I hope he sticks. Get the young guys some good minutes early in the season to see what they can do if really given an opportunity to go against experienced NBA players.
Good read and a good kid. We've all talked about how perfect his mentality is for this organization, now let's hope he can prove to the leadership that he deserves NBA minutes.
you have?
Hairston seems to have the perfect at ude. If he keeps it up and keeps working hard, he'll be on the Spurs roster next season. I have complete confidence in him.
I like what I have seen from him so far. Even though he doesn't have a lot of experience playing in the NBA, he did get some when he got called up. Its going to help him gain more confidence.
I like Malik, I hope he gets a chance. There is something about him, the way he plays and the build that reminds me of former Spur Mario Elie.
Nice read, I'm rooting for you! Keep up the hard work.
I hope he sticks. He can provide for the Spurs what Ime failed to do.
this would be nice
The 2008 draft was one of the better Spurs moves. At the time, it did not appear to be. When the #45 pick came around, SpursTalk went from "ho-hum" to "what just happened here?" in three picks.
THE TRADE: San Antonio traded the draft rights to #45 Goran Dragic to
Phoenix for the draft rights to #48 Malik Hairston, Golden State's 2009
2nd round draft pick (which Phoenix owned), and cash.
Dude. Goran Dragic for DeJuan Blair, Malik Hairston, cash.
Hairston is the perfect example of two things:
1) How bad of an indicator of talent Summer League can be
2) How much a year in Austin can do for a motivated guy
A lot of people talk about George Hill bouncing back from SL, but I think the better story is Hairston. He was probably only the 10th or 11th best player on that SL team but has really improved. Austin did wonders for him and whereas last season Hairston was playing the role of this year's Jack McClinton, now people are salivating at him in the rotation.
Hairston has to make the roster this year...he was already somewhat good last year and he's improved greatly now...he's hitting his shots, playing good D, and can finish with authority on his drives!
gl malik keep improving that game
Thanks Kerr! First Hairston and now Blair!
Last edited by SPURSGOAT; 07-21-2009 at 02:01 AM.
Even in the few minutes he got on the floor with the Spurs, you could see that Hairston could ball with the big dogs.
Hopefully time with the Toros can do the same for McClinton...
Man, I hope for nothing more than this guy making the squad. Even as a deep bench guy he would prove valuable.
Good Luck Malik!
Hairston is a big reason why Finley needs to go. One can only hope that he plays well and Pop gives him some leash length early in the season, so he can prove that Finley is no longer needed.
i recall pop had Malik Hairston guard LBJ when nothing else worked last season, and it wasn't bad actually
hairston, jefferson, hill, haislip and blair
that would be a pretty sick lineup
Would it be going too far to suggest that Malik Hairston's development, and the cir stances that allowed Blair to fall to the Spurs, took place because the Spurs made a trade with the Suns, as opposed to, say, the Clippers?
"The Suns are the Spurs' es" is right up there with "The entropy of a closed system must always increase," or "E=mc^2."
I don't think that is too much to assume. The universe can only function properly if we are owning the Suns on some level.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
