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Good timing on the article, I was just wondering about this. RC said one or two players that they own the rights to in Europe could be coming over. I wonder if this will come to light soon.
Gist will be in SL, but I wonder if anyone else is coming?
The imports-in-waiting: A fourth rebuilding tool
By Jeff McDonald
So far this offseason, the Spurs have demonstrated a willingness to use every tool at their disposal to refurbish their team.
They've swung a trade for Richard Jefferson. They've used the draft to choose one immediate impact player (DeJuan Blair) and one possible impact player (Jack McClinton). At the moment, they are busy scouring the free-agent market for another big man.
There is one rebuilding tool, however, that often gets overlooked. The Spurs already own the rights to a handful of players who have been marinating overseas. At least one of them -- 2008 draftee James Gist -- seems to have a decent chance of making the jump to the NBA this season.
What follows is a glance at the players the Spurs have in the pipeline, their imports-in-waiting:
James Gist
Pos: F
Height: 6-8
Age: 22
Drafted: 2008 second round, 57th overall
The skinny: Spent last season with Angelico Biella in Italy after standout college career at Maryland, but has designs on making the Spurs roster this fall. He's currently working out in San Antonio, and will play with the Spurs summer league team in Las Vegas later this week. With a solid showing, Gist could find his way into silver-and-black in the season to come.
Tiago Splitter
Pos: F/C
Height: 6-11
Age: 24
Drafted: 2007 first round, 28th overall
The skinny: The Spurs are searching for a big man this summer, but Splitter is unlikely to be available. He is still under contract with Tau Cermica in Spain, and the Spurs are approaching the offseason as if he's going to stay there for another season. Maybe next summer.
Robertas Javtokas
Pos: F/C
Height: 6-11
Age: 29
Drafted: 2001, second round, 56th overall.
The skinny: Javtokas seemed ticketed for the NBA when the Spurs plucked him out of Lithuania eight years ago, but hasn't been the same player since a 2002 motorcycle accident. The Spurs have shopped his rights as a consideration in various trade talks, but haven't found any takers. He currently plays for Dynamo Moscow.
Viktor Sanikidze
Pos: F
Height: 6-8
Age: 23
Drafted: 2004, second round, 47th overall by Atlanta. Acquired by Spurs in draft-day trade.
The skinny: Though the Georgian did make one appearance in America -- with the Spurs' summer-league squad in 2007 -- Sanikidze is still toiling overseas. He played most recently in Estonia last season, and remains outside the Spurs' immediate plans.
Nando de Colo
Pos: G
Height: 6-5
Age: 22
Drafted: 2009 second round, 53rd overall.
The skinny: The last of the Spurs' three second-round picks in the June draft, de Colo will play with the Spurs summer league entry this summer. He is still a project player, projected to remain overseason this summer.
Good timing on the article, I was just wondering about this. RC said one or two players that they own the rights to in Europe could be coming over. I wonder if this will come to light soon.
Gist will be in SL, but I wonder if anyone else is coming?
So nothing news-worthy basically..
unless Gist does horrible in SL, i think theres a pretty good chance of him making the team the way RC was talking during his interview.
Nice breakdown for casual Spurs fans but nothing we don't already know.
Would love to see Gist make the team. Even if he spent most his time in Austin he could be called up for a look here and there.
Seems to be par for the course for a McDonald article then.
That's interesting. I've never heard any rumors involving Javtokas. But it's not surprising that no team has bit. I think only a certain segment of Spurs fans and Javtokas' immediate family think he could be a notable NBA player.
Doesn't sound like he's anywhere close to being ready to cross the pound. I'm assuming Estonia to the NBA is a rather large jump.
It'll be interesting to see if he actually does. We've seen conflicting reports. Hopefully he can play in summer league and then go start for the French NT.The last of the Spurs' three second-round picks in the June draft, de Colo will play with the Spurs summer league entry this summer.
I wish Splitter would bring his game here. Did someone say frustrating.
This is the first I've seen that said he would. Most things I've seen has said he won't because of the French NT, but there's also reports that he has no interest in playing in Summer League in order to earn a contract. He wants a guaranteed contract in hand to consider coming over.
Splitter is gonna go from being really young to getting a late start in the NBA, real quick.
He comes next summer, he'll be 26 during the season. Young, but for a rookie? Wasted years for Spurs.
And that's IF he comes next summer. I bet he doesn't, I bet we'll be talking about buyouts or some Euro money we have to compete with and next thing you know, you're looking at trading him to Houston too.
Look at Scola. Yeah, he can play in the NBA, but last year he was a rookie and learning. This year he played more like what you can expect. Next year? He'll be 30 by the end of the season.
Time flies. I have no patience for playing the waiting-Euro game. that. Blair, Gist, Hill, Mc-what's-his-name... these are guys that are here, now, might be able to help. They are hungry to get their foot in the door.
Tiago's just an asset we are kidding ourselves to hope will somehow walk away from Euros, Roberta I haven't thought of since two or three years now, same for Victor.
We need to get out of the international player business. It worked for us back in the day with TP and Manu. We act like we can do it again. But times have changed. Most notably, the Euro teams can pay too.
I'm not counting on Splitter either.
He'd definitely be a welcomed addition next summer if he comes but I have a sick feeling he's happy over there and plans to stay.
I agree
Nice article from McDonald
Good stuff for the average fan who doesn't frequent message boards.
beat writers cater to the majority of their readers, who in this case are casual fans. We are always underwhelmed by his articles since we already know everything beforehand...
Regarding this particular article, i did not know that we have had Javtokas for 8 years... jesus! And I didn't know he had been shopped around.
This overseas stuff has run its course.
I'm keen to bring in Gist.
I'm not so keen on the decline on Sanikidze. I was holding out some hope for him.
What happened to that other guy we had once? Some big centre that averaged about 0.2ppg and 0.1rpg!
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