RJ watch is over. He'll re-sign tomorrow

[TJastal]

With Bruce the Noose, you got D plus ability to spread the floor via corner 3's. Is Hairston able to do that?

Hairston shot 41% from 3pt range in d league last year, and as far as I know their lines are painted at the same distance from the baskets as the nba lines.

[RiverwalkParade]

what time is this thing supposed to go down?

[HarlemHeat37]

I thought Jefferson could go back to being a good defensive player and focusing on other aspects, because he used to be a good defender in NJ..my theory was that he still had it in him, but he didn't show it in the 2 seasons prior due to high usage and responsibility on offense..I was wrong though, his injuries and lack of lateral quickness were glaring, and he seems to have lost any defensive energy he once had, which hurts even more due to his lack of basketball IQ..

So I don't really know why anybody would believe he could just emerge as a defender next year, when he's already shown he can't, and he's only going to get slower and less athletic..

TBH, I think a lot of people have already forgotten how bad and irrelevant he was for the Spurs last season..

He's still obviously an upgrade over Hairston and Gee, but that's pretty much by default right now..

[benefactor]

The upside is that Hairston or Gee will not be given heavy minutes. I agree that this is done out of need but RJ has only been on the roster for 1 season and you act as if he is a 12th man. RJ at 6-8 mil is not that bad a deal (take a look around at other contracts signed this and previous years) and as history has shown he should be much better in season 2.

I never insinuated that RJ was the 12th man. I was simply responding to the comment made by MaNu4Tres...in which he describes re-signing RJ at 7-8 million a year as "robbery". Clearly it's not robbery or anything close. If anything it's a deal made out of necessity for both sides and there is substantial risk for the Spurs in committing multiple years to him(both from a fit perspective and the fact that he is 30 and relies more on athleticism than skill).

[Shifty]

what time is this thing supposed to go down?

I was wondering the same thing. Tiago's was at 2pm Spurs time. Maybe they will do the same.

[E-RockWill]

Hilarity will ensue when the Spurs do not make any announcement today.

[Shifty]

Hilarity will ensue when the Spurs do not make any announcement today.

Not even Bonner's contract information of 5 years for $50 millions?

[MaNu4Tres]

I never insinuated that RJ was the 12th man. I was simply responding to the comment made by MaNu4Tres...in which he describes re-signing RJ at 7-8 million a year as "robbery". Clearly it's not robbery or anything close. If anything it's a deal made out of necessity for both sides and there is substantial risk for the Spurs in committing multiple years to him(both from a fit perspective and the fact that he is 30 and relies more on athleticism than skill).

You are misunderstanding what was said clearly .. I said there's a chance since we are dealing with him while his stock is at an all time low. A CHANCE, I didn't say his new deal is "robbery" . There's a clear difference.

[benefactor]

You are misunderstanding what was said clearly .. I said there's a chance since we are dealing with him while his stock is at an all time low. A CHANCE, I didn't say his new deal is "robbery" . There's a clear difference.

There's a good chance Spurs may be getting away with robbery with this new deal, considering Jefferson's stock is at an all-time low.

You should probably specify what type of deal you consider to be robbery if you are making such an assertion. IMO, the only thing that would be even remotely close would be a 3 year deal with the last year fully/partially non-guaranteed at somewhere just above the MLE. Even then, it's still probably not robbery but just a good deal. Anything larger/longer than that becomes a value now but a huge risk later.

[oligarchy]

There's a good chance Spurs may be getting away with robbery with this new deal, considering Jefferson's stock is at an all-time low.

[ElNono]

what time is this thing supposed to go down?

I don't think there's anything announced. I believe we'll just find out through the usual channels (E-N, Woj, Twitter, etc)

[MaNu4Tres]

I never said it is robbery I said there's a chance it could be since his value is as low as it's ever been( 6-7.5 mil per). Especially considering Deng, Turkoglu, Lewis and Iggy's contracts compared to RJ's new deal and his new deal won't exactly hinder the future go read post 207.

[TJastal]

There's a good chance Spurs may be getting away with robbery with this new deal, considering Jefferson's stock is at an all-time low.

I love how this implies there's a chance that Jefferson's stock might suddenly skyrocket in a few years when his athleticism has basically fallen off a cliff..

[benefactor]

I never said it is robberry I said there's a chance it could be since his value is as low as it's ever been( 6-7.5 mil per). espEcially considering deng, turkoglu, Lewis and iggy's contracts compared to RJ's new deal and his new deal won't exactly hinder the future go read post 207.

So what type of deal is robbery for the Spurs? BTW, just because other FO's are stupid and overpay players doesn't mean it becomes a good deal to overpay RJ but underpay him in comparison to those other players.

[SCdac]

I haven't given up on Jefferson yet, he's a highly skilled player who had a bad season. At the very least, Richard is one of the most athletic offensive and defensive players on the team. Not just athletic, but skilled and athletic. By season's end, he finished with the second most blocks on the whole team (yes he played the most minutes, but at least he's durable enough to do that, log more minutes than the Big-3 and play 80 something games). His man-to-man defense is average at best, but as a help defender he can be solid I think. The timing and proper rotations will come to him in time, but, for his size, he's capable of blocking a shot (or attempting to at least) and rising up to grab a crucial rebound (which was more than can be said for say, Finley). In Game 4 against the Mavs (toward the end of the first half), he swatted a Jason Terry lay up on one end and in transition finished a two handed dunk assisted by Parker on the other end. That kind of dynamic he brings to the Spurs at SF could probably afford to be kept around (hopefully it's no more than 7 million per season). I know he'll need the ball in his hands more, but if he can get more comfortable in his own shot (like Finley and Barry did), and more comfortable working off the ball in our system, he'll be a decent piece. At times last season he looked dejected, with a tendency to quit on plays, but hopefully it's all in the past. Surely he can get back to being a 15+ PPG player, as playing with SA becomes more natural to him. "Not being the best fit" is a much easier problem to solve, than being a bad/below-average/low-ceiling player.

[DespЏrado]

Jefferson is not the best player in the world, but he is a damn sight better than just about anything available out there. And if this team puts some chemistry together, which is likely to improve in RJ's second year, that may go a long way towards making up for his shortcomings.

Another thing, the rebounding should massively improve this year. Ryan Anderson is known for his rebounding. Manu and Hill have always been great. Timand Blair are rebounding gods. Throw in a little twin towers defense with Tiago and the Spurs should look to run with RJ a lot more.

And Tiago should be able to be a good double team worthy post up threat for the weak side meaning Jefferson's corner may be a lot more open than it was last year.

Add that up and it is way to early to give up on Jefferson.

[DPG21920]

The thing I hate about RJ now is he cannot help the Spurs. He can only not hurt them quite as much as last year.

[Cane]

The thing I like about RJ is that he can help the Spurs and moreso than he did last year.

[Nathan89]

I haven't given up on Jefferson yet, he's a highly skilled player who had a bad season. At the very least, Richard is one of the most athletic offensive and defensive players on the team. Not just athletic, but skilled and athletic. By season's end, he finished with the second most blocks on the whole team (yes he played the most minutes, but at least he's durable enough to do that, log more minutes than the Big-3 and play 80 something games). His man-to-man defense is average at best, but as a help defender he can be solid I think. The timing and proper rotations will come to him in time, but, for his size, he's capable of blocking a shot (or attempting to at least) and rising up to grab a crucial rebound (which was more than can be said for say, Finley). In Game 4 against the Mavs (toward the end of the first half), he swatted a Jason Terry lay up on one end and in transition finished a two handed dunk assisted by Parker on the other end. That kind of dynamic he brings to the Spurs at SF could probably afford to be kept around (hopefully it's no more than 7 million per season). I know he'll need the ball in his hands more, but if he can get more comfortable in his own shot (like Finley and Barry did), and more comfortable working off the ball in our system, he'll be a decent piece. At times last season he looked dejected, with a tendency to quit on plays, but hopefully it's all in the past. Surely he can get back to being a 15+ PPG player, as playing with SA becomes more natural to him. "Not being the best fit" is a much easier problem to solve, than being a bad/below-average/low-ceiling player.

Is it a good thing that you can recall this? I do not think so.

[DespЏrado]

The thing I hate about RJ now is he cannot help the Spurs. He can only not hurt them quite a much last year.

Seriously he never helps the team?
Let's list his upside to the team

He's a live body out there.
He doesn't choke.
He is a capable 3 point threat.
He is a great finisher.
He can rebound well for his position.
He is deadly on the fast break and almost never blows anything in the paint.
He gets to the free throw line almost at will.
He is a very capable defender.
He can lead the team in scoring when called upon.
He has good ball handling skills for his size
He makes good decisions with the ball -doesn't turn the ball over
He doesn't over dribble or slow down the offense
He has good court vision and can pass it into Timmy without problems
He makes his free throws

The pluses far out weigh anything that hurts this team, He may not have it him to will a team to victory, but he can be called upon to rise to any occasion and do almost anything that is asked of him.

[DPG21920]

lol what

[TJastal]

lol what

lmao

[Muser]

lol what

+1

[Muser]

Capable Defender

[Cane]

Jefferson is not the best player in the world, but he is a damn sight better than just about anything available out there. And if this team puts some chemistry together, which is likely to improve in RJ's second year, that may go a long way towards making up for his shortcomings.

Another thing, the rebounding should massively improve this year. Ryan Anderson is known for his rebounding. Manu and Hill have always been great. Timand Blair are rebounding gods. Throw in a little twin towers defense with Tiago and the Spurs should look to run with RJ a lot more.

And Tiago should be able to be a good double team worthy post up threat for the weak side meaning Jefferson's corner may be a lot more open than it was last year.

Add that up and it is way to early to give up on Jefferson.

Good post except Anderson's first name is James.

There are no better realistic alternatives than RJ and he's still a capable basketball player. His durability is also an underrated quality and even this past season Malik got injured even though he played very limited and inconsistent minutes.

I'd rather go with RJ having another year in the system than starting over again with another starting caliber SF (which there doesn't seem to be any realistic ones available anyway) that has no experience. Another underrated quality imo.