Ian Mahinmi: Who is this strange Frenchman with David Stern?
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The Hidden Gem From Le Havre?
Ian Mahinmi: Who is this strange Frenchman with David Stern?
Until Tuesday I only knew Le Havre, France, as a place I ended up while getting lost road-tripping in Normandy this April, accidentally driving across its bridge, which had a 5 euro toll, and then having to go back across it and pay the toll again because I was an American tourist whose French wasn't good enough to explain my costly navigational error. It was a magnificent bridge, a real modern architectural marvel, but I couldn't appreciate it properly because I was so pissed about losing the 10 euros.
Anyway. Le Havre made a return into my consciousness on draft night, when the Spurs called the name, "Ian Mahinmi, STB Le Havre (France)" at No. 28 in the first round. Because of this pick's obscurity and San Antonio's esteemed reputation for identifying international talent, Mahimni was a draftee worth investigating. Consider that:
• It appeared the draft organizers did not have a nameplate prepared for Mahinmi on the board at MSG, as it took an extended period of time (at least five minutes, while the other picks appeared instantaneously) for "I. MAHINMI" to slide into the Spurs' slot.
• Mahinmi had no page in the NBA's draft media guide or on its draft Web site.
• He did not appear on a single mock draft I read -- on any Web site -- until SI.com's Ian Thomsen made an 11th-hour update Tuesday.
So I tracked down Mahinmi outside of MSG's interview rooms -- unlike many of the other prospects he was sans entourage, with no agent (his rep, Bouna Ndiaye, was with another other client, Johan Petro), no hangers-on and no translator. His mother, he said, was supposed to come to NYC but "had a little problem in France with her passport." He spoke decent English -- much better than my French -- and we talked for a few minutes. I spared him the bridge-toll story (but you, the readers, were not as lucky).
Mahinmi was probably the least surprised person in the building by the pick -- he made the trip to New York from France because "the Spurs talked with his agent and he had word that really made him confident" he would be selected. He said the deal he signed with Le Havre this season, where he averaged 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game, was his first pro contract after playing on the French junior team.
"I'm supposed to stay in France for one or two more years before I'm ready to play [in the NBA]," Mahinmi said. "But I'm happy to play on a team [the Spurs] that will feel familiar with some European players. With Tony Parker, I can speak French, so it will be really good."
Mahinmi said he was pretty sure other NBA teams had watched him play, "but I can't recall who" -- perhaps an indication that the Spurs grabbed a guy in the first round who might otherwise have been undrafted. It'll probably take until 2009 to find out if this nearly anonymous Frenchman is San Antonio's latest steal, but the names Manu Ginobili, Parker and Beno Udrih (and soon, Luis Scola) have earned the Spurs the right to be trusted.
I think if that was the case, they would have traded down. They must really want this guy.perhaps an indication that the Spurs grabbed a guy in the first round who might otherwise have been undrafted.
EDIT: I just read picknroll's post in the other thread, sounds like he was going to pull out of the draft if not for SA promising a 1st round selection.
Last edited by SWC Bonfire; 06-29-2005 at 04:03 PM.
The Spurs made him a promise that they'd pick him. With that hard of a promise, the Spurs must have looked at him as a damn good prospect ... especially considering how many "top rated" players plummeted in the draft.Mahinmi was probably the least surprised person in the building by the pick -- he made the trip to New York from France because "the Spurs talked with his agent and he had word that really made him confident" he would be selected.
Classic. After Presti found him, they must have told him to hide out. That's what they told Viktor Sanikidze last season.Mahinmi said he was pretty sure other NBA teams had watched him play, "but I can't recall who"
To go along with that, Mahinmi was named to play on the Nike Hoops Summit -- but then mysteriously didn't play in the game.
CIA at work.
I think after Nenad, the Spurs don't want to risk trading down for guys.
They hid him so well they didn't even tell Stern so that the NBA could prepare a nameplate for his intro. CIA Pop trusts no one.
You know what I think would be a hoot? If it turns out that this kid is just some sort of freaky decoy. With the Spurs talent and reputation for finding diamonds in the rough they could have just picked the worst player in Europe but thanks solely to their reputation for discovering Parker and Ginobili they could probably convince some team out there to trade their very souls for the rights to this kid. Now that would be CIA Spurs at their best.
Why the would Pop trust Stern or the league office that deals with every team? Good job, Spurs.
Pop should hold a Basketball clinic in Syria so he could look for WMD's.
Another indication nobody was willing to enable the Spurs to trade down this time.
Can't see the Spurs trading down and taking a chance. Once you get into the second round it's non-guaranteed money so a team knowing the Spurs had an interest could well take a flyer on him with little to lose.
If this guy pans out Spurs might have to put Buford and Presti in disguises when they go scouting.
I really thought the Spurs would trade down and pick up a couple of 2nd round picks. Didn't happen.
^
I can see it now. fake moustaches and bad glasses.
Solid, I too was shocked when they didn't trade down. When it took so long (and over the clock) I was convinced some trade had just gone down.
And then they announce this kid no one's heard of. But everything I've learned today makes me think he's going to work out in a big, big way in six years. Of course it would be pretty funny if he was a dud they planned to trade out.
Pop: Look at me - underestimated from Day One. You'd never think I was a master of the universe, now, would you?
Pop: I'm the hand up Mona Lisa's skirt. I'm a surprise. They don't see me coming: that's what you're missing.
Also the kid wouldn't stay in the draft unless he was getting guaranteed money so they would have to go with a no. 1.
Yeah, that's true. The Spurs told him they'd select him in the first round if he stayed in the draft. Then for the last couple months, the Spurs have done whatever they could to hide him.
He wouldn't have stayed in the draft if they said they'd pick him somewhere in the second round.
So how does his first-round status work if he comes here in, say 2006? Does he have to get the guaranteed money and years?
Yes, it works the same way. When he arrives, he'll sign the new two-year deal with two team options in the third and fourth years. Even if they wanted to, the Spurs couldn't give him any more or less than the standard rookie contract.
Yes.Does he have to get the guaranteed money and years?
I posted this earlier in another thread ...
Since he is a first round pick - yes, his NBA contract is guaranteed. But it doesn't begin until he is signed with the Spurs. So if the Spurs don't sign him until (for example) the 2007-08 season. Then his guaranteed NBA contract begins that season.
If the player is already under contract, or signs a contract with a foreign team, the NBA team retains the player's draft rights for one year after the player's obligation to the non-NBA team ends. Essentially, the clock stops as long as the player plays pro ball outside the NBA.
You probably posted this previously as well but what if the player decides to sit out a year after his foreign contract ends? Does he become an unrestricted FA?
Here's what I found on that subject on Larry Coon's site.
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm
40. What if the team and player can't agree to a contract? What options does the player have? How long does the team keep his draft rights?
The player's options are limited. What happens depends on a number of factors:
If the player is already under contract, or signs a contract with a non-NBA team, the team retains the player's draft rights for one year after the player's obligation to the non-NBA team ends. Essentially, the clock stops as long as the player plays pro ball outside the NBA. Players are not included in the team's team salary while the player is under contract with a non-NBA team.
If the player was still eligible to play in college before he was drafted, the team retains the player's draft rights until the draft the player would have entered had he not left college early. For example, if a team drafts a college sop re in 2001, they retain his draft rights until the date of the 2003 draft. Note that the current NCAA rules state that players lose their NCAA eligibility if they are drafted, so the player could not return or go on to play college ball.
For all other players, the team retains the player's draft rights until the date of the next draft.
In any of the above cases, if the team does not sign the player in the allotted time, the player can enter the next draft. If the team that selects the player in the next draft doesn't sign him either, he beomes a rookie free agent.
When a team signs a first round draft pick in a year other than the year in which he was drafted, the player is signed using the salary scale for the year in which he is signed, not the year he was drafted.
It took so long because David Stern was having trouble pronouncing his name backstage and wanted to get it right.
Slightly different, if Mahinmi turns out to be the real deal, they can set other teams up in future drafts by planting likely busts in the draftroom; maybe leak a strategic rumor or two on draft night.
Or, if they have another sleeper, surround him with a couple of dozen decoys.
CIA Presti!
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