Yahoo: Spurs' talks for Andrei Kirilenko end without deal

[ducks]

they do not want manu on the book
they want to go get love or another big fa
tp,love,splitter,green ... after 2005 with ak pretty good

[DesignatedT]

Spurs could have played the salary situation so much better. Simple moves such as buying out Bonner's unguaranteed deal, renouncing Neal, trading Mills and or De Colo in salary dump moves could have created the space to sign Belinelli with the room exception and go after someone like AK outright. Even if they somehow were to lose out on AK in this scenario (unlikely but I'm assuming they were worried about this scenario?) they can then go sign Pendergraph and all they lose out of the whole ordeal is Bonner. ing Matt Bonner.

[Budkin]

Mother er. Flip Saunders can himself.

[Robz4000]

they do not want manu on the book
they want to go get love or another big fa
tp,love,splitter,green ... after 2005 with ak pretty good

You forgot Kawhi tbh.

[xmas1997]

I agree with this post completely and I can relate as a pseudo-Manu homer. People not wanting to acknowledge that Manu could've taken less salary-wise ala a Tim Duncan of previous offseasons are just as bad as those that came to criticize his play after the finals.

I agree. The problem is some on here want to rehash everything until most of us are sick of hearing about it regardless if the criticism is justified or not. Whats done is done, people need to get over it. Too much or little of anything is bad for you.
And what is the point of beating an already dead horse? He's not going to get any more dead, right? Plus we've heard all the critiques of Manu ad nauseum, ala the great hatch.

[ducks]

yeah he will be a stud

[Budkin]

Spurs could have played the salary situation so much better. Simple moves such as buying out Bonner's unguaranteed deal, renouncing Neal, trading Mills and or De Colo in salary dump moves could have created the space to sign Belinelli with the room exception and go after someone like AK outright. Even if they somehow were to lose out on AK in this scenario (unlikely) they can then go sign Pendergraph and all they lose out of the whole ordeal is Bonner. ing Matt Bonner.

Seriously... FO looking like a bunch of amateurs. Matt Bonner needs to ing go.

[ducks]

Minnesota Timberwolves Beat Writer / Columnist Tweets
pretty good feed for info IMO

http://sportspyder.com/teams/minneso...types/3/tweets

[Bruno]

People here are assuming that the Spurs want to swallow that $4m contract from Bonner through the amnesty... I don't think that's the case at all.

Even if Spurs amnesty Bonner, Spurs will end up spending less money on players than last season. I don't think assuming that, Spurs ownership, that was fine with Spurs giving $69.5M to players in 2012-2013, won't be fine with Spurs spending about $68M on players in 2013-2014, is some crazy reach.

[Robz4000]

The fact it's been determined that AK wants to play for the Spurs is huge. Even if they aren't able to S&T for him, they could still salary dump some players and offer him a decent deal and backload it so he gets his preferred $8-9 mil. Then again who the knows, I'm fairly ignorant on how the salary cap works and it might all be impossible. However, it's not like any other contenders are showing interest.

[DesignatedT]

The fact it's been determined that AK wants to play for the Spurs is huge. Even if they aren't able to S&T for him, they could still salary dump some players and offer him a decent deal and backload it so he gets his preferred $8-9 mil. Then again who the knows, I'm fairly ignorant on how the salary cap works and it might all be impossible. However, it's not like any other contenders are showing interest.

If the Spurs have already agreed to split up the MLE with Belinelli and Pendergraph then they can't open up any cap room.

[K-State Spur]

The fact it's been determined that AK wants to play for the Spurs is huge.

Unfortunately, that has not been determined as fact.

[DesignatedT]

The Spurs better ing move Bonner or something. Seriously.

Seems like they tailored their whole off-season plan around not wanting to take the risk of losing Bonner for nothing.

[lurker23]

It seems like the eyes of all Spurs fans should be on Corey Brewer. If he decides to go somewhere other than Minnesota, perhaps this deal can be resurrected.

[Poolboy5623]

What is flip Saunders doing as a gm? Fired as head coach, brought back as gm....

[ElNono]

Even if Spurs amnesty Bonner, Spurs will end up spending less money on players than last season. I don't think assuming that, Spurs ownership, that was fine with Spurs giving $69.5M to players in 2012-2013, won't be fine with Spurs spending about $68M on players in 2013-2014, is some crazy reach.

It doesn't matter how much they pay other players. Its clear they rather have an expiring $4m contract to trade than having to pay $4m to create $4m in cap space. I don't even think they wanted to spend $1m to create $4m in cap space. Barring anything indicating otherwise, that's the decision they made when they decided to guarantee Bonner's deal.

[Robz4000]

Unfortunately, that has not been determined as fact.

If the Spurs were attempting to negotiate a S&T, they prolly already talked to AK47 and his agent and mutual interest was garnered.

[poop]

The Spurs better ing move Bonner or something. Seriously.

Seems like they tailored their whole off-season plan around not wanting to take the risk of losing Bonner for nothing.

Lmao wouldn't surprise me one bit. I bet the first thing out of Pops mouth when they sat down to discuss offseason plans were ' WE ARE KEEPING BONNER!'

[coyotes_geek]

People here are assuming that the Spurs want to swallow that $4m contract from Bonner through the amnesty... I don't think that's the case at all.

At some point the Spurs had to decide whether to throw $1m in the trash in order to get capspace or guarantee the $4m deal and turn it into a tradeable contract, and it's obvious they decided the later. From there on out, the rest was fairly predictable: re-sign your own talent, replace Blair and potentially Neal, and see if you can use that $4m chip + some other smaller contracts to flip into some usable talent (ie: AK).

The FO didn't even need to ask Manu for a $2m discount. They could've simply structured his deal as a 3 season deal, with only $3m guaranteed in the 3rd year and a team option. But IMO, it's pretty clear that using capspace wasn't the plan at all.

I don't think it's so much about the money as it is all the pieces that you have to line up in order to clear enough capspace to sign a guy like AK who's asking for $8-$9 mil. If all the Spurs had to do was amnesty bonner and renounce neal, that's easy. But the Spurs would have to trade a couple of guys in salary dump moves, and those aren't nearly as easy as people like to make it out to be. You've got to find a team with cap room or a trade exception. And seriously, if you're a team with cap room, you're not looking to blow a chunk of it on guys like Mills and Decolo on the very first day of free agency.

[HarlemHeat37]

I actually agree with temujin that AK isn't necessarily a "clutch" player, but he isn't going to be in a role where it matters, tbh..on his teams overseas, he's a primary option with a lot of pressure..on this Spurs team, he's going to be the #6 offensive option and he'll be coming off the bench..

Kirilenko had a very good year last year, Minnesota fans were happy with his production, tbh..the team is letting him go because it doesn't make sense for them to give a 32-year old a multi-year offer when heir team isn't even close to contending for a le, tbh..

He's still a very solid defensive player that posted a 18 PER last year IIRC..

The Spurs have 2 glaring holes IMO..a backup ball-handler and a SF/PF to play against Miami/OKC and maybe even Golden State now..it seems like they're confident in Joseph's progression, and AK fits the 2nd hole perfectly..it would be a shame if they can't acquire him, especially for reasons such as giving inflated contracts to ty players or holding on to scrubs for emotional reasons, tbh..

[ElNono]

I don't think it's so much about the money as it is all the pieces that you have to line up in order to clear enough capspace to sign a guy like AK who's asking for $8-$9 mil. If all the Spurs had to do was amnesty bonner and renounce neal, that's easy. But the Spurs would have to trade a couple of guys in salary dump moves, and those aren't nearly as easy as people like to make it out to be. You've got to find a team with cap room or a trade exception. And seriously, if you're a team with cap room, you're not looking to blow a chunk of it on guys like Mills and Decolo on the very first day of free agency.

Agreed, and that's exactly what I was saying when I was talking about a gamble earlier.

[DesignatedT]

If Houston can salary dump Royce White to Philly after 10 minutes of negotiations. The Spurs could salary dump Mills or De Colo. This is not an issue and it is not difficult to do.

[DesignatedT]

Agreed, and that's exactly what I was saying when I was talking about a gamble earlier.

What's the gamble? Losing Bonner and Mills?

[ducks]

white was a first round pick

[Leetonidas]

white was a first round pick

he's also the biggest headcase piece of in the nba