F.
Typical Spurs off season: They failed to address their needs . . . and this time, there is no reasonable case to be made as to why. The needs were both modest (backup SF/combo forward and backup PG) and they had the wherewithal to address them, yet they inexplicably neglected to do so.
Instead, they chose to invest roughly 10M combined on an overpaid Ginobili, plus Belnelli, who's insurance for him and their inept backup PG's, which sounds great, except for the fact that he's a worse version of a healthy Neal. They also jumped the gun on Pendergraph, a relatively unproven, fringe rotation type, the likes of which rarely signs early in free agency. Unlike the former, however, at least his signing made sense in a vacuum.
Despite all their movable contracts and breathing room under the tax, I know this organization well enough to know better than to get my hopes up that there could yet be some type of impact move between now and the deadline.
D............. Signing a broken down 36 year old SG liabilty to 7 mil/yr is a joke. Giving Splitter 9 mil/yr for averaging 10 and 6 in the regular season and disappearing in the Finals is also a joke. I like the kid we signed from the Bulls for minimal money so that saved it from being an F.
B-
I thought the Spurs needed tweaks and nothing more. My two main free agent targets were Mike Dunleavy and Brandan Wright. Both are highly efficient players who wouldn't break the bank. The Bulls upgraded to Dunleavy and let Belinelli go, but the production from those two is somewhat close. I think Dunleavy's a bit more efficient and well-rounded (he could play minutes as back up SF), but Belinelli is a decent pick up, especially for the price. Pendergraph looks intriguing, but, again, seems to be a slightly less effective player than Wright. Wright will essentially give you 20-25 minutes and a PER of 20. Pendergraph will give you 12-18 minutes and a PER of 15. I see a lot of people saying Splitter got too much money, but imagine if Splitter had left-- that would be a big hole to fill, and there just weren't many available players who could've done that. Keeping Diaw was nice. I'd love it if the Spurs could land one more really solid ball handler to back up Tony and Manu.
Mike Dunleavy signed with the Bulls for a $6M two year contract which is exactly what Marco Belinelli ended up costing us. Why didn't the FO go after Mike Dunleavy first? They either suck at recruiting free agents like I've had my su ions all along or they didn't see something in Mike Dunleavy such as his age? I don't know but Mike Dunleavy can pretty much do everything that Marco does and also Dunleavy would have probably solved our SF hole. Time will tell us which player has more success with their respective teams.
C-. Belli was a solid pickup but nothing major. Certainly doesn't put us over the top. We re-signed Splitter as expected, and overpaid but that was also to be expected as starting Center always do. We won't see our 1st round draft pick in SA for at least 2 years, if ever, and our 2nd round pick looks solid so far but likely won't even make the roster this year.
So, basically we're bringing back the same team + another decent bench player in Belli. Typical Spurs offseason. But, can't really fault the FO too much when no FA's want to voluntarily play in SA.
Depth Charts
All Positions Pos Role Name PG 1 Tony Parker 2 Cory Joseph 3 Patrick Mills 4 Nando De Colo SG 1 Danny Green 2 Manu Ginobili 3 Marco Belinelli SF 1 Kawhi Leonard PF 1 Tim Duncan 2 Boris Diaw 3 Jeff Pendergraph C 1 Tiago Splitter 2 Matt Bonner 3 Aron Baynes
With the knowledge we currently have: C-
D+ zero depth at the 5, zero depth at the 3. And not much depth at the 1.
after letting neal and blair go, being unable to get anything at all for them, I would like to downgrade my grade to an F.
Neal yes, Blair have to wait and see, he still hasn't signed with anyone.
it was F complete failure if not for the Belinelli trade.
Belinelli trade makes it a solid C
on second though keeping Bonner and playing hard ball with Blair. I demote it to D+
Although De Colo and Mills are still on the roster, pretty sure Manu is high on the PG rotation. For better or worse.Depth Charts
All Positions Pos Role Name PG 1 Tony Parker 2 Cory Joseph 3 Patrick Mills 4 Nando De Colo SG 1 Danny Green 2 Manu Ginobili 3 Marco Belinelli SF 1 Kawhi Leonard PF 1 Tim Duncan 2 Boris Diaw 3 Jeff Pendergraph C 1 Tiago Splitter 2 Matt Bonner 3 Aron Baynes
Downgrading from C- to D-. Still not having a backup SF is ing stupid and so is paying 4M for the red headed . Oden is not coming and there probably wont be a S&T for Blair. I am just saying that with the money they had they ed up big time.
The frontline is still garbage.
You're right, my bad. Seeing him go for minimum for 1 year as was rumored, that'd be painful. He can help this team over a season. Whines a little but can't blame him. He's a good citizen, a good Spur. I don't think we are going to get anyone better for minimum $ than DB. Maybe he's sick of SA.
But I thought Baynes was the truth...Actually it's gonna be interesting seeing what kind of combinations Pop comes up with with the frontcourt.
The whole no backup 3 is stupid as though, who's even left?
C
Belinelli was a nice pick up early and will be a great fit. Manu and Splitter's deals were expected, but certainly no bargains either. Pendergraph is a nonsubstantial to say the least. It could have been worse, losing Splitter for example and not getting Belinelli.
Letting Blair and Neal walk for nothing is not a concern. Belinelli > Neal. It's a wash on Blair/Pendergraph. I can't help but feel that there wasn't a lot a room to move and there really wasn't much available with what we had without doing a major shake up. Given we came so close last year, resisting temptation to do too much is probably the best result we could ask for.
1st 2nd situational
tony cojo mills decolo belli
green decolo belli manu mills
kawhi manu diaw/belli
splitter diaw/bonner pendergraph
duncan baynes pendergraph/bonner
i'm still hoping the spurs dump bonner. but, even if they don't. i can live with pendergraph and baynes challenging bonner for minutes.
i'm also not as worried about the backup to kawhi. diaw is a serviceable 3. but i think this seasons manu is last seasons sjax/tmac.
and there's still an open spot!
b+, at minimum.
oh lordy my little depth chart didn't come out like i'd hoped. i know you assholes. don't bother reading my message. just attack me for the ugly depth chart.
B
I truly believe that Belli + Pende > Neal + Blair in the long-run. It could even be argued that the Spurs "upgraded" two positions they knew they were losing. A lot of the frustration by fans, whether justified or not, stems from expectation about what the Spurs should have done with their (possibly) sizable cap space. Maybe they could have made a bigger splash, who knows, but none of the FAs out there struck me as good fits. Did the Spurs really want to bring in a Jefferson or Josh Smith, and hope they meshed well with Duncan in the last two years of his career? Was Milsap off the bench worth big money? Would that have been a better option that letter Splitter walk, really? Did the Spurs really have a chance of outbidding the Pelicans for the services of Tyrke Evans? Probably not.
Fans would be singing a different tune had the Spurs acquired AK. As far as we know it wasn't for lack of trying. Minni was reluctant to make a move until they figured out the Martin and Brewer signing, and ultimately they were unwilling to facilitate the S&T which was required to bring AK to SA. After that, who really could have imagined that AK would have signed that puzzling deal with the Nets? Not sure anyone thought he could be had at that price given the fact he just walked away from 10M next year.
In the end Pop did not defraud. He told us fans exactly what to expect. My "dings" on the grade stem from the fact that the back-up SF positions still needs to be filled, which may still be resolved. I'm also sad for Bertans and Livio who were injured (again things outside the Spurs control).
I give the Spurs offseason a D so far.
Will change it if they snag Ariza/a competent backup SF.
The most important need was a secondary ball-handler, playmaker that can run the offense when Manu is throwing the ball to the other team. Hopefully Pop has a plan. I don't think playing backup PG by committee works.
Center they are okay, I give you the ZERO at the three though, literally after KAWHI it is a 0! NOT one soul! Not much depth at the one though I disagree IF Corey can step in and continue to grow. Too much at the 2 SLOT though, that or SG in PG body's.
I give them a C this offseason.Ariza is not a FA.
A B for not doing anything stupid.
I'm ok with the PF/C depth, but back up SF needs to be addressed.
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