Wizards interested in Blair, looking at a S&T.

[Bruno]

If Spurs wouldnt pick up TO, they still have rights to Vesely after season as RFA?

Nope, he would be an UFA with Spurs having limited bird rights on him.

[HarlemHeat37]

I'd take Booker over Vesely, tbh..

Booker looked very solid and promising his first 2 years in the league as a potential 3rd big, but he's been derailed by injuries, tbh..

Ariza is the obvious choice on their roster, though..as timvp said, he seems to have figured out his realistic niche in the league the last 2 years, he would be a great backup 3, tbh..

The Spurs have re-established a defensive iden y, and Ariza would fit in the defensive culture..Leonard/Green is already arguably the most potent perimeter defense duo in the league at the moment, and adding Ariza would make the Spurs swarming and length even more effective, tbh..

[Raven]

And that has to do with Ariza being capable of playing small ball 4 becauseee?

height and weight define if a player can play pf, speed and height define if a player can play sf. Ariza has the speed and height to guard sfs but has not the height and weight to guard pfs.

[cd021]

Ariza..

I remember thinking the last time the Lakers won a Championship, that Ariza was making Robert Horry type plays, getting steals, making plays hitting big 3's.

I came away impressed by his nuance.

And then the next year he went to the Rockets and the Lakers failed to 3-peat.

I felt letting him go was a mistake, not that he was a main cog, but he was a key component... he was like what made them complete at the time.

The Lakers won the following season. He left after the Magic finals. Metta came and they beat Boston the next year. The Lakers still made the semi's the next two years after and the postseason this season. Its not like the franchise went to he played well there. The point you're making is that he plays well on winning teams (I assume) that could be the case but Ariza stunk in Houston and N.O. He has been injured in Washington this past season. One would hope he'd be consistent throughout.

[Bruno]

A 5 man big rotation isn't exactly thin. Especially with the way our roster has shaped up, I think we're moving even more into the direction of the small ball philosophy then ever and we should see KL at the 4 a lot.

Quan y wise, it's fine but the issue is with the quality. As flawed and bad that Bonner/Blair were, I'm not sold on Pendergraph and Baynes being able to be as productive as them.

[Mal]

height and weight define if a player can play pf, speed and height define if a player can play sf. Ariza has the speed and height to guard sfs but has not the height and weight to guard pfs.

But smallball require from u using two long SFs and C. If someone play with PF, u go with Diaw or Splitter next to Duncan.

[mudyez]

I'm not a San Antonio habitant, but how could one decline the possibility of Vesely's girlfriend living next door?

I'd really like to see Blair + Neal (S&T) for Vesley + Seraphin but I think if annything happens it's Blair for Singleton (+ maybe a 2nd rounder).

[Bruno]

imho he was a sure fire bust since his experience at Partizan, why would anyone draft a sf that can't knock down fts or shoot anything away from the rim, is beyond me. I agree with the trade opportunity, and the chances to make him better, but i don't agree with your statement about him being promising in Europe.

Whatever he did with Partizan was good enough to have him being picked 6th in the draft. Vesely wasn't a that bad shooter in Europe but Wizards quite broke him by making him change 3 times his shooting mechanic. There is also no way I would play Vesely at the SF spot, he should play only PF.

[cd021]

I'd take Booker over Vesely, tbh..

Booker looked very solid and promising his first 2 years in the league as a potential 3rd big, but he's been derailed by injuries, tbh..

Ariza is the obvious choice on their roster, though..as timvp said, he seems to have figured out his realistic niche in the league the last 2 years, he would be a great backup 3, tbh..

The Spurs have re-established a defensive iden y, and Ariza would fit in the defensive culture..Leonard/Green is already arguably the most potent perimeter defense duo in the league at the moment, and adding Ariza would make the Spurs swarming and length even more effective, tbh..

Vessely is the better of the two . He passes the eye test. I have the misfortune of watching a lot of Wizard basketball (I live in VA.) He'd be a very good bench option for us.


Ariza hasn't been great defensively for awhile now. That being said asking him to come off the bench as a "3 & defense" for 10-15 minutes could certainly make him more effective.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

Ariza on the Spurs would be pretty damn sick. Ariza, duncan, kawhi and green would be a killer small ball lineup; getting my hard just thinking about. DO IT RC!!!

[Chinook]

height and weight define if a player can play pf, speed and height define if a player can play sf. Ariza has the speed and height to guard sfs but has not the height and weight to guard pfs.

He's plenty tall to guard power-forwards, and he probably has as long of a wing-span as they do, anyway. Regardless, small-ball fours only really need to be able to guard other small-ball fours. So he wouldn't have to worry about matching up with bruising fours like Randolph and David West, anyway. The Spurs have Splitter and Diaw for that.

[Kingsly Alexander]

Remember, that if he's already agreed to go overseas, the Spurs get to keep his rights.

Which is great, but his development and potential position would potentially be out of our hands

[Raven]

AK is better than TA in general, but as far as how he'd fit on the Spurs, it's sort of overblown. They're pretty much the same height, although Kirilenko is heavier. They rebound about the same per minute, and AK only scores about one more point per 36 than Ariza. Kirilenko is a better shot-blocker, which makes a difference but doesn't matter too much for the Spurs. Ariza is a better shooter, which matters a lot on the Spurs.

Ariza is not the better shooter, not even close.. Kirilenko shot > .500 last year, i don't care about the 3 percentage, they wouldn't shoot it anyway with the spurs.

[Raven]

He's plenty tall to guard power-forwards, and he probably has as long of a wing-span as they do, anyway. Regardless, small-ball fours only really need to be able to guard other small-ball fours. So he wouldn't have to worry about matching up with bruising fours like Randolph and David West, anyway. The Spurs have Splitter and Diaw for that.

where is the advantage then?

[cd021]

But smallball require from u using two long SFs and C. If someone play with PF, u go with Diaw or Splitter next to Duncan.

Thats not really true. When the Spurs had Jackson they usually didn't play him and Kawhi together. the played Jax with Parker, Green/Neal, & Duncan.

I'd love see Spurs try more of the Parker, Green, Leonard, Diaw & Duncan lineup when teams go small. Its long and can cause mismatches with Diaw being checked by a SF.

[Raven]

Vessely is the better of the two . He passes the eye test. I have the misfortune of watching a lot of Wizard basketball (I live in VA.) He'd be a very good bench option for us.


Ariza hasn't been great defensively for awhile now. That being said asking him to come off the bench as a "3 & defense" for 10-15 minutes could certainly make him more effective.

the wiz had like a top 5 D last year from some point on..

[Kingsly Alexander]

height and weight define if a player can play pf, speed and height define if a player can play sf. Ariza has the speed and height to guard sfs but has not the height and weight to guard pfs.

I don't think that's necessarily true. If we have a combination of length, speed, lateral quickness and vertical ability we could swarm and cover pretty effectively in our defensive scheme

[BatManu20]

Seraphin would be lovely tbh. And we all know how much the Spurs love Frenchies. Vessely is a huge bust and they're not giving up Ariza imo.

[Raven]

I don't think that's necessarily true. If we have a combination of length, speed, lateral quickness and vertical ability we could swarm and cover pretty effectively in our defensive scheme

i'm talking about strict man to man marking, what the system does is irrelevant when making a debate about x being better than y at being a smallball 4. And don't get me wrong, i like Ariza a lot, i don't think we have any chance to grab him though.

[Chinook]

Ariza is not the better shooter, not even close.. Kirilenko shot > .500 last year, i don't care about the 3 percentage, they wouldn't shoot it anyway with the spurs.

Three-point percentage is literally the only thing that matters in this equation. No one should care if your small-forward is great at shooting from inside 10 feet. There's no question that Ariza's shooting skills would be more valuable on this team that Kirilenko's.

where is the advantage then?

The Spurs' lineup advantage is that they can play both big and small. They're at their best playing big, but if a team goes small, they have the horses to match up. That shouldn't their default line-up, though, unless they really want to play Leonard at the four more often. If that's the case, the team would really only need someone who can be a competent three so they could leave Green at the two. Enter Ariza. Make no mistake, the Spurs already have their preferred small-ball four on the roster.

[Spur|n|Austin]

Ariza..

I remember thinking the last time the Lakers won a Championship, that Ariza was making Robert Horry type plays, getting steals, making plays hitting big 3's.

I came away impressed by his nuance.

And then the next year he went to the Rockets and the Lakers failed to 3-peat.

I felt letting him go was a mistake, not that he was a main cog, but he was a key component... he was like what made them complete at the time.

Yes, but what did he do for the Rockets, or since then?

[Johnny RIngo]

My perfect S&T scenario with Washington would be Bonner + De Colo + Blair for Ariza +Vesely.
To make it work it would require Blair being paid $4M per year. If Washington isn't ready to pay him that much, Mills or Baynes could be added to match salaries.

Not a fan of Vesely but just getting rid of DeColo and Blair would make me happy. Ariza would be a solid backup SF too. He's no AK but it seems like no one had a realistic shot at acquiring him once Prokhorov talked to him.

[Kingsly Alexander]

Quan y wise, it's fine but the issue is with the quality. As flawed and bad that Bonner/Blair were, I'm not sold on Pendergraph and Baynes being able to be as productive as them.

I think their grit could potentially offset anything that we would loose in Bonner. Blair really didn't do anything, IMO. But if this were the case we could always bring in some bigs into training camp and preseason and sort it out then

[baseline bum]

Ariza, Vesely, Booker, Séraphin and Singleton sound like potential candidates in a S&T.

Ariza would be the one able to help Spurs immediately. Vesely and Singleton could be decent reclamation projects.

[SpursSerb]

Whatever he did with Partizan was good enough to have him being picked 6th in the draft. Vesely wasn't a that bad shooter in Europe but Wizards quite broke him by making him change 3 times his shooting mechanic. There is also no way I would play Vesely at the SF spot, he should play only PF.

He's really athletic,that's what got him so high in draft.He's shooting improved in Partizan,but he didn't develop his game to play pf in Nba.I watched maybe his every game in Partizan,and i don't think he ever played as a pf.