For the past about three months I've not been able to hear anything about the Spurs or the sports world in general. I had the opportunity to watch part of the Spurs-Hornets game the other day and I noticed 2 things, the new point guard who was extremely aggressive and Beno is gone, praise the lord. Please fill me in on any rumors or overseas developments we have going on.
The new point guard is Darius Washington. He was just a training camp invitee but was so impressive we cut our 2nd round pick Marcus Williams so we can keep him. The next day we traded Beno to the T'Wolves, but he was then waived, signed with the Kings, and had his first game last night.
I'm not sure what you know and what you don't, so I'll just mention a few things that happened over the summer.
We drafted Tiago Splitter and we'll bring him in next year (he didn't have a buyout this year, which explains why he fell so far in the draft to our 1st round pick).
Darius Washington, our new point guard, played well enough in preseason that we decided to keep him over our early second-round pick, Marcus Williams. In one preseason game, Washington almost had a triple-double.
Manu did not attend the FIBA Americas tournament at Pop's request, and he looks much more energetic (like he used to) as a result.
We traded Scola to the Rockets to get rid of Jackie Butler's contract along with him in exchange for Spanoulis (who returned to Greece, as we knew would happen before the deal) and a second-round pick. There was a huge uproar at the time, but it's died down recently since Scola isn't playing that well yet (the furor will surely return if he learns the new rules and starts playing well). Many people avoid talking about him now; others bring him up whenever possible.
Of course Beno was traded to the Timberwolves (who cut him the same day) along with the cash to buy him out. This way we get under the salary cap and get rid of Beno, who was starting to look like locker-room cancer after a whiny interview over the summer.
Duncan was offered a $51 million extension or the option to take $40 so that the Spurs could go after bigger free agents in 2010 (Lebron and Wade are longshots, but theoretically possible) so that Duncan's final years would be spent playing for more Championships. He chose the latter, great compe or that he is.
Ime Udoka is said to be a possible 'Bowen replacement' we signed as a free agent from the Trailblazers. He was a starter there and has a similar story to Bowen's, bouncing around until he found his niche as a defensive specialist and 3 point shooter. He's not quite as tall as Bowen, but he's pretty good at rebounding and he seems to be quick. Barry's injured ankle might give him more playing time early this year (he wasn't getting much in the first few games; it will take him time to learn the system, like anyone else). His agent bluffed when he said Ime had an offer for around $7 million a year, and scared off all the interested parties, so we got him for 2 years for around $2 million, although I think he can opt out after this year.
Our compe ors did not seem to have an extremely productive offseason. The Suns were robbed in their trade of Thomas (who guarded Duncan somewhat better than most) so they could get rid of his salary (they're in a serious money-crunch). The Mavs didn't really do anything of note either.
That's all I can mention at the moment. If you want to know more, just look up the old threads.
Welcome back
Welcome.
Spurs looking good in its repeat year.
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