Spurs notebook: Williams returns to fold
Web Posted: 12/27/2007 12:25 AM CST
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
Nearly two months to the day he was waived by the Spurs, Marcus Williams is back in San Antonio.
In need of an insurance policy at swingman with Manu Ginobili out and Brent Barry hobbled, the Spurs signed Williams — their second-round pick in the 2007 draft — for the second time Wednesday.
They originally waived Williams Oct. 27, about seven months after drafting him. He landed with the Austin Toros of the NBA's Development League, where he averaged 18.1 points in nine games.
Williams was en route from Houston, where he was spending the holidays, to Austin on Wednesday afternoon when the team informed him of its offer.
He high-tailed it to San Antonio and by night's end, he had made his NBA debut. Williams was scoreless with a blocked shot in two minutes of action in the Spurs' 94-79 victory over Chicago.
"It was a great Christmas present," said Williams, a 6-foot-7 swingman out of Arizona. "The opportunity of a lifetime."
Williams' deal is non-guaranteed and will pay him the league minimum, a source close to the negotiations said under the condition of anonymity. He will occupy the 15th and final roster spot for the Spurs, who had been one player under the roster maximum since waiving Williams.
Williams spent all of training camp with the Spurs, impressing coach Gregg Popovich with his tenacity and work ethic.
"I like his toughness," Popovich said. "I like his passion for wanting to get better."
Myers in limbo: Pete Myers, the Bulls' assistant who served as interim coach during Wednesday night's game, says he would love to take over the team full time in the wake of Scott Skiles' dismissal.
Whether he will get the job remains to be seen.
While Myers was in San Antonio, lead assistant Jim Boylan was back in Chicago, interviewing for the interim head coaching position with general manager John Paxson.
Myers, now 0-3 as the Bulls interim coach after serving in that capacity for two games in 2003, said before Wednesday's game he has no idea what the future holds for him.
"Which is kind of good," said Myers, who spent parts of the 1987-88 and 1990-91 seasons with the Spurs during his nine-year playing career. "We always talk about taking it one game at a time, one quarter at a time. That's what I'm doing."
Injured list tradeoff: The Spurs' recent trend of gaining a player off the injured list only to lose one continued.
Backup center Francisco Elson returned to action after missing three games with an injured right foot while Barry left in the first quarter after aggravating a strained left calf injury.
Barry was taken to the locker room and did not return. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI test today, after which his status will be updated.
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LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...k.2eedaa3.html
I guess they finally decided to pull the trigger on the 15th and final roster spot. Although it is non-guaranteed and they could waive him just before the date when the luxury tax calculation is made (March or April? something like that anyway).
They are probably feeling like geniuses now that Barry went down. They can actually use Williams on the depth chart now.
If Williams is kept any longer than 6 days, he puts the Spurs over the luxury tax.
See: http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84001
Should've never waived him in the first place.
Barry came into the game hurt - he just tried to make a go of it and he re-aggravated the injury right away. The reason they called Williams up was because of both Manu and Brent being hurt.
I am guessing he'll get waived fairly soon.
Can't really blame them....
Washington was VERY impressive in training camp and Beno had lame duck status after his latest injury while he cost well over $1M. It was clear that they needed a PG over a swingman.
Plus, at that time it was clear Williams was not ready to contribute.
Still, if it weren't for the lux tax situation, I'd say it might actually be realistic for the Spurs FO to keep Williams on the team as the 15th man. He's shown CONSIDERABLE improvement from his SL and training camp play and the Spurs obviously saw enough of his defense and professionalism to select him above many other "popular" prospects.
I agree that Marcus has made a lot of progress. I hope he continues to work on his shot. There are a few swingmen that are closer to being NBA-ready at this point, but he's good as the stopgap player he appears to be for this call-up.
When Manu and Brent come back can't we just ship him up to Austin so he can contunue to play in the D league and improve? If he is improving as several have stated would it be best to have him under contract rather than waive him and hope he doesn't get offered a contract by another team? Luxury tax not withstanding. I sure would hate for him to be that long 3 everyone wants only to for that to happen on another team. Seems to me he needs a lot of PT and can get it in the D league. He can be an insurance policy for now and maybe next yrear can show that he's ready to play at this level.
Unfortunately, the luxury tax does withstand.
So true! Unfortunately. Money talks and Williams will most likely walk.
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