Thursday, February 19th, 2009...1:19 pm
The Trade Deadline Has Passed…
…and seemingly the Spurs have not made a trade. I say seemingly because last year reports of trades continued to come out well into the evening. Although at this point I think it is safe to assume the Spurs will finish the season with fundamentally the same squad as they began it.
Honestly, this doesn’t surprise me in the least bit. Making big trades, or any trades whatsoever, just isn’t our style. Most of our roster has been acquired either through the draft or free agency. But more importantly, our financial situation is too well managed to be trade-friendly. We don’t have any bloated contracts set to expire at the end of the season. And we weren’t looking to trade undervalued, developing players for guys who are merely cap space-in-waiting.
But, by letting this day just roll on by as if it was any other, we have left ourselves one glaring question: As currently composed do we have the weapons to beat the Lakers?
On a quick side note, I would like to say congratulations to Bulls fans. I feel like Chicago is the unofficial winner of the 08-09 trade season. They picked up Salmons and Miller, unloaded Nocioni’s contract, and shipped Larry Hughes to NYC where the good people of New York hungrily await his ceaseless chucking. And they didn’t lose a starter or a promising young player in the process. Well done, Paxson.
UPDATE: Manu is out 2-3 weeks. When I have a response that is a tad bit more lucid than “ugh,” I’ll get back to you.
13 Comments
February 19th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Spurs now need to set their sights on Mikki Moore if he’s bought out
February 19th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
At least no one else got better. Portland and Denver are first round winners, not WCF bound. Months ago, I thought a Hornets-Rockets WCFs was reasonable, but the Spurs should be able to handle those teams with a rested Manu. Jazz and Suns health is in question, physically and emotionally, respectively. As long as the Mavs have Kidd they scare no one.
I’m still trying to figure out what the Rockets get out of the Rafer trade. Any ideas? In a week they lost the back court that won 20 more wins in a row than the Spurs have ever won.
Is Mikki Moore what you had in mind when you previously talked about the possibility of the Spurs picking up bad veterans not wanted by bad teams?
February 19th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
i just read that the kings waived mikki moore.
but if manu’s ankles aren’t game ready, then it doesn’t matter who we get at this point.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Manu out for 2-3 weeks per espn.com
February 19th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
“At least no one else got better.”
This is a good point although the Hornets did get Chandler back who plays decently against Duncan. Unless Utah gets into a healthy rhythm, I think we’re at least Western Conference Finals bound.
If we have everyone healthy and our defense shapes up like it tends to come playoff time, I honestly think we have enough to beat the Lakers. In all honesty, I truly believe we could’ve beat them last year. Game 1 - outscored 24-13 in the final quarter. Game 4 - the Brent Barry no call. All while Manu was hobbled. Some of it may come down to happenstance, but the talent is there in my opinion.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I wonder if the Manu injury is a blessing in disguise. With the Western Conference playoffs being easier than in years past, the seeing isn’t as big a deal as it was last year. Manu fully rested for the playoffs is better than getting a 2 or 3 seed over a 4 or 5.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
seeding*
February 19th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I’m glad we didn’t make any moves. I didn’t read about any trades that would make us better. All the players mentioned - Carter, Jefferson, Rasheed, etc - have huge contracts and we would have had to give up too much to make the numbers work.
It’s not that Oberto, Bowen, Mason and Hill are better than any of those others, but giving four players who can play (despite the fact that Oberto and Bowen are out of the rotation) is too much. Not to mention giving up two relatively young players for another older one wouldn’t help much either. Injuries happen, foul trouble happens, etc. I’d rather have those four available than any of the big names we were linked to in trade rumors, plus whatever D-leaguers we’d have to sign to meet the minimum player requirement.
When I played around with ESPN’s trade machine, the only reasonable trades would have had to involve signing Horry to a $7-8 million contract, and that would require Horry’s cooperation (probably not difficult) and the other team’s willingness to either take on that contract or to waive/buy him out.
As stated, the Spurs have done too well in managing their contracts to have viable trading pieces.
February 19th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Personally I think Spurs always an make a splash with a player that’s bought out. While Joe Smith probably doesn’t play enough defense to merit looking at, there’s a potential I hear of Drew Gooden getting bought out. What say you to Gooden?
February 19th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Krista you’re exactly right: impact trades were impossible on ESPN’s trade machine, which was probably why nothing ended up happening. Yet I could not be a true fan and stand hearing the recycled “We can do it!” garbage, so I’ve personally decided to boycott saying anything positive about the SPuRS for one month.
If our front office is so great, why do the names “Finley, Bowen, and Udoka” appear whenever I click on ESPN-Spurs-Depth Chart for small forward? What kind of genius in the front office can look Tim Duncan in the face with the back-up they’ve provided him at Big? The only thing we can hope for defensively from Oberto, Kurt Thomas and Bonner is 18 fouls. (sarcastically) Sign him up, Mikki Moore fits right in.
If you need to put together an NBA roster without even one player that can dunk, call the Spurs front office. Just don’t call them if you are trying to compete with the Lakers.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I should clarify, when I criticized the “We can do it!” attitude, I wasn’t thinking of any comment on this site in particular, more that last year’s team is staying the same.
February 19th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Okay, forget whatever I said above, I should not doubt the front office. Jeff McDonald of Express News reports Spurs tried to move Fab, Bowen and Hill for Camby. Even if it didn’t work out, that’s exactly the championship mentality we need to go forward. Odd year baby, yeah!
February 20th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
I wish just having the greatest power forward of all times was enough to win a ring. Oh Manu, so many hopes and dreams rest on your overworked and under rested ankle joints. Someone on here suggested convincing him to not play summer ball. I say write it into his contract that should be extended to him shortly.
I’m going to throw this out there about the Brent Barry no call. If we would have executed properly OR if LA would not have played such good defense, our 4th or 5th option would not have even had the ball in that situation. Besides, he’s Brent Barry, he’s never going to get that call in a million years. We had plenty of opportunities in the 47 mins and 50-something leading up to that point. Having Brent Barry trying to shoot a fading three from way back, going to his right, with a defender in his face was the real travesty.
Leave a Reply