Two things. 1) You can’t restructure under the CBA and 2) Timmy took a huge pay cut on his contract extension that kicks in next summer. He’s been there, done that.

How about… Ginobli and the Red Rocket to Bulls for Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas (if they really have given up on the kid) and picks #16 and #26. Maybe give them a second rounder to even things out.

Hinrich would be great as a backup point PG/starting SG and Thomas would fit in smoothly as a starting SF/backup PF.

Look I don’t think the window has closed for another championship (despite previous post for change). So if Ginobli is traded, we need return value.

Look Parker doesn’t play D. Yes he’s great on offense, but he’s not a traditional point guard which the spurs of the future need.

Trade Parker and Bowen to the Griz for Mike Conley, D. Milicic and picks #2 and #27.

Then trade pick #2 (if Griffin is picked first) to Kings for picks #4 and #23.

Draft Harden for Sg, Daye or Casspi for SF, and Lawal for toughness at PF. With second round picks draft foreigners who will develop overseas.

These way we’ll have young players with talent and still have a chance at a big name free agent in 2010.

The Spurs have always been known as the team that does the Right Thing. They are the model franchise in all aspects, and for this reason, they will never trade Duncan. He made them into the 3rd greatest franchise of all time and they know he deserves to retire with grace and class as a Spur.

Lots of good stuff in your comment. I agree with most of it. But I think young players take time to develop. The Spurs need to strike a balance. There are few players I expect the Spurs to draft this year that will actually help them next season. It just isn’t likely. I hope it happens, but the odds are not in their favor. The players that are in their current range whom I like are a year or two away, and I’m an optimist.

I agree about Simmons & Hollinger — I love their stuff. In their own ways, they both bring a very unique and well-informed approach to their analysis, and I always read their stuff when I have a chance. That said, every writer brings their own perspective and background to each piece they write that leads to some natural strengths and weaknesses. I don’t think that Simmons’ strength is proposing trades, but otherwise, I love his stuff.

About this year’s draft, I think you have to put the criticism of this year’s talent in perspective. If you’re a franchise that needs another superstar, this year is a terrible draft. If you just need a decent rotation player, it’s not such a bad year to have a mid- or late-round pick. How good you think this draft is really depends on your franchise’s need. Take the much acclaimed 2003 draft, for example. That was a great year to have a 1 – 9 pick. However, look at who went between picks 9 & 27 — only one player has a career scoring average over 10PPG. Now look at the ‘terrible’ 2001 Kwame Brown draft. There were almost no superstars in the 1st round, but in picks 9 – 27, you had Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson, Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, and Troy Murphy, not to mention Tony at #28 and Agent Zero at #31. Those are pretty good rotation players at those picks in the draft.

Obviously, these kinds of things are a judgment call about the relative risk/benefit ratio, but I think the guys that might be available in the mid-round picks I mentioned above are definitely worth the gamble. An extra ~$1.5 million in guaranteed contracts for 2010 isn’t a big hit to our cap space.

Another way to look at it: what veteran that might be available this summer could help us so much more than the draft picks that might be available at the slots I mentioned that they would be a better investment of that money? The only FA that I see on the list this year who might sign for about the same amount as a mid-1st round pick would cost and who would fit a need for us is Grant Hill — he’d be a substantial upgrade over Finley at the 3 on the defensive side, he could handle some spot point duty, and he might take a 1-year deal if he thought it would get him a ring. Other than that, why wouldn’t we take a chance on Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor, or James Johnson and try to develop a second unit that can run to give us another look on offense when the big 3 rest? Especially if we could get a speedy PG, that might allow us to go very small for stretches when we need a shot in the arm on offense and move Tony over to the 2. We had a lot of success playing a controlled running game in 2003 & 2005 that Avery copied and used to take Dallas to the Finals in 2006; I don’t see why that couldn’t work for us again.

Your question might be the most common complaint amongst Spurs fans. The Scola thing was a big mistake, but it was mostly cap-related. The short answer is to say that the Spurs needed to move Jackie Butler’s contract and Scola was the sugar coat to his hard pill. In hindsight, they should have found some other way to get under the tax, including letting either Bonner or Oberto walk. Water under the bridge.