Keep it on the hush? You mean, like posting it on a blog that is part of Bspn Network? LOL.

His decision to stay with Baskonia was two-fold. The first was financial–Saski was able to offer more money because of the rookie salary scale. That isn’t an issue next summer. Second, Michelle Splitter, his sister, was battling illness at the time and it made more sense on a personal level to stay close to her. Sadly, Michelle passed away in February.

If the Spurs want him, they should be able to make Tiago Splitter an attractive offer next summer. If they sign Bouroussis this summer, I do wonder if they’ll want to invest more money in their frontline. Also, assuming Bouroussis and Mahinmi both perform reasonably well, will Splitter like sharing minutes his first couple years in San Antonio?

From the Spur’s trade partner’s perspective (whoever they may be), this is a big win, too. The draft is reputed to be weak, Splitter is a great and proven big man, and the team can go from zero to hero in one trade that only gives up a pick and cash (yeesh–that does sound good! Maybe we should just keep Splitter…).

From the Spurs perspective, maybe this gives up too much for too little, and maybe it sacrifices the future for the present, and maybe it just doesn’t work. But maybe it would allow the Spurs to capitalize on their championship window with the resources they already have without giving away anything but the future hope of having Splitter. Thoughts?

I think Finley is more likely to be on the roster than Bowen and that he would start over Nichols or a rookie. Finley would see role reduced but Pop would keep him starting for consistency.

One thing I like about Nichols (27 years old) is that he was playing 37.5 mpg in France. That is very attractive for a lineup that may include Finley or Bowen, D-League call-ups and/or rookies.

The Spurs are trying to move up in the draft, and Jerebko and Casspi are two names they would want to move up for, I’d guess. But because they are the Spurs we know very little. And I’m happy about that. If they need to go into stealth mode to pursue the next Manu, then I’m all for their veiled existence. I can wait.

On to business then:

I have to agree that the Manu trade from Truth About It, while obviously not put together in haste, would be a terrible idea from the Spurs’ perspective – but I would definitely enjoy seeing if any of the trade machine gurus around here could make it more interesting. I think most of us look through homer glasses when making up trade ideas, and that trade would be fantastic for the Wiz, but not that great for the other teams involved. Wallace is one of those guys that never quite made it to his potential – and shows no sign of taking the extra leap – and the other two are completely unproven, with one of those being a complete wildcard.

I’m also curious to know what you guys think, having been closer to the proceedings than the rest of us, about whether the Spurs will try to trade up in the draft. It seems like some of the better prospects on the front office’s radar – like Casspi and even Jerebko – are projected to be late first-rounders. I’m curious to know if you guys have any kind of indication of how badly the Spurs want any of these guys.

Looking forward to those Gist and Nichols interviews, probably great stuff like almost everything else here. Thanks for keeping us up to date, and keep up the good work!

I’m so glad I’m not making these decisions…