Comments on: Spurs Will Not Pick Up Option on Ian Mahinmi

By: rohan

rohan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:34:11 +0000

give him some minutes……….. then he will show you that he deserves on the roster……….

By: Atrain

Atrain — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:04:24 +0000

Ian is a bust considering he was a first round draft pick. He hasn’t developed into the player he should be…could he change that? Of course, but for now…he’s a wasted project/first round pick. There were other players the spurs could have picked up in the first round that year. He should have been a 2nd round pick at best.

By: rj

rj — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:14:40 +0000

did anyone see our frontcourt leave our feet last night. noah and thomas played above our bigs all night and this will be a problem for the whole year. haislip and mahinimi would have matched up much better last night then the slow legs of duncan, ratliff, mcdyess. i agree with not excersising mahinimi’s option considering he didn’t impress anyone this summer, but a year with the spurs and the tutelage of veteran bigs could really make him better.

By: Hollywood

Hollywood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:18:41 +0000

I believe they didn’t extend his contract BECAUSE they couldn’t trade him. Given that, I think not extending is now the smart move.

They don’t know enough about him to promise him more money. Not extending could give him more motivation and keep him hungry.

Also, Spurs are known to lower player’s value for whatever reason – so I expect this. If anything, it allows them to resign him if he shows progress in practice at a price they like, mainly because no other team will offer him a contract since they don’t know what he has to offer.

Obviously, this isn’t a sign of confidence in him right now and his future is tenuous. However, if the Spurs are in need for another post player this Summer, this gives them the option of resigning him then when they know more about whether or not Splitter is coming, Theo is retiring, Bonner is resigning, and a variety of other factors I can’t consider right now.

By: Will

Will — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:57:58 +0000

Unless a trade is already in the works, I think it’s a bad move by the Spurs FO, since it looks like they’re quitting on him while not securing the highest return on their investment. Picking up the option would have meant a higher trade value, which is basically the best the Spurs can get right now if they think Mahinmi isn’t going to contribute any time soon (again, unless a trade is already in the works with a team that wants cap relief asap for the 2010 summer).

By: Robby

Robby — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:54:12 +0000

I like Ian, but I think it's a good move by the Spurs. His trade value is slightly hurt. But this gives some flexibility around February or next year's off season. I wrote an article about Ian earlier this month. You guys might wanna check it out!

By: phoebus

phoebus — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:15:59 +0000

woulda liked to see him become a part of the system sooner or later rather than real trade bait like bonner.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:31:25 +0000

He needs to drop the bad habits that keep him from becoming a NBA caliber big man. He has bad hands, is not very strong, and a weak finesse game. During the pre-season the Spurs tried to get him offense in different ways and received little production.

At this point I think some time overseas would be best. He’s not NBA ready.

By: Cory Clay

Cory Clay — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:48:29 +0000

I think in certain situations he could still be a trade asset, especially a team like Houston that has a year to experiment w/unproven talent and would still be able to keep their cap flexibility for next offseason. Other teams like the Clippers, Minnesota, etc could all be teams w/similiar goals.

By: Moni

Moni — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:06:51 +0000

I think the spurs are smart enough to recognize progress, even if it is just at practice. Maybe i’m jaded by past success, but if they let him go without offering a contract, i’m going to assume he was running in place and wasn’t improving. I don’t think a 5 min stint every 10 games would improve his game more than the day in day out grind of practice. I really want him to succeed because we need youth but some bigs just never get it. But his story is repeated over and over in the NBA. “Young big with tons of athleticism. Player x has all the tools and if he can figure out how to put them together, he’ll shine.” Same old song.

By: bigtee

bigtee — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:58:20 +0000

I really hoped he would shine this year. I just don’t think our system and his style mesh very well, I see him in a high tempo system like golden state.

By: Randy Nichols

Randy Nichols — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:29:16 +0000

I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.