Buford and Popovich could solve the economy if so inclined
Next summer, when the league is in the midst of a lockout and we struggle to find topics to write about, there should be a wealth of information to look back on from this summer as to why the NBA is in such dire financial difficulties.
Cap space may have been in abundance, but common sense has been a rare commodity among general managers. David Kahn appears poised to add another point guard. The Knicks are open to the possibility of another run with Isiah Thomas.
But rather than dedicate what could be an endless number of words towards questioning offseason moves, here is a list of a few big men and how their salaries stack up to the reported 3 years, $11 million the Spurs signed Splitter for. (source for salaries: Yahoo Sports):
Channing Frye 5 years, $30 million
Drew Gooden 5 years, $32 million
Brendan Haywood 6 years, $55 million
Amir Johnson 5 years, $32 million
David Lee 6 years, $80 million
Darko Milicic 4 years, $20 million
Jermaine O’Neal 2 years, $12 million
Johan Petro 3 years, $10 million
Nikola Pekovic 3Â years, $13 million
Tyrus Thomas 5 years, $50 million
Hakim Warrick 4 years, $18 million
The San Antonio Spurs just signed the best big man in Europe for Johan freaking Petro money. For Matt Bonner money. It’s official, Popovich and Buford have that Jedi mind trick down. I’m convinced if they ran for office they would be able to solve the economy simply by convincing debt collectors to take less money.
But in defense of President Obama, he doesn’t have Tim Duncan to make it all work. And Popovich and Buford didn’t have to step in and replace Isiah Thomas in the front office.
@Kornbread
“The secret of the Spurs success is having the good fortune to draft Robinson followed by Duncan. The team needs to milk that for all that it’s worth.”
And the Lakers and Celtics benefited from Stern AKA The Puppet Master arranging for Allen and Garnett to go to Boston the same year he arranged for Memphis to gift Gasol to LA.
Tim in Surrey
July 15th, 2010 at 1:02 am
Good posts, Tim.
Tyler
July 15th, 2010 at 7:53 am
“He had an accident as a child that prevents him from extending his shooting elbow all the way. Any improvement will only be incremental….too bad really, he’s a terrific athlete and defender.”
Wow! That is too bad. That will always limit his game, but he’s still a nice player if he’s in the right role. I just think we still need a shooter, and a guy that defends pretty well, to back up RJ, which I assume we’re resigning? James Jones is really the only guy I can think of, unless this Bobby Simmons guy would help?
Kornbread
July 15th, 2010 at 10:43 am
“Sure we are. Think back a few years when the team had money to spend, then think about who they ended up signing.”
Why don’t you refresh my memory.
“Endorsements are part of the game, and to say that somehow these guys can’t do that and work hard to to win is really simple. Do you think they would be signed if they didn’t produce?”
As I said, it is not entirely uncommon for talented players that are attention-grabbers to lose focus on what is most important: doing whatever it takes to win a championship. They can get caught up in their own hype and lose the mental focus & physical preparation required to win at the highest level. Some have been signed with management thinking that they would “produce”, but they ended up under-performing in the end. Also, it takes much more than a box score to become an NBA champion. The Spurs have always understood this, and as a result have consistently incorporated a philosophy & strategy in player acquisition that reflects that understanding. And it has paid off big time.
“The secret of the Spurs success is having the good fortune to draft Robinson followed by Duncan. The team needs to milk that for all that it’s worth.”
These draft picks were not just luck, and despite these stars, we would not have won our 4 titles without the critical roles played by a number of far less celebrated players.
Shaq? What are we thinking here? I was initially waaay against it, but now I’m kind of starting to picture him in the silver and black. Gotta be cheap though…. It sure would be nice to have too many bigs for once.
What about the rest of the league? Isn’t that just a list of the Timberwolves Big Men!!
Spurs have the best front office & coach combo in the league. (Besides the Lakers’ General Manager Team Kuptchek and the one on the Memphis Grizzlies Payroll!!)