Hollinger Adds to the Trade Chatter

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ESPN’s John Hollinger–after asserting that the Lakers are weaker than expected, vulnerable to quick guards, and not very deep–says San Antonio’s best chance of leapfrogging them includes the following trade scenarios:

What they need: A Kobe stopper. San Antonio has the size to match up with the Lakers’ front line, but it doesn’t have Bruce Bowen anymore. The Spurs have quietly become more of an offensive team than a defensive one, and the lack of a wing stopper presents a particular problem.

Fortunately for the Spurs, they have three things in their favor on this front: (1) This type of player isn’t necessarily expensive, (2) they’ve showed they’re willing to go deep into the luxury tax for the right player and (3) they have a number of expiring contracts (those of Roger Mason, Michael Finley, Matt Bonner, Ian Mahinmi) that could be part of a package to bring in the right player.

Who’s Mr. Right? The swing-for-the-fences option would be Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, but I can’t imagine San Antonio signing off on that kind of salary. More realistic might be Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince if he can prove he’s healthy or Atlanta’s Marvin Williams if the Hawks are interested in a three-way deal to bring Antawn Jamison down south. The point is, some player of this ilk should be available and could be had at a reasonable price.

Gosh, John. Really swinging for the fences, aren’t you? And here I’d be satisfied if the Spurs found someone to eat 10 minutes a game behind Richard Jefferson. Over at the PtR trade thread I registered hope for Dorell Wright.

Quick, everyone race over to the Trade Machine.

  • Daniel B.

    Is Bruce Bowen simply not an option? From 48MoH’s analysis last year, his defensive production never waivered. If I remember correctly, all our best 5-man defensive units last year featured Bruce. Assuming that he’s stayed in game shape–and I think that’s a relatively safe assumption, given his zeal for fitness–there’s not a better, cheaper, or more corporate-knowledge filled option on the market. Plus, we could sign him after the trade deadlines, so no other teams would be able to respond to his addition to the Spurs with trades of their own.

    This may be way out in left field, but I have a hard time imagining we could find a better defensive stopper than Bruce Bowen.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    @Daniel B: Fair question, but I think that ship has sailed. I’m not sure Hollinger is giving us very plausible options. Bruce Bowen seems like more of a possibility than Andre Iguodala, who, truth be told, would fit perfectly. But I can’t see something like that happening unless the Spurs part with either Ginobili or Parker. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m not going to lose too many brain cells thinking about Hollinger’s suggestions.

  • UC

    Tayshaun Prince on the Spurs would be awesome! He is a high-character person who can play multiple roles and knows his “limitations.”

    Who would the Spurs have to give up to make it happen?

  • Mark S

    The Spurs have always been smart in their dealings. R.C. and Pop are usually pretty shrewd when it comes to adding a player or two to the team. That being said, a young guy like Courtney Lee, currently backing up CDR in NJ would be a perfect fit. It might be a stretch, but I feel a guy like that would really solidify the Spurs’ second unit and which scares a Lakers fan like myself.

  • Daniel B.

    @Timothy Varner: I tend to agree that the trade speculation is overblown. If lack of corporate knowledge is one of the primary reasons for our below-expectation start, I can’t imagine that bringing in yet more fresh blood would help solve our problem. The Spurs are in the midst of a season, the rough equivalent to running a race. While a small course correction (i.e., trading to add an asset for the playoffs) on a normal year (i.e., one that hadn’t started with the most complete roster overhaul in a decade) wouldn’t throw off our rhythm too much, it may be that yet another change on this already change-filled year would destroy the nascent chemistry this squad has.

    I don’t think our problem is talent. I think our problem is execution (with a need for more intestinal fortitude to secure that execution).

    With all that said…Bruce wouldn’t throw off the chemistry much, and he’s certainly never been accused of lacking guts. Just sayin’.

  • Martin

    I guess your proposed trade would be Finley for Wright…the trade works. But history says that Pop would not part ways with Fin…

  • Chris K.

    You like Igoudala better than Prince in this hypothetical?

  • jacob

    I like Prince, but history shows it takes a while for players to get adjusted to the Spurs. I like how Bogans has been playing and hopefully Jefferson will be consistent by playoff time. If we bring in a big contract doesn’t that mean no Splitter next year and possibly not being able to resign Manu? Anything that involves Manu leaving I’m not interested in.

  • James

    At the risk of sounding less hopeful about the current season, why not something like Jefferson for Bosh? The salaries are close and we definitely need to think about the long term post-Duncan. That trade would help us both now and then. Bring back the twin towers approach, no?

  • John

    I find it hard to believe that Bruce would leave his second career to get one more shot at his first. That’s like leaving your new job so you can do one more thing with your old one, and kind of low-class.
    Personally I’d love to have Iguodala, but it isn’t going to happen, so there’s no point in getting excited about it. The simple fact is that the new rules don’t really allow anyone to guard quick perimeter players any more, so I’m not really certain that it matters much that we don’t have a Bowen to match up against Kobe.
    What would be more helpful is if Ratliff would rediscover his shot-blocking ability or if Mahnimi would grow into more of a weakside helper role where he could be counted on to fill a consistent second interior presence.

  • John

    Also thought I would add that I would rather roll with what we have for a little bit – in the last few games I’ve seen better defense from Jefferson, and Bogans and Hill seem to be playing better at that end as well. Blair seems less out of position each week. The season is a process of discovery, I don’t think we’ve learned enough yet about how well we can play.
    Unlike last year, our problems seem to be more mental than physical. We have players who can make the plays we need made, they’re just not necessarily doing it correctly each time. What I think we could really use is one breakthrough win against a really good team. In most of our losses against good teams we’ve been sort of snakebit in the fourth quarter. I think once we have a game where everything doesn’t go against us in that last quarter, a lot of players will put it together and realize that’s what’s necessary to win consistently. Then the effort and attention to detail will go up because everyone will be on the same page about the kind of preparation. The problem has more to do with mental lapses then anything else. It’s not just making the correct rotation at points in the game, it’s making the correct rotations all game long – and, to be frank, several long time Spurs players have been as guilty of this as the newer ones.

    Wow, I think I’ve commented more in the last two days then in the last two years combined.

  • Rick Ashford

    With respect to the whole “corporate knowledge” thing, I think that we only avoid upsetting the apple cart if we trade away somebody who doesn’t have it yet. This would mean folks like McDyess, Jefferson, Haislip, etc, or someone who can’t really give us what we need anymore (I suspect that Finley is slipping into this category).

    I don’t see this happening, so I’m guessing we stay put. I think Hill or Bogans will,with their defensive abilities and knowledge of the system, do better than anyone else we can bring in.

    As for Bowen, I’d be willing to give him a shot. Especially if it means dropping Haislip and giving Mahinmi some PT. I’d also be happy if they simply hired him on as an assistant coach, and had him working daily with Hill/Bogans on their defensive technique.

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Jesse Blanchard

    I didn’t want to spend too much time with the Trade Machine, but if you wanted Iguodala, the Spurs might be able to entice the 76ers by eating Dalembert’s contract too. Financially, probably would never happen but here is the deal that worked in the Trade Machine:

    Spurs get: Dalembert, Iguodala
    76ers get: Richard Jefferson, Roger Mason
    Grizzlies get: Matt Bonner and cash for helping the deal go through.

  • Ivander

    I like Marvin Williams, he’s young and still has potential; would love to see him in a Spurs uniform. Don’t think it’s going to happen though. Prince would be a great fit too if he can get back into shape, he definitely has the right mentality and discipline to become a Spur. Iguodala is never going to happen, I doubt if he would fit anyway, he is used to being THE guy on the floor since AI left for Denver. I would go for Williams if I had the choice I think, he’s being underrated to me.

  • Chris K.

    In these discussions we also ought to consider the possibility that with trading expiring deals like Finley, Bonner, or Mason that they may get immediately cut by their new teams, at which point they can sign back with the Spurs (after 30 days). Trading those three and Mahinmi for Prince would be extra nice if one or two of those guys returned for us.

  • rj

    i don’t think we really need a “kobe stopper”. we have 3 kobe botherers. mason, bogans, and hill could see time against him. they are all solid defenders. i’m more worried about the lamar, pau, and andrew situation.

  • grego

    Shouldn’t this article exist after Kobe puts up his nice stat line? Having said that, RJ did an excellent job on Dirk, someone who has long given Spurs defenders troubles.

  • Nick (Italy)

    I think that Philly would never surrender Iguodala for expiring contracts + late first round picks, while I can see them being open to deal Iguodala together with either Brand or Dalembert (from 22M to 24M in salary) for a mix of expiring contracts, shorter contracts (yes I am thinking about the 3 years left after this one on Brand’s killer contract), one role player they like and/or draft pick(s). If they can find someone that bites on such a deal (Brand version), they would basically stand in the summer of 2011 with a nice core of young players (Young, Speights, Holiday, Green), whoever they take with two lottery picks (their own) and a pick in the 20-30 range, with only 20-25M committed in salary.
    Add a tough coach that can discipline them (Avery?) and you have a good team.
    To me, it means that:
    (i) The FO would be crazy to make an Iguodala + Brand/Dalembert deal, because they would screw the balance sheet so badly;
    (ii) We don’t have the assets to take Iguodala by himself, provided that our top 3 guys are untouchable, RJ’s contract disqualifies him and dealing Hill or Blair would hurt our depth.

    Prince + 1 top 10 protected pick for Bonner, Finley, Hairston, Haislip and Mahimi makes more sense to me, but we would surrender the shooting big we need and pay the luxury tax even next year.

    Marvin Williams is a BYC player, althought the two values are not so distant one from the other, so a deal can be arranged. But do we truly need him at this price (we need to include Finley and 3 expiring little contracts at least)? I don’t think so. I would rather go for A. Wright, Patrick O’Bryant, a second rounder, the full Colangelo suit collection and three tons of ice from Toronto for Finley.

    The team is starting to click, these trades do not seem good enough to me to spoil what we have now.

    Best,

    N

  • junierizzle

    This is why I don’t take stock into what these “experts” say.
    NOBODY needs a Kobe stopper. No true Star has ever been “stopped”.
    The Spurs need to play Ian more. All the Spurs need is a big body to box out and stop all those easy putbacks. THe Mavs got atleast 5 putbacks the other night.
    They need to play Kobe like they play DIRK. One on one. Ofcourse Kobe is going to go off, but eventually he’ll get tired. What kills teams are when they double even triple team Kobe, leaving Farmar and the rest of the geek squad wide open threes.
    One needs to only look at the CLippers vs. Lakers game. KOBE exploded in the 3rd quarter. They eventually tied the game. I give credit to Mike Dunlevy for not panicking and telling his team to double. If he had the Lakers would have gotten a couple of wide open looks and would have built a small lead instead of just tieing the game. Eventually Kobe got tired and threw up a bunch of bricks in the fourth. CLippers held on and won. And ended up winning big I might add.
    What’s better having Kobe score an easy 42 points with two assists? Or, Having Kobe score a hard 35 points and 8 assists??????????????????????????
    Ill take the former any day of the week.

  • BlaseE

    If we trade a bunch of guys for Prince, I want Daye, Jerebko or Dajuan coming with him.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    @BlaseE: I’m with you on Tayshaun. I’m not sure he is the same player he used to be. Marvin Williams would be excellent, and fairly priced. Iguodala is practically ungettable.

    I think there are more plausible trade partners: a combo of Jared Jeffries and Wilson Chandler? I’ve already mentioned Wright, who could be had for a late draft pick at the deadline. And others. Should be a fun few weeks.

  • NL

    Being from Philly and watching a lot of Sixers games, we do not want AI. We don’t want that salary and either checks out of games sometimes or simply jacks up shots. Sammy D is another overpaid sixer we don’t want. I’d much rather stay and play with what we have.

    I think the combination of Kobe having to guard RJ, Manu and maybe even TP will do more than adding a Kobe stopper. junierizzle has it right…there is not such thing as a Kobe stopper regardless. You hope to contain the rest of the team, which is the real challenge.

  • zainn

    This may screw our balance sheet somewhat, but whatever
    http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ylxp4e5
    spurs get: amare and roy hibbert
    pheonix gets troy murphy and marcus haislip
    pacers get richard jefferson
    unrealistic though

  • al

    wat we needed was stephen jackson who said he would return to san antonio but we passed on him and now look he is playing out his mind 43pts tonight. i dont really see wat people see in bogans, he is terrible offensively gives us absolutely nothing in pts every nite, im tired of looking at bruce bowen all over again in the starting lineup and giving the same offensive production as bruce did and thats nothing. WHAT WE NEED SPURS IS A LEGIT SCORING STARTING SG & A VERSATILE PF THAT CAN SHOOT FOR HEAVENS SAKE AND STRETCH DEFENCES ON A CONSISTANT BASIS. i like hornets pf david west but i dont know how healthy he would be for us or even if n.o. would even part ways with him after recent performances. scola really looks good sa but we chose oberto over him and now he is throwing it in our faces, well sa id like to see something of substance come up before the deadline maybe we can pull of a caper this year BUT WE NEED 2 MORE LEGIT PIECES SA !!!!!!!!!

  • Rey

    I’m not really sure if I got it here or from other internet sources… but I heard the Lakers are interested in Ginobili?

    The thought of Manu in another uniform – much more in a Lakers uniform – gives me nightmares, and given that his contract has not been extended at this time, he continues to play so well (thus the thought of him retiring seem improbable), and that the Spurs being way above the salary cap are not helping ease my worry.

    With the acquisition of Jefferson, it sort of closed the door of the Spurs being a contender for the 2010 free agent market (so is it bye-bye Bosh?). I’m not really sure if Tiago Splitter would be coming next season. But I’m really excited about George Hill and DeJuan Blair developing. After seeing Hill guard Kobe, I think sooner or later he would be able to match the Mamba defensively.

  • Hobson13

    I absolutely disagree with Hollinger on his two main points regarding the Spurs and trade options.

    #1. I absolutely don’t believe the Spurs have enough size to be able to stop Gasol, Odom, and Bynum in the post. We’ve gone over and over this in a number of previous posts.
    #2. Someone please tell me who the hell has ever consistently stopped Kobe? Bowen doesn’t count because he’s 1594 years old! You don’t stop players like Kobe, you just weather the storm.

    I agree that we have some dead weight (Bonner and Finley who haven’t played in a month as well as some other small contracts) and we need to use those expiring contracts to get better, but no one on that list gets my juices going…especially considering their contracts. I still think we need to trade for a decent or even good big like West, Jamison (probably not), Jefferson, or Haywood instead of going after yet another wing player.

  • http://www.InvestInSanAntonio.com Wagz

    Spurs just need to pull it all together at the right time. I don’t want to see any big trades at the break, I think that’s a dumb move.

  • HK

    Maybe the Spurs should have waited till the trade deadline to get better player than Jefferson? They would be a big player in any available player….Iggy seems like a much better fit than Jefferson at this point….