Nando De Colo coming stateside as well?

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Apparently Nando De Colo is in San Antonio today to have a physical with the Spurs medical staff as a part of contract negotiations with the club (H/T SpursTalk). De Colo was a second round pick of the Spurs in 2009 and is a teammate of Tony Parker and Boris Diaw on the French National Team.

If this news is accurate, it’s likely that we’ll be seeing De Colo in training camp with the Spurs. Because of his French National Team commitment, we won’t be seeing Nando in the Summer League no matter when the contract issues are resolved. France’s first game of the London Olympics (against the USA) on July 29 is just a week after the Vegas Summer League wraps up.

Like Erazem Lorbek, I’ve only seen limited amounts of De Colo in Europe. He should be able to slide into whatever role the Spurs have for him offensively fairly easily. As we saw with Diaw, the French players have some familiarity with the Spurs offensive sets. My question is whether or not De Colo can hang in the NBA defensively.

Like many players on the Spurs roster, De Colo is a shooting guard who can play some point guard if needed. He’s a bit undersized as a 2-guard, standing 6’5″, but the real problem is his speed. From what I’ve seen of De Colo, his foot speed is bad. He can’t defend point guards in the NBA, and I’m concerned that he doesn’t have the quickness to keep up with 2-guards either.

Varner mentioned in his free agency post yesterday that he thinks the Spurs have a need to continue to play to their offensive strengths and, to me, bringing in Nando De Colo fits that bill. He won’t help the Spurs improve their defense, but he may be one of San Antonio’s best free agent options considering their cap constraints.

  • Tim Varner

    Andrew, I like Nando De Colo as a point guard on offense and a shooting guard on defense, meaning the Spurs play him with Green, Ginobili, or Leonard and let those players guard the opposing point. De Colo is a good shooter with great court vision. Offensively, he and Mills will give the Spurs solid depth at point. Hopefully, Parker doesn’t play much this summer and De Colo spends his FNT time running point—the French team runs the Spurs offense.

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    So he’s like a stripped down Manu Ginobili?

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  • http://www.facebook.com/travis.nowlin.98 Travis Nowlin

    spurs need a big who can hit a 15 footer grab rebounds and protect the rim. anthony randolph just became a free agent and with him i think the spurs could get past the thunder (if healthy again). and they still need a back up point to tony. losing t.j. ford last year turned out to be HUGE

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/GPGPDOZBJODOJLIDUI3YZ3W4HU Little_Steve

    I would like to see De Colo come this year but it gives us that log jam at the 1 and 2 again. Guessing they don’t match any offers for Mills and go with TP, Joseph, and De Colo. That lets Neal be a 2 again. Hope we can keep Green, his D is underrated and another year with Chip will fix his consistancy. Can’t wait to see what Lorbek can do, but I was hoping to at least see Richards in the Olympics to show his skills. If FIBA doesn’t let him play for Jamaica then switching was a bad move… Hope we can get him in camp if he isn’t playing in the Olympics. Look for PATFO to amnesty Bonner (Gingers have no soul), resign Diaw and Green.

  • ThatBigGuy

    I think they trade him for anything before they amnesty him. He’s a large man with an elite skill (# shooting). That’s bound to be worth something to someone.

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    Yeah, gotta think you get at the very least a 2nd round pick for him, rather than simply releasing him. Same with Blair.

  • ThatBigGuy

    I think Patty Mills is a great option as the back-up PG. He and Neal would be a crazy potent scoring punch off the bench. They probably couldn’t defend much, but they’d puts up some points in a hurry.

  • ThatBigGuy

    Him being Bonner and # = 3.

  • Juz

    I’d also would like the Spurs to go after Randolph!

  • STIJL

    From what I’ve heard De Colo is a good assists person as well. Able to see the court in a “Ginobilisk” fasion. Kinda reminded me a little of Manu in some of the earlier video’s but by no means comparing him to Ginobili.

  • http://profiles.google.com/lordxar Ray Briggs II

    Is it just me or does the description of every player the Spurs pickup start with ‘a bit undersized’?

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    ‘cept Kawhi.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/GPGPDOZBJODOJLIDUI3YZ3W4HU Little_Steve

    That would be awesome if they could, I guess we could get lucky, is Isiah Thomas a GM anywhere? I could see someone taking a chance on Blair. Bonner, not so much…

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/GPGPDOZBJODOJLIDUI3YZ3W4HU Little_Steve

    I hear George Hill wasn’t undersized…

  • grego

    Bonner has a fairly friendly contract. It’s very trade friendly and helpful for a multi-player deal especially if you are dealing young guys w/ cheap contracts like a Blair or Neal.

  • grego

    If you don’t think about defense and speed/quickness, sure. That said, Manu’s defense has definitely declined so I guess, you can kinda think that path.

  • Tim Varner

    More like Brent Barry minus the dead-eye.

  • andy

    and splitter

  • DorieStreet

    It is a potential logjam but things should work out eventually. Cory Joseph and Marcus Denmon go play in the summer league. (Will Neal and Green be eligible or have the choice not to go to Vegas?) By the time the Olympics start, some offers/transactions will have surfaced regarding Neal, Green, Blair, Bonner, Diaw, and Mills. We get to see De Colo and Lorbek play for their national teams. (Better tune in early for France-they ain’t going far without Tony.)

  • Ted

    http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=86gybqq

    Spurs gets a great Shot blocker for 2 defensive liabilities…

  • DNITCH24

    Here’s my take on the Nando de Colo situation, you can either take it or throw it right back. From what I’ve seen in his youtube clips, Nando is a fantastic offensive weapon as has already been stated. He plays really well with tony in a lot of the clips so yes he can play the two, but I also believe that he can be a viable back up PG. The reason why this is a meaningful move is because it adds an affordable player that will already know some of the system and can create his own shot.

    Adding him and denmon to an already crowded guard rotation has to get you thinking that there will be a trade to either create space with a future pick or adding a front court player.

  • http://twitter.com/kmgospurs kmgospurs

    why is every european guard lately compared to the next Manu Ginobili? I think it’s funny how every european guard has been called the next Manu Ginobili. That’s not saying much. I think De Colo will be a great player and with Manu retiring next season we’re going to need these guys like De Colo and our new draftee along with Green and Neal.

  • Tessa

    De Colo can handle the ball like a point, but can’t defend the 1. Denmon is a shooting guard and not a point, and he’s a good defender, but too small to defend the 2 effectively. These players make more sense together than if you consider them independently. Also note that Green can defend point guards just fine, and De Colo has often lined up next to Tony for Les Bleus. Put it all together, and he ought to fit in just fine.

    And even on his worst day, he’s still a better defender than Gary Neal.

  • DorieStreet

    Reports now out that Bulls’ C Joakim Noah is out for the Olympics also.

  • jechalker74

    Just a thought…

    This past year we had two solid defenders in Green and Leonard. Could these guys take responsibility of point guards such as Westbrook and Nash?

    You then match-up De Colo against the other teams defensive specialists such as Metta World Peace and Sefolosha.

    I must admit I am still keen on Patty Mills. Once he has a grasp defensively (team D) he would be a formidable back-up PG.

    Your thoughts?

  • John

    Kenyon Martin?

  • John

    Mills if a fa now. we already have gar yneal

  • John

    not much but being the best foreign player to ever play in the NBA

  • Andy

    Gary Neal is the WORST option for back up PG. He can not handle the ball to save his life and he came up absolutely empty against OKC. He’s a hell of a shooter, but leading a team at point…. HECK NAW!

  • DorieStreet

    And his defense was pathetic during the playoffs.

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  • terry d.

    seems to me our spurs still need someone who genuinely plays above the rim, can defend a big, and protect the hoop from the weakside, take some inside pressure off of Timmy. Picture the spurs with an Ibaka-like player. I’m afraid the athletes on okc overwhelmed my boys, were quicker to spots, more deflections, more presence defensively for playoff ball. the spurs will only get so far with guile and craft, maybe great in the regular season, but……….

  • http://48minutesofhell.com Andrew A. McNeill

    I think you just described a player that would definitely command a max salary.

  • k191

    Randolph can dominate a game, but most of 2011-2012 he was too hurt to play, with a bad medial collateral ligament. And before he was injured, he spent 30 games a step behind his opponent. Too many question marks.

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