Report: Spurs Shopping McDyess (Updated)

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According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Spurs are looking to trade Antonio McDyess in anticipation of trading for Tyrus Thomas:

The Spurs have been searching for expiring deals to move McDyess, who will make $4.9 million next season and is guaranteed about $2.6 million in 2011-12. Trading McDyess would free minutes and give them greater flexibility to re-sign Thomas this summer if they want. Thomas would give the Spurs a younger, more athletic complement to Tim Duncan, and could be part of a future frontline with former first-round pick Tiago Splitter and rookie DeJuan Blair.

Woj’s analysis seems to hit the nail on the head. If were to trade for (and re-sign) Thomas, as well as sign Splitter, the frontcourt might not have enough minutes to go around. Although McDyess has had his critics amongst Spurs fans this season, I’m a defender of his, and Tim Varner may present some evidence over the next day or two suggesting the Spurs have been at their best when he and Duncan are on the floor together.

Nonetheless, a de facto replacement of McDyess by Thomas would reflect the long term, youth-oriented thinking I’ve been a proponent of recently. Depending on whom McDyess is traded for, it also gives the Spurs more financial flexibility headed into this summer, as the team would no longer be responsible for the $7.5 million McDyess is guaranteed for the remainder of his contract.

Woj throws out the Denver Nuggets as a team with which McDyess would fit smoothly, but names no other potential trade partners.

N.B. Our last two posts have cited reports by Adrian Wojnarowski. The NBA is always ridden with unsubstantiated rumors in the days leading up to the trade deadline, but we do not believe either of these reports are exemplary of that journalistically irresponsible atmosphere. Woj is a good reporter and both Tim and I believe there are good reasons to take these reports seriously.

Update: The Express-News is reporting that multiple league sources have said the Spurs are not shopping McDyess but “they are in a listening mode in advance of Thursday’s deadline.”

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  • junierizzle

    @td4life
    Actually if by some miracle The Spurs get Jamison, that would put them over the top. He is a sure 20 and 10 guy.
    And I have to defend Bonner. He spreads the floor and can hit the three. SOmething the SPurs lack this season. And now that RMJ might go, Bonner would be the best shooter. So what if they take him to the rim a couple of times. That’s hoops you gotta give up something. Besides they can’t shoot 100% against him. He’ll burn right back with the 3.

    As for trading TP, come on. He still can blow by people even with his injury. Its not his fault that the rest of the guys can’t hit wide open 3s which allows teams to close up the paint.
    And you say an upgrade is needed. Who is an upgrade from TP?
    Let me guess you want Devin Harris.

  • BALLHOG

    Deven Harris for TP? LMAO! Good joke though. Here is a thought concerning Duncan, Parker, and Ginnobli….Maybe they could all benefit from some time in the weight room. Upper body strength could improve. This stands true most with Ginnobli. He has gotten so small that we thought he was sick. As age creeps up on a player, it becomes more and more about strength and conditioning. Our big three could use a little of both!

  • Trade TP

    Jim Henderson = LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

    LOLOL
    LOLOLOLOL

    Thanks for giving me a laugh. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

  • Cory Clay

    @Ballhog, I would make the exact opposite argument on just about every topic you brought up.

    If Haislip was such a prospect why is it that he isn’t on any other NBA team? You don’t think the Spurs would have tried to turn him into some kind of asset if possible? No one else wanted him. And where do you get 3 years from? If his contract was for anything more than 1 year the 2nd was a team option.

    Malik Hairston is a potential contributor in the future but by no means would I want him playing crunch time minutes when the team needs someone to knock down a big shot. While Finley’s best days are behind him he is still def a clutch player that knows the system and can make open shots.

    How exactly has Blair been mismanaged? We are getting more production out of Blair than a ton of teams are getting out of their 1st round picks. At the same time it is obvious that Blair is still learning what he can do in the League and how he can be most effective, off the bench with Manu is a great role for him.

    Bogans was a gamble that seems to have ended, if he had knocked down open shots I would have no problem with him playing, he didnt knock down open shots and now just about all of his minutes are going to George Hill.

    Dice and Jefferson have not done anything close to what was expected from either of them and I have no idea how you can turn that into a coaching issue. Yes Jefferson loses his man in transition b/c of coaching instructions, give me a break. Dice has actually started to play better and that in my opinion is due to Pop trying out a variety of methods to get Mcdyess going, first starting him, then bringing him off the bench and now having him start again.

    As far as Ratliff goes, I expect to see him in the playoffs, no sense in using him know and risk him breaking his fossil like bones.

  • td4life

    @junierizzle
    devin harris is just another guy in the mold of tony parker, minus the experience, except he’s maybe a better overall scorer.
    Collison in New Orleans, on the other hand, is raw and a bit of a project, but he scores, is pass first, and takes pride in his defense. Hardly one dimensional.
    I’m not suggesting that we can trade Tony directly for an instant answer at point guard, but I think Manu can handle the ball more, and that Stojakovich is an RJ-like disappointment for the Hornets, whereas RJ would be a better fit for them. A lot of our minor assets might fit will with them, both in their front court, and to get scoring help next to/behind CP3, and they have to realize they need to blow things up there.
    TP or RJ gets you Peja to land Collison.
    TP and RJ, and maybe Bonner, RMj, or Mahinmi gets you those two plus David West (who the Hornets have been trying to move since the summer)… I don’t drool over West (but he, too, could potentially be traded and would be a good fit in, say, Chicago) and I’m not saying that such a move would happen, but I’d just like to know that the Spurs know what needs to be fixed, are thinking big picture, not small changes, and not over guys that do some good things but keep us from contending (this is the case with Bonner and Parker.)

  • Phoebus

    trade TP is seeming more every day like a word that rhymes with mole? pole? toll?

  • Trade TP

    McDyess hasnt done anything for us to be championship caliber. Even if his play is “improving” by some standards, we’re not close to being competitive for the title.

    BUT… Say we do bring in Thomas. Like any new player POP will REFUSE to play him. Gooden last year…. I hate Gooden and I thought the trade was a horrible decision, but he played decent the 3 minutes he was in the game. How did we know he wouldnt be as useful as McDyess or Ratliff this year?

  • idahospur

    Let’s just leave RJ on the Rodeo Road Trip and everyone is happy.

  • Trade TP

    Phoebus- Its becuase you get these “fans” who think that every move their team makes is the right one, and dont really look at things objectively. Words that sound like gomer, foamer, domer…..

  • junierizzle

    @td4life
    I have only seen Collison a handful of times. I don’t get the impression that he is a pass first gaurd. He’s like TP in the sense that he is aggressive on offense. He’s great for a rookie. Infact, the recent game against the Celtics. The hornets won, but there were a couple of plays where Collison shot instead of passing. Passing would have been the better play.
    He looks like he might be great in a couple of years.
    Devin Harris is solid but I wouldn’t say he is a better scorer than TP.

    The injury clearly F’d up TP’s season. Still he’s been effective. He played out of his mind last season. I think we all expected to see the same thing. It’s just bad luck about the injury. TP single handedly led the Spurs to the Playoffs last season.

    Collison is still a long way from doing the same thing.

    As for David West. I know he’s an All Star, but he hasn’t looked good since his All Star year.

    I wouldn’t mind having Peja though. He is asked to do too much for The Hornets. If he were on The Spurs he would just have to worry about hitting the wide open 3.

    It seems that you are mentioning players if the Spurs started to look for the future. So a player like Collison makes sense. But I don’t think The Spurs are blowing it up just yet.
    Maybe next season when TP’s contract is up.

  • lvmainman

    Trade Roger Mason Jr and Tony Parker for Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, and Kenyon Dooling.

    Taller, younger, athletic, better defenders @ the guard spots.

    Don’t forget Harris and Lee have both played on teams in an NBA finals!

  • td4life

    @junierizzle

    http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yz6haxh

    and, yes, we’d building for next season and beyond. Swapping West for Parker gives clears one year of salary for the Hornets. Chi needs post scoring.
    Or we just leave chicago out of it, but have still made some forward-looking changes.

    The above scenarios still leave the spurs in a flexible position to improve defensively. Camby is still a free agent this summer. Tony Parker “carried us into the playoffs” and then we got exposed… this season and beyond is even worse with Portland looking hungry and Dallas making strides.

    i should have been clearer: I’ve never made any campaign for a Devin Harris, and I never will. Never. Never Ever.

  • td4life

    @Ivmainman

    be careful with your arguments… ie, don’t forget Harris and Lee both PLAY on the worse team we’ve ever seen!

  • Mr. Anonymous

    Trade Tony Parker?

    Are you guys drunk?

    The guy is an absolute BEAST. Did you see him last season single-handedly gang rape team (yeah, one-man gang rape - that’s how good he was). is injured performances are not representatives of him perfectly fit.

    The big issue with this team is not players as such. It is mentality.

    If this team had some balls in the 4th-quarter and didn’t go to collect their pensions in the 3rd-quarter they’re comfortably the number 2 seed. That’s the truth. The team does not have the mentality of winners. And no trade would really change that (unless you got like old school Michael Jordan).

  • Rey

    I’ve got my ‘net connection on for any late-breaking news for a possible trade…

    There’s this rumor about the Heat discussing a trade with the Spurs regarding Mason and another player for Haslem and Wright. However, no details had been provided, except that Pat Riley has been rooting for Mason two years back.

    Right now, I do acknowledge the need to further upgrade, given the trade Dallas made and the stability of the Lakers, but should the SA-Miami trade pushes through, does this make sense?

    I don’t see the Spurs trading any of the Big Three, Hill and Blair to any NBA team, unless they’re getting a younger All-Star caliber player (I’m still fantasizing about a Parker& Mason trade for Wade).

  • td4life

    “The calls being placed by Spurs general manager R.C. Buford are a stark admittance that he made a mistake when trading Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jefferson, envisioning him as yet another talented scoring option to complement Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
    […]
    Perhaps even more intriguing is whether Buford’s intentions with Jefferson is a sign that he thinks the Spurs in their current form cannot win a title. The Spurs are essentially tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Phoenix Suns for the fifth seed in the Western Conference but have lost eight of their past 14 games.”

    Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/02/16/jefferson.rumors/index.html#ixzz0flCec3k7

  • Hobson13

    @Rey: I don’t see anyone on that Heat team that the Spurs would want. Who wants Haslem when you have Blair and why would the Spurs trade two expiring contracts for ….two expiring contracts?!? Beasley would be great, but that ain’t happening. I’ve heard Heat fans rave about getting Mason, but they have DWade, Beasley, and a ton of scrubs.

  • Joe

    @Hobson13: Haslem’s game is better than what shows up in the stats, and I don’t understand the comparison with Blair other than that they would compete for minutes. Haslem is a good rebounder, as you point out, but his defense is the best part of his game. Blair’s defense is at best adequate. From Hollinger’s scouting report on Haslem:

    “As a 6-8 power forward, Haslem gives up inches every night, but he’s one of the league’s toughest players. He battles to push out opponents in the post and is a good help defender who annually ranks among the league leaders in charges; he also does a solid job against the pick-and-roll. If anyone gives him trouble, it’s quick 4s who can take him off the dribble — he’s actually better defending bigger players and using leverage to get under them.”

  • http://espn.com Jacob

    Just a few more trade ideas:

    I like Mason, and as such I would like to see him stay. If he’s used properly, and given a consistent dose of minutes, he’s shown to be a proven provider on offense, and his defense is acceptable for most situations. That being said, I would like to propose a few trade scenarios that make minor adjustments as well as frees up some dead weight. Mason’s minutes do need to increase, and likewise Bogans need to decrease. We will never see Bruce ressurected in the form of another player, so we need to stop trying to plug in different players to fill his shoes and just play to our strengths. Since we have a surplus of SG’s, why not try and pair them up as an expiring package for a versatile 3? If Mason were going to stay, we could use some extra help at the SF and this is what that scenario is based off of:
    1) Bogans, Finley, Mahinmi to Milwaukee for C.Delfino
    2) Bogans, Finley, Mahinmi to Minnesota for R.Gomes
    3) Bogans, Finley, Mahinmi to Philadelphia for T. Young
    (or)
    4) Bogans, Finley, Bonner to Sacramento for A. Nocioni
    —————————————————-
    I like the Delfino or Nocioni additions personally, basically becasue I know they would have good chemisty with Manu off the bench and are all veterans who could pick up the Spurs system. Young would be great, but he’s young (no pun) and has so much promise that i’m sure they would want to keep him, and Minnesota doesnt really have much reason for trading bench players for only 4 mil in expiring contracts, but who knows.

    Parker - Hill
    Mason - Manu - Hairston
    Jefferson - Delfino/ Nocioni
    Duncan - Blair
    McDyess - Bonner - Ratliff

  • Hobson13

    @ Joe: Why would we want Haslem when Antonio Mcdyess and Blair are both around the same size and both give you good rebounding. McDyess is a better shooter and Blair is a better rebounder. Why does this team need yet another undersized PF or C? At 29 yrs old, Haslem is not an impact player, yet he’s too old to be considered an exciting young prospect. Mason would be better traded for a draft pick and cash as opposed to this. It would be a senseless trade.

  • JT

    just wanted to say that my heart goes out to George Karl and his family. Hope he does well with his treatment, he seems to be a great guy!!!

  • DNITCH

    Trading away McDyess and his contract and an apparently disgruntled Roger Mason would not be a bad idea. I mean with the team we have now, we are not championship contenders unless the team chemistry and execution magically fixes itself quickly. So getting a a much younger, athletic big in Ty Thomas would be great, and would help us a lot more than McD next year and down the road.

    Also we should try and draft Jarvis Vernardo, I’m not sure if any of yall are paying attention to college basketball, but he’s a great shotblocker that passed Timmy D for 2nd all time in blocks. Also we should trade for a late first or high second round draft pick to go get Damion James, he could easily be the athletic young SF we need going forward and is a great shooter/ defender/ rebounder. So if we could trade Bonner and someone else to make that happen I think its worth it. It could save us money and give Hariston time to play also because he is doing great in the D league.

    I agree with the Ty trade and believe that something along this line should be taken as a look towards the furtur to get younger with great talent.

  • DNITCH

    future*

  • Jim Henderson

    Trade TP

    Thanks for the LOL, with you’re famous second-guessing of Pop. Here’s a quote from your previous post:

    “BUT… Say we do bring in Thomas. Like any new player POP will REFUSE to play him. Gooden last year…. I hate Gooden and I thought the trade was a horrible decision, but he played decent the 3 minutes he was in the game. How did we know he wouldnt be as useful as McDyess or Ratliff this year?”

    So, Trade TP, let me ask you this: Do you think Pop might know something about Gooden that you don’t know? Something that might help explain why he’s been with eight teams in his eight years in the league, perhaps? LOL

    And BALLHOG, since Pop manages his players so poorly, and “the league has passed by”, maybe RC should hire you as coach. Hell, we still might have won 20 games this year, simply because it’s ultimately a “players game”.

    I know, he won the 4 titles because of the players, but he’s struggling now because of his coaching. You guys and your POP critique give me a big LOL!

  • Bushka

    Good job Mr.Henderson.

    Pop is a future Hall of famer.

    Drew Goodens on his Ninth team in Eight years.

    I am pretty sure Pop made a good decision there.

    A lot of uninformed stuff flowing the last few days.

  • Trade TP

    If the decision was so great to ACQUIRE HIM why then sit him on the bench. ESPECIALLY when we didnt have any bigs… DUMB.

    LOLOLOLOL @ Bushka and Jim

  • Trade TP

    @ Jim Henderson

    What did POP know about Gooden that we didnt?

    Gooden averaged 10 and 4 in 19 games
    McDoosh averages 6 and 5 in 40+

    Where is the improvement? McD plays more time than Gooden did MPG. So WTF?

    It doesnt matter to me that he has been with 8 teams. But the fact of the matter is Pop has this infatuation with old guys. And that was a great idea 4-5 years ago when Tim could pick up EVERYONEs slack. But now it doesnt work.

    So youre saying that only POP could have won 4 rings with the teams we had? And Phil could have only won with MJ Kobe and Shaq right?

    Pop had a great idea while it lasted. But to continue to be effective we have to evolve with the players, money, and style of play.

    HOF - sure
    5-10 Best coaches of all time??? Came in with Tim, will leave with Tim. You dont really “coach” domination. In all honesty the 5-10 best basketball coaches of all time are probably coaches who took junk teams and made them competive. But no one will ever know who those coaches are because they most likely didnt have the games most dominant player(s).

    I mean Mike Brown… He BLEW before LEbron. Now suddenly he is coach of year? Honestly.?! When Lebron takes over and wins his rings will his coach be top coach of all time? Or will he just be the lucky SOB who sat in the front row watching LeBron dunk on everyone else?

  • ThatBigGuy

    @BALLHOG

    I will second Cory Clay’s comment that I would disagree with pretty much every point you made.

    Listen to what you said about Haislip, “I just watched some very impressive film of him playing in Greece.” Hello! It’s Greece! He kills in a league full of unathletic players by overpowering them with his own freakish athleticism. But the NBA is full of guys faster, quicker, and stronger than he, and so he stays on the bench. That’s not mismanagement, that’s reality. Besides, Haislip didn’t have the balls to ride out this season, work on his game, and try crack the rotation next season, so he asked to be waived.

    Hairston is in the same exact situation. He’s killing against lesser competition in the D-League by using his athleticism, but he can’t cut it at the NBA level yet. It’s looking more and more less likely that he’ll be able to break into our rotation.

    How does Blair score? He finds angles and space off the ball, not with the ball! As soon as he posts up, bigger defenders have way too much of a physical advantage. He is used perfectly, he needs no “touches.”

    Maybe Jefferson isn’t a scrub, but he has been very scrubby so far. You can’t argue with that. Plus, Pop has given Jeff so many opportunities to stop sucking, yet Jeff continues to suck.

    Ratliff is injury insurance and playoff beef, nothing more. He’s cheap, big, and professional. Bogans played well early, but has since lost his minutes to Hill, who has progressed faster than imagined. Also, Bogans is cheap as well.

    This all boils down to something a casual fan doesn’t understand: practice. The only way to get minutes is to earn them in practice. I would say that all your mismanaged players get raped in practice by these old guys. That’s why they don’t play. If Hairston/Haislip/Mahinmi consistently get manhandled by Finley/Dice/Bonner in practice, they don’t deserve game time. Simple.

  • Trade TP

    So you’re saying that Practice holds more weight than games?

    Bonner hits 25/25 threes in practice. McDyess outrebounds John Smith in practice. RJ shoots 44% in practice.

    Thursday night hero.

    “Insert AI quotes about Practice here”

    There has to be some sort of balance between what you do in preparation and how you perform in competition. How does that make sense to continually give crappy performers minutes in the game?

    Would you say that Matt Bonner is the best player to ever play the game if he schooled Jordan every practice but played like he does now during games?

    I understand what you’re saying about Pop getting to see the players skill sets on a regular basis but practice?

  • Bushka

    mate you need to watch NBA games and understand how they are played.

    Until you do the stuff you spout is going to keep sounding inane and insane.

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