Sheed to Boston

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As many commenters have already noted, according to ESPN Rasheed Wallace has made a verbal commitment to the Boston Celtics. It’s a disappointing update and in some ways a surprising one: Considering that Sheed cannot technically sign a contract til the 8th, I see no reason why he wouldn’t have at least heard the Spurs’ pitch.

Either way, our focus is no longer on Sheed but who will now start in the frontcourt alongside Duncan. Frequently mentioned targets include Antonio McDyess, Brandon Bass, and Channing Frye. And don’t forget that, in some people’s opinion, Tiago Splitter remains a possibility.

Over the coming days Tim and I will have some fresh analysis of the Spurs’ potential targets now that the free agent field has narrowed.

  • Bushka

    Sheed has busy hands and an abhorrent attitude to cleanlieness…i never liked him…dammit…dammit..dammit

  • rikiddo

    Reports are coming in that indicate Glen “Big Baby” Davis is signing with the Spurs. Not sure what to think about that, other than not understanding what the Spurs are doing at the moment.

    http://twitter.com/Gary_Tanguay

  • sydneylla

    This Wallace thing is truly a bummer. We need to be realistic about what can be accomplished against the likes of the Lakers/Celtics/Cavs with a frontline of Timmy and “the untested ones”.
    I read the draftexpress profile of Haislip and thought- great 11th man! To seriously contend this year, and that seems to be our goal w/ RJ, we need at least one credible starting big man to help Tim battle the likes of Gasol, Bynum, Garnett and now apparently Wallace. I don’t see the tandem of Gooden & Pachulia getting the job done. One of them as the primary backup is great, but a starter? I think it’s time to acknowledge that barring a Splitter signing, and even then, there is only one free agent still out there who has veteran savvy, interior toughness, a mid-range jumper, rebounding skill and the ability to guard quality 4’s & 5’s.
    His name is McDyess. He ain’t perfect, but he’s damn solid. Put Gooden behind him and we’re sitting pretty. Too costly? Put Pachulia behind him and we’re still looking…kinda cute.
    A frontcourt of Tim/McDyess/Gooden or Pachulia/Blair/Mahinmi/Haislip has legit written all over it. Subtract McDyess and insert Brandon Bass or Channing Frye and we’re kidding ourselves about what’s possible vs. great teams in the playoffs. Right now we have one(?!) legit NBA starting big.* That’s frightening.

    * I have intentionally omitted Matt Bonner from any discussion of credible rebounding/defending power forwards. Call it a concession to reality-based fandom.

  • ruth bader ginobili

    We should always make sure to refer to Rasheed Wallace as the “aging” Rasheel Wallace from now on, just so we feel better.
    With the addition of Haislip, Blair, and Ian, maybe a floor-bound vet like McDyss is the answer. In the opposite direction, Odom would be a good fit, but are we assuming he is off the table?
    I don’t think Glen Davis would be an upgrade over Bonner, either.

  • Area Man

    Well, I hope Rasheed Wallace has a comfy new couch waiting for him Boston where he can watch the Spurs advance the 2010 championship series.

    And wait? Glen “Big Baby” Davis? That can’t be right, can it?

    Pop, please roll that Dice.

  • juan H.

    who is gary tanguay?

  • Juan

    I hope is not true about Davis. It makes no sense, another undersized PF, plus I’m always doubtful about contract year postseason overachievers (I’m looking at you Marcin!)

    It’s a shame if Rasheed does sign with Boston, like you have said, it makes little sense to pronounce now unless other teams have definitely tell him they won’t match what Boston is offering, which is not likely IMO.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Graydon Gordian

    I don’t know enough about Gary Tanguay to say whether he is a reliable source or not. But as the news rolls in, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

    Ruth Bader Ginobili,

    Personally, I would consider Davis an upgrade over Bonner. Davis is a far more physical defensive presence, has a reliable mid-range jumper and can score at the rim.

    Bonner makes threes at relatively unimportant moments, and misses them at critical moments. That’s about all he is good for.

    That doesn’t mean I think signing Davis (if that is really what has happened) is necessarily the right move, but I do think he is a better player than Bonner.

  • Zach R.

    I tweeted this Tanguay fellow.

    Davis would be great, I think.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Graydon Gordian

    According to Zach Lowe of Celtics Hub, Tanguay is not reliable.

  • Robby

    I think getting McDyess+Bass or Gooden using the MLE and LLE would be nice…

    and i still think we need to add another quality 3 backup behind RJ…

  • ruth bader ginobili

    Just not with you on Davis. He’s a strong player, but doesn’t rebound or block shots any better than Bonner, so I think its a small defensive improvement. Offensively, he’s decent, but not enough to outweigh Bonner’s +40% on threes, which seems to fit Pop’s system better too.
    I hope we don’t get a chance to see how he looks as a Spur.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Graydon Gordian

    Ruth Bader Ginobili,

    You may be right. A quickly glance at their respective PER’s certainly backs up your point (Bonner had a PER of 15.02 last season. Davis’ PER was 10.77).

    Either way, we are definitely in agreement about one thing: I’d rather not have the opportunity to find out.

  • rocko.texas

    I’m very disappointed that we didn’t get Sheed, particularly because it seems we had yet to make our final case. Perhaps the FO has other plans. I would not be happy with a Davis signing.

    Although it was frustrating to watch him struggle to contribute, I feel like Bonner deserves some defense. To his credit, he hustled and tried to contribute to the best of his ability. Unfortunately a lack of skill and athleticism prevented him from contributing much beyond his stellar shooting. Once the shots weren’t going down, his value absolutely plummeted.

    That being said, I don’t think there is anyone who feels that Bonner is starting material. He still has some utility as an off-the bench shooter. His defensive shortcomings would likely be mitigated by going against other bench players. The lack of quality bigs last year forced Pop to promote him to a starting role.

    If we can trade him to get a long, rebounding big (especially a starter), I would not have any remorse. However, I think he can still contribute as long as he is able to stick to his role. At this point, he is the most experienced big we have after Tim Duncan…..yeesh.

  • Robby

    with the Possible addition of Marcus Haislip to our roster, i think we only need another big (Possibly McDyess or Bass) and then use to other roster spot for a 3 like Grant Hill or Marion if possible… What do you think Graydon?

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Graydon Gordian

    Robby,

    You are definitely on the right path. The first priority is using the MLE to acquire a big who can start alongside Duncan. Aside from that, our second priority is finding a suitable back up for Jefferson (Finley may be able to get the job done, but we can do better).

    Hill is being pursued by several teams so I wouldn’t count on that. Marion would be a nice addition but, if we use our MLE on a big, we won’t have the money to sign him. In all likelihood, if we make an improvement at the back-up small forward position, we will make it via a trade.

  • Tydus

    Just a thought but what about Chris Wilcox? He could slide into that starting spot, and then bring Malik Hairston back and put him behind RJ. To me that seems like a viable option.

  • ohmylady

    well what about a sign and trade that would include bonner or fin to new orleans for tyson chandler or david west or even a rade 4 markus camby?? we still have our bi annual and mle to sign role players

  • Samuel

    I think we dodged a bullet with this rasheed wallace signing. An old, overrated bullet.

    And I’m prepared to eat my words for the first 30 games of the season, and then feel fine for the last 52.

  • Bushka

    Can Greg Poppovich buy Tau Ceramica and give Tiago Splitter an early mark?

  • g7997

    I still think the best big man option is in L.A. Buford needs to call the Clips and do what he can to get Marcus Camby. Camby for Finley, Mason and Bonner works for cap purposes, plus we would still have MLE and bi-annual exception to fill in holes. Go get this trade done!!

  • Robby

    Graydon,

    thanks for making things clearer about getting Grant Hill, and Marion won’t probably sign with us by giving him LLE.

    When you say via Trade, i think Travis Outlaw would be a good target, i might only cost us Bonner and another player that we can sign at the minimum right?…

  • Drew

    Honestly I thought ‘Sheed would have made a really strong starting five and would have provided solid defense along side Timmy. So it is a shame to see him choose Boston before even hearing an offer from the Spurs, all I can say for him is good luck making the All-Star team in the east now. I do agree with g7997 that getting Marcus Camby would be sweet but i dont think that we should give up too much for him. Mason will come into his own this year after having a year to get use to the system and is still the second most efficient three point shooter behind JR, and if they get camby and loose Bonner than there is no longer that chance of spreading the court. Even though some people say that Gooden has too low of a basketball IQ, there is no denying that he was still able to come in and make an immediate impact this past year, and is worth resigning. With the signing of Marcus Haislip, the focus needs to be on finding a solid 5, and McDyess fits the bill. There is a lot of young talent on the team now, but I dont think that we should completely bail out of the concept that experience also holds a lot of value. Somehow adding Odom would be amazing, but McDyess seems like the best option

  • DanielB

    I’m also curious about whether Marcus Camby would be obtainable. I’ve always liked that guy, and I’d prefer him over McDyess. Although McDyess seems more realistic.

  • Robby

    I think a realistic guy for us would be Mcdyess, Bass or probably David Lee if MLE is enough…

    after that getting a backup 3 is just as important…

  • lvmainman

    Maybe Rasheed will pull a Hedo, otherwise the options available to help Duncan up front are extremely limited. McDyess is waiting to see who the Pistons hire as a head coach? That doesn’t sound promising for his becoming a Spur.

  • Robby

    I would not give my hopes high on Rasheed pulling a Hedo… McDyess is a nice option (even if he’s old). but i believe there’s alot of BIGS out there that we can eventually sign even if McDyess decides to stay with the Pistons…

    Possible BIGS we can land (and probably will not command our full MLE):

    Brandon Bass
    Drew Gooden
    Z. Pachulia
    C. Wilcox
    Ryan Hollins

    just to name a few…

  • therealkman

    In my opinion, Sheed was never a good fit for the Spurs. I have advocated Channing Frye as the starting PF for the Spurs since the moment Portland let him go.

    http://theorangerock.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-wants-job.html

  • ChillFAN

    Hmmmmm. Sheed to Celts? not pleased, but at least he’s in the East. The last thing we needed was him signing with Blazers or something. The team pow wow that was mocked obviously convinced him while the Spurs waited. McDyss has a few more question marks than Wallace, but its not THAT huge a drop off. Bass is a little less than McDyss, but once you get to Gooden, its such a reach to Sheed. Camby trade would be sweet, but I don’t even think the Clips know what there goals are for the next year.

  • Navin

    Why is there no mention of trying to recruit Marion? Our roster, as it stands, has nobody that is going to stay with Kobe on defense! Marion: gd open 3 shooter, gd rebounder and nice defender…

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Graydon Gordian

    Navin,

    Personally, I think Marion is on the radar. He wants more than the MLE, but at this point I don’t think he is going to get it.

    Our first concern is a big who can start alongside Duncan and, regrettably, Marion doesn’t have the post defense to fill that role (though, as you say, he is a tremendous wing defender).

    But if we end this offseason with Marion as a consolation prize, well, that’s one hell of a consolation prize.

  • BlaseE

    I like Channing Frye as well and was never entirely sold on the Wallace move. I’m almost to the point of just wanting to see the Spurs fill out the roster with unproven/cheap/low risk bigs and letting one of the four to six step up and be the starter. Being a starter with TP, Mason, Jefferson, and TD with Manu coming in as 6th man has to be one of the easiest starting jobs in the NBA. That kind of segues into my next point and Bonner’s PER…..

    One note on the Davis/Bonner comparison even though I am in agreement that I’d rather not see him in a Spurs uniform. Davis started all 14 playoff games for Boston this year and upped his PER in those game to over 15. I couldn’t track Bonner’s down but at 21.7% shooting, 23.1% 3 point shooting, 16 pts, and 15 rebounds in 100 minutes, I can imagine his to be pretty grim. Personally, I don’t care too much about the regular season, but Davis showed he is willing to step up and play in the playoffs. Bonner was just lost all series.

  • NL

    I honestly thought a talk with Popovich would bring Sheed to San Antonio but counterfactuals don’t give us a big man. In any event, I trust the front office is not finished and we’ll be pleasantly surprised by their moves.

    The operative word is “surprised.” The Spurs are quite good at that.

  • David R.

    I thought David Lee was out of our price range looking for 8-10 million per.

    If McDyess is our option what will it take to sign him? Are we looking at the full MLE?

    Also, can you split the MLE? Since you’re not paying tax on the MLE is there any advangtage to not spending it?

  • http://celticshub.com Zach Lowe

    I should clarify that what I meant by Tanguay not being generally reliable is that he, until recently, hasn’t dabbled in traditional news reporting so much-he’s not like Marc Spears at the Globe or Mark Murphy at the Herald. And he tends to shoot from the hip occasionally on TV. But he nailed the Sheed signing before anyone else did, and he does have sources on the team.

  • Jezav

    I believe that you can split part of the MLE to offer to different players, although I am not 100% certain.
    As far as the salary cap works, I also believe that you can pay tax on the MLE. If I remember correctly - anyone with knowledge please correct me - there are two different numbers that often get confused with respect to how a team can spend money.
    The first is the salary cap, which determines how much a team can freely spend. There are exceptions to this number such as the MLE, LLE, trade exceptions, bird rights, trades, etc.

    The second is the luxury tax threshold (which is higher than the salary cap number), which determines the point at which a team starts paying a 1:1 penalty for every dollar spent above this threshold. It is not a cap at all, but rather acts as a defacto cap threshold as owners are loathe to pay the tax.

    I’ll give an example of how this works. The figures used are only for ease of example. Let’s say the salary cap is at 60mil and the luxury tax is at 70mil. A team can spend up to 60mil freely, but if they want to spend more, they have to have some kind of exception to do so (as mentioned before, MLE, LLE, bird rights, trade exception, etc. ). A team does not start to pay the tax at the 60.1mil mark. They would have to have so many exceptions to put them over the higher 70mil mark in order to pay tax. As you can see, there is a sizable gap between the cap and the tax threshold.

    Where a team would pay tax on the MLE is if a team was already past the salary cap based on other exceptions, but was close enough to the threshold that spending their MLE money would put them over. So let’s say (using the figures above for example) that a team has a salary of 68mil, but has not used it’s exception. If that team - aka Spurs ;-) - spent the MLE (5.6mil), this would take them above the 70mil threshold where they would pay tax.

    To sum up, the cap (lower number) and the luxury tax threshold (higher number) are different numbers. A team paying the tax is by definition above the cap, but a team above the cap is not necessarily paying the tax. I hope this example is helpful to make it clear. Also, if I’ve misstated anything, I would be very grateful if someone would correct me.

  • sydneylla

    I think that this Spurs team, as currently consituted has the firepower to win 55 games and get a top 4 seed. But as it stands now, we don’t have anything appoaching the frontline size, bulk or experience to compete against the top teams in the league. I dismissed Marion as being too expensive, but even if he might be available, as Graydon suggests, that doesn’t strike me as a solution to our problem. Marion plays the same position as RJ. If you put him at the 4 to create maximum playing time for both, we are in Suns-style gimmick-land, witha 6-7 PF, who simply can’t guard 6-11, 250 pound opponents. It just puts too much pressure on Tim. Plus, let’s not forget that Tim’s knees are not in tip-top shape. If he’s down for any length of time, we will be fielding a Toro-level frontcourt (no offense to Toro fans intended, but let’s be real.)
    If McDyess doesn’t happen, I’m almost inclined to agree with whoever suggested getting a bunch of of other bigs on the cheap and letting them battle for minutes to see if anyone emerges. If we can’t get a proven starter, I’d rather spend the MLE on three “C” level guys than on two “C+” level ones and let the three bettle it out, Thunderdome-style, w/ Blair, Mahinmi, Haislip and Gist. We pick the top five and line ‘em up next to Timmy. I don’t know where a possible Davis signing fits in, but I sure hope we don’t overpay for the guy if we do sign him. I get a weird, “slightly more talented” Jackie Butler vibe from him.

    As an aside, I still have hope that we could trade Bonner & Fin for someone in a sign & trade for what would amount to the cost of the MLE & still use the MLE on another big. That would provide two quality bigs and allow us to use Blair/Haislip & Mahinmi as The Three Subketeers. Then we can use the veterans exception on a backup three (Bowen? Quinton Ross?) or stick w/ Hairston or MWilliams.

    Just please don’t give me Pachulia chaff and call it wheat.

  • Greg

    I agree that getting Davis would not be a good move. I’d much rather give his minutes to Blair and see what he can do. I watched some Celtics games this season and don’t see Davis being an impact guy or someone who could compliment Duncan.

    As for Rasheed, I would have loved to see him in a Spurs uni this year. He would have fit well. But I’m willing to give the FO a pass on this and to trust them. Either they felt that Rasheed was out of their grasp to start with, or wouldn’t have been the perfect fit, because I believe they would have put more of a sales pitch towards him. With the way they have aggressively gone at this offseason, I don’t think they would have stood idly by and let Boston make a move if they truly felt Sheed was the answer to our title hopes or Sheed really wanted to be here. Maybe Timmy D got a sense that he didn’t want to be in SA when he talked with him before. So instead of making a big public display, they chose to stay behind the scenes and hope he might change his mind.

    I really think they need to land McDyess after this. Lee is too expensive, Frye too soft, and everyone else is not quite what we’re looking for. And who knows, maybe they really do know something we don’t about Splitter coming.

    About Marion, do we really think he’ll take a back up role to come here? He wanted out of Phoenix because he wasn’t the man and now we think he’s going to be a bench guy? I’d much rather go with a younger, team oriented player instead. Although I do like the thought of Travis Outlaw, but not sure if we could swing a deal for him. What about Rudy Fernandez? I heard he was unhappy that they were going after Turkuglu. Not sure if that relationship is beyond repair.

  • Jason

    It looks to me that the Spurs front office may be trying to play it patient to see who’s left and could be a bargain after the dust settles. David Lee is a name that comes to mind, I hear he priced himself out of a contract with the Grizz, causing them to trade for Zach Randolf. NY doesn’t look to have the money for Lee and I don’t hear of many other teams making a push for him, including the Spurs. Now, the guy played in NY and I haven’t watched a Knicks game in about a decade, but his numbers look good enough to be a starting big on this team.

    If this Haislip signing goes through we’re looking at signing 1, maximum 2, more players that the Spurs don’t currently have rights to. The rest of the spots will be filled by summer league and Toros players, there are enough there that are due to perform that I can think of 2 or 3 of those guys who should have break out seasons. So I think we already have the dark horses we’re betting on lined up, its another sure-thing kinda reliable contributor that we’re still short.

    To weigh in on the Davis controversy, I’d definitively rather have him than Channing Frye as that go-to contributor. The direction the NBA is currently moving with more undersized but thicker big-men plays into Glen Davis’ game. What I would see the spurs doing with him is starting him at the 4 with a good amount of min shared with Blair, who is basically the same type player, but supposedly a better rebounder. Sharing min they could make a serviceable 4 combo… i can’t believe i just wrote that, please save us Tiago

  • Jblock

    I am on board with Samuel who said that we dodged an old overrated bullet by not signing Sheed.

    I think Zaza Pachulia is the best option out there, he is a starter, good rebounder, shot blocker, we don’t need offense out of this signing. We just need a tall, rebounding, defensive SOB, and Pachulia is just the SOB for the job.

    Plus, I have to be honest, I really liked it when he almost got into a fight with KG in the playoffs.

    I haven’t heard many people talking about Zaza so far this offseason, is there any word on the Spurs’ intrest in him?

  • Bryan

    I was never really hot on the idea of signing Wallace, as he just seemed to be a player on the decline. I guess that doesn’t matter now.

    Does anybody know where the Artest trade leaves the Lakers with respect to resigning Odom? I really think he would be a great fit for the team. He wouldn’t be called upon to be a scorer very often, and he could just provide whatever was required of him each night - be it defense, passing, etc. We just need to be sure we keep him off of the candy!

  • Joe

    At this point, with the overall talent level in the FA pool dwindling, shouldn’t we consider just going after the best talent available with our MLE money and worry about filling in the holes later via trades?

    I agree with some of the comments above that Marion would be a good fit considering our options. He could start at the 4, as he did a lot of the time in Phoenix, and he could move over to the 3 when Jefferson is on the bench, so there should be plenty of minutes available for him. He has a good enough outside shot to spread the floor on offense, and he gives a lot more on D.

    We could then package Bonner with Finley and/or Mason in a trade for a more traditional veteran big to bring off the bench (Camby would be the obvious first choice, but I think even guys like Samuel Dalembert or Nick Collison would be an improvement).

  • Joe

    Regarding Lee, my guess is that he’s going to settle for the qualifying offer rather than take a MLE deal from anyone. He can get a lot more money next summer when he’ll be unrestricted and when a lot more teams will have cap space to offer bigger deals.

  • ChillFAN

    Bryan, Lamar Odom made it clear he wants to live by the beach. I don’t think he means Corpus.

  • Bryan

    Yeah, I read that beach comment earlier this evening. Oh well…