Spurs to Sign Theo Ratliff

by

86012982FM055_Sixers_MagicThe Spurs have come to an agreement with veteran big man Theo Ratliff. Ratliff, who has been in the league for 14 seasons, adds further depth to what already looked to be one of the deeper frontcourts in the league.

A common reaction to this signing (and, in all honesty, my initial reaction) will be bemusement: Do we really need another big man? Well, Someone in the front office sure thinks we do.

You can draw a direct line from some of last week’s summer league performances to this signing. It’s reasonable to assume that neither James Gist nor Jack McClinton showed Pop and Buford enough to earn a roster spot this coming October. With some roster space open and the LLE to spend, they decided to give Tim Duncan more backups than he will know what to do with.

And that’s the question: Do we now have more big men than we know what to do with? Oddly enough, I don’t think we do. There are 15 roster spots available to any NBA team. It is not absurd to spend 7 of those spots on the frontcourt.

Although I couldn’t be more excited to watch the Spurs dominate the paint this season, the truth of the matter is this frontcourt may be more fragile than we would like to admit. Tim Duncan’s knee issues have not suddenly disappeared. I am very excited to see what both DeJuan Blair and Ian Mahinmi can do, but they are still untested. If, as they did last year, Duncan’s knees limit his minutes during the regular season and one of our two big men prospects doesn’t pan out, the Spurs could do much worse than having Theo Ratliff plugging the hole.

When the news hit, I was in the process of writing a post about how we should save the LLE in order to make a late season acquisition in case any part of the rotation appeared to shallow. But, in all honesty, Ratliff is as good a player as we would have gotten in such a scenario. I am fine with making the rough equivalent of such a move now.

Over at PtR, Rikkido said he believes this move makes a trade almost certain. Personally, I’m not so positive but I will admit that I like some of the names he puts on the table (Raja Bell is realistic and would be an excellent addition at this point). When we’ve had some time to thoroughly consider our trade options, Tim or I will be back with some further analysis on that front.

← Older Comments
  • BB

    I like to remind myself that a younger Timmy won championships with KWill & an 80 yr. old Admiral. So if you average out the withering contributions of McDyess, current Tim, and the rest of the slightly-beat-up big men, it seems reasonable that they could compete. They don’t necessarily have to beat LA’s frontcourt to beat LA, either.

  • Sean

    This is got to be the longest comment thread in 48MOH history..

    Headline: “Spurs to sign Theo Ratliff”…

    You would think we traded away Manu or the Admiral was coming out of retirement with all the comments..

    classic.

  • DanielB

    I think this thread has gotten so lengthy because there hasn’t been very many new posts lately…so we need to talk somewhere.

    I’m having Spurs withdrawals here.

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

    To the best of my knowledge this is, in fact, the longest comment thread ever on 48MoH. I remember the days when this blog would go weeks without getting a single comment. I’ll admit, I prefer the way things are nowadays.

    And I apologize for the slowed rate of posting. Tim has been on vacation, my grad school program has just begun to ramp up, and the offseason news cycle has begun to slow. Those factors have all helped to slow things down around here a bit.

  • BB

    I think it’s just been that the Spurs front office has finally slowed down enough that we can complain about the moves they’ve made so far or determine what they should do next. Usually this starts immediately in June, but it’s been building up since they signed RJ this summer.

  • DanielB

    No need to apologize Graydon. Real life comes before all.

    And there has been a lack of major NBA news (let alone Spurs news), so there’s no need for new posts. Only quality articles are written about quality news here at 48MoH anyways.

  • ChillFAN

    Quality comments? I just want to see this thread get longer. Ratliff may never play a second for the Spurs, but for next few months, every time I have a random thought, I’m adding it here.

    So Mavs got Gooden, should Spurs try to get Ryan Hollins?

  • SpursfanSteve

    ChillFan,
    i think Hill is our new perimeter defender. hes not yet as smart as Bowen was, but what he lacks in intelligence he makes up with athleticism. By the end of the year, i’d put money on him being a lockdown guy.

    And i think Dejaun Blair is AT WORST our Brandon Bass. I think Blair has a better game on offense though. I also think hes a smarter player. It may not strike fear in LA, but Ratliff and Blair off the bench will hold their ground.

    but i agree with points 4, 6, and point “make this thread even longer”

  • Josh

    ChillFan
    I completely agree with you in the sense that we cannot have too many bigs. But the fact is the that Mahinmi-Bonner-Ratliff-Blair are not meant to strike fear to Odom-Gasol-Bynum trio. All they will end up being is 6 fouls to slow them down. If you have a two to three man rotation of bigs for each of those three main contributors on a team you are going to eventually wear them down. A change in defensive styles per player causes adjustments for the offensive player. You throw in Mcyess and TD and you have a serious rotation that will punish any combination of bigs the Lakers throw at us.

  • ChillFAN

    Josh, I am considering your point about TD and McDyess being the key guys so who cares about Gasol-Bynum-Odom? also I know it’s about being OUR best and not just beating L.A.

    But I personally don’t like the “6-foul-theory,” and not just because it’s painful to watch the other team’s free throw parade. Slashers like Jefferson and Ginobili are less effective with a traditionally slow but tall post guy clogging one side of the floor. Slashers play better with an athletic, shot-blocking BIG who can finish at the rim. Maybe this is the type of thing the 48MoH editors wanted to see with PopsMB, even though my Mavs friends insisted he’d had this chance already. Bonner’s a great backup center for what we ask of our Bigs when Manu’s on the floor. I hope we can depend on Mahinmi to do this type of thing.

    If, as SpursfanSteve asserts, Blair is at least as good as someone like Brandon Bass, he could maintain status quo while Duncan rests. We will not have a problem. I’m asking because I’m not sure…..who fits better as a Spurs backup, Thomas or Ratliff?

    LOL, SpursfanSteve, all I can say about “extend Theo Ratliff’s thread,” is that TrueFan “started it.”

    DanielB, I second that “Graydon’s doing a great job.”

    BB, thanks–I’d forgoten Kevin Willis was part of championship team. As an overly intense Spurs fan, I always have plenty to complain about. I have to confess that I usually adopt a “whipping boy,” to scream at during games, in years past it was Tony’s D, then Brent’s D, or Finley’s D, this year I hope its not Mason’s ball handling skills.
    Sean, you mentioned “trading Manu?” I mentioned it to my grandma once and she slapped me.

    Finally, dumb question here, is McDyess for certain going to start? Is Finley?

  • Bert

    Just to put it out there. Here are some possible trades that would make anyone happy.

    1. Spurs trade Finley and Bonner to Rockets for Battier. Which would be the best trade are probably could happen.

    2. This is more of a dream. If Presti helped us out again. Trade Finley and Bonner for Kevin Durant. Unlikely but it works out.

    Either one would be a dream for the spurs.

  • SpursfanSteve

    To answer your question, Ratliff is a better shot blocker than Thomas, by far. BUT one thing Thomas was good at was just putting a body on people, making rotations, great team D. I havent seen enough of Ratliff to know for sure if he can do all those things as well as Thomas.

    And i think Mason’s ballhandling ability will be the thing that vexes you most this year. I hope so, at least, because if thats the worst thing we have going, then we’ll be in good shape.

    I’d say Mcdyess is a starter. It should be him or Blair. Finley i have no idea about. RJ should start at the 3, i’d imagine it will be Mason or Manu at the 2, but Finley could potentially start there.

  • DanielB

    I realize this isn’t the place for this statement, but 1) There’s no other place for it, 2) I want this thread to get longer, and 3) it deserves to be said.

    Happy Birthday Manu Ginobili!

  • Zainn

    Bert, Trading for kevin durant would requiee much more playets and daft picks from the sours for that to go through

  • SpursfanSteve

    There is not a trade package in the world that would get us Durant.

  • sydneylla

    You know we’re in a serious summer Spurs news vacuum when people start suggesting that we could trade Matt Bonner and Michael Finley for Kevin Durant.

  • TheRed&Black

    We can only wish. Go Horns!

  • Sean

    Hey Graydon & Tim,

    Can you ban posters who post ridiculous trade scenarios?

    Finley & Bonner for Durant??

    How about we trade our ball boys for Dywayne Wade & Kobe?

    Or what if we trade the peanut & popcorn guys for Lebron straight up??

    All kidding aside Bert, just because salaries match does not mean talent matches, especially when it involves players on rookie contracts (first 3 years in league). Durant will be a max contract the rest of his career.

  • SpursfanSteve

    actually, i’d prefer to trade some old Gervin jerseys for Anthony Randolph from the Warriors. Or Stephen Jackson. I’d love it if the spurs got Captain Jack back.

  • BB

    I think he’d prefer being the first option on the Warriors to spelling RJ.

  • SpursfanSteve

    Good point BB. shame, though.

  • ChillFAN

    Sean & SpursfanSteve, hilarious, although Id thrown in a few 9mms so the Warrior could shoot them off in the air when Capt Jack leaves. Maybe we’d At The very least have to pay for a large sculpture of praying hands around a pistol

    google Stephen Jackson tattoo pic–

    I took the Durant trade proposal as either hilarious sarcasm or a newbie Longhorn Spurs fan.

    any way, I’m just glad when a commenter has a point, as JRome would say. before you start begging4 comments to start being banned, make sure the Spurs hardworking Ball kids, popcorn and peanut vendors are insulted by your own comments.

  • http://www.health-news-blog.com/ Emily 

    I think this thread has gotten so lengthy because there hasn’t been very many new posts lately…so we need to talk somewhere.

← Older Comments