Spurs waive Ime Udoka

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On Wednesday, the San Antonio Spurs announced they waived forward Ime Udoka. From the press release:

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived guard/forward Ime Udoka. Udoka was signed by San Antonio on November 24, 2010, and appeared in 20 games totaling 14 points and 19 rebounds in 130 minutes.

The Spurs roster now stands at 12.

It was pretty clear that Ime Udoka was not the same player for San Antonio this time that he was during his first go around with the Spurs. His one decent game for the silver and black was on Saturday night against Oklahoma City when he drew some time defending Kevin Durant.

Other than that, Udoka was pretty disappointing. Ime has been the latest in a string of backup small forwards brought in and given the boot, along with Alozo Gee and Danny Green. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spurs bring in former Cleveland Cavalier Jawad Williams for a spell. San Antonio worked-out Williams over the summer when looking for frontcourt cover, but he stayed with Cleveland.

Williams was wavied by the Cavs on December 27.

Also of note is today is the first day players can be signed to 10-day contracts, so the Spurs may dip into the D-League player pool for their next addition. The Austin Toros has a small forward-heavy roster this season, so there’s a small chance we could see one of Kevin Palmer, Dominique Archie or Lance Thomas called up. At the same time, San Antonio doesn’t hesitate to pluck players from other D-League teams either, like when the Spurs signed Garrett Temple from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers last year.

With the Spurs having waived Udoka’s contract, any player they sign as a replacement is not eligible to be used in a trade. So if they sign someone for the remainder of the season, he won’t be part of a bigger plan. That player will be with the Spurs for the rest of the season. You know, unless he’s waived too.

  • doggydogworld

    I like Ime but it seems his offensive contribution went from minimal a couple years ago to negative. Really just can’t afford to have him on the court. Too bad.

  • BOSS

    I hope James Anderson is close to coming back.

  • BayAreaSpursFan

    Do the Spurs have to sign a small-forward? How about another center or a power-forward who can defend like a small-forward?

  • Hobson13

    Thank God. The guy has zero offensive skills and poor lateral quickness. He can’t even make open mid range jumpers and was the guy who set Neal up for that monster dunk by JR Smith. Besides, Anderson should be back soon and it would be a shame to see Pop play Ime instead of JA.

  • TD = Best EVER

    @ BayAreaSpursFan
    +5 agreed

    @ Hobson13

    I just saw that Rodney Carney was waved by Golden State. He is a good defender and can guard the 2-3 with ease.

  • Tydus

    I agree with BayAreaSpursFan. Why do we need a SF? Pops Mensah-Bonsu is available and I loved him while he was here. Why not bring him back? But the idea of Jawad Williams is also intriguing.

  • spursfanbayarea

    Ime Udoka was just a patch due to the injury to anderson. If anderson was never injured, Udoka would have never been signed. His playing time was absolutely horrible. He has lost a step and clearly was not an effective player. I would have rather given young guys with potential danny green those few minutes. I posted the other day that Jarron Collins was recently let go by the clips. Lot of players are going to become available due the the Jan 10 deadline which makes all contracts guaranteed. Would be good to sign someone now to ten day contract and then see what fall out and pick up a servicable big guy.

  • rangerjohn

    the spurs need defense from every position, so no single player is going to make that big a contribution but a perimeter defender IMO is more of a need then interior. case in point, the spurs are 29th in 3 point defense, that is RIDICULOUS! what PF/C is going to help with that?

  • DieHardSpur

    20 points? when the hell did he score 20 points? LOL.

    James Anderson is our key back up small-forward, and probably our best defender behind George Hill. I cant wait until he returns.

  • irongiantkc

    Interesting suggestions, except Jarron Collins. Really? Our answer might be somebody waived by the Clippers? Maybe the Nets or the Kings have somebody we could use that wasn’t good enough to make their teams. Guys and gals, he’s not out there. Neo (didn’t make up that nickname, one of the other commenters used it “for Mr. Anderson” and I love it) is the guy and that’s it. We have our team. btw, I think Neo and Splitter have a chance to contribute after the Rodeo Trip.

  • rangerjohn

    there you go, brian skinner was just released by the bucks! our team is saved!

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

    @ rangerjohn

    The Spurs are the third worst team in the NBA in 3-point FG % allowed, but the allow the fifth-least attempts in the league. And that’s by design, run them off the 3-point line and stop them before they get to the hoop. Make the other team shoot in that middle ground.

  • DorieStreet

    @ spursfanbayarea

    Collins-no. I don’t want to go down the aged journeyman track anymore-think the Knicks’ Randolph help us out? TD=Best EVER suggests Rodney Carey-I’m for giving a former collegiate all-conference guy a shot. Never saw him play in the league but that figures if his time before GSW has been with 76ers & Twolves- won’t see them on national TV. Let’s give one of these young SFs a chance- at least a 10-day contract.

  • rangerjohn

    andrew, yes i realize it is by design, and as of yesterday they where 29th i guess someone else let more 3s go last night.

    my point is, the spurs do not get scored on in the paint enough to be in need of another big more then a wing defender. getting another big when pop doesnt even play splitter (a more then serviceable post defender) would create more wasted flesh on the bench. the spurs need a wing defender who can come in and help hill on the best guys. sure anderson was playing decent defense in his what 6 games but it is to small of a case study to know how he will really perform.

    mostly i am a bit disappointed raja bell went t utah as he would have been a perfect fit, but that is old news obviously.

  • TD = Best EVER

    @ Andrew

    “The Spurs are the third worst team in the NBA in 3-point FG % allowed, but the allow the fifth-least attempts in the league. And that’s by design, run them off the 3-point line and stop them before they get to the hoop. Make the other team shoot in that middle ground.”

    Wouldn’t you agree that when we make these rotations we are not able to keep the more athletic guards from getting to the rim. That’s why we have had so many issue this season on D. Is that we are either getting beat to the rim or to rebounds more this year than in any other year during the Duncan era. And to that fact. A good defensive SF or even better a PF/C that plays D can help us out on these rotations. Both on the perimeter, at the basket, and on the boards.

  • spursfanbayarea

    @Dorie Street
    There is already going to be a problem getting anderson some minutes when he gets back. If you want to add Carey in the meantime while he gets back to form, Im for that. But our goal should be to get anderson back in shape and develop him for now and the future. For a sixth big, who is going to play extremely limited minutes, having a no risk veteran big man seems like a good investment. To get any other players we have to give up something. We can get a big without giving up any talent or draft picks and not hurt our salary cap for the future.
    As for randolph he is a mixed bag. He is full of potential. But potential is the scariest word out there. There is no guarantee that he will ever live up to it. If we could get him for a second round pick down the line it is worth the risk. But I would not give up on any of our talent to acquire him.

  • irongiantkc

    Randolph might be interesting. it’s okay that he’s full of potential. The Spurs wouldn’t give up anything to get him. Could be a find because he plays behind Amare who plays, like, 60 minutes a game. Seriously, he must have SOME potential, he was a first round draft pick. Maybe the teams could figure out something with Bonner. The Spurs could use another big body down low. While Bonner is a GREAT 3 pt shooter, he’s kind of like Bruce Bowen without the shutdown defense. He can’t usually break down defenders (though he’s faster than you’d expect) but maybe the Knicks could use some help from the 3 point line.

  • Dr. Who

    So do we have 2 weeks until we have to get back to the mandated 13 players roster????

    @Tydus
    That is hilarious! I believe you are correct; the Hornets waived him. He was the “chosen one” by many if you recall. I think there was a huge upsrising and revolt in SA when he was released. I think it’d be too funny to see him come full circle. Stranger things have happen. He knows the system for the most part.

    @TD=BE
    Carney is the first person I thought of as well. I’d be pretty happy with that signing.

  • L-Man

    I think Carney would be a good pickup. The Jokeahad 1 good series vs the Whorenets in 08, but otherwise was a liabilty on the court, especially on the offensive end.

  • L-Man

    That was a typo. I meant Ujokea had 1 good series against the Whorenets. (ala Jar Jar Jackson who stepped it up in 99 playoffs but was poor before and after in every way)

  • The Beat Counselor

    LANCE THOMAS!!!

  • rob

    Doesn’t suprise me they did. He wasn’t providing much help.

    Tiago needs to take notice. Do something to prove he belongs. Otherwise….just saying.

  • Nima K.

    @rob

    Otherwise what? He’ll become Luis Scola #2 for some other team?

    RJ took more than a year to adjust, why not Tiago?

  • rob

    “RJ took more than a year to adjust, why not Tiago?”

    RJ was at least on the court.

    A player not able to get playing time for a team that is in need of that player’s position probably doesn’t fit that team.

    We’ll see. The Spurs DO need Tiago to get adequate time if Duncan is to be expected to have enough in the tank come playoff time.

  • Ted

    Since we don’t get a lot of insights into personnel decisions from the Spurs’ FO, we are left to guess on the line of thinking on some of these FA player hires. Sometimes, they look good, other times, like gambles, sometimes they make no sense to us at all.

    I wasn’t a fan of bringing Udoka back at all.

    Another one that comes to mind is the Theo Ratliff hire. The guy has nothing left to give at the NBA level, as the Lakers have found out. It was a wonder that he played a few good games for the Bobcats last season. He’s done.

    Also, the whole thing with Haislip last season. What was that about?

    Finally, yeah, all the shuffling around that has been going on with the D-leaguer guards and SF’s coming and going is a bit perplexing. They’ve had some fairly decent players in at times, and they are gone now.

    It would be so good to have some insights from the F.O., but that’s not something that most F.O.’s care to comment on or explain. Top secret player analysis and scouting info! On most levels, I can understand why they don’t share it, but as a Spurs fan, I’d love to know the thought processes behind some of these personnel moves over the past several years.

  • Ed

    Overdue.

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