Spurs waive James Gist, to workout Kevin Palmer

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In a couple of minor roster moves, the San Antonio Spurs waived James Gist from the preseason roster and are reportedly bringing in Kevin Palmer for a workout.

Per the Spurs press release:

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have waived forward James Gist. Gist was originally selected by the Spurs in 2008 NBA Draft with the 57th overall pick. He spent the past two seasons playing overseas before being signed by San Antonio on September 27. Gist appeared in four preseason games, averaging 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 10.8 minutes.

Kevin Palmer, a 6’6″ rookie small forward from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was waived by the Washington Wizards last Thursday. Palmer appeared in only one of the Wizards’ preseason games and played just four minutes.

Neither of these moves have much of an effect on the Spurs’ regular season roster and could have more to do with the Austin Toros. Gist wasn’t playing much in the preseason, and when he was, he didn’t show enough quality to prove he deserved a roster spot.

There are rumors that Gist has a job lined up overseas if/when released by the Spurs, so there was no point keeping him around for the entire preseason when San Antonio can assign their last three roster cuts to the Toros. The Spurs could see something in Palmer that warrants a closer look and, possibly, some time in Austin for development.

According to his DraftExpress Profile, Palmer has some tools that the Spurs like to see in their wing players:

Though he has a very skinny and undeveloped upper body, he has good size for the wing at 6’6. His style of play is heavily reliant on his athleticism, from running the floor well in transition to making an impact with his physical tools on the defensive end. While his defensive fundamentals are not great, he has some intriguing things to work with and should only get better with continued coaching and increased strength.

Palmer is likely a better shooter than his percentages indicate, boasting a fairly consistent shooting motion and a quick release. While his mechanics and shot selection could use some work, Palmer should continue to develop in this area as his role changes dramatically at the professional level. He also needs to improve his ball handling, as it limits his effectiveness in transition and in one-on-one situations.

Sounds like a Spur to me. I’m not going go down the is-he-the-next-Bruce-Bowen path, but it sounds like he has the physical tools and skill set that San Antonio covets in their wing defenders. If the front office and coaching staff can convince him that that’s where his future lies and he buys into it, San Antonio could have themselves an interesting little project for the next couple of seasons.

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  • Jim Henderson

    I think your take is right on the money. Let’s hope he turns out to be an upside surprise at some point.

  • sasleepless

    Bowen never relied on athleticism. Just high basketball IQ, and an unrelenting commitment to defense.

  • samuel

    Anyone else notice the revisionist history being spoken about the spurs 2010 season?

    On BOTH the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons’s nba season preview and the NBA Today with Ryen Russillo’s West Preview, both men mention the Spurs getting bounced in round one… Bill does this with his knowledgeable buddy House and Ryen does it with two other NBA experts.

    Bill Simmons was a bit more excuseable b/c he just speaks from his gut a lot, but still…. yikes on both counts.

  • John T.

    Yeah Samuel, I just finished listening to both podcasts and noticed that Russillo and Simmons made the same mistake.

    I guess it is easy to blur the results from 2009 and 2010 with the Mavericks together and it probably would not have changed their opinions.

    At the same time it isn’t a whole lot to ask people who speak so-matter-of-factly to actually have their facts straight.

  • InsideHoops

    SAMUEL take both predictions with a grain of salt. Who cares if both predict an early exit from the playoffs. I’ve seen a few predictions noting that we will lose against the Lakers in the western conference finals. That’s a little more like it in my book. Relative to Kevin Palmer don’t expect him to make the final roster as I’m expecting Bobby Simmons to win that spot.

  • rob

    “Neither of these moves have much of an effect on the Spurs’ regular season roster and could have more to do with the Austin Toros.”

    That’s what I was thinking when I first heard.

    The Spurs are going to have to start making personell adaptions to the Toros. Jerrells is gone to the Hornets. Gist will be gone to Europe. It’s a whole new team for the Toro’s this year. They’ve got to find replacements.

  • idahospur

    Spurs need health if they want to do anything in the post-season. We have the resources to flirt with 50 wins in a talented West, even with some minor set backs. But the assumption is we will need to burn the engines to make it into the playoffs, which makes things all that harder to win. Hopefully Tony is back from his problems and ready for an MVP-like year.

  • Jimbo (Oz)

    samuel

    yeah, I noticed that as well…. obviously taking out the 2 seed in the first round doesn’t count like it used to :) I agree on you with Simmons, but for any NBA “expert” to say that and not correct themselves at some point is pretty lame..

    sasleepless

    I know Bowen had a great basketball IQ, but people shouldn’t forget his athleticism - some of the quickest hands and feet in the NBA, and really “wiry” strong…

  • DNITCH

    I’m just happy to see that DeJuan Blair won the starting spot and is going to actually see a good chunk of minutes this year. He’s going to help a lot and put up great numbers.

  • doggydogworld

    “San Antonio can assign their last three roster cuts to the Toros.”

    Can someone explain what it means if SA assigns a roster cut to the Toros? I think it only means that player cannog play for any other D-League team. But he could still go to Europe or China or something, right? And even if he chooses to play for the Toros the Spurs don’t have any claim on him, right? Any other NBA team could call him up for a 10 day or even sign him to a multi-year if they wanted. Am I wrong about this?

  • http://www.bpifanconnect.com Alix Babaie

    I think that everyone needs to see Bill Simmons for what he is, an entertaining writer with a little overall knowledge of the game. If you think he is a great prognosticator, all you need do is look at how piss poor is football predictions are to see that taking his opinions on the NBA outlook for the Spurs is laughable. GO SPURS GO, DRIVE FOR FIVE!!

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  • Hunter

    I am so sick of this crap. “spurs final roster spot goes to some random player i’ve never heard of who might be good in three years.” NO NO NO NO NO. we need to win now while we still have duncan. here are some free agents who can give us an impact now without costing much in our bid for a championship
    Eric Dampier
    Wally Zcerbiack
    Kyrlo Fesenko
    Josh Boone
    all guys who can help us now for a low price

  • Jim Henderson

    Hunter
    October 23rd, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    Fesenko has re-signed with Utah, but I get your drift.

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