I was reading the SA Express News this morning and didn't realize that next year's off season will be huge for us. Tons of players are in the last year of their contracts.

Tim
Tony
Manu
Baynes
Ayres
Green
Leonard

I may have missed some. Basically, next year's off season will determine the future of the team. No doubt they probably set it up that way on purpose.

I think Kawhi is set to extend his contract this offseason. In typical Kawhi fashion, his statement on the matter was that he would let his agent deal with that while he works on getting better. Wouldn't surprise me if they go ahead and lock up Green, too. He shot 47.5% from three in the playoffs, 41.5% in the regular season, and had the third highest DRtg among guards (16th overall). Plus he actually made some layups in the finals. If he does that consistently next year, they better lock him up now because he's going to get expensive.

That's why this offseason with patty and Boris is huge.

It all comes down to how the Spurs value their flexibility in the Summer of 2015.

The Spurs have set up their contracts for the past three seasons to where they all expire next summer. Besides Tiago, nobody else is on the books at the moment. Hypothetically, this would allow them to put a max player next to Leonard next Summer since the big three come off the books.

This flexibility and cap room will quickly evaporate with long term contracts to Patty, Diaw, etc. Meaning when a Tim and Manu actually do retire it won't create much more flexibility for the Spurs to go sign marquee players.

It's a pretty interesting dilemma and it will show us how much RC is planning for life after Tim.

It has nothing to do with the spurs having the money to pay these guys. They do. It's about how they plan to handle life after tim vs one more run at it.

I don't really have a problem with Manu playing FIBA. I hope he isn't doing 40mpg, but this is his last chance before he retires and can't compete. Have a farewell game and wave to your countrymen.

Per Buck Harvey on the twitter, Duncan may be negotiating to opt out and re-sign for less. Say 2 years @ $8 million vice 1 year @ $10 million.

That would be ideal. It'd give us the opportunity to offer a bigger deal to a potential FA or offer more money to Patty or Boris to get them to stay.

Sounds good to me. As long as Duncan is playing even close to his current level (especially on defense) getting him for 8 million (or 10 million for that matter) is a steal.

I imagine the Spurs know what they are going to do with that extra cap space if this goes through. I wonder if they use it to re-sign Kawhi, give Diaw or Mills an above market bump to keep them in the system similar to Splitter's deal or go after a big free agent such as Gasol.

You don't want to tick off Leonard by making him play out his last year on his rookie contract and become a RFA next year, but that option would give the Spurs the most flexibility to defend their title next year.

If this move goes through I think it means the Spurs are going after a big free agent move like Gasol.

Be interesting to see what exactly Tim takes.

Technically, him opting in for the full 10M or taking a pay cut this season doesn't effect the ability to sign Patty and/or Boris to lucrative deals. It might however, make the ownership group feel better about shelling out a bunch of money to those guys.

While Tim taking yet another pay cut doesn't necessarily help the Spurs sign other players (they should be able to stay below the lux tax line regardless if Tim gets 10M or 7M) it still helps keep the team together by keeping the payroll as low as possible.

Guy is unbelievable and we are an incredibly spoiled fan base. I think this has some to do with him not wanting the media to constantly call this season a farewell tour also. I'm sure he fully intends to play two more seasons if health permits.

I'd be very surprised if the Spurs went Max extension for Kawhi right now when they don't need to. They will still be able to match any offer for him next year or make a better one with the extension or if he decides to play out a qualifying year to get his FA the Spurs can still offer him more than anyone.

Just not much incentive to max him out right now and I don't think they can offer him less than that if they extend him this year.

Kawhi also seems to be a "Spurs type" player that doesn't want to go after endorsement deals or being high profile, he looks like a guy that just wants to play basketball and be left alone. Thus I don't see him leaving the Spurs for less money elsewhere and that's really the only way he can leave.

Melo is apparently opting out. Bulls appear to be the frontrunner with the Rockets another option if they find someone to take Asik and Lin. It should be interesting to see if Morey can really offload those two contract for nothing.

I imagine this may make Lebron think twice about staying in Miami, if he sees Melo going to the Bulls. Is Rose, Melo, Noah better than Lebron, Wade and Bosh? I think Lebron can still win that series for the Heat but it will take much more effort to win the East than he had to exertthis year. I think the Bulls would be the offseason favorites in the east on paper.


In other news, it looks like the Mavs have an interest in Pau Gasol. They could easily out bid the Spurs, so does Pau won't more money and a winning team or less money to play with his brother or even the a championship team in the Spurs.

Early July should be fun.

Even if the Rockets offload Asik/Lin, they still have to figure out what they are doing with Chandler "Totally Better than Kawhi, guyz /Maggie" Parsons. He has a 2mm cap hold until a team offers him a contract, then his cap hold is whatever he is offered while the Rockets wait to match. He is obviously going to get more than that 2mm (or the 1mm he made last year) so most of Houston's cap space is eaten up there. To offload Lin, I think they would have to include Beverly and Jones as a sweetener. Which means your team basically includes Howard/Harden and the RFA rights to Parsons.


I don't think Houston is a legitimate player in any of the marquee free agents.

Word out is that the Spurs trying to bring everyone back with a few minor adjustments. Duncan signing for $8M gives them a better chance of keeping Diaw and Mills.

Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA
San Antonio's Tim Duncan has decided to opt into the final year of his contract at $10.3M, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.

I have a feeling a lot of good vets are going to try and get on the spurs roster.

Would you want Ray Allen on the Spurs if he wanted to come for the Vet Min?

I don't think I would. My hate for him is too strong.

I'd be ok with that for a year. He pushes off a lot, but I don't hate him.

One more year for Timmy. At least.

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Would you want Ray Allen on the Spurs if he wanted to come for the Vet Min?

I don't think I would. My hate for him is too strong.

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At this point in his career he's essentially Marco Belinelli. Both are fantastic shooters, can handle the ball a little, smart guys who know how to move without the ball, but are too limited on D. Jesus Shuttlesworth would get a ton of wide open looks and he's not as streaky as Marco can be, but he'd inevitably lose his rotation spot in the playoffs when we need to buckle down on defense (just like Marco).

Ray Allen might shoot over 50% in the Spurs offense.

Ray would be wide open more often than not. Timmy making one last run. Good for him.

Pau Gasol would be a part of an awesome frontcourt rotation for the Spurs.

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Pau Gasol would be a part of an awesome frontcourt rotation for the Spurs.

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If given the choice between Pau and Ray Allen, I'd rather have Pau. Both are still great offensive players, but they have their limitations defensively. Allen can't guard hardly anyone on the perimeter, and Pau and Timmy wouldn't be able to play next to each other because they'd get pick an roll'd to death. Pau would be fantastic with the second unit and pairing with Diaw. He would bring a third rim protector and we'd never have to worry about not having that presence on the court.

Pau is going to get 8-10M / yr minimum. Plus he really doesn't fit here with Duncan and Splitter already on the roster.

You can never have too many solid big men. If the Spurs can find a way to get Gasol (without giving anyone up on the current roster), they do it. And obviously the only way that will happen is if he really does take a pay cut to play for the MLE.

Just think how SOL the Spurs would be if they lost one of:
Duncan, Diaw, Splitter

There is no one worth a damn behind them to be a consistent, day to day impact player at the 4/5. Don't even mention Aaron Baynes. He's light years away from having anywhere near the impact of those 3.

Adding Gasol to that mix would give them so much depth, they could afford to lose 1 of any of those 4 for an extended period of time and not even skip a beat on their way to another 60 win season. All that said, I think their chances of landing Gasol sit somewhere between 0 and 1 percent.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 6/23/2014 8:48p).]

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 6/23/2014 8:49p).]

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Pau is going to get 8-10M / yr minimum. Plus he really doesn't fit here with Duncan and Splitter already on the roster.

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I doubt Pau takes a big enough pay cut for the Spurs to be able to afford him, but he could absolutely play next to Splitter, the same way Duncan can play next to Splitter. Like I mentioned, Pau and Duncan would have a hard time being on the court together defensively because neither is quick enough anymore to be very effective defending the pick and roll. But having two big men who could play the pick and roll/pop, score with their back to the basket, and rebound the way they can would be amazing.

Pau would add a ton of versatility off the bench. Would be huge if he ended up in a spur uniform.

Ray Allen has done A LOT to raise money and awareness for Type 1 Diabetes so my hate for him is no more, even for Game 6. We both have 7 year old sons with the disease and no matter what happens on the court I can't feel negatively toward the guy. I'd love it if he played for the Spurs, I'd buy a jersey for my son and cheer for him every game. He would also thrive in the Spurs' system. I don't know that other Spur fans could ever get over Game 6 though, I would imagine it might even be weird in the locker room for that matter.

I agree Pau is the more natural fit for the Spurs though, essentially he would replace Bonner for a major upgrade as a stretch 4 to go with Diaw.

Melo and Lebron both opting out. I hope some of these teams spend all their time and money waiting on these two players and the Spurs get a nice deal by being aggresive with a solid player early who isn't getting as much attention.

Gasol would fit this description, but it sounds like the Mavs are already in on him.

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I doubt Pau takes a big enough pay cut for the Spurs to be able to afford him, but he could absolutely play next to Splitter, the same way Duncan can play next to Splitter. Like I mentioned, Pau and Duncan would have a hard time being on the court together defensively because neither is quick enough anymore to be very effective defending the pick and roll. But having two big men who could play the pick and roll/pop, score with their back to the basket, and rebound the way they can would be amazing.

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The league is changing and going smaller and smaller. It could work in the regular season but it becomes a problem in the playoffs when adjustments are so crucial. It could work against some teams who stay big but when you play a team that goes small like OKC or Miami it becomes a problem and those guys are regulated to the bench. Duncan and Splitter didn't see the floor together at all after game 2 of the finals. Duncan and Diaw was the main lineup against OKC. Any pairing of Duncan/Gasol and Splitter wouldn't work all the time.

Anyway it's not happening.

I'm not saying you don't take him if he truly is willing to take pay cut to come. But it's not some immaculate fit as long as Tim is here. He'd have to know that Diaw is still in the lineup over him at the end of games. Doubt he's willing to do that.

I'm fully aware of the limitations of two bigs against teams like OKC and Miami that play small. But the biggest key to San Antonio's success is to stay healthy in the regular season and balance minutes. Belinelli had a minimal impact in the playoffs, only playing well against Portland, but he was huge in the regular season to spell Manu and fill in while Kawhi was hurt. Gasol would take that much more pressure and minutes off Duncan. Plus, outside of OKC and Miami, none of the other teams in the league can force the Spurs to go small that effectively.

Pau isn't coming here and given our biggest competition, it isn't a flawless fit, but he'd certainly make an impact.

I'm more concerned about having options and depth than getting another starter. If Duncan goes down, then what? Who replaces him as a low post threat and high pick and roll shooter? All the other bigs are good at what they do, but at this point Splitter is one dimensional, Baynes is no dimensional, and Diaw is short. Without a multi-talented 7 footer anchoring the interior for significant minutes, that rotation may fall apart.

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I'm more concerned about having options and depth than getting another starter. If Duncan goes down, then what? Who replaces him as a low post threat and high pick and roll shooter? All the other bigs are good at what they do, but at this point Splitter is one dimensional, Baynes is no dimensional, and Diaw is short. Without a multi-talented 7 footer anchoring the interior for significant minutes, that rotation may fall apart.

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Do you mean short term or long term? Short term, the obvious answer is the guy we've been discussing. Long term, you hope to land someone in the draft.

Gasol buys you two more years post-Duncan. After that you have to hope for another multi-talented post who will take less to win a title. Marc Gasol? I mean, at this point either you blow it up and get bad for a couple years so you can draft a great prospect or you keep trying to string on a couple more years at a time. If any front office can pull off the latter it's San Antonio, and pulling moves like Pau Gasol is the only way to stave off the former.

If Gasol takes a cut to play somewhere, I bet it is with his brother in Memphis. Rotation of ZBo/GasolGasol would be more than a little stout.

It isn't like Barkley to the Rockets trying to finally win a ring. He has two rings already.