Tag: San Antonio Spurs (Page 3 of 16)

      USA 70, Brazil 68

      August 30, 2010 /
      USA's Kevin Durant (R) drives past Brazil's Alex Garcia (L) in the first half of their FIBA Basketball World Championship game in Istanbul, August 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes (TURKEY - Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)

      In many ways, today’s USA/Brazil game was a typical Team USA game. The Americans overcame sloppy play (22 turnovers) and poor outside shooting (2-of-11) from all players not named Kevin Durant, and survived against the Brazilians, who had every chance to steal a win against the superior talent of Team USA. But Leandro Barbosa went cold in the second half, finishing 3-of-13 from 3PT after a hot start, and Brazil came up short.

      Outside of Durant (27 points, 10 rebounds) and maybe Chauncey Billups (15 points) and Derrick Rose (11 points), this team is a mess. The bench managed a paltry six points, but Coach K leaned heavily on his starters, playing each guy a minimum of 29 minutes. (Durant played 39 minutes.) There was little or no offensive movement, leaving Durant, Billups and Rose to create on their own. How a team with this much talent can turn the ball over 22 times in 40 minutes is mind-boggling.

      Moreover, there was little to no enthusiasm from the U.S. bench, while the Brazilians were standing and cheering their teammates throughout the game. At one point, I think Danny Granger (zero minutes) fell asleep. (Kidding. Not really.) They played hard enough defensively, and even though they gave up a ton of open shots, they eventually wore the Brazilians down.

      One reason I tuned in was to see the Spurs new center, Tiago Splitter, who Fran Fraschilla called the best center in Europe. He’s 25, moves well for his size, and has a pretty nice jump hook with both the right and the left hands. I suspect he’ll be in foul trouble for the entire month of November as he figures out how NBA officials are going to call the game, but he has the potential to be as good as any center Tim Duncan has played with since David Robinson. (I realize that’s not saying a whole lot.)

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News

      Was Richard Jefferson’s deal prearranged?

      July 26, 2010 /
      Oct 14, 2008 - Guangzhou, Guangdong, China - RICHARD JEFFERSON of NBA's Milwaukee Bucks attends a training session at the Guangzhou Gymnasium in Guangzhou. NBA China Games 2008, featuring the opening game between Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks, will tip off in Guangzhou on Oct. 15 Photo via Newscom

      John Hollinger breaks down the financial impact of Richard Jefferson’s decision to opt out and his resulting contract with the Spurs. Skip to the bolded text if you’re not interested in the nuts and bolts.

      On the other hand, they got under the tax solely because Richard Jefferson opted out of a final year on his deal that would have paid him $15 million. This one raised eyebrows in front offices around the league, many of which suspected that there was a prearranged deal between the two parties.

      This isn’t an outlandish premise, given that:

      • Jefferson told reporters in April that it might be worth it to opt out if he could get a four-year, $40 million deal (he said it right here on April 11).

      • That’s almost to the dollar the deal he received in July.

      • Doing so got the Spurs out of the luxury tax and allowed them to sign Splitter at a discount.

      • There didn’t appear to be any kind of serious bid from another team to drive up Jefferson’s price.

      That said, we have no smoking gun that there was any kind of prearranged deal between the Spurs and Jefferson. We don’t even have a smokeless gun. All we have is the circumstantial evidence above, as well as two other pieces of information:

      1. The Spurs don’t sign bad contracts.

      2. This is the worst contract of the summer.

      Seriously, four years and $39 million for Richard Jefferson? Did Isiah Thomas take over the franchise and not tell anybody? Wings who depend on athleticism have a rough time in their late 20s and early 30s; Jefferson just turned 30. He wasn’t a $10 million per year player two years ago, and sure as heck isn’t going to be one two years down the road.

      Follow the money, however. Jefferson’s opt-out and lower-salaried return means the Spurs will save about $17 million in salary, luxury tax and tax distributions this year (if one presumes Splitter was coming regardless). Jefferson’s new deal cost $31 million after this season, which is all we care about since the Spurs were paying him in 2010-11 either way. Subtract $17 million from $31 million and you end up with Jefferson’s deal as a three-year, $14 million extension, which seems eminently reasonable … if you were going to prearrange such a thing.

      In other words, it was in the Spurs’ benefit for Jefferson to opt out and sign a longer deal at a lower average salary due to the cost savings this season. That savings put the Spurs under the cap and allowed them to sign Tiago Splitter, which Hollinger calls the best contract of the summer.

      Hmm.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Jefferson heading back to the Spurs

      July 20, 2010 /
      Apr. 14, 2010: San Antonio Spurs forward Richard Jefferson during an NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX Dallas defeated San Antonio 96-89.

      According to Marc Stein, Richard Jefferson will officially back with the Spurs sometime soon.

      This is the week, by all accounts, that San Antonio and Richard Jefferson will complete the restructured deal that we’ve all assumed had to be forthcoming since Jefferson stunningly opted out of a $15 million salary for next season on the eve of free agency. The specifics in terms of years and dollars remain unknown, but I’ve been assured that Jefferson will officially be back with the Spurs quite soon.

      In describing his decision to leave $15 million on the table, the word ‘stunning’ is totally appropriate. Jefferson sees himself as a 20-point scorer in an up-tempo offense, but the rest of the league sees him as a 30-year-old aging athlete who averaged 12 points a game last season. He probably thought he’d get a deal in the four- or five-year range at $9-$10 million a season, but it looks like he’s going to have to settle for quite a bit less. He did the Spurs a favor by opting out, so maybe they’ll treat him well.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      What was Richard Jefferson thinking?

      July 15, 2010 /

      Apr. 14, 2010: San Antonio Spurs forward Richard Jefferson during an NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX Dallas defeated San Antonio 96-89.

      Jeff McDonald and Chris Mannix have some news/rumors about Richard Jefferson.

      Jeff McDonald: FWIW, source close to the process sets odds of Jefferson returning to SA at 95 percent.

      Chris Mannix: Contrary to some reports, Richard Jefferson does not have any kind of deal in place with Spurs to return for more years at lesser salary.

      Chris Mannix: I’m told Jefferson is open to returning to SA but his first priority is a long term deal at the best annual salary he can get.

      Jefferson raised more than a few eyebrows when he opted out of the final year of his contract with the Spurs (at the tune of $15.2 million) in order to become a free agent and secure a long-term deal. He overestimated the market for the services of a 30-year-old swingman who averaged 12-4-2 and shot 32% from long range.

      The Clippers are reportedly interested, but McDonald seems pretty sure that he’s headed back to San Antonio, which is curious because Jefferson has said in the past that the Spurs’ offense does not showcase his abilities. Maybe he doesn’t care if he has a long-term deal in place. Jefferson’s market seems to be about three or four years at the mid-level ($18-$24 million total), which makes one wonder why he’d leave a one-year payday of $15 million on the table.

      At this point, he might as well play for the Heat at the veteran’s minimum. At least that way he can say he opted out for the chance to win a ring instead of looking foolish for overestimating his value.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Discussing some smaller NBA moves, Part 1

      July 14, 2010 /

      There has been so much focus on the big names in free agency that sometimes the complementary players are overlooked. Here’s a rundown of some of the mid-level names that have changed teams this summer:

      Raymond Felton signs with the Knicks. (2/$15 M)
      When life gives you lemons… Donnie Walsh managed to sign Amare Stoudemire, but struck out on LeBron, Wade and Bosh. So instead of overpaying for another big-name free agent, or even re-signing David Lee, Walsh signed a capable point guard in Felton to run Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo system. Most importantly, he negotiated a short, two-year contract (with a possible third season as a team option) to allow the pursuit of Chris Paul if/when he becomes a free agent in two years. Felton averaged 12-4-6 and shot 46% from the field for the Bobcats last season. His numbers are sure to rise in New York assuming he gets the same run (33 mpg).

      Jermaine O’Neal signs with the Celtics. (2/$12 M)
      Rasheed Wallace is retiring, so the C’s needed to shore up its front line in order to contend with Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh in the playoffs. O’Neal isn’t the player he used to be, but he averaged 14-7 and shot a career high (53%) for the Heat last season. He’s a big body and decent defender and he’s capable of hitting a face up jumper when given the opportunity. As long as he holds up, this is a nice signing by Boston.

      Kyle Korver signs with the Bulls. (3/$15 M)
      Chicago lacked three-point shooting last season and Korver fills that need. He hit almost 54% from deep last season and is a career 41% shooter. He should be a nice fit as a spot up shooter with Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer, but needs to shoot 40%+ from 3PT to justify a starting spot. He’s better defensively as a small forward than as a shooting guard, so it’s not clear how he and Luol Deng will play together. I expected Korver to get a full mid-level deal in this market so the Bulls got him for a relatively good price.

      Tiago Splitter signs with the Spurs. (3/$11 M)
      This deal happened rather quietly, but San Antonio finally has its 2007 first round draft pick under contract… at a bargain. Splitter is a 25-year-old, 6-11 center who was named the MVP of the Spanish League last season. He averaged 16-7 and shot 58% from the field in 28 minutes a game. While he’s not a great rebounder, he’s good defensively and can take some of the scoring load off of Tim Duncan. At under $4 million a season, he’s a steal.

      Al Harrington signs with the Nuggets. (5/$34 M)
      Harrington’s 18-6 line from last season needs to be taken with a grain of salt since he was playing for a pretty bad Knicks team that played at a very high pace. The Nuggets outbid the Mavs for Harrington’s services and Denver had to overpay to lock him up. The Nuggets will be without Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen to start the season and Nene is always a threat to miss time with injury, so Harrington gives the team a big body who can score when called upon. He’s 30, so this contract is not going to look very good in 2-3 years, but such is the market for big men.

      Part 2: Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood, Tony Allen, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Kyle Lowry, Steve Blake

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑