RealGM

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/213777/Parker_Spurs_No_Longer_Championship_Contenders

Tony Parker says that age has finally caught up with the Spurs.

"At the start of the season I said this was our last chance," he said.

"Tim and Gino (Manu Ginobili) are getting old. It's going to be tough to regenerate ourselves.

"We will always have a good team but we can no longer say that we're playing for a championship.

This is such a Chris Bosh'esque thing to say. I'm growing less attached to him by the minute.

What do you guys think?

Hell i'm named after him and I think he shown be shipped out. He's the youngest of the big three and the one most likely to get us a good deal in return. He and Rj should be packed and see waht we can get for him.


I think a change of name would be good.

But everything he said is the truth.

We're not contending next year. Especially since a lot of our key guys are playing this summer. And the big 3 is another year older.

Parker acknowledged that he's the best trade asset and he's right. If we are to trade for some frontcourt help and we're talking all-star material (like a Z-bo type), then our best asset is to trade Parker.

I forgot what else he said, but there's nothing false with what he said.

Doesn't matter if it is the truth, he shouldn't be saying it. If he doesn't believe, why is he playing? Request a trade if he doesn't think he can win with the Spurs. I'd be glad to see him go. His body language and effort in the playoffs was poor. When you're getting schooled by a scrub like Mike Conley, something clearly is wrong.

I don't know... For me, I think he's just saying what everyone already knows. It would be different if he said this team can't compete for the playoffs, because the majority of the team in this league can say they can compete for the playoffs. He's saying we can't compete for the title, and that's only something that can be claimed by like.. 5 out of 30 teams in the league.

I do have a problem with his non-showing againts Memphis, and I think if we can get an inside scorer in exchange for Parker, I think we should do it. Offensively, I don't think our biggest issue is at the perimeter. With Manu, and then Hill, and Neal showing some offensive game, and also RJ who I think can/should do more than just spotting up, we're actually deep when it comes to perimeter offense. But we're severely lacking in the low post offense. We barely have any.

With that, if Parker can be traded (he's our best trade bait), then he should. I just don't see what big man is available out there that can help. I would say Chris Kaman, because he's a Center, he's got the low post game, the rebounding, and the size that we would need. But would you really trade Parker for Kaman? Even in the case of big againts small, I rather have Parker. Other than that, I don't really know what big man is available that would improve our team.

The Clippers have Mo Williams at the point and might be happy with him, not sure. I'm not a big fan of Kaman, he ticks all the boxes in terms of what we need from a big, I just wonder if he can do it on a contender.

I guess we just have to hope that Splitter hits the weight room and develops an attitude over the summer.

I'm a big fan of Kaman too, I hope we do make a move for him. A solid no nonsense big man who seems like a good fit for the spurs (blue collar centre). Can spread the floor somewhat too which is a plus

Not sure what that type of trade would look like however..

Donald Kaufman wrote:The Clippers have Mo Williams at the point and might be happy with him, not sure. I'm not a big fan of Kaman, he ticks all the boxes in terms of what we need from a big, I just wonder if he can do it on a contender.

I guess we just have to hope that Splitter hits the weight room and develops an attitude over the summer.

We could always just take Williams too, throw in Dice's contract to make things work.

I'd be happier with Hill at the point rather than Mo.

The fact that everyone else knows that we are slipping further into championship irelevence is exactly the reason that he shouldn't be saying it. Everyone can see that a 60 win first seed shouldnt lose to an 8 seed team yet to win a playoff game. We don't need Parker to come out afterwards waving the white flag.
It just looks bad professionally, you wouldn't see a doctor who lost a patent on the table come out afterwards and say "um yeah maybe i'm not just cut out for this anymore..."

Be professional, let us armchair critics figure the obvious out for ourselves, work harder to get back to the top or step aside so that we can get someone who can. </rant>

^^ Totally agree. I think we're going too easy on TP. He shouldn't be saying this sort of thing. Whether or not he has a point is irrelevant. Imagine if Rondo said it after they lost to Miami? The Celtics might be in a worse position than us going forward, yet none of their players are running their mouth.

Like I said, TP's body language and overall play, in conjunction with the ridiculous and pointless comment by him, probably means it's time to part ways. If he doesn't feel like he can win a title with this team then maybe the reins should be handed to someone who has some belief.

According to WT, turns out he didn't say those things...

^
Ya and it only took him about a month to do it. I really don't know what to believe here.

It seems out of character of him to make a comment like that. But I don't know. Between the sleazy affair/s + his half-assed performance and attitude in the playoffs, maybe this is who he is now...anyway, I still think it's time to part ways with him. His value won't get any higher.

“You think I care what Tony Parker says?” Popovich told Harris in the snippet from the interview, which is available here. “You think Tony Parker is gonna coach when he quits? Why would I listen to Tony Parker?”

When reminded by Harris that Parker already owns a team in France, Popovich went further.

“He can own but he can’t coach,” Popovich said. “Get your –– out there and play, Tony. Tie the score. But talk about basketball, I don’t need Tony for that.”


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Pop said this in a recent interview. This doens't sound like a joke. Even if it is, it's not even funny and it's something that a guy would be pissed to hear. I'm really starting to think Tony is going to get traded this year. I just hope if we do, we don't get a bunch of role players coming back. If it gets out there that Tony publicly wants out, no one is gonna offer fair value. And most likely, that is what we're going to get back... role players.

Probably true. But if we packaged him with someone else, maybe Splitter or Blair we could turn that into something decent.

Donald Kaufman wrote:Probably true. But if we packaged him with someone else, maybe Splitter or Blair we could turn that into something decent.

Yeah but something decent isn't going to be better than a prime Parker in my opinion.

Yeah, I don't doubt that. But is Parker still in his prime? He's got a lot of NBA miles on the clock.

I honestly don't see tp getting any better I think he has hit his ceiling. He's only going to slow down, I can't see his jumpshot becoming substantially better. His value is only going down, and I'm sure we can find some team in need of a former allstar guard. Even if we get some half decent parts and give the keys to George hill.

Depends on what you mean by "Decent". If Decent is like the average basketball player, then I am not trading Parker for that. In fact, I don't think we should trade Parker for anything less than a Star/near-star quality big man.

Watching these playoffs, I still can't believe it's Dallas in the finals. I'm still wondering what would happen if we didn't meet Memphis. I am really confident if we are to meet Dallas.

Well.. At the same time, I'm thinking we lost to Memphis, who lost to OKC, who lost to Dallas.. So how close exactly are we to that Dallas team?