Free Agency 2009

[Nolan]

Its become quite clear that this team needs a bit of a make over and although we do have some good trade assets I don't think we can address all of our needs through trades. We going to have to make some savey free agent signings if we want to get back to that elite level that we've been at for the past decade. We're going to have the MLE and LLE exceptions to spend. Here's a link to a list of all the guys that going to be avaliable this summer:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10

So lets discuss some free agents!

[Ballings7]

Here's who I like for us, in relation to additional offensive creativity and size/length/agility in the front-court..

Joe Smith

Brandon Bass (not as good a possibility because of Dallas; I actually was wanting us to get him before he made the Mavs in 2007)

Linas Kleiza

Antonio McDyess

Rasheed Wallace

Ron Artest (not too likely considering he's looking to cash in (and rightfully so), and the Rockets can of course beat the MLE. I'm still all on board for getting him, though.)

Trevor Ariza (should be looked at after Rasheed for sure; I would of loved for us to get him in his FA year one or two years ago. I'd lean to the Lakers having the edge, though)

Quinton Ross (Can be like Bowen only younger and more athletic. Improved his three pt range.)

Yakhouba Diawara (Have always liked him a lot since he came into the league as a defender and athlete, just needed to gain a 3Pt shot and he has. Big wing-man and a significant athlete.)

Joel Anthony

Rodney Carney (Love him, just hasn't gotten much of a consistent, fair chance yet.)

Shelden Williams (Like him. More in the middle/bottom for big men choices, needs even more of a chance than he got with Sac last season. Has shown pretty good ability on the inside defensively, average jumpshot so far.)

Damien Wilkins

Anthony Parker

Carlos Delfino

Joey Graham (did better this past season from what I gathered; could be a nice piece; definitely like his size and athleticism)

Morris Almond


Maybe Ian will finally play, too

[Nolan]

Well I think our two biggest needs are at center and small forward so here are some guys I think can help fill those voids.

Zaza Pachulia is a guy that I really like, he's a work horse in the low post and makes his living getting garbage buckets and those tough rebounds. He'd be the perfect guy to put next Duncan, he's still fairly young (25) and lets not forget that it was only two years ago that he a 12 and 8 guy for the Hawks. I think he can be had for fairly cheap(around 2-3 million) so we could split the MLE between him and a small forward. I think he could be a solid 10 and 7 guy for us and he could be our starting center.

Antonio McDyess/ Joe Smith. I loved to see us pick up one of these veteran big men to come off the bench for us. Both are very smart player that could be had for the LLE or for the veteran minimun and they would both be great fits with our team.

Desmond Mason, I think that he could be a very steal for some lucky team hopefully us. Mason's bascially played his entire career for small market teams and he doesn't get alot of recognition around the league but he's a very good slasher and he's decent on the defensive end. He's on the wrong side of 30 and he's not a household name but I think he could be a solid pick up for the LLE or veteran minumun and I think he could be a 7 and 4 type of guy for us off the bench.

[Black_Jack21]

I wouldn't mind giving Gerald Green a look, he's unrestricted, young athletic wing and just needs a some consistant minutes to make a name for himself.

Hakim Warrick would be another nice player, a decent scoring rebounding big man who is pretty mobile. Restricted though so i'm not sue how much Memphis would spend on him.

Jamaal Maglorie is unrestricted as well, big guy, can come in and give TD some relief minutes, I couldn't imagine him fetching too much money especially considering the bulk of the teams with money are trying to save it for a big push next year.

Then off course there is Rasheed Wallace, I'm hoping a change of scenery is enough to kick start him. He hasn't played well since 2005. Still better than any Big not named Tim that we have but still a motivated Wallace would be a fantastic addition to our frontline

[johnnyjohnnyjohnny]

We need players who can create plays with the ball in their hand, specifically at the SF position.

At the C, we need someone to compliment TD. A player smart enough to know his role and be where he needs to be. If TD draws the double team, this player moves in position for an easy basket. He crashes the boards and plays good man D.

Our biggest problem for as long as I can remember has been our scoring slumps in big games. Finding a guy(s) to fill both of these roles would really help with that.

[Donald Kaufman]

Channing Frye?

[Nolan]

Channing Frye?

He could be good and he'll come cheap. One of those guys that simply just needs more minutes and he's not getting alot in Portland. Only problem is that he's a restricted free agent, or at least I think he is. Which means that Portland will most defenitly match any low ball offer we send his way and just keep him around for depth.

[co_laper]

Outside of the obvious bargains such as Rasheed, Marion, and such.. here's cheaper players that I think could be had and be a nice piece.

Wally World: Great shooter, he's big like 6'7'' 250. He's not a rebounder but I personally would rather see Wally at PF in small ball than Finley or Bowen. So he'd be an upgrade.

Chris Anderson: Don't know if we MLE is enough to get him but I think that's gonna be his worth this summer. Great shotblocker and energy player. Now that Duncan plays inside exclusively and is more like a Center than ever, having a young energetic hustle player like Birdman is ideal.

Marquis Daniels: Well I liked him since his Dallas days when he's really like Josh Howard back then.

Ariza/Odom: They're saying the Lakers won't keep both and that they're leaning toward Ariza. If so, There's a good chance that whoever leaves could only get MLE next year.

Jamarion Moon: SF with good rebounding skills and finally someone for Parker to throw a lob to.

Desmong Mason: like the guy above said.

Grant Hill/Matt Barnes: Either one would be a nice addition for us. I'd rather have Grant to be honest.

[Donald Kaufman]

Wally would be a nice pickup, but if the Cavs win it all I can see him demanding more $$$ on the open market. Similar to the Tyronne Lue situation after the Lakers won the chip in '02.

Would love to get Birdman. Seems like a douche though and I think he might command more than the MLE, again due to the long playoff run upping his value.

Strange you say that about Marquis, I used to get him and Howard mixed up when they were both with the Mavs. Obviously not physically similar, but their games were.

Odom has to be worth more than the MLE. I agree that the Lakers would most likely keep Ariza, he's younger and a better defender.

[It_Was_Typed]

From a Laker fan's eyes, I think Ariza is priority number one this summer.

So, Odom could very well come to the Spurs if he wants to win another championship.

[Nolan]

Outside of the obvious bargains such as Rasheed, Marion, and such.. here's cheaper players that I think could be had and be a nice piece.

Wally World: Great shooter, he's big like 6'7'' 250. He's not a rebounder but I personally would rather see Wally at PF in small ball than Finley or Bowen. So he'd be an upgrade.

Chris Anderson: Don't know if we MLE is enough to get him but I think that's gonna be his worth this summer. Great shotblocker and energy player. Now that Duncan plays inside exclusively and is more like a Center than ever, having a young energetic hustle player like Birdman is ideal.

Marquis Daniels: Well I liked him since his Dallas days when he's really like Josh Howard back then.

Ariza/Odom: They're saying the Lakers won't keep both and that they're leaning toward Ariza. If so, There's a good chance that whoever leaves could only get MLE next year.

Jamarion Moon: SF with good rebounding skills and finally someone for Parker to throw a lob to.
Desmong Mason: like the guy above said.

Grant Hill/Matt Barnes: Either one would be a nice addition for us. I'd rather have Grant to be honest.

I watched Moon play in Toronto and all I can say is that he's got the skills but he's lazy and scared of contact. He likes to shoot alot of really bad jumpshots because he doesn't like going to the rim and at times he can be a very good defender but as I already said he's lazy so he reaches alot and bites on alot of pump fakes.

[bishopospurs]

I think the best we can do would be to get Matt Barnes (loved him with Golden State) and Chris Adnerson out of the names mentioned above. Then with a good draft and one meaningful trade we would be tons improved. I don't want Hill (old), Daniels (not better than Barnes in my opinion), or Wally. Moon is interesting, but I am put out with ex-Raptors at the moment. Odom would be nice, and is possible simply because he can get revenge on LA for benching him. So I have my hopes up for Barnes, Odom, and Anderson as far as free agency goes.

[Jugoplastika89-90-91]

Real Madrid offer a contract to Giannis Bouroussis. CSKA and three NBA teams (Spurs, Warriors and Griezlies) are also interested to sign him.
It seems Bourousis will extend his contract with Olympiakos, after the Greek A1 finals.

[Master Shake]

I'm just a Pistons fan, but always been a closet Spurs fan. I pretty much watch you guys whenever your on national tv, and I think the two best guys you could add to that team would be McDyess number 1 and Sheed number 2. Either one of those guys would be excellent next to Duncan, and both still have at least 2 solid years left. I would say McDyess' legs have actually started to benefit from 3 years off, he looks pretty young out there.

If you guys brought back Gooden and brought in McDyess. With a 75% Manu, you guys are right up there with the Lakers. McDyess is that good, he was an absolute beast down the stretch for us. Basically averaging 10 and 10 and carrying out front line, without him, we win 25 games this year. He had a couple 20 rebound games in there too.

And I'm pretty sure the Pistons have their eyes on a couple of guys on your list like Chris Anderson and Ariza... and we have the money to spend... sorry to slightly burst your bubble.

[co_laper]

Right now, I'm leaning toward having Chris Anderson here instead of Rasheed or McDyess. We need a guy like Chris. We definitely need a shotblocker out there other than Duncan. And we sorely need an energy guy. That's 2 things Dice and Sheed doesn't really provide. If Chris isn't a possibilty, I still like Sheed first then McDyess. Sheed IMO has become strictly a jumpshooter at this point. He's very good at it, but that's what he is now. He's obviously a better rebounder and plays with a more consistent effort than Sheed. That's 2 things he's better at. But with Sheed, we have another guy who can create his own shot. Sheed can score at will in the post man... And while Dice is like 6'9'' and is a natural PF, Sheed is 6'11'' and wide. He has the strength and size to guard Centers and PFs. Plus, thou he doesn't block many shots, he's more of a threat than Dice.

If we're looking to get a PF with rebounding skills and a jumpshot, I'd rather we keep Gooden instead of going after Dice. We need to get younger.

[Donald Kaufman]

I'm just a Pistons fan, but always been a closet Spurs fan. I pretty much watch you guys whenever your on national tv, and I think the two best guys you could add to that team would be McDyess number 1 and Sheed number 2. Either one of those guys would be excellent next to Duncan, and both still have at least 2 solid years left. I would say McDyess' legs have actually started to benefit from 3 years off, he looks pretty young out there.

If you guys brought back Gooden and brought in McDyess. With a 75% Manu, you guys are right up there with the Lakers. McDyess is that good, he was an absolute beast down the stretch for us. Basically averaging 10 and 10 and carrying out front line, without him, we win 25 games this year. He had a couple 20 rebound games in there too.

And I'm pretty sure the Pistons have their eyes on a couple of guys on your list like Chris Anderson and Ariza... and we have the money to spend... sorry to slightly burst your bubble.

Ariza is a pipe dream I think. The Lakers basically have to choose between him and Odom.

I'd definitely love to see Dice here, he'd be a great addition and would slot in quite well I think. Sheed - no way. Doesn't he want $10M ? He's not worth it, not at his age.

I personally would love to see Gooden back. Don't know if management feels the same though.

[Master Shake]

Honestly, I see it would suit you guys a lot better to throw about 1/2 the MLE at McDyess and the other half at Jamario Moon. McDyess isn't looking for money, he's looking for a shot to play for a title, and you guys don't seem to have watched much McDyess.

He is an energy guy, he was our best player down the stretch. He is money from mid-range, is a rebounding machine, plays good man to man defense, and believe me when I say age isn't a huge factor with him. Those 3 years he had off makes him look younger, he'd be absolutely phenomenal for you guys. McDyess is the one guy I never want to leave the Pistons, but he's such a great guy and teammate I want him to win a ship where ever he can, cuz it is not happening in Detroit anytime soon.

Mark my words; if you brought in McDyess, you'd be the favorites out west, especially if somebody like Splitter came over and Moon signed on for cheap.

[saspurebball]

Here are a few players i would target
Gerald Green, Chris Andersen, Rasheed Wallace, Mehmet Okur (ETO), Louis Amundson (T), Joel Anthony

[co_laper]

Honestly, if we're really serious about one more title run, I think we should go aftr Marcus Camby. He puts our defense back to one of the best. And with Manu healthy, that could take us really far

[Donald Kaufman]

Yeah I agree, and I prefer Camby over Sheed.