Re: Clippers Concerned By Spurs' Possible Pursuit Of Chris Paul

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Los Angeles Clippers can offer Chris Paul an extra guaranteed season and bigger raises than any rival team, but the team still remains concerned about their ability to re-sign him in free agency.

The Clippers are treating the San Antonio Spurs as a serious threat of signing Paul. The Spurs don't currently have enough cap space to sign Paul to a max contract, but they could conceivably clear room.

The Spurs' point guard situation is uncertain with Tony Parker having one more season left on his contract and coming off a left leg injury while Patty Mills is an unrestricted free agent.

In addition to Paul, the Clippers also have Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick hitting free agency.

Via Marc Stein/ESPN

[12footrim]

I think they could easily move both Gasol (if he opts in) and Parker. Both would be expiring contracts and when you look around are only even getting about average starter money. Mosgov, Jokim, Mahimi, Evan Turner, Basemore etc all go 16-18 million in this market. Who wouldn't want these guys for 15 and 16 each for one year expirings? Pau Gasol had a 20 PER last year

Aldrige would be better at Center and is actually still a good contract at 20 million a year in this market.

C-Aldrige
F- (Anderson)
F- Kawhi
G-Green
G- Paul

Not sure what they do with PF, but I would bet some ring chasers like David West type would sign for peanuts to play with that team. If not Kyle Anderson could finally get his chance there. He had a top 10 SF RPM last year. Bertans is the other option I guess and whoever value contracts they go after to replace Dedmon and Lee.

Simmions is about to get overpaid and I wouldn't even want to be the team doing it.

[LAKESHOW]

Paul would be perfect. If I was the spurs, I'd clean house and bring him in. In today's game you need an elite back court. And Paul with kwahi would be one of the top 3 in all of the nba

[madmaxmedia]

This other guy now says he wants to buy my wife that Enzo...should I be worried???

[nedleeds]

C'mon Doc, get Melo! Chris can play with his banana boat buddy!

[D21]

I think they could easily move both Gasol (if he opts in) and Parker. Both would be expiring contracts and when you look around are only even getting about average starter money. Mosgov, Jokim, Mahimi, Evan Turner, Basemore etc all go 16-18 million in this market...

Don't forget that GM's see now that all these contracts were stupid contracts.
The one singing these contracts were blinded by the 35% cap increase, and they ended up paying these guys more than they should have, eating all the room instead of staying in the range of what the players should have get and keep something to add more players or re-sign their own in the coming season.

They are all bad contracts, so they are not example of what the F.A should get now, even if that's what their agent will say.

[HotelVitale]

Paul would be perfect. If I was the spurs, I'd clean house and bring him in. In today's game you need an elite back court. And Paul with kwahi would be one of the top 3 in all of the nba

They'd be incredibly thin though, esp since they'd have to dump Parker+ Gasol and let Manu, Mills, and Simmons walk (and almost defintely D Lee too). This is the entire roster they'd be left with:
Paul/D Murray
Kawhi/Forbes
Green
Aldridge/K Anderson
Dedmon/Bertans

Is that team any better than the current Clippers?

[Pickled Prunes]

They should be concerned! It would solve problems for CP3 and the Spurs. It's really just about money now. Can the Spurs find the cap flexibility and will CP3 give up bird rights to go there?

[Sam195]

They should be concerned! It would solve problems for CP3 and the Spurs. It's really just about money now. Can the Spurs find the cap flexibility and will CP3 give up bird rights to go there?

The report is fake news started by some LA beat writer who is bored and craving attention. The Spurs have a history of not overpaying for aging veterans. This a team that convinced the likes of Duncan, Parker and Ginobilli to take discount contracts during the prime of their careers and than even bigger discounts in the present during their twilight years. Texas having no state income tax is also a helper.In exchange for those discounts - the Spurs preserved loyalty amongst their core and I doubt they trade Parker before his retirement even if he's washed up and injured. Spurs also locked up Kawhi and Aldridge to multiyear contracts before the salary cap exploded and both their contracts look like bargains compared to the recent deals signed by non-allstars forget superstars. Same people said Spurs were after Conley last summer and no meeting ever took place. CP3 is 32 and it's highly doubtful he is going to stay healthy and improve as a player on a consistent basis going forward especially at a max salary.

[Don Tommy]

Paul would be perfect. If I was the spurs, I'd clean house and bring him in. In today's game you need an elite back court. And Paul with kwahi would be one of the top 3 in all of the nba

They'd be incredibly thin though, esp since they'd have to dump Parker+ Gasol and let Manu, Mills, and Simmons walk (and almost defintely D Lee too). This is the entire roster they'd be left with:
Paul/D Murray
Kawhi/Forbes
Green
Aldridge/K Anderson
Dedmon/Bertans

Is that team any better than the current Clippers?

The roster may not be better (I think it is, Aldridge and Blake are close enough to each other, and DJ is much better than what the Spurs would have next to Aldridge.) But Kawhi would be the best teammate CP3 has ever had, plus Pop is a massive upgrade over Doc

[HotelVitale]

The roster may not be better (I think it is, Aldridge and Blake are close enough to each other, and DJ is much better than what the Spurs would have next to Aldridge.) But Kawhi would be the best teammate CP3 has ever had, plus Pop is a massive upgrade over Doc

I get being down on Griffin but he's easily a much better player. Aldridge is basically a volume midrange shooter with below average efficiency who doesn't do anything particlarly well. Griffin's been disappointing and injured at the worst times but he's a legit top-25 player and Aldridge is nowhere close to that. Fully agree on Kawhi--he'd make a great combo with CP, but the rest of the roster is mediocre and I don't think they'd be much better off than next year's Clips. Giving up a lotta money and going through needless change to make a lateral move.

(EDIT: in basic advanced stats: Aldridge is 87th in BPM and 93rd in RPM, while Griffin was 22nd and 21st, even in a down year for him).

[luss54321]

The roster may not be better (I think it is, Aldridge and Blake are close enough to each other, and DJ is much better than what the Spurs would have next to Aldridge.) But Kawhi would be the best teammate CP3 has ever had, plus Pop is a massive upgrade over Doc

I get being down on Griffin but he's easily a much better player. Aldridge is basically a volume midrange shooter with below average efficiency who doesn't do anything particlarly well. Griffin's been disappointing and injured at the worst times but he's a legit top-25 player and Aldridge is nowhere close to that. Fully agree on Kawhi--he'd make a great combo with CP, but the rest of the roster is mediocre and I don't think they'd be much better off than next year's Clips. Giving up a lotta money and going through needless change to make a lateral move.

(EDIT: in basic advanced stats: Aldridge is 87th in BPM and 93rd in RPM, while Griffin was 22nd and 21st, even in a down year for him).

I think you're underestimating Popovich. Clippers to the Spurs is far from a lateral move. The Spurs are a world class organization that consistently competes for titles, regardless of who's on the roster. Paul has been in LA for 6 years and they haven't advanced past the second round. I'm also not sure the gap between Aldridge and Griffin is really that big. If you ask me, neither guy is a dominant player. Both very talented, but neither player has a skill that allows them to take over games. Griffin does a lot of things well, but very rarely do you seem him put the team on his back and will them to victory.

[Don Tommy]

The roster may not be better (I think it is, Aldridge and Blake are close enough to each other, and DJ is much better than what the Spurs would have next to Aldridge.) But Kawhi would be the best teammate CP3 has ever had, plus Pop is a massive upgrade over Doc

I get being down on Griffin but he's easily a much better player. Aldridge is basically a volume midrange shooter with below average efficiency who doesn't do anything particlarly well. Griffin's been disappointing and injured at the worst times but he's a legit top-25 player and Aldridge is nowhere close to that. Fully agree on Kawhi--he'd make a great combo with CP, but the rest of the roster is mediocre and I don't think they'd be much better off than next year's Clips. Giving up a lotta money and going through needless change to make a lateral move.

(EDIT: in basic advanced stats: Aldridge is 87th in BPM and 93rd in RPM, while Griffin was 22nd and 21st, even in a down year for him).

ut
I know what you are saying but I am a Clippers fan, and not a bandwagon fan, I have been rooting for them since 1988. Put CP3 on the Spurs and Aldridge would put up better numbers. If they were playing one on one, or if you were starting a franchise from scratch you may want to take a chance on Blake'e health allowing him to be the better player, but if you are looking for a 3rd banana, Aldridge can do everything needed by a 4 playing next to Chris Paul.

[12footrim]

I think they could easily move both Gasol (if he opts in) and Parker. Both would be expiring contracts and when you look around are only even getting about average starter money. Mosgov, Jokim, Mahimi, Evan Turner, Basemore etc all go 16-18 million in this market...

Don't forget that GM's see now that all these contracts were stupid contracts.
The one singing these contracts were blinded by the 35% cap increase, and they ended up paying these guys more than they should have, eating all the room instead of staying in the range of what the players should have get and keep something to add more players or re-sign their own in the coming season.

They are all bad contracts, so they are not example of what the F.A should get now, even if that's what their agent will say.

Gasol at least is worth it. Both are expiring as well that has value.

[Pickled Prunes]

They should be concerned! It would solve problems for CP3 and the Spurs. It's really just about money now. Can the Spurs find the cap flexibility and will CP3 give up bird rights to go there?

The report is fake news started by some LA beat writer who is bored and craving attention. The Spurs have a history of not overpaying for aging veterans. This a team that convinced the likes of Duncan, Parker and Ginobilli to take discount contracts during the prime of their careers and than even bigger discounts in the present during their twilight years. Texas having no state income tax is also a helper.In exchange for those discounts - the Spurs preserved loyalty amongst their core and I doubt they trade Parker before his retirement even if he's washed up and injured. Spurs also locked up Kawhi and Aldridge to multiyear contracts before the salary cap exploded and both their contracts look like bargains compared to the recent deals signed by non-allstars forget superstars. Same people said Spurs were after Conley last summer and no meeting ever took place. CP3 is 32 and it's highly doubtful he is going to stay healthy and improve as a player on a consistent basis going forward especially at a max salary.

I heard the podcast where this rumor started and calling it "fake news" is generous. But it makes perfect sense from a basketball stance. Parker doesn't need to start anymore and CP3 is mid-prime. Mills is about to get overpaid and I'd give CP3 $25M before I gave Mills $10M. So you go from a PG rotation of Parker/Mills to CP3/Parker. Massive upgrade!

[rogers49]

They should be concerned! It would solve problems for CP3 and the Spurs. It's really just about money now. Can the Spurs find the cap flexibility and will CP3 give up bird rights to go there?

The report is fake news started by some LA beat writer who is bored and craving attention. The Spurs have a history of not overpaying for aging veterans. This a team that convinced the likes of Duncan, Parker and Ginobilli to take discount contracts during the prime of their careers and than even bigger discounts in the present during their twilight years. Texas having no state income tax is also a helper.In exchange for those discounts - the Spurs preserved loyalty amongst their core and I doubt they trade Parker before his retirement even if he's washed up and injured. Spurs also locked up Kawhi and Aldridge to multiyear contracts before the salary cap exploded and both their contracts look like bargains compared to the recent deals signed by non-allstars forget superstars. Same people said Spurs were after Conley last summer and no meeting ever took place. CP3 is 32 and it's highly doubtful he is going to stay healthy and improve as a player on a consistent basis going forward especially at a max salary.

I heard the podcast where this rumor started and calling it "fake news" is generous. But it makes perfect sense from a basketball stance. Parker doesn't need to start anymore and CP3 is mid-prime. Mills is about to get overpaid and I'd give CP3 $25M before I gave Mills $10M. So you go from a PG rotation of Parker/Mills to CP3/Parker. Massive upgrade!

You give him 25, but he commands something between 36 (if he leaves the Clippers) and more than 40 (if he stays).

[Pickled Prunes]

The report is fake news started by some LA beat writer who is bored and craving attention. The Spurs have a history of not overpaying for aging veterans. This a team that convinced the likes of Duncan, Parker and Ginobilli to take discount contracts during the prime of their careers and than even bigger discounts in the present during their twilight years. Texas having no state income tax is also a helper.In exchange for those discounts - the Spurs preserved loyalty amongst their core and I doubt they trade Parker before his retirement even if he's washed up and injured. Spurs also locked up Kawhi and Aldridge to multiyear contracts before the salary cap exploded and both their contracts look like bargains compared to the recent deals signed by non-allstars forget superstars. Same people said Spurs were after Conley last summer and no meeting ever took place. CP3 is 32 and it's highly doubtful he is going to stay healthy and improve as a player on a consistent basis going forward especially at a max salary.

I heard the podcast where this rumor started and calling it "fake news" is generous. But it makes perfect sense from a basketball stance. Parker doesn't need to start anymore and CP3 is mid-prime. Mills is about to get overpaid and I'd give CP3 $25M before I gave Mills $10M. So you go from a PG rotation of Parker/Mills to CP3/Parker. Massive upgrade!

You give him 25, but he commands something between 36 (if he leaves the Clippers) and more than 40 (if he stays).

Yeah, I knew I was low but was too lazy to look it up. Either way my point stands. I think Mills will get more than $10M this off season as well, assuming he leaves.