Richard Jefferson

[Smills91]

Haven't caught a lot of Spurs games this year, as an outsider I was curious Spurs fans thought on how the Jefferson acquisition has worked out? Is he a good fit? Is Popp consistently pissed at him? His production seems down.....however I can't say the box scores tell the whole story, so I'm curious what Spurs fans think of him thus far.

[TAI8]

He's playing just fine..When people say that he's one of the worst off-season acquisitions they don't know what they're talking about and only look at the box scores..His offensive production is down because he's being used in the system just as we thought he would before the season started..His defense and rebounding (especially rebounding) can be better, but overall I'm fine with his contributions so far..And to all the people that said Jefferson was a jump shooter are all dead wrong; he's a slasher who happens to shoot jump shots when he sees them..That's probably his single most valuable attribute he brings to the table: the ability to put the ball down on the floor and get to the basket...something that we've been sorely lacking (aside from Parker obviously) last year especially after Ginobili went down..

[Smills91]

Thanks for your opinion, I am curious about other fans opinions, and also about the Defensive side of the ball and how Pop has interacted with his game thus far....

[batmana]

Well, I have seen every single Spurs game so far except for one and I can tell that Pop is pleased with Jefferson, he has never benched him on the spur of a bad play or something (like last night when he inbounded the ball carelessly which resulted in a steal and breakaway dunk by Rondo). I think Jefferson's rebounding should get better and his defense also should get more solid. I like his work ethic but what bothers me (at least a little bit) is how is he going to respond to the limited offensive role he has - basically for the first time in his career he is not getting plays run specifically for him and there are games where he takes only 4-5 shots, scores only 6-7 points and the team still wins. What worries me is whether he will be able to maintain his edge and be able to explode for 20+ points when we need his scoring. Anyway, I was one of the biggest fans of his acquisition and I hope he will find his true role in our team and help us in our quest.
And yes, he is not a spot shooter and sometimes all he gets in the Spurs offense are such shots which explains to an extent why he doesn't score more points. Basically Pop likes to play like that and only turns to one-on-one when the team is trailing and needs the heroics of one man to recover. So it is not so hard to understand why he hasn't had more opportunities to slash and get his points.

[SApuro_]

RJ has playe ok to start off the season but has soo much futher to go. He plays with passion but sometimes he just isnt in the right position. It has been less than 20 games so he still has some big adjustments to do. For the most part his game has just been off. He hasn't felt comfortable in the system yet. He has had a couple of games of flashes of what to expect but its often with TD and TP are off the court.

He hasn't learned how to play off them yet. I am sure before the season is out he will find his nitche. I do like his defensive intensity. He is trying his best to improve his defense I think he has just been counted on for offensive fire power for so long its going to take time.

I would do this deal again in heartbeat. Not one of the best pick ups over the offseason but may be before the season is done.

[Nolan]

I'm not overly thrilled with him so far but i'm definitely not disappointed. He's having some trouble figuring out where he fits on offense but I think thats something he'll figure out over time.

I had a crazy idea last night while watching the game about what to do with him. I was thinking maybe we should start Manu and bring RJ off the bench. Manu knows how to get his shots with Duncan and Parker on the floor whereas RJ hasn't quite figured that out yet. So if we brought RJ off the bench I think he could be free to play his game. Just a thought.

[SApuro_]

I was thinking the same thing. I would love to see Manu starting and RJ coming off the bench. Its a contract year for Manu so he needs the mins and RJ can run the 2nd unit.

The problem is not many "super stars" can coming off the bench. There ego's are just too big. Manu is the exception to the rule. He is a class act all about winning. RJ I think would have an issue coming off the bench.

Pop wants him to feel comfortable so doubt that happens.

[Nolan]

I was thinking the same thing. I would love to see Manu starting and RJ coming off the bench. Its a contract year for Manu so he needs the mins and RJ can run the 2nd unit.

The problem is not many "super stars" can coming off the bench. There ego's are just too big. Manu is the exception to the rule. He is a class act all about winning. RJ I think would have an issue coming off the bench.

Pop wants him to feel comfortable so doubt that happens.

Well I think his ego's gotta be hurting now considering that he's only getting 6 or 7 shots a game. So I really don't think he would mind coming off the bench and being the guy on the second unit, I doubt his minutes would be effected too much by him coming off the bench.

[Great]

I'm thinking he should be traded for Elton Brand.

[Smills91]

I'm thinking he should be traded for Elton Brand.

I really can't see the Spurs doing that...adding 60 million of salary for a guy already in his 30's with some problematic injury concerns.

I'm just curious, do you think the Spurs would be better off with a guy like Nocioni at the 3. He's tough, versatile player who plays his role well(whatever it is), is a very good defender, and hit's the 3 ball with consistency(38% career 3 point shooter and shooting it 37% on the year) and a guy who brings all the intangibles like hustle, grit and a winning mentality to a team.

You see, for my Kings, Noc has been great, ESPECIALLY in light of the Martin/Garcia injuries. However, he's 29 y/o with 2.5 years remaining on his deal. With the emergence of Omri Casspi and Donte Greene, along with hopeful recovery of Francisco Garcia the Kings are pretty well covered at the 3.

I think Noc makes the MOST sense for the Spurs and Celtics and I actually think he's a better fit for the Spurs...

Ideally, I'd like expirings for him, but I realize not every team that's interested in Noc the player, has the expirings to land him.

My thought process was this:

RJ for Nocioni/Thomas(9 million expiring). Even Thomas has been solid in the limited minutes he's played with a VERY HIGH rebounding rate...just added insurance against an injury basically..this gives the Kings a 2011 Free Agency plan(which is better than 2010 IMO at least for my Kings).

But this allows the Spurs to shed 9 million of RJ's deal next year. Noc's deal declines to under 7 million each of the next years, and his team option can be declined.

I'd think this gives the Spurs a shot at using the MLE one more time this summer while still maintaining a productive 3 on the roster at less than half the cost next year. Which would help the Spurs stay atop the Western conference for these last couple-three years they have left in the tank.

Thoughts? Nocioni + Expiring K. Thomas for RJ?

[Blame Rasho]

That is a crappy offer for Jefferson.

What good does it do for us to lose 9 million when we will not sign anyone with it.

It is Noci for Jefferson... No.

[Nolan]

Wouldn't do that deal with Kings for two reasons, One being what Rasho said, we really don't have any use for capspace when we really won't be able to use it and it doesn't make us a better team. If we're gonna trade RJ it should be for a starting center.

[SApuro_]

Took early to talk about trading RJ heck its been 17 games. Most spurs dont fit well until the 2nd or 3rd year. Just be patient he will come around.

[Smills91]

That is a crappy offer for Jefferson.

What good does it do for us to lose 9 million when we will not sign anyone with it.

It is Noci for Jefferson... No.

Well shedding the 9 million, allows the Spurs to spend the 5-6 million of MLE on another player without hitting the LT to fill a void. Noc fills RJ's void, and the MLE signee can fill another void. There'll be a lot of 2nd and 3rd tiered free agents available for the MLE next year especially considering the cap is projected to shrink even more.

[Blame Rasho]

That is a crappy offer for Jefferson.

What good does it do for us to lose 9 million when we will not sign anyone with it.

It is Noci for Jefferson... No.

Well shedding the 9 million, allows the Spurs to spend the 5-6 million of MLE on another player without hitting the LT to fill a void. Noc fills RJ's void, and the MLE signee can fill another void. There'll be a lot of 2nd and 3rd tiered free agents available for the MLE next year especially considering the cap is projected to shrink even more.

We are committed to spending money in case you didn't get the memo...

It is a crap trade... you can put sugar on top of it... it is still crap for Spurs fans.

[Nolan]

That is a crappy offer for Jefferson.

What good does it do for us to lose 9 million when we will not sign anyone with it.

It is Noci for Jefferson... No.

Well shedding the 9 million, allows the Spurs to spend the 5-6 million of MLE on another player without hitting the LT to fill a void. Noc fills RJ's void, and the MLE signee can fill another void. There'll be a lot of 2nd and 3rd tiered free agents available for the MLE next year especially considering the cap is projected to shrink even more.

We're not worried about the lux tax, ownership has said they have no problem going into the tax to build a winner. We're not looking ahead to next year already and Noc is a down grade from RJ so there's no chance we do it.

[co_laper]

Pop's not keeping his word. Jefferson's playing a whole lot of PF today againts NO.

[Donald Kaufman]

We're nowhere near big enough to make a serious run at the title.

[Blame Rasho]

We're nowhere near big enough to make a serious run at the title.

Like I said before... we sung for the fences and missed out. I just hope we can derail someones championship goals.

[co_laper]

I just hope we don't get swept out of the playoffs in the 1st round. Atleast make it interesting and lose 4-2 to someone.