Spurs Offseason Thread

[Gedas]

Does anyone know what Javtokas, Scola and Mahimni ratings would be? Mostly Javtokas. I want to add him to my game.

Well he is a defensive center. His body is alot like Big Bens, he is a great shot blocker (~80), a solid rebounder on both ends (~75 both), but his offense is lacking, although he is a dunker and like to use his athletisism on that (dunk~80, jump~85, power~80, oawarness~55, dawarenes~70, FG~40-50, FT~50, 3P~0, steal~20, speed~55, quickness~65-70, ins. sco.~60). Well maybe they are a little too high, but I tried to be as objective as I can. But you get the idea, he's a great defensive center, a great rebounder, but with almost NO offense, except dunks and two post moves that he knows .

[eisfeld]

I agree with you. His defense seems to be very good, and that is a good fit in a defensive oriented team like the Spurs. I'm very much looking forward to see Mahinmi in action in the futures. This kid seems to have a decent amount of talent and with the right development in the future he could contribute well for the team.

[Sam The Man]

Cool thanks

any idea for Scola and Mahimni?

I know Mahinmi plays like Emeka Okafor.

[cklitsie]

A Spurs off-season thread? This early?

Sorry had to do it.

[Matt]

haha

well Spurs just need to be healthy next playoffs, some athletic wing man, a PF (against Phx & Dallas he'll be forced to play C) and have Tony Parker raining J's.

I'll be the first to say that Spurs will be back in the Finals next year.

[eisfeld]

To be honest, without adjustments to the team, I don't see the Spurs in the Finals next year. Just because the high level Dallas and Phoenix (maybe with Amare) are playing.

But, with Duncan, Ginobili and Parker being healthy and no breakdown of their aging contributors like Finley or Horry, and hopefully a better Center they will be.

[tuanskoko]

javtokas is goin tobe a spur, while scola mite get traded imo.

[Gedas]

Ok, since there is no real Spurs offseason thread, I'm going to take care of this one and update it as often as possible:

Rumors

[i]Javtokas is expected to leave his team and to not return.
Source: Click here UPDATED


Your opinions?[/list][/b]

I've just noticed a very interesting thing:

A report on Eurobasket.com indicated that recent player signings by the Lithuanian professional league team Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, for which Javtokas, a 6-foot-11, 240-pound center, has played since 2001, were motivated in part by the belief Javtokas will not return to the club so he can pursue a spot on the Spurs roster. The report cited Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius general manager J. Vainauskas saying his club “doesn’t have much hope on keeping R. Javtokas . . .“

I wrote the report on Eurobasket.com

Even though it's all true, still


EDIT: It's 100% sertain that Javtokas will sign with the Spurs on the July 12th. and then head straight back to Lithuania to prepare for the WC 2006.

[Fenix]

Another Robertas Javtokas mix. This guy will be an awesome fit with the Spurs, he's just what they need - a long, athletic and young defensive presence to pair with Duncan. Trade for JR Smith and make NVE retire and suddenly they're much younger and ready to go.

[Gedas]

I think he might be even better than Mohammed and might even be able to start for the Spurs, if they don't get anything better. But he'll for sure be a solid backup center.

[eisfeld]

I think he is able to start over Rasho in Mid-Season after a little development. NVE is going to retire, so Beno Udrih can be backup PG. But Pop may look elsewhere to get another backup PG. And I hope they can acquire J.R. but i'm not too confident about it.

[Laker Socks]

Spurs are not high on Beno Udrih. They dont think he'd be a good backup PG to Parker.

They are reportedly going after Marcus Banks.

[eisfeld]

Honestly I hope they decide to develop Beno. He can contribute a lot to the offense but his defense is the problem as well as shot decision.

[eisfeld]

I'm back. I just found a video of Ian Mahinmi playing against Paris Racind. It's hard to say from this short clip what his up- and downsides are, but he's pretty talented. Who knows, maybe we'll see him on the team next season.

Here's the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Lg9oOzGQU

EDIT:
And here's another one, about Robertas Javtokas. I do not know if this highlight clip was made before or after his motorcycle accident, but I've been very impressed.

Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNwkeNIOkOo

[Null17]

I've been browsing around some Spurs forums and people have been saying that Scola and Javtokas seem to have a big chance of going to the NBA. Especially since Tau has signed what seemed to be a replacement for Scola

[eisfeld]

The Spurs acquired Eric Williams and Matt Bonner from Toronto in return for Rasho Nesterovic.

[Gedas]

I'm back. I just found a video of Ian Mahinmi playing against Paris Racind. It's hard to say from this short clip what his up- and downsides are, but he's pretty talented. Who knows, maybe we'll see him on the team next season.

Here's the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Lg9oOzGQU

EDIT:
And here's another one, about Robertas Javtokas. I do not know if this highlight clip was made before or after his motorcycle accident, but I've been very impressed.

Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNwkeNIOkOo

That Javtokas video is after the injury

[[L3]1101]

The Spurs offseason move 1: GET RID OF ERIC WILLIAMS, he's a cancer.

[eisfeld]

@Gedas
Well then I'm very much looking forward to seeing him with the spurs. I think he's really ready for the NBA and should be a great starting C assuming Mohammed is going to be out of the Spurs.

And here's an article about Horry talking about the Mavs and at the end he gives a hint about retireing after next season.

Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer

Robert Horry watched only the closing two minutes of Miami's clinching victory in the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. It was enough, however, to make him smile.
If Horry and the Spurs couldn't win another title, he at least was glad Dallas fell short in its quest to win its first.

"That's the first time I ever rooted for the East," Horry said. "You usually never root for the East, you root for the West. But the way (the Mavericks) acted, it just put a bad taste in my mouth.

"All the whining Dallas did, the way (owner Mark) Cuban acted, the way (assistant coach) Del Harris acted on the sideline a couple of times, I was happy to see Dallas lose."
While Cuban and Dallas coach Avery Johnson were criticized for their behavior after losing Game 5 of the Finals, Horry didn't like how the Mavericks acted while eliminating the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

In addition to saying that Mavericks guard Jason Terry didn't deserve to be suspended for hitting Michael Finley in the groin, Cuban called Tim Duncan a "crybaby," labeled Spurs fans the "rudest" in the league, and called the River Walk "an ugly-ass, muddy-watered thing."

Harris also mocked Duncan for complaining about calls during Game 4 of that series, Horry said.
"I know the one game we won in Dallas, Avery was crying about the refs," Horry said. "I was like, 'You're crying about the refs?' We're the only ones who should be crying about the refs. We're the ones who are down in the series.

"There were just a lot of things that they did that I didn't think were characteristic of a team that's supposed to be in the (top) class."
Horry didn't play much against Dallas, averaging 11.6 minutes in the final five games after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went small to better match up with Dirk Nowitzki. In contrast, the Heat often stayed big against the Mavericks because their power forward, Udonis Haslem, proved athletic enough to guard Nowitzki.

Nowitzki averaged 27.1 points on 52.7 percent shooting against the Spurs. Haslem, who was on the Spurs' summer-league team before signing with Miami three years ago, and James Posey helped limit Nowitzki to 22.8 points on 39 percent shooting.

"It was almost like (the Heat) said, 'Don't do what the Spurs did because they lost the series,'" Horry said.

Horry, who turns 36 in August, jokingly called himself a "dinosaur" during the playoffs but still thinks he has enough left to contribute. He has two years remaining on his contract but said he might retire after next season.

"My ultimate goal is to play 15 (years), and this would be 15," Horry said. "But if I'm feeling spry, I'll keep going."

[Jugs]

Didn't the Mavs try and sign Robert Horry? boy they could've used him in game 6.

[eisfeld]

Well I just read through nearly 80 thread pages at spurstalk.com and mainly everyone beliefs that bonner and williams are just fillers for another trade. Well, Bonner accomplished decent numbers at the SF Spot (which is not his main position) with the raptors, and I think it is very likely we see him with the spurs next season. Williams could be a salary dumper. But the big question is Nazr Mohammed... S&T is possible but this depends on the Bulls.

The Bulls are lodaded with talent (Gordon, Hinrich, Duhon, Deng, Nocioni) and have with chandler already a bad contract. Well If they do not part with 1 or two of the players above they will be in cap trouble over the next years considering their high draft picks this year. So a Sign & Trade may be really possible. Some suggest that the Spurs should S&T Mohammed to Chicago for Duhon as backup PG. Well this may be an option.

But, what about a S&T of Mohammed + another player or pick for Nocioni? Alltough it is not likeley to happen because he becomes an FA anyway next season.

[Jugs]

Sign and Trade for Chandler

[eisfeld]

I would like to see Chandler in SA, he's quite a fit there, but his contract makes this nearly impossible. And with RJ they get a nice defensive oriented center.

So this is the expected depht (still including Nazr)

C: Javtokas, Mohammed
PF: Duncan, Bonner, Horry, Oberto, Scola, Marks, Mahnimni
SF: Bowen, Williams, Finley
SG: Ginobili, Barry
PG: Parker, Udrih

The depht at the PF position is very suspicious. Duncan, Bonner, Horry, Oberto and Marks are already on the rost +2 may come with Mahnimni and Scola. To be honest I think we will see a couple of those other guys (Oberto, Scola, Marks, Williams, Udrih, Barry, Mohammed) not on the roster next season. I highly expect the Spurs to acquire a Center and a SG.