Tag: Danny Green

Summer League Game 3: Joseph gets the keys, Spurs get L

LAS VEGAS — For two eye-opening games, second-year small forward Kawhi Leonard was the catalyst of the Spurs’ summer league team. Having seen enough out of him, the Spurs’ decision-makers freed Leonard from the rest of the week in Vegas and turned the keys over to the other member of his draft class.

Cory Joseph didn’t disappoint.

The second-year point guard finished with 22 points and six assists Wednesday, though the Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 86-80 at Cox Pavilion for their first summer league loss since 2009.

It is a pivotal summer for Joseph, who faces an Oct. 31 deadline for the Spurs to pick up his contract option for 2013-14. So far in Vegas he has helped himself, averaging 19.3 points  and five assists, while shooting 50 percent. More than that, Joseph has demonstrated a command of the Spurs’ offense he didn’t have as a 20-year-old rookie.

“We’re trying to put him in differenct situations and see how he deals with them,” summer league coach Jacque Vaughn said. “He’s done a pretty good job this week. It’s all about learning experience, game situations, clock management. It’s a lot going on, especially at the point guard position. This is really good for him.”

Asked what he’s liked most about Joseph’s effort in Vegas, Vaughn said: “Just seeing some maturity. It’s fun to see. We just want him to keep improving, and he’s doen that on both ends of the floor.”

Say this much for Joseph: He’s having a better inaugural summer league than George Hill had in 2008. And Hill turned out to be pretty good for the Spurs, and now the Indiana Pacers.

To be sure, Joseph has a long way to go before he’s ready to help in the NBA, and with Patrick Mills and Nando de Colo already on board for next season, the Spurs can afford to be patient.

One good week in Vegas is not going to cement Joseph into the Spurs’ long-term plans, but he’s not hurting himself with a solid performance so far.

With Leonard back home in San Diego, Joseph will have even greater opportunity to prove himself in the Spurs’ final two games here.

“Those two are definitely our priorities this summer,” Vaughn said. “Kawhi did a good job while he was here. Cory gets a chance to continue to do a good job. We’re looking forward to the games going forward.”

Other thoughts from the Spurs’ loss to the Clippers:

* Vaughn passed the buck when asked to discuss the decision to set Leonard loose. “I’m the head coach of the Spurs’ summer-league team. Someone else is the head coach of the Spurs,” Vaughn said. Of the call to remove Vaughn of his best player, the Spurs assistant coach joked, “Maybe my head was getting big from my 2-0 start.”

The Spurs insist Leonard’s removal from summer league was pre-planned, and not related to the sore left wrist he suffered in the Spurs’ victory Monday.

* Newly resigned shooting guard Danny Green was in attendance, and spent a few minutes laughing and talking with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in the bleachers. Green, who inked a three-year, $12 million contract earlier this month, said the new deal was “a big stress reliever.” He added he was glad Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford decided to bring back the bulk of last year’s roster. “I think it shows the faith they have in us,” Green said. “And they’re a lot smarter than I am.”

* None of the Spurs’ big man prospects are playing well enough to force the Spurs into using their 15th roster spot on them. Eric Dawson, a Sam Houston High grad, has been the most solid, having posted a pair of double-doubles and has the added advantage of knowing the Spurs system. Ryan Richards, a second-round pick in 2010, has shown little in his limited engagement but a propensity to foul. Alexis Ajinca, who has 77 games of NBA experience on his resume, is tall (7-foot-2) but little else. At this point, the best any of them should probably hope for is a training camp invite in October.

On KG and the Duncan market

According to multiple reports today,the , Kevin Garnett has agreed to re-sign with the Celtics  after his current contract expires tonight. for KG to be $34 million for three years.

You can bet folks in the Spurs front office are paying attention to the goings-on in Boston.

After all, the Spurs have their own 36-year-old, Hall of Fame-bound big man to re-up. At 11 p.m tonight, Tim Duncan also becomes a free agent. Nobody believes he’s signing with anybody other than the Spurs.

The question for Duncan is not if he will return for the Spurs, it’s for how much. Here is where the Garnett deal can be instructive. Three years, $34 million — perhaps with only a portion of the third year guaranteed — feels like a good ballpark for Duncan, too.

Statistically, the two players were remarkably similar last season. Garnett averaged 15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in a little more than 30 minutes per game. Duncan averaged 15.4 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes per contest.

Re-signing Duncan to a Garnett-like deal, with the 2012-13 season starting somewhere in the $10 million range, would leave the Spurs still over the salary cap, but would help accomplish their goal of maneuvering well under the luxury tax threshold.

What would the Spurs’ payroll look like in this scenario? They’d be on the hook for about $60 million in contracts next season, well over the salary cap (it was $57 million last season and expected to rise marginally this season), and that’s before talking about Danny Green, Boris Diaw and other free agents.

However, the Spurs would be about $10 million below the luxury tax number, and that’s important for reasons beyond Peter Holt’s pocketbook.

Only teams that operate under the tax have access to the full mid-level exception — expected to be worth a shade over $5 million — for which to chase other free agents, like Diaw for instance, or to lure highly regarded Slovenian forward Erazem Lorbek from his team in the Spanish League.

If the Spurs were to be over the tax, it would be nearly impossible to both bring back Diaw and bring in Lorbek, much less add outside talent. This is where the KG deal feels like it would work for Duncan and the Spurs, too.

Free agency: What to expect from the Spurs

As you are standing around your computer today, Spurs fans, frantically refreshing Twitter and breathlessly awaiting news of what your favorite team is doing in the nascent stages of Free Agency 2012, here is a table you might find handy.

It is a look at the Spurs’ major free agency-related related moves since winning their most recent NBA championship in 2007:

Summer 2007: Sign Ime Udoka and Ian Mahinmi

2008: Sign Roger Mason Jr., re-sign Kurt Thomas.

2009: Trade for Richard Jefferson, sign Antonio McDyess and Keith Bogans

2010: Sign Tiago Splitter, re-sign Matt Bonner

2011: Sign T.J. Ford

When considering the question of how active the Spurs might or might not be in free agency, it is instructive to look back how they’ve spent previous summers.

With the exception of 2009, when the Spurs traded for Jefferson and signed McDyess, summertime for the Spurs has not been about making a marquee splash. It has been about cherry-picking value to fill a specific need, often late in the summer after the big names have already committed elsewhere.

That approach is by necessity. With a trio of All-Stars (see: Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) eating up cap space for the better part of a decade, the Spurs simply haven’t had room on the payroll to take on other high-dollar additions.

Even with free agent Tim Duncan set to perhaps take a 50-percent pay cut from the $21.2 million he was on the books for last season, this summer promises to be quiet as well. Last year’s salary cap was $57 million; before Duncan makes another cent, the Spurs are already on the hook for nearly $50 million in salaries for 2012-13.

Once Duncan signs, the Spurs are all but certain to be over the salary cap again, leaving them with only the mid-level exception, biannual exception and veteran minimum contracts with which to lure other free agents.

That’s not going to get you, say, Roy Hibbert. The Indiana All-Star center is poised to sign a maximum offer sheet with Portland. Or even Nicolas Batum, who could be looking at a $50 million pay day in Minnesota or elsewhere. Spurs fans pining for either player were dreaming anyway.

Expect a free agency period much like last December for the Spurs, when they looked into MLE-type wing players (Caron Butler and Josh Howard), before ultimately signing just one veteran free agent: backup point guard T.J. Ford, for the league minimum.

A reasonable expectation for the Spurs’ offseason is this: Re-sign Duncan to a deal that is substantially less than what he made last season, but still starts in the $10 million range; re-sign Danny Green and (perhaps) Patrick Mills; use the mid-level exception to re-sign Boris Diaw and perhaps bring Erazem Lorbek over from Spain or Nando de Colo from France.

As for outside free agents, expect the Spurs to bring in a veteran minimum guy or two as we get closer to training camp.

Expect the team that takes the court opening night in October to look almost identical to the one bounced from the Western Conference finals last month.

Of course, all of this is just a guess. But based on the Spurs’ past history and cap situation this summer, a reasonable one.