Tag: Gregg Popovich

Jefferson out, Butler up next?

The Richard Jefferson era in San Antonio appears over.

According to an NBA source, the Spurs plan to exercise their one-time amnesty provision on Jefferson’s contract, once that option becomes available to them upon completion of the new collective bargaining agreement.

A source familiar with the thinking of Spurs front office said decision-makers are awaiting to see the language of the finalized amnesty rule before making a final call, but the team is strongly considering jettisoning Jefferson.

The move, first reported by Yahoo! Sports, would wipe from the books the remaining three years of  Jefferson’s contract worth nearly $30.5 million, $9.2 million of which is due this season, and give the Spurs financial freedom to pursue a new starting small forward in free agency.

That  replacement part, in fact, might be already be in San Antonio.

Not long before word of Jefferson’s impending release broke Wednesday, free agent Caron Butler wrapped up a visit in San Antonio his agent, Raymond Brothers, said “went flawlessly.”

“He felt comfortable here,” Brothers said. “I’m waiting for (the Spurs) to call and discuss it. All I can tell you is, he really liked it.”

Though Butler has already visited the Los Angeles Clippers and still plans to visit the New Jersey Nets — two teams that can offer more than the $5 million mid-level exception that will be available to the Spurs after Jefferson is waived — one league source said the Spurs are now considered the front-runner to land him.

Butler has also met with representatives from Chicago, which can also offer only the $5 million mid-level exception. The Spurs are also considering Washington small forward Josh Howard, who visited Tuesday, among other candidates to fill their small-forward void.

One factor that might entice Butler to San Antonio, his agent said, was the chance to play for coach Gregg Popovich. Asked if he believed the Spurs had a strong chance of signing Butler, Brothers said, “Absolutely.”

“He’s not wasting his time,” Brothers said “He’s wasn’t in San Antonio today to be nice.”

Butler, 31, has averaged 16.6 points over nine NBA seasons but had his 2010-11 campaign cut short in Dallas after tearing his right patella tendon on New Year’s Day. Brothers said Butler passed a physical during his visit with the Clippers earlier this week, and will be cleared for full participation in training camp once he signs with a team.

Butler’s decision is expected to come not long after free agency opens Friday. Brothers said he hopes to have Butler in some team’s camp by the weekend.

“We’ve got one stop left (New Jersey),” Brothers said. “Then it will be time to make a decision.”

With Jefferson, the Spurs appear to have already made their decision, although they can’t formalize it until after the CBA is ratified. Though he averaged 11.6 points in two seasons with the Spurs, Jefferson never lived up to the promise that accompanied his breathless 2009 arrival from Milwaukee.

Jefferson was a good soldier and a well-liked member of the Spurs locker room, but a bad fit on the court. His strengths and a floor-running wingman never quite meshed with the Spurs’ style. His career with the Spurs essentially ended at halftime of the team’s Game 6 ouster in Memphis, with Jefferson being benched for the final two quarters.

Casting off Jefferson’s contract under the upcoming amnesty rule would move the Spurs below the luxury tax line and give them extra cash with which to chase his replacement. Jefferson’s future is as unclear, though it is certain he will find a  job somewhere.

Under the new amnesty rules, teams under the salary cap will be allowed to bid for Jefferson’s services, with the difference between his new contract and old one being returned to the Spurs.

Appendectomy sidelines Neal one week

Spurs guard Gary Neal will miss at least a week of training camp after undergoing an appendectomy.

Neal began feeling pain in his abdominal region Sunday night. After consulting with team doctors Monday, a decision was made to remove Neal’s inflamed appendix.

The procedure went off without complication, according to a Spurs medical release.

Neal, 27, is entering his second season with the Spurs after earning first-team All-Rookie honors in 2010-11. He will be prohibited from physical activity for the next week, after which doctors will re-examine him and provide a more specific timeline for recovery.

A day before falling ill, Neal had been looking forward to completing his second Spurs training camp.

“It’s a great feeling to be a part of this for another year,” Neal said Saturday. “Hopefully, I can have another successful one.”

HOWARD IN THE MIX? The Spurs apparently haven’t abandoned their plan of adding another small forward, and perhaps replacing incumbent starter Richard Jefferson.

According to a member of Josh Howard’s camp, the Spurs tendered a formal offer to the Washington small forward over the weekend.

Considered among the top free-agent swingmen on the market, Howard’s list appears down to three teams, with Utah and Washington also possible destinations.

Howard’s representatives say the Jazz have also made him an offer, though — perhaps as a matter of semantics — Utah general manager Kevin O’Connor denied to the Salt Lake Tribune over the weekend talks had progressed that far.

Either way, Howard is scheduling a visit to Utah this week.

The details of the Spurs’ bid are unclear. They could offer a deal starting at a maximum of $5 million if they use amnesty on Jefferson to get below the luxury tax threshold.

The most they could offer otherwise would be a $3 million deal using the so-called “mini mid-level exception.”

ROSTER MOVES: The Spurs waived former UTSA guard Devin Gibson on Monday and signed small forward Gani Lawal and shooting guard Antoine Hood to the camp roster.

Lawal, a 2010 second-round pick of the Phoenix Suns out of Georgia Tech, could make an interesting addition to the end of the Spurs’ bench.

Lawal, 6-foot-9, logged just two NBA minutes as a rookie, and was just beginning to practice well when he tore knee ligaments in a team workout in January. He underwent surgery on the knee later that month.

Lawal, 23, made his return to the court in Poland during the lockout, averaging 16.5 points and 11.7 rebounds in 10 games.

Hood, 28, was a former All-Mountain West performer at Air Force. He has spent the majority of his professional career in the Czech Republic.

A DAY OFF: So far, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has made good on his vow to take it easy on his team during the shortened training camp.

After putting players through the first two-a-day workouts Sunday, Popovich gave them Monday off. The Spurs will return to the practice floor this morning, with an eye toward Saturday’s preseason opener at Houston.

Is Blair right fit as Spurs’ center?

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

For Spurs center DeJuan Blair, the toughest part about Russia wasn’t learning a new language. It wasn’t living in a foreign country, alone and further from home than he’s ever been.

It wasn’t reimagining how to play basketball, having to mold his game with the run-and-gun, everybody-shoots-it ethos of the Russian Leagues.

For Blair, the toughest part about spending two months of the NBA lockout playing for Krasnye Krylya, in the Russian metropolis of Samara, was finding suitable sustenance to feed his ample belly.

“I found a T.G.I. Fridays and a McDonald’s,” Blair said, “so I was good.”

Back in San Antonio, and somehow more svelte than when he left for Russia, Blair finds himself amid one of the most heated battles of Spurs training camp.

After watching the Spurs’ frontline get consistently manhandled by Memphis meat-eaters Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol in last April’s playoffs, coach Gregg Popovich declared the hunt for a starting big man to pair with All-Star Tim Duncan to be the team’s top personnel priority.

Though the Spurs haven’t ruled out bringing in outside reinforcements, via free agency or trade, Popovich will also audition a handful of in-house candidates.

The 22-year-old Blair, who started the first 63 games last season and averaged 8.3 points and seven rebounds, is among them. So is second-year center Tiago Splitter, the former first-round pick who struggled in search of steady playing time as a rookie.

“I hope I’ve got a bigger role this year,” Splitter said. “It’s not in my hands, it’s in the coaches’ hands, but I’m prepared.”

? Neither Blair nor Splitter spreads the floor much on offense, which could lead the Spurs — somewhat reluctantly — back to 3-point specialist Matt Bonner, who led the NBA in long-range accuracy but appears better suited to spot duty.

Popovich’s search for a starting center dovetails with his stated desire to improve the Spurs defensively. Antonio McDyess, 37, would be in the mix, if not for the expectation he will retire.

“There’s got to be enough size there,” Popovich said. “We need a (big man) that can guard. If you get one that can guard, the more that guys spread the floor, the better off you are.”

With the 35-year-old Duncan having slipped from dominating MVP levels, his new sidekick will be asked to carry a greater load than ever.

In terms of sheer size, Splitter is the most prototypical candidate on the camp roster. The 6-foot-11 former Spanish League MVP battled injuries throughout his rookie season, appearing in 60 games and starting six.

“I think I learned a lot last year,” said Splitter, who will turn 27 on New Year’s Day. “It wasn’t a waste of time. I grew a lot. This year, I’m way more ready to play than last year.”

For the 6-foot-7 Blair, Lilliputian by NBA big-man standards, size has never been an asset. Often, he can be overmatched by larger, longer frontlines.

During the lockout, Blair watched DVDs of his first two NBA seasons. He didn’t always recognize the player he saw.

“I was trying to be a robot,” Blair said. “I wasn’t playing like me.”

The natural, free-flowing — and, yes, exuberant — player he was in two college seasons at Pittsburgh rarely showed in a Spurs jersey.

“I just want to bring that DeJuan Blair back,” Blair said. “I was having fun, smiling on the court and doing a lot of things I don’t think I did the past two seasons. I think I’ll have a lot more rage like I had my last season at Pitt.”

Blair’s weight has been an issue throughout his first two pro seasons. At one point last year, he flirted with 300 pounds.

After the playoff ouster against Memphis, in which Blair did not play in Game 5 or 6, Popovich challenged him to show more “responsibility and maturity.”

“That will get him to the next level,” Popovich said. “Short of that, he’ll have a hard time.”

Blair believes two months in Russia have matured him. His slimmer waistline, achieved despite an Americanized diet overseas, shows it.

The time alone, he says, provided much food for thought.

“Just being over there in that environment, I thought a lot,” Blair said. “I grew up a lot.”

Whether a grown-up Blair is the Spurs’ answer at center remains to be seen. With two weeks and counting before the start of the season, the search continues.