Tag: Kurt Thomas

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.

What Spurs, Trail Blazers said after Friday’s game

Here’s a sampling of the post-game comments from both locker rooms after the Spurs’ 99-83 victory over Portland Friday night.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich:

(On turnovers in the first quarter)

“Well, I thought we obviously did a better job in the second quarter. In the second half I think they had 36 points or so, and you’re not going to do that very often. I thought we earned it. We competed well. We had a lot of guys that competed defensively and rebounding wise in the second half and it generated a lot for us. Then Tony (Parker) ran the show and kept us even for the whole game. We had some individual performances by guys that were really great. Obviously, Tiago (Splitter) and Danny Green did a great job. Kawhi (Leonard) had a wonderful all around game. We got a lot of good play to go with the defense, so it worked out for us tonight.

(On assessing Kawhi Leonard’s defensive I.Q.)

“Well he definitely has a knack defensively. He has a good nose for the ball. He seems to understand what is going on out there and he reads situations pretty well. That is a nice natural gift.

(On Tiago Splitter’s improvement from last season)

“He has the same exact skills that he had last year. He is just healthy and he’s playing. He is more confident. That is the one place where his game has changed from the past, but everything else is the same. He has been doing this for years in Europe and everywhere. He is a blue-collar guy who just does the basics really, really well. He is a great competitor.”

(On the absence of Marcus Camby)

“He is a tough nut to crack down there. He is really good. He had a couple of blocks before he got hurt and it certainly does change things on the boards for them and defensively.”

Spurs forward Tiago Splitter:

(On the bench stepping up tonight)

“Yeah, we did a pretty good job coming off the bench helping the guys ands playing hard. We played hard defense. Gary (Neal) played like the point guard and Danny (Green) brought energy and  it’s hard to match-up against us.”

 (On the performance of the young players on this team)

“Yeah, when you’re going to play against Portland, you have to play hard and that’s what we did. They played tough and physical, we have to do that.”

(On the turnovers in the first quarter and making it up in the second half)

“Once again, there were a lot of turnovers like you said, but we run the floor well. We made easy buckets and we had great defense. If we play like this every night, it’s going to be tough to beat the Spurs.”

(On the match-up against LaMarcus Aldridge)

“He’s a great player. We tried to guard him from having a great night of shooting, yet he made some unbelievable shots. We got the win and that’s what matters.”

Spurs forward DeJuan Blair:

(On what worked tonight for him and the team)

“It was by just playing defense. We played great defense despite starting out sluggish, but we came out in the second quarter and really started playing. It was really good.”

(On whether fatigue played a major factor in turnovers in the first half)

“No, it was just through not being strong with the ball. We let the ball get away from us a couple times but we got it together in the second quarter. We played a heck of a game as we played pretty good defense in the second half.”

(On the match-up against LaMarcus Aldridge)

“LaMarcus is a tough matchup as he’s a great player. I tried to play him as good as possible and we came out with the victory. I had a lot of help as Tiago (Splitter) played him great. It was wonderful.”

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan:

(On what happened during the stretch of the game)

“We got to play with a purpose out there. I think we were just kind of freelancing with what we do and we got to work together on both ends of the floor. Defensively, even though we got off to a pretty decent start, offensively in the first quarter we had 31 points but we gave up 27. Then offensively, we stopped recognizing what was working, which was going inside to L.A. (LaMarcus Aldridge). We got to understand how we want to play, which is from the inside-out and play out of that. I thought we went away from that.”

(On the team’s defense after Marcus Camby’s injury)

“(Marcus) Camby is basically the backbone of that defense. He kind of anchors a lot of things and you know, for us we’ve been in that kind of situation before. Kurt Thomas has to come in and play, and LaMarcus (Aldridge). We can slide him to the five but he got into foul trouble. Injuries are going to happen, so we need to be more aggressive. They out-rebounded us tonight. They don’t have any monsters in the paint. Tim (Duncan) is good and (DeJuan) Blair does a good job, but that’s not a lot of length. Rebounding is about work and we know that. We need to be a better rebounding team, so everybody has to play a part in that. I thought there were some times where we were assuming a teammate was going to get the board.”

(On the team’s effort in the game)

“We got to understand what we need to do and we got to do it. We’ve done it. I thought tonight we got a little away from what we were supposed to do. Defensively, as well as offensively, I think everyone wants to put up numbers, but we got to play within our offense and it’s not ‘first opportunity, take the shot.’ It’s not a run-and-gun system. We need to get some execution, some type of rhythm and we didn’t get that tonight.”

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge:

(How would you describe the game?)

“It was a tough loss. We had control of both halves and then we just let it slip away. It wasn’t even their starters tonight. Their second unit came in tonight and played big for them. They put pressure on us, crashed the boards hard and they just had more energy than us tonight. We had control, we just didn’t stay solid.”

(What changed for you guys in the game tonight toward the end?)

“I think in the first quarter, I was definitely rolling so it was a little bit easier. Going into the second half, they doubled and forced me baseline so things were not as easy as it was in the first quarter. But we’ve dealt with that all year, so we have to be more solid.”

(On losing Marcus Camby)

“Definitely losing him is always tough, he’s a big time rebounder and shot blocker. He’s big for us and he’s our starting center, so losing him was tough, but Kurt came in did his job. It makes it tough for substitutions after that because you get used to having Camby, then Kurt. Then now you have to find somebody who can back up Kurt. Coach will figure it out. But, like I said, losing Camby was not our reason for losing this game. We just had control and we didn’t stay solid the whole game.

Portland Trail Blazers center, Marcus Camby:

(Feelings in general of the game)

“It was definitely frustrating. We seemed to be playing good basketball. I didn’t get to see the rest of the game today. We’re going to have to figure out how to play on the road. The schedule has been in our favor the first part because we had a lot of home games and we solidified our home court.”

(Thoughts after initial injury)

“I thought I was going to be able to just get up and walk it off or run it off. I just really can’t put a lot of weight on it now. So, I’m going to stick to the treatments and try to get out on the court as quickly as possible.”

(Any words to teammates after injury?)

“We have a lot of bigs that are going to have the opportunity to play and show what they got. Guys have been working hard at practice, so now they are going to get the opportunity. So, hopefully they can make the best of the opportunity. ”

Jefferson transitions to 3-point sniper

MILWAUKEE — When Richard Jefferson arrived in San Antonio in July of 2009, spoils of a trade that remains the boldest gamble of the Spurs’ championship era, coach Gregg Popovich thought he knew what he was getting.

In Jefferson, Popovich envisioned then, the Spurs finally had a do-it-all scoring weapon at small forward.

“His old game was what we wanted,” Popovich said. “He was more of a ‘scorer’ scorer.”

It has taken the better part of two mercurial seasons, and the offseason threat of amnesty, but Jefferson appears to have finally found his niche with the Spurs.

As a 3-point marksman.

Once one of Jason Kidd’s favorite alley-oop targets in New Jersey, Jefferson at age 31 has reinvented himself as the second coming of Steve Kerr.

Heading into tonight’s game at Milwaukee, Jefferson is tied for the NBA lead in 3-pointers made (29) and ranks third in accuracy (58 percent). He is averaging 14.1 points, a big reason the Spurs have gone 3-1 since losing All-Star guard Manu Ginobili to a broken hand Jan. 2.

So far this season, Jefferson has hit multiple 3-pointers in every game but one. He has made at least three in five consecutive games.

“It’s such a long season,” Jefferson said, perhaps trying not to jinx himself. “You look at it, and you don’t want to get too high or too low.”

To those with a passing familiarity of Jefferson’s high-flying past, his newfound proficiency with the 3-ball is like watching Jimi Hendrix take up the cowbell or Van Gogh dabble in finger paints.

Before joining the Spurs this season, point guard T.J. Ford spent his career in the Eastern Conference, facing the old Jefferson.

“He’s made an adjustment,” Ford said. “He was one of the key offensive players in Jersey at one time. The offense was going through him. He came here, and his role changed.”

Jefferson’s success from long range is no fluke. He shot a career-best 44 percent last season, fifth-best in the NBA.

The evolution, from alley-ooper to gunner, did not happen overnight. It was slow, and it was painstaking.

It began here in Milwaukee, where Jefferson set then-career highs in 3-pointers attempted (292) and made (116) the season before he came to San Antonio. That transition only accelerated after he joined the Spurs.

“He’s worked really hard on it with (Spurs shooting coach) Chip Engelland,” Popovich said. “He deserves a lot of credit for spending the time, and Chip deserves a lot of credit for doing the teaching.”

Admittedly, this is not how Popovich imagined Jefferson would contribute when the Spurs traded Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas for him three summers ago.

The first season in San Antonio was a struggle for Jefferson, and for his coaches. Picturing an adaptable, get-to-the-rim scorer along the lines of Sean Elliott, Popovich added new wrinkles to the offense to take advantage of Jefferson’s expected strengths.

There were intricately designed lob plays and calls for him to post up on the block. None of it quite worked.

Unable to mold a new offense around Jefferson, Popovich last season decided to blend Jefferson into the old offense.

The result: Jefferson hit 135 of 307 3-pointers, by any measure his best season from beyond the arc.

“My first year here, I struggled just with the type of shots I was getting, how they were coming,” Jefferson said. “During the summer, I just worked extremely hard on the types of shots that I was getting. And you saw the evolution.”

The goal for Jefferson this season is to continue to evolve.

He began last season almost as hot, averaging nearly 14 points over the first two months before tailing off. Opposing teams had gotten wise to his 3-point act.

“The better you shoot it, the tougher your shots are going to be because teams are going to stop leaving you open,” Jefferson said. “The better you shoot, the harder the game actually gets.”

For now, the Spurs will enjoy Jefferson’s latest scorching streak for what it is — a masterpiece in finger paint.

“You get older, you don’t do the things you used to do,” Ford said. “He’s still a hell of a player.”