Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I'm surprised at 2 things.

1. The spurs gave up and the Raptors got Danny Green in the deal. It's just 1year but that's a pretty good complimentary player. If the Raptors need something different Green is a heck of an asset to move

2. The Spurs didn't get OG back in the deal. If Leonard leaves after this year the Raptors still have some nocetalent and can rebuild. OG might not be a building block type but he is a nice Young complimentary piece.

Lots of love for Pop and understandably so but this was a crusty guy that connected with bored Tim Duncan. The stories about his interactions with Manu back in the day are hilarious. Manu was probably good for Pop he needed someone that made him have to deal with some creative/whacky play. To both their credit they figured it out.

Lots of love for the Spurs organization alsoand again understandably so. However you can easily argue they have overpaid a few player lately including this offseason. I like Belinelli but 2 years 12 million for a less bad version of Crawford? I think they could have done better and it's the Spurs...aren't they supposed to get these types of guys that played for Pop for a discount? Nope.

Anyway it will be interesting to see how this trade works out. The Spurs are basically built to have 2 high useage scorers with some complimentary players including shooter around them. If Leonard is healthy and that team takes another step it's a legit East contender. That's a talented roster they have.

I'd take Belinelli at $6M per year for 2 years over Tolliver for $6M for one season. I think the Spurs took the best deal they could get for a guy whose people have told the world he doesn't want to go anywhere but LA and who has yet to show he's physically able to play. Otherwise, Pop has connected well with all his star players, including Manu and Tony Parker as well as LaMarcus Aldridge more recently. And he certainly had no trouble getting Kawhi to play hard and play the right way. Pop's record as head coach speaks for itself over many, many years and multiple roster iterations. Kawhi was an anomaly.

Thanks for bringing up Lamarcus Aldridge it was like 12 months ago he wanted to be traded. I'm just sayin :) The point is that while the Spurs getheaped on a ton of praise and rightly so...they haven't been quite as perfect as sometimes it is made out to be...the Patriots have some instances of this as well.

Lip you should look up some advanced stats on Belinelli. The defense is a real problem. I'll also mention Tolliver ranks better in advanced stats and hit more 3's last year. Belinelli is a wing so that adds to his value but there is no way he is a bargain and ai have been sort of a fan of his since his first couple years in the league.

I knew you'd bring up the initial friction between Pop and Aldridge. :) But note that the two worked it out and Aldridge now likes it there. Pop can be a hard ass, but the point is that he also develops a close personal bond with his players. And its through his ability to develop those connections with players that he's able to work through issues that often arise between players and a hard-ass head coach like Pop. Aldridge is an example that proves my point because it's where you end up with players that matters, not where you began or whether there were any difficulties.

I looked at the advanced stats of both. But you said it yourself. Belinelli is a wing. He can handle the ball and do more things than Tolliver. By the way, I don't think Tolliver is a bargain at $6 million; I think the Wolves are overpaying him. While Belinelli's contract isn't what I'd call a bargain, I don't consider it a gross overpay. It's his market value as measured by his prior contracts. In contrast, Tolliver was paid $2 million last season. So the Spurs paid market value for Belinelli while the Wolves are paying far more than market value. Paying market value for a free agent isn't what I'd call a black mark against the Spurs organization.

In any event, the brilliance of the Spurs organization lies primarily in their draft decisions and player development, not so much in free agent signings. The Kawhi situation is the only example of something that has blown up on them. It's clearly an anomaly in the broader context of what we all know about the Spurs organization over many, many years. I think they got the best deal they could upon concluding that Kawhi was going to be a toxic distraction for an entire season after which he's leave as a FA with no assets flowing back to the Spurs. I'll give the Spurs credit, under the circumstances, for sending Kawhi to the Eastern Conference and for getting a perennial allstar in return with multiple years left on his contract along with a pretty talented young big and a first round draft pick. If the Spurs could have gotten Covington, Saric and a protected 1st from the Sixers, then I think that would have been a better deal for the Spurs. But we don't know for sure whether that deal was offered the Spurs and even if it was, I'm still inclined to give the Spurs the benefit fo the doubt given their track record of success making player personnel decisions.