Spurs of the Moment

The Spurs traded Curtis Jerrells to the Hornets on Monday, about a week after releasing Kirk Penney. On Tuesday they released James Gist. The Jerrells trade makes sense for both teams. New Orleans could use another backup for Chris Paul, and some added backcourt depth, especially with Marcus Thornton struggling and about to lose minutes to Marco Belinelli. Apparently Dell Demps, who left the Spurs front office this summer to become the new Hornets GM, liked Jerrells enough to swap a 2nd-round pick for him. As for Penney, well I guess he wasn’t impressive enough on defense. He can shoot, but the Spurs have shooters. It’s the defense that needs to be tweaked. I am a little surprised though – not that he was cut, but that he was first to go. Gist was never gonna make the team.  I was gonna look up his pre-season numbers but no one cares.

That brings the total of Spurs players to 15, but Pop said he was thinking of cutting it to 13 earlier this pre-season. So who is left? Gary Neal, Bobby Simmons, Alonzo Gee, Marcus Cousin, and Garrett Temple. The Spurs could keep them all and just leave 3 on the inactive list or assign to the Austin Toros D-League team. However, if they cut two more than I would expect … crap I have no idea what to expect. I don’t even know if I have a preference for who they should keep except for Gary Neal who lit it up in the NBA Summer League. Incidentally, he is the only one who has a guaranteed contract, so I doubt that he’s in any danger. Temple’s chances improve with Jerrells gone, and since Parker was so injury prone last season I could see them hanging on to him. The rest I have no idea. Let’s just move on…

Tiago Splitter has yet to play a game for the Spurs, so Pop has declared DeJuan Blair the starting center for the Spurs opener. Also, the Spurs picked up the 4th-year option on George Hill’s contract.

The Spurs slapped around the Miami Dwyane Wades a few days ago. It’s a pre-season game and James and Bosh both sat out most of it, but it still feels good for the Spurs to be the first to beat them.  DeJuan Blair continued to have a solid pre-season with 13 points and seven boards.

In other news, Popovich is beginning to look at a new approach to his backup small forward situation. It’s become obvious that the “Next Bruce Bowen” approach will net little more than another Keith Bogans disaster, so he is now looking more at the offensive firepower side of things.

To find exactly what he’s looking for, Popovich would need to build a time machine.

“If I had my druthers, and it was a perfect world, I want Bruce Bowen to be 28 years old and back on our team,” Popovich said, echoing a persistent preseason theme.

Seeing as the world is imperfect, Popovich doesn’t always have his druthers and Bowen is 39 years old and wears bow ties on ESPN for a living, the search continues.

What Popovich wants most in a backup to Richard Jefferson is a defensive menace who could be, in the coach’s words, “a pain in the ass.” He isn’t certain anybody on Sunday’s charter flight to Mexico City for Tuesday’s game against the Clippers fits that description.

At this point, Popovich will settle for something less.

“If I can get somebody who can at least spell defense and say the word once in a while, then I’ll know they have some interest in it,” he said.

…

Absent the next Bowen, however, Popovich will accept the next Peja Stojakovic.

“The worse they are defensively, the better they’d better be able to shoot,” Popovich said. “Or there’s no reason to have them around.”

Uh oh. That sounds to me like more people will be getting cut than I originally thought.

Here are the ten players we know will be back:
1. Tim Duncan
2. Tony Parker
3. Manu Ginobili
4. George Hill
5. Tiago Splitter
6. DeJuan Blair
7. Richard Jefferson
8. Antonio McDyess
9. James Anderson
10. Matt Bonner

Beyond them, it’s hard to say who we should bother getting too attached to. There are eight other players vying for a spot:
Kirk Penney
Gary Neal
Bobby Simmons
Alonzo Gee
Garrett Temple
Marcus Cousin
Curtis Jerrells
James Gist

If the Spurs keep a maximum of 15 then the three who I think will get cut are Cousin, Gist and Jerrells.
If they cut down to 13, then say goodbye to two of these guys: Temple, Simmons or Gee.

Don’t look now, but Bobby Simmons has been seen in San Antonio attending the Spurs camp.

For those of you who don’t remember Bobby Simmons, allow me to recap for you. Bobby Simmons played for the Clippers and had a nice season in 2004-05 that earned him the Most Improved Player award and a nice contract from the Bucks the following summer. He had averaged roughly 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists and was on the verge of becoming a reliable contributor in the NBA as well as fantasy basketball. During the ’05-’06 season he struggled to put up the same numbers as they all dropped to roughly 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists per game.  Then he got hurt and missed the entire season in 2006-2007, came back the next season a shell of his former self, got traded and has been fading into obscurity in New Jersey ever since. I picked him up in a few fantasy leagues along the way in the hopes that he would get back to his playing level in LA, but it just never happened. I am convinced that it never will, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a decent contributor. If nothing else he could spell RJ for five to ten minutes a game and give the Spurs a little offense. I’m not too sure about his defensive skills though, and that could make or break his stint with the Spurs before the season starts. Last season he averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 boards in about 17 minutes per game for the Nets, but I don’t expect him to get that kind of playing time in San Antone. I always liked him so I hope he still has something left, but I wouldn’t expect much even if he does make the squad.

Another player at camp, Kirk Penney, apparently averaged 24.7 points in the FIBA World Championships this summer. I had no idea who he was, and he never played against the US in the tourney, so I had to do a little research. The closest to NBA level talent he played against this summer was probably Spain and he scored 21 points. If he isn’t much more than a scorer then I am not sure how he fits, but we’ll see. I don’t expect him to make the cut to be honest.