But it’s always better for a team with Championship pedigree to try to improve.

Plus, Richard Jefferson plays the best defense on Kobe that I’ve ever seen.

Obviously, I don’t believe the nonsense I posted above.

I was trying on my devil’s advocate hat.

Not throughout the season. Second half of season. Josh has it down pat. This is all very interesting. The regular season games will also be really fun.

But really it comes down to health in the post season. And if we are all lucky to have two healthy teams, man, win or lose, that would be one series for the ages.

why are u guys all worried about bowen? did u not see last season at all? the guy hardly plays. check out his profile and look at his game log. he’s too old to contribute. he’s a non-factor.

thank you. i’m trying to figure out what all the buzz about bowen is. the guy is done.

I agree with most of your thoughts (though I still think that, when you factor in the savvy at the coaching, PF, SG, and PG slots, they’re still second best in the West, without a doubt).

Unfortunately, that last paragraph of yours makes equally as much sense as the rest of the post!

With this trade, the Spurs have $70 million committed next season to 9 players. According to KD, both Bowen and Obierto are likely to be cut by the Bucks (although he only mentioned Bowen as likely to find his way back to the Alamo).

For a small market team like the Spurs, it seems awful hard to imagine just how much further into the luxory tax they can go to fill out their roster.

I don’t think the Spurs are done with off-season moves yet. With that as a premise, do you think its possible this deal was done with the idea of moving Manu as well? He’s had a rough couple of years injury wise, is on the wrong side of 30, and he could certainly be used to bring in some quality big man talent and a backup guard, with Mason Jr. sliding into starters minutes.

This analysis is great, but it’s not based on the reality of the Spurs.

• Front court depth is a worry, but Oberto hardly ever played in the last season, and his heart problems would probably keep him off the court in this season too. We basically have to compensate for Kurt Thomas, and at least Mahinmi is finally ready to play. In short, it’s a worry, but not more so than last season.
• In terms of athleticism and rebounding, Jefferson is a definite improvement over Bowen and Finley.
• Duncan had a good first half of the season, actually, carrying the Spurs without Manu or Tony, and this is the first time in many years that he will have the entire offseason to get healthy. We’ll see.
• Depth might be an issue (I’m not sure, since during the playoffs our rotations usually involve 7, 8 players at most), but again, Oberto and Bowen hardly change our situation. And Bowen might be back. So we might actually end up with one more active player than last season, and a starter at that. Minute per minute, I think we’re actually “deeper”.
• It’s been rumored that the Spurs plan to bring Gist as RJ’s backup. He’ll cost little money, so that’s one fewer hole to fill.

It all comes down to us finding a serviceable center. Bouroussis was promising, but that seems a pipe dream right now.

Good optimism :)

I’m confused on why the Celtics would have even considered shopping Rondo and Allen.

I mean, it’s only been a year since they won a championship. The team as it is currently constructed with the Pierce-Allen-KG core should be kept mostly intact. Even if it’s an older team, they’ve definitely will be in the east contending for at least 2 to 3 more years, so it’s strange that they would consider breaking that core.

Are the reports of Rondo being difficult really true? And why would they shop Rondo, I thought he was their "future" point guard? Unless, they don’t have enough money to pay him?

It just doesn’t make sense to me. They should be adding players to strengthen their bench… not shopping Allen or Rondo.

And regarding the Spurs (assuming Bowen, Thomas and Oberto don’t return), their lineup against the Lakers (assuming LO, TA and UPS re-sign) would look like this:

Tony Parker / George Hill – D-Fish / UPS / Jordie (advantage TP)
Finley / Ginobli / Roger Mason – Kobe / Sasha (advantage kobe)
Tim Duncan – Pau Gasol / Josh Powell (advantage Pau, he’s younger)
Richard Jefferson / Ime Udoka – Trevor Ariza / Lamar Odom (advantage LO)
Matt Bonner / Drew Gooden – Drew / DJ (advantage Drew, even if he becomes the Human Fouling Machine)

I’m not too worried about the Spurs. Their center and forward positions are really lacking. I’m sure either LO or TA (which ever resigns – hopefully both) can contain Richard Jefferson. Pau usually does a great job guarding Timmy. Drew should win against Matt Bonner. Kobe might have his plate full guarding Ginobli, but vice versa. Tony Parker might be the only area where they have a clear cut advantage over the Lakers.

Otherwise, I’m not worried one bit. Unless the Spurs find a really good big man. But I still won’t worry too much only because who knows how RJ will work in the Spurs system.

I want Shannon to participate in the dunk contest next year.

Foye and Mike Miller will help them along with Agent Zero and Caron Butler.

Can’t help but feel T-Wolves got shafted in that deal.

There’s no way this trade alone makes the Spurs 2nd in the West next year.

Houston, Denver, Portland are still ahead of them. As of right now, the Spurs have NO frontline.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4284512

this team is great. the guys all get along. Kobe got his ring w/o shaq. phil is great with working with volatile personalities. The lakers have nothing but love right now for eachother. I would definately give jackson alot of credit for never losing back to back playoff games this past year, and never losing three in a row. But truth be told, this laker roster could be coached by anybody. we are just too versatile, and give opponents too many matchup problems. Teams adjust to us, we dont adjust to them. sure i would be more comfortable with phil at the helm, but i wouldnt be jumping ship if shaw or rambis had the gig.

Portland is one of the few teams that can matchup with our length, and give us matchup problems of their own (orlando and boston being the other 2). Portland is fast, tall, and their backcourt (namely roy) pretty much cause havok on the offensive end. rudy fernandez is almost an even better version of ariza. odom and gasol have HUGE trouble dealing with przybilla and aldrige. bynum and oden cancel eachother out. Im just praying portland doesnt get a upgrade at the point, otherwise i would really worry.
Houston presents some problems, cuz scola, battier, and yao have alot of heart and fight in them. throw in brooks, landry, artest, and mcgrady into the mix, houstons got a great team.

Denver, unlike houston, is full of losers. I say that cuz melo, kmart, smith just arent on the same level as the lakers (kobe, gasol, odom). chauncey a few years ago would give fish hell, but he’s definately lost a step.

Spurs…my most hated/respect team in the west…. sorry to say though, their window is done, and the RJ trade is desparate. I still dont think TD, Manu, and Parker can stay healthy. Manu hasnt been healthy for like 3 years. TD is already sitting out games in the season, and parker cant keep beat up driving to the hoop for 82 games. They are simply too old, and not deep enough.

SA adding RJ didnt do anything to help their matchup problems vs the Lakers. What they needed was to go back to the twin tower formula. This laker team is the longest team in the league. This trade only made them shorter, not to mention probably made Kobe smile since Bowen is no longer around to pester him. RJ is not known for his defensive prowess, and I foresee taking it to him and dishing to whoever duncan isnt guarding.

you’re 100% correct when u noticed duncan having trouble with bynum. The spurs are just flat out old. They acquired a guy who thrives on running, a game plan i never see the spurs attempting.

This trade was just a desperate move to put a glimmer of hope in the Spurs rapidly closing window in the Duncan era