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Report: Spurs to use amnesty on Richard Jefferson
It would appear the Richard Jefferson era is coming to an end in San Antonio.
Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the San Antonio Spurs have decided to use the amnesty clause in the new CBA to cut ties with Richard Jefferson.
This news comes as the Spurs completed a round of visits from free agent swing men Josh Howard and Caron Butler. Butler tweeted he had a great visit in San Antonio as did Howard.
As Woj pointed out, the Spurs obviously wouldn't have done this without a plan B in place. Is it Butler? Howard? A trade? Stay tuned. It just got real.
What do you have to say Spurs fans on this news? Feel RJ needed to go or should have been given another shot to prove he was worth the trade a few seasons ago?
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For those who think Butler will be another version of RJ, Butler will bring the mentality and toughness that RJ lacked. Not to mention, he comes at a cheaper price than RJ. If we can't get Battier (or Grant Hill maybe) to join, Butler would be my next choice.
What about Wilson Chandler,Jason Thompson,Andrew Bogut just throwing names out there. I do like the Josh Howard idea.
I think people are using RJ as a scapegoat,yes he didn't have a great playoff but nobody on the team did the real issue is the need for a big NENE,KAMAN,CHANDLER you need a big that can control the paint offensively and defensively and Duncan needs as much help as possible.With this amnesty rule I haven't heard Matt Bonner name in this he's a great shooter but the spurs need more from their bigs a Robert Horry type big that can can shoot and play defense.I've said this all last year just like RJ had to adjust to the spurs system the spurs should've adjusted to his ability as well you can't take an athlete like RJ and make him a corner three point shooter, that's why he didn't do well with the spurs in my opinion.But what in the world is going on with Ryan Richards,Nano De Colo why do the spurs draft these players and wait until their almost 30plus to bring them over, at least get them in the D-league.
If you can't stay in the corner and hit wide open 3 pointers or even long two pointers and you're a professional basketball player you shouldn't even be in the league or starting for an nba team, that my friend makes dick jefferson a scape goat, oh and averaging 6 points and 4 rebounds in the playoffs also makes this pathetic sack of garbage a liability. So Hell yeah I'm ecstatic that this disgrace for a basketball player is getting kicked out of dodge.
@isaacd35 That's my point RJ is not just a corner three point shooter he could have been put in more post ups on smaller players at his position and isolation plays from mid range, a guy with that athletic ability you have to use every bit of it and the entire team struggled against Memphis in the playoffs.Trying to make RJ just a shooter is like asking Matt Bonner to play point guard.
Are you kidding me?What am I taking to far?, all I'm saying is that richard jefferson isn't a good player and being the the 4th best shooter in the league didn't help him in the playoffs when he averaged 6 points a game, that shooting percentage was fools gold and he couldn't play defense if his life depended on it. of course he didn't fit the spurs system because he can't play defense and can't shoot, oh yeah, and the last time I checked neal and bonner combined don't make 10 million dollars a year.Now do you know what I'm talking about?
I get your point but,our offense is predicated on spacing,penetrating and passing the ball to open shooters its not the spurs fault that dick jefferson can't hit a wide open jumper and we can't throw the ball down low to jefferson because he is not that good of a post player, the couple of times we did try to post him up during the season he either turned the ball over or clanked the ball off the rim. And I bet bonner could play the point better than jefferson could play his own position. My point is I just think as a player, jefferson sucks!
@ZILLA the real issue is going back to playing a defensive-minded game, not just getting a big man. we solved some of that by getting Leonard from the draft. if we get Butler or Howard, they should at least be a little better at defense than RJ was and have the ability to score.
as far as the draftees overseas, they'll have plenty of time. as far as i know, the only player we brought over that was 30 or older was Oberto.
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@RG8907 Your right defense is the key but you need a big that can protect the rim along with those defensive small forwards. That's what made Bruce Bowen so good he was an excellent individual defender,what made him really good was having Tim and David back there and all the others centers paired with Duncan.
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i just watched News 4 WOAI, and Don Harris said that the Spurs are also interested in David West. if anybody can find the source to that, i'd appreciate it.
@pete182 Kaman will be a better pick out of these two. He has the height and play better defense than West. West is positioned as a PF but mainly a mid-range jump shooter than a inside force. West is also shortcomings of rebounding. For Kaman, well, first you can't teach height. Second, he gives us another post scoring option besides TD. We never have that since D-Rob retired. We have a lot of shooters can lights out from midrange so we probably should go after Kaman.
@shawnthefreak sorry, shawnthefreak, you're living in fantasy, especially when you suggested Parker, RJ, Blair and 1st rounder for Paul and Ofakor. that's fantasy written all over it. most of us live in reality.
Dude, you need to take a chill pill.
I question whether you are a true Spurs fan or not, shawnthefreak, for two reasons:
1. Most of the comments you've made about the Spurs have been negative. How about just trust the Spurs front office? They always been quiet and we usually never know what they're thinking.
2. You don't have class. Calling others idiots just doesn't fly around here in SpursNation. Please be respectful! You may think some ideas are idiotic, but it doesn't mean the person is dumb. He's simply putting out a suggestion.
@shawnthefreak well shawnthefreak, you're the idiot here and still live in fantasy because i don't believe getting a superstar is the ONLY way to solve all our problems, but since i've already said stuff i needed to say on the other comment, i am going to ignore you, and talk to the others that i respect.
@RG8907 The Hornets is gonna lose Paul anyway,.. so why not get a relative young All-star pg back as well as dump Okafor's big salary? For the Spurs, get a guy like Chris Paul making everyone better as well the successor of the franchise face from TD. As well as getting a defensive force like Okafor to help TD down in the paint. You know what? You're not just living in the fantasy, you are an idiot, very much like Inside from SpursNation LOL. And since you and I are so disagree on things, could you please just ignore my reply on others??? Will you? :)
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@pete182 like i told scottmer, we don't know that for sure, and we won't know til the season starts. i think Butler will be a better fit than RJ was. as much as i like Prince, my gut tells me some other team is going to offer more money than the MLE.
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@RG8907@pete182 keep in mind also that butler is going to realistically be as good or better then RJ BUT he is most likely coming in at HALF the price. the biggest reason people hated on RJ is his contract. a 10 mil player with such weak production sucks, a 5 mil player with the same production is a nice 4th option.
with RJ's contract off the books and and if Antonio retires the spurs salaries will be at 58 mill. plenty of room to sign a SF and A big man. just depends on how far the spurs want to go over the cap this year.
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@washburngmj have to keep in mind that the spurs have to sign the 2 rookies contracts so thats gonna be at least another 5 mil+ on the books. dropping RJ and dyess retiring puts the spurs below the league minimum of 13 players after signing the rookies and signing butler, prince, howard whom ever gets them to 13. signing a big would be a perfect ending to the off season but he would have to come on the cheap. mcdyess retiring and signing the rookies would put us back to 64-65 mil plus 5 for the midlevel exception puts us right at the 70 mil tax limit. there isnt anything left but league minimum type money left and we WILL be over the tax this season unless this single signing is the last of it for the season.
@JohnAbney Ahh! Forgot about he rookies. How would signing Francisco Elson or Oberto Sound.
Ok amnesty option on jefferson. Get another sf. What will the spurs do with Green, Butler and Leonard? In the final analysis they are not solving their problem, a big, young banger to give TD rest. Instead of another sf, use the money to sign K.Kaman, K. Fesenko, C.Landry, J. Howard or E. Clark.
@rtesoro440 Leonard's getting playing time, otherwise, we wouldn't have traded him for Hill. can't say the same for Green and Butler (Da'Sean, that is). getting another big is not the only problem they had. they did solve one of their problems. my guess is they're not done yet with making moves, so they can add another big, and it does not have to be a young guy.
im worried butler ends up being the same story as rj... remember when spurs beat mavs in the playoffs last and butler sat the bench the entire second half one game...it sounds a bit too similar i really wish theyd go for a big with all this money rather than 2 questionable small forwards who missed a lot of gammes last year
@scottmer.. we don't know that for sure, and we won't know until the season starts. i might expect Butler getting the same amount of points that RJ did for us, if not, a little more like 14 points, but i do think Butler will be a much better defender than RJ.
i feel real bad to see this story ive wrote countless times supporting rj i think hes a great guy buy i know it didnt work out with him and hope he goes to a run n gun team and gets back to his nets status..anyway i hope we use his salary on a good big i think if they get butler itll be the same deal as rj..he'll need touches to be a consistant scorer but will be the 4th option for the first time in his career ( same as rj)...id still put small forward needs after pg and center really but i still want danny green and dasean butler cut so james anderson can be a contributor...i think go after a good big bring in carlos arroyo cos i like the guy and then a sf
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I am not a salary cap expert either. Hopefully they don't cut the actual value of the player as cutting RJ would only get us a couple of bucks and a funny "leave her at the alter story". I am just glad we will not have to hear his mickey mouse voice in after game interviews anymore.
so just curious, for anyone that is a salary cap expert, how much money will we be under the cap after RJ is amnestied?
How long before someone asks if this now puts in the running for Nene or Tyson Chandler. LOL.
I like Butler if he can stay healthy. I don't really want Josh Howard. He is a punk and hasn't been good in a while. I would rather have Prince than him. I think that Wilson Chandler can come over in Feb or March and the spurs really wanted him. We would have to wait on signing anyone else and gamble that we get him though. That would be the best option thinking about the future and not right now.
It would be sweet if we split the mid level exception between the two of them.. Butler starts at 3 and Howard at 4... then Manu comes off the bench to back up Howard and Leonard Backs up Butler.
Talk about a team that can score the ball.
@JeffProjectSpurs@KrisPittman yep, accoding to mysa.com (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2011/12/07/jefferson-out-butler-up-next/ ), they said that according to one league source, the Spurs are now considered the front-runner for Butler. i'd welcome Butler with open arms.
sad to see him go because he was a nice guy, but it just didn't work out. however, i'm ready to see who is coming to this team.
