Buford: De Colo, Mills officially Spurs
After the San Antonio Spurs Summer League team finished their second practice before heading to Las Vegas, Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford confirmed some Spurs free agent signings. He discussed the re-signing of Boris Diaw, and spoke of what the Summer League will offer to some of the younger players.
"Boris is coming back, Patty Mills we got completed today, and we finished Nando De Colo,” said Buford.
After Project Spurs reported the news via Twitter, no less than 20 minutes later, Mills' deal was made official to the public. De Colo's official addition to the team will be coming soon as well.
Buford said that having a full training camp will help Diaw learn even more of the Spurs system.
When discussing the addition of De Colo, Buford said jokingly De Colo will get along with the mix of international players on roster.
"He speaks French so he'll be able to take some of our guys out to lunch," said Buford.
"Nando is a very skilled guard, he's a creative passer, he's played at a very high level over in Europe," continued Buford, "He's got good size as a guard and he can play the one and the two (guard positions)."
On the Summer League, Buford is hoping to find a gem on their roster or elsewhere.
"You also have the hope that ‘Gary Neal’ shows up on your team or someone else's team."
On the Spurs' two former rookies, Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph, Buford knows Summer League will help them, but he's not expecting them to return as superstars.
"I'd like to see Cory play like Steve Nash and I'd like to see Kawhi play like Michael Jordan," said Buford.
@BhaktaSA Need a PG..other than TP he's the only PG we have..CJ Im sure is still not ready and others are SG and/or combo guards..plus in limited minutes right off the bat he put up excellent #s. On top of that his contract is good vs his ability.
The Mavs officially got Brand. Isn't it the appropriate time for the Spurs to bid for Luis Scola? Following an earlier discussion, Bonner will be amnestied and waive Blair and Neal who are both holders of unguaranteed contracts. If this move make the Spurs qualified, that is below the salary cap, they should bid for Luis Scola. They have to hurdle the Cavs who appears to be interested in Scola. Yes, we know that Bonner can spread the floor but, he never showed anything come crunch time. As a rebounder, Scola can easily replace him. Is he replaceable? I think so. Manu can shoot the 3s, so does Leonard and Jackson and even Green. Blair is an undersized pf/c. He is good, but inadequate. Neal can be replaced by deColo or Denmon. Getting Scola once and for all solve the issue of a big guy protecting the interior and give needed rest time to TD. Additionally, it opens space in the lineup. They have 14 players under the payroll and with the amnesty of Bonner, waiver of Blair and Neal opens 3 add'l slots enough to accommodate Denmon, Derrick Byars and Jamychal Green or Ryan Richards. Its all up to coach Pop, GM Buford and Mr. Holt. The door is open. Spirs pull the trigger! Go Spurs!
@rtesoro440 As I explained before even amnesty of bonner and dumping Blair/Neal likely wouldnt get us under cap..Blair and Neal make peanuts and Bonner is only at 3.6 mil..THEN teams have to at LEAST be able to bid the minimum for Scola which is set at almost 3.5 mil for 3 yrs (10 mil + total) #s wont work..PLUS all that would have to be done in the 48 hrs AFTER Scola was amnestied, so if they amnestied Bonner now, I think it would be too late to get his deal officially off the books BEFORE we could bid on Scola..Also, there is NO guarantee Spurs bid on scola would be higher than another teams, so essentially Spurs could be outbid then lose Blair and Neal for NOTHING and Bonner would STILL have to be paid by spurs (- what a team that bids on him offers) Long story short, no matter how much you wish or how many threads you make about it, if its not possible, its not possible.
Nando De Colo is making passes that I don't think Manu was making when he was playing in Europe.
So offcially the Spurs have 14 players under the payroll. The Spurs are over the salary cap so that disqualifies them from bidding for any of the amnestied players. Just mulling with the idea of amnestying Bonner and waive Blair and Neal who have unguaranteed contracts. Will this put the Spurs under the salary cap? If it does, then they are ready to bid for the services of Brand, Scola ior any of the big players. If successful, this solves the thorny issue of a big man to protect the interior and relieve TD the pressure of playing long minutes. We know that Bonner spreads the floor but, he is not irreplaceable. Manu can shoot the 3s, so does Leonard and Jackson even Danny Green. If they able to do this, the lineup is able to absorb I think 3 more players enough to sign Denmon, Byars, and Jamychal Green or Ryan Richards. Just thinking aloud. It all depends now on Pop, GM Buford and Mr. Holt. I think it's doable.
@rtesoro440 NOT do-able..and Brand is already a mav for 2.1 mil (and his minimum was about 1.3 mil i think, so if you extrapolate that to Scolas minimum and what a bid MAY have to be, Scolas minimum being 3.4 mil or so, team would prob have to bid 4 mil to have a chance at him) ITS JUST NOT POSSIBLE UNDER THE RULES
@rtesoro440 It's doubtful that the Spurs will make any moves like this. I don't think the timetable is there to amnesty Bonner and pick up Scola. I would love it if they did Amnesty Bonner and go after Scola but you've got to wonder if Scola has some hard feelings towards. The Spurs organization...
Hinrich is returning to the Bulls and Mo Williams to the Jazz. Did you hear them complaining? Why should Scola complain? This maybe the Spurs' chance to have a big man to protect the interior.
Money answers everything. Of course Scola will enjoy playing with Manu and would like to play with the godfather of his son. Yes, we all know the Spurs made a mistake in giving him to the rocckets. I supposed it does not count in the nba environment.
@rtesoro440 Those are completely different situations. Scola actually had a real anger towards the Spurs for not making a real push to bring him over. That may all be water under the bridge since the Spurs did the Rockets and Scola solid by trading him to Houston. I still think it was one of the worst moves the Spurs have ever made but if they could make up for it and pick Scola up that would be awesome. I honestly think it will not happen but stranger things have happened **Cough - Steve Nash to LA
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Definitely glad to have both Patty Mills and DeColo on the team. Now I'm just hoping that Ryan Richards ends up being that so called 'Gem' on our roster.
