On this episode of the Spurscast, Project Spurs and 48 Minutes of Hell join forces to discuss the latest news on the San Antonio Spurs.

On the show, Tim Varner of 48MoH joins myself and Mike to discuss the reports of Shaq wanting to join the Spurs, the latest on Tiago Splitter, Tony Parker rumors and whether he will be a Spur for the upcoming season and much more!

Oh and while I attempt to do my best Shaq impression, I try to get Tim to do his best Shaq impression. Did Tim do it? Find out on this episode of the Spurscast.

Thanks to Tim for taking time out to join us. Make sure to check out 48 Minutes of Hell.

The Spurscast, the first and original Spurs podcast!

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Music: "Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica

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According to the Express-News (via Yahoo! Sports), the San Antonio Spurs might offer free-agent Richard Jefferson a multi-year contract slightly above the midlevel exception due to his market value shrinking:

On July 1, Jefferson opted out of a contract that would have paid him $15.2 million this coming season. The San Antonio Express-News is reporting that Jefferson figured he'd cash in on a long-term deal from one of the many teams that had made room under the salary cap for LeBron James. But, the paper reports, Jefferson's market is "shrinking daily" and he shouldn't expect more than a mid-level exception of $5.765 million. "The Spurs are expected to offer a multi-year contract starting at a shade above that," the paper notes.

Though Spurs fans might not like the team to re-sign Jefferson after his mediocre season, he does have one full season of the infamous difficult Spurs system and might have a better second season.

With Jefferson on the back-end of his career, a multi-year contract might be a bit long. However, a reduced contract might be on par on what he does produce for the Spurs.

In part two of the San Antonio Spurs Family Tree, let's take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of head coaches who were at one point Spurs “students," and their success, or lack thereof, after leaving the San Antonio.

Avery Johnson

Better known in San Antonio as the “Little General,” he played for the Spurs in the 1990-1991, 1991-1993, and 1994-2001 NBA seasons. As a player with the Spurs, Johnson averaged, 10.1 points, 6.8 assists, 2 rebounds, 28.7 minutes per game and appeared in 725 games -- all stats including regular and post season.

Spurs’ coach, Gregg Popovich, knew Johnson would become a coach since 1999 and would often refer to him as “Coach Johnson” during Spurs' games and practices. Seems Popovich was right.

After retiring as a player in 2004, he became an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks under Don Nelson. Nelson left the Mavericks on March 19, 2005, and Johnson took over as head coach. He led the Mavericks to a 60-22 record in his first full season in 2005-2006 and was named the NBA coach of the year.

Under Johnson, the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals in 2006 but lost four straight games to the Miami Heat after taking the first two games of the series. He led the Mavericks to the best record in the league in 2006-2007 at 67-15, but the Mavericks lost in the first round to the Golden State Warriors.

He was fired after the 2007-2008 when the Mavericks lost in the first round of the playoffs to the New Orleans Hornets. For the past two years Johnson had been working for ESPN/ABC until June 9, 2010, when Johnson agreed to become the New Jersey Nets new head coach.

When asked his thoughts on Johnson, Popovich said the following:

“He’s got a special mind — you’re going to see it in New Jersey, even if they’re going to be young, taught himself what it takes to be successful in the league, and since then he’s taught others. He’ll get a defensive mentality established with the group. He’ll get Devin [Harris] in attack mode. He’ll adjust regardless of what personnel they get there.”

Popovich also added he thought Avery has a “brilliant basketball mind."

As a head coach, Johnson’s regular season record was 194-70 (.735 winning percentage) and in the post season he had a record of 23-24 (.489 winning percentage).

Was Johnson successful after leaving the San Antonio Spurs? Check out some more of his notable achievements and you be the judge.

• 2006 NBA Coach of the Year
• Fastest coach to 50 wins, 100 wins and 150 wins
• Led the Dallas Mavericks to its first and only trip to the NBA Finals in 2006
• Named April 2005 Coach of the Month (only one month after becoming head coach for the first time ever)
• Named November 2005 Coach of the Month (also became first ever coach to win back to back Coach of the Month awards)**

**April was the last month of the regular season and November was the first month of the next season.

Vinny Del Negro

The former Chicago Bulls' coach, played with the Spurs from 1992-1998 and averaged 10.1 points, 3.4 assists, 2.5 rebound and 29 minutes per game and appeared in 479 games (stats include regular and post season play).

After retiring in 2001 and a small stint as a radio commentator for the Phoenix Suns, Del Negro was promoted to Director of Player Personnel for the Suns in 2006. The next year he was promoted to Assistant General Manager along side of Steve Kerr. Del Negro was part of the front office which was responsible for making dramatic changes to the Suns roster from 2007 to 2009. He was a major influence of Phoenix adopting the “run-and-gun” style of offense.

He was recognized for all of his work by the Bulls in 2008 when he replaced Jim Boylan as the new head coach. Del Negro finished his first season as head coach of the Bulls with a 41-41 record, sufficient for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. That year the Bulls played a seven-game series against the Boston Celtics, featuring a record seven overtimes, before losing.

The next year the Bulls finished with the same 41-41 record and gained the eighth seed in the East but lost to the Cavaliers Cavaliers in five games. It also didn't help De Negro's case with reports about he getting into physical altercations with Bull's front-office personnel. The Bulls dismissed Del Negro as head coach on May 4th, 2010 and but has been hired as the new coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Was Del Negro successful after leaving the Spurs? Check out some more of his statistics as a head coach and you be the judge.

• Regular season record of 82-82 (.500 winning percentage)
• Post season record of 4-8 (.333 winning percentage)
• Del Negro never made it past the first round of the playoffs

P.J. Carlesimo

Carlesimo was an assistant coach under Popovich for the Spurs from 2002 to 2007. He was part of the coaching staff that won three championships in a span of five years, winning in 2003, 2005 and in his last year with the Spurs 2007.

On July 5, 2007 he was hired to become the then Seattle Supersonics head coach. After Carlesimo coached one year in Seattle, the organization would move to Oklahoma City and be renamed the “Thunder."

After a lousy 1-12 start in the 2008-2009 season, Carlesimo was dismissed from his duties as head coach, making it the second consecutive head coaching job he has been fired from.

Things may be looking up for Carlesimo. On May 31, 2010, he reached an agreement to join the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach under Jay Triano.

Was Carlesimo successful after leaving the San Antonio Spurs? Check out some of his statistics and you be the judge.

• Regular season record: 21-74 (.221 winning percentage)
• Postseason record: 0-0 (did not make playoffs as head coach after leaving San Antonio)
• Finished 25th out of 30 teams in the NBA in the 2007-2008 season
• Fired on November 22, 2008 after 1-12 start of 2008-2009 season

As you can see Spurs fans, sometimes it doesn't end up "roses" when a former Spurs player or a coach leaves. In this case, you have the "good" with Johnson, the "bad" because of how it ended in Chicago with Del Negro and the "ugly" with Carlesimo.

Come back next week for part three of this series.

The San Antonio Spurs announced their 2010 Las Vegas Summer League team which is to begin July 9. The team's first game will be Monday, July 12, against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Spurs' draft picks James Anderson and Ryan Richards will not participate.
Notable are former Spurs' draft pick, James Gist, will participate and former Spur, Jacque Vaughn, will be an assistant coach.
2010 SPURS SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER

NO.	PLAYER	POS..	HT.	WT.	DOB	COLLEGE/COUNTRY	NBA EXP
1	Malik Hairston	G	6-6	220	02/23/87	Oregon	2
2	Garrett Temple	G	6-6	190	05/08/86	Louisiana State	1
5	Curtis Jerrells	G	6-1	195	02/05/87	Baylor	R
8	Carldell “Squeaky” Johnson	G	5-10	180	01/28/83	Alabama-Birmingham	R
10	James Gist	F	6-9	235	10/26/86	Maryland	R
14	Josh Lomers	C	7-0	280	11/10/87	Baylor	R
18	Eric Dawson	F/C	6-9	235	07/07/84	Midwestern State	R
27	Tyler Wilkerson	F	6-8	240	07/25/88	Marshall	R
30	Bryan Davis	F	6-9	250	12/31/86	Texas A&M	R
31	Gary Neal	G	6-4	210	12/31/86	Towson	R
35	Alonzo Gee	G	6-6	220	05/29/87	Alabama	1
45	DeJuan Blair	F	6-7	265	04/22/89	Pittsburgh	1

HEAD COACH: Mike Budenholzer
ASSISTANT COACHES: Jacque Vaughn, Bret Brielmaier, Kevin Hanson, Darko Rajakovic, Sharon Drucker
TRAINER: Nixon Dorvilien

(Source Spurs.com)

According to AOL Fanhouse, Shaquille O'Neal would like to join the San Antonio Spurs to team up with Tim Duncan for a shot at winning one more NBA title:

The source said O'Neal said the Spurs and Atlanta are at the top of his list since there is interest with those teams on both sides. FanHouse's Tim Povtak reported Monday the link between O'Neal and the Hawks, and there were indications from San Antonio on Wednesday that the Spurs do indeed have interest.

"He'd really like to go to San Antonio and team with Timmy (Duncan), and try to win one more title,'' said the source about O'Neal, who starred in high school in San Antonio. 

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford declined comment.

While the source said O'Neal would go to San Antonio for the midlevel, he said his preference if he joined the Hawks would be to get more money than that.

Imagine that Spurs fans. Shaq in a Spurs uniform. Wonder how Spurs fans would receive him after all the battles he had with the Spurs.

However, this might be highly unlikely with all signs pointing to Tiago Splitter coming to the Spurs next season to address the need for a center to play alongside Duncan. Not to mention the Spurs' midlevel exception would be used on Splitter.

All the latest San Antonio Spurs free-agency rumors for Wednesday, July 7.

Heat interested in RJ

As was reported earlier, Richard Jefferson may soon be signing a five-year deal with the Spurs, but that won't stop other teams from trying to lure Jefferson until his name is on the dotted line.

According to the Miami Herald, after signing Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat will now look to fill out their roster, and Jefferson, among others are targeted.

Without Jefferson, Miami already has contender written all over them, but if they can get the Jefferson from the New Jersey Nets days to show up, they may replace that contender tag with championship favorites.

Bell getting interest from Spurs

While they are not on his short list, the Spurs are reportedly interested in Raja Bell.

In an interview for a Dallas radio station, Bell said Dallas Miami and Orlando were his top three teams.

Could the Spurs still be looking for that lockdown defender they had in Bruce Bowen? If they could sign him for the bi-annual exception, the Spurs would get better defensively and add another three-point shooter to the mix at a bargain.

Parker staying or going?

We've heard plenty from Amar'e Stoudamire over the past week about his interest in playing with Tony Parker and possibly getting him to join him in New York.

Apparently Stoudamire now has his eyes set on a different point guard.

While Amar’e Stoudemire would love to team up with point guard Tony Parker, a source told The Post the new Knicks power forward would prefer, given his choice of free-agent point guards, to pick-and-roll with Milwaukee’s Luke Ridnour.

The Post also said Stoudamire views Ridnour as Nash Lite. Only time will tell if Parker will remain in the silver and black.

James Anderson. Rookie on a veteran team. A team contending in its current make up. A situation that begs the age old question, "should James Anderson play immediately or ride the pine and learn the system?"

Can he make a substantive contribution in his rookie season?  I think he can and he will.

The San Antonio Spurs are most successful when they can create space for Tim Duncan through quality outside shooting or dribble penetration from their guards. But the Spurs have not had a pure shooter now for a couple of seasons and had relied on Bruce Bowen's corner threes for far too long. In the 2010 playoffs, the Spurs 33% from the three point line put them in the bottom half of all playoff teams.

In 2007, they were number one.

In their heyday, Michael Finley, Bowen, and Robert Horry all shot over 35% from long distance, making the decision to sag off of perimeter shooters and double team Duncan a lose-lose proposition for Spurs' opponents. In 2005, the numbers were even more impressive with FIVE players shooting over 40% from the three point line. It is easy to see the asset these role players were to the Spurs system of offense.

Enter Anderson. Perhaps the best pure shooter available in the 2010 NBA Draft. Anderson averaged 38% from three over his three seasons for the Oklahoma State Cowboys with a percentage as high as 41% in the 2008-2009 season. Here is what Hoops World has to say about him:

The San Antonio Spurs got their guy with the 20th overall pick in James Anderson from Oklahoma State. Anderson, arguably the best shooter in the draft, will give the Spurs the outside shooting threat that they sorely lacked last year.

Anderson has the potential to be another Spurs' steal. He was underrated throughout his entire college career and that didn't change on draft night, which suits the Spurs just fine. They've created a dynasty off of players who went overlooked in the draft.

There is no doubt it takes time for a college player to learn the system of an NBA team. He will make mistakes along the way but with a skill set like his, he can make an immediate contribution by knocking down jump shots the way he has for his entire career.

Interesting. One of the biggest factors missing from this Spurs team is one that Mr. Anderson brings to the table immediately.

It is no secret the Spurs do not have many more years left with Duncan. To put a weapon like Anderson on the bench when he can be a contributing role player in at least one more NBA Championship run for this team would be a sad sight to see. So I say play him, Pop and let's win some more hardware for Duncan's trophy case.

According to the nydailynews.com, the San Antonio Spurs could have a deal to re-sign Richard Jefferson for five years:

Clearly, there’s a side deal in place to re-sign him ($45M over five years) that starts at $7M. That allows San Antonio to get under the luxury tax and save roughly $20M, the $8M lopped off his original deal (doubled) and the $3M-to-$4M the team figures to pocket from the equally divided loot paid by the teams over the luxury tax.

Got to like the Spurs getting some financial relief if this report is true but not liking five more years of Jefferson in a Spurs uniform.

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According to noticiasdealva.com, Tiago Splitter's camp has urged the San Antonio Spurs to move quickly to make him an offer as his July 15 2010, deadline approaches which grants Splitter an exit from his contract with Caja Laboral:

A poco más de una semana de plazo para que expire la fecha límite (15 de julio) que le permite acogerse a una cláusula de salida y rescindir su contrato con el Baskonia para las dos próximas temporadas, los agentes del pívot brasileño ya han apremiado a los Spurs para que trasladen en el menor tiempo posible una oferta satisfactoria que haga realidad el sueño del todavía integrante azulgrana de cruzar este verano el charco.

A little over a week to expiry of the deadline (July 15) that allows you to benefit from an exit clause and terminate his contract with Baskonia for the next two seasons, officials of the Brazilian power forward and have urged Spurs to move as quickly as possible a satisfactory offer to make the dream of Barca integral still crossing the pond this summer. (translated using Google Translate)

I hope the mid-level exception (MLE) is satisfactory for Splitter as the Spurs have the MLE which more than likely will be offered to Splitter.

On this episode of the Spurscast, Mike De Leon could not make the show so I was joined by Project Spurs' writers, Jordan Rivas and Jeff Cerda. We talk about the Tony Parker trade rumors, if Tiago Splitter's game will translate into the NBA, Richard Jefferson opting out and much more.

Oh and Jeff Cerda "admits" he proudly owns two Ian Mahinmi jerseys!

The Spurscast, the first and original Spurs podcast.

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Music: "Stinkfist" by Tool

(note: recorded before a report the San Antonio Spurs do not want to trade Tony Parker to the New York Knicks)