Today's Project Spurs fan mail comes from Brian Storey from down-under in Australia.

He has a stream-of-conscious on various players and I try to tackle them one at a time.

"With the season gone now I thought I’d get back in touch with a couple of brief thoughts. I'm sure there will be thousands of season reviews and all will be along similar lines. Key notes are, positives: Hill and Blair (although a suitable front court mate for Blair is needed); negatives: definitely the regression of Mason who looked a player in his first Spurs season, and the very disappointing RJ.

I thought rather than looking back, I’ll look forward instead. There will be a lot of Parker trade talk, and while I don’t want to see him traded, I thought I’d entertain the possibility. A scenario I almost like involves the Griz. It centres around TP for Rudy Gay (sign and trade) and Mike Conley. There are a couple other pieces in it I would look at as well, but that’s the core. Gay fills the need on the wing and makes RJ very tradeable at the deadline where he ceases to be known as RJ the player and becomes known as RJ’s expiring contract. Conley takes TP’s place in a decent rotation with Hill and Manu. The Grizz cannot hold onto Gay anyway and have looked to trade Conley previously.

From that, you also hope that Splitter comes over and while he is unlikely to be the saviour, he gives additional depth in the front court. We would not have been killed by the Suns pick and roll with Splitter defending it (side note – why did Pop not even try Mahinmi who is excellent defending the pick and roll? Even for 5 minutes).

Regardless, with RJ’s expiring contract to work with, they’ll have one of the better assets come the mid-season trade deadline anyway and could pull off a decent deal with a cap cleaner.

The biggest thing that needs addressing is reliable outside shooting. Bonner will be back. He is the best shooter on the roster and while he is often the subject of Spurs fans ire, he has a skill set that is in demand.

A wing who can hit the open shot... maybe a Korver, Rasual Butler, Eddie House, or Kapono? All available and might look at the Spurs... would help as well.

I also like the thought of signing Sean Livingston. If TP gets traded, he could be had cheap and would be a low risk, (potentially) high reward guy. At worst, he’d be a very solid backup.

Just a couple of thoughts, and probably quite scrambled."

-- Brian Storey

Hi Brian,

Thanks for making my first fan email so hard – just kidding. I’ve gone through your “scrambled” thoughts and made the best of it by offering my own opinion.

To be honest, I really don’t see Parker going anywhere nor do I see Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley cutting either player loose… but I’ll play along with this little scenario just for kicks and giggles. Say Parker heads to Memphis, bringing Gay and Conley to San Antonio.

You make an excellent point – the addition of a young athletic player like Gay would make Jefferson look like old news. If Gay is desperate to move to a team with serious potential for postseason playing time, then San Antonio would be a good fit. Gay could bring better shooting percentage – compare his 19.6 ppg average to RJ’s rather measly 9.4 this past season – as well as the youth that Jefferson has been lacking in his game as he approaches 30 next month.

If he doesn’t opt out of the contract, Jefferson stands to make $15 million this season with no guarantee of a contract extension – one that I can’t really say he would deserve after this season’s struggles. He showed some life in the playoffs, but gave San Antonio little to cheer about in regular season. I’d rather pay some of that to Gay, seeing as he stands to make $10 million or so per year should Memphis successfully offer him a contract extension.

On the other hand, tossing Mike Conley in the mix to replace to the aforementioned departed Parker (remember, this is strictly "what if") doesn’t have me convinced. You could make an argument for Conley’s lack of experience to explain his lower averages against Parker’s veteran status, but only an explosive player could truly replace Parker on this Spurs squad. Sure Conley could be developed, but I’m still not sure that he could fill the void potentially left by Parker.

On the other hand, I am all for bringing Tiago Splitter into San Antonio this season. He’s played excellent ball in the Euroleague, giving him experience that he most likely would not have earned as a rookie playing in the NBA.  As Project Spurs’ Robby Lim noted in his article, Splitter would most likely pair well with Duncan to give the front court a much-needed boost and plenty of help in the paint.

In regards to Mahinmi’s court-side accommodations for the playoffs, let’s get real. Pop hardly plays rookies in playoff games unless a) there’s nothing they could do to ruin a potential win or b) he’s desperate. While most fans would say being on the losing end of a game should require desperate measures, we all know that Pop is not the desperate kind. Besides, Mahinmi needs a good off-season (see George Hill as to the improvement I’m referring to) to seriously prove he’s worth keeping on the roster.

As for Matt Bonner… I should admit here that I’m a bit of a "Red Rocket" fan. I’d love to see him get a little extra playing time and possibly improve those shooting stats – which are already pretty good. Jason Kapono would be an interesting fit, but I’m not sure I’m for the Eddie House idea.

That’s just my two cents… for what it’s worth.

The San Antonio Spurs will continue to workout players as the 2010 NBA Draft nears.

The Spurs will workout Ryan Thompson from Rider on Thursday, June 3, 2010. The Spurs worked out Thompson earlier this month and this will be his second workout with the team. Thompson confirmed his second workout with the Spurs with Project Spurs today.

This week, he was interviewed by us here at Project Spurs to talk about his first workout with the Spurs.  To listen to the interview click HERE. Good luck Ryan!

Also, the Spurs will workout former Memphis Tiger, Antonio Anderson.

Anderson, who signed two 10 day contracts with the Oklahoma City Thunder this past season, is getting set to audition for several NBA clubs including the San Antonio Spurs.

With all eyes on Tiago Splitter and his decision to play in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs or not, one other foreign talent Spurs fans may have forgotten about is Nando De Colo.

In an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe (via Hoopsnotes.com) Spurs' G.M., R.C. Buford, had a few thoughts on De Colo and whether he is ready to make the leap into the NBA and the Spurs.

“Nando has made significant progress this year. He’s perhaps the best French point guard today,” jokes R.C. Buford, Spurs general manager, winking at Tony Parker. “Will he come here? We haven’t yet spoken with him about that. We’re talking about what could help him to develop his game. We will evaluate the situation at the end of the season.”

De Colo was drafted by the Spurs in the 2009 NBA draft.  It's highly doubtful De Colo is ready come to the Spurs in the eyes of the coaching staff but it's good to hear he is making progress. Hopefully the Spurs pulled another "rabbit out of the hat" late in the NBA Draft. 

On this episode of the Spurscast, break out the champagne because Mike De Leon actually showed up for another show! If I were you, I'd be playing the lottery right now and check if pigs are flying.

On the show, we discuss all the latest Spurs news including our thoughts on Ian Mahinmi wanting more playing time, DeJuan Blair's goals for next season and much more.  Also on the show, Mike plays Spurs G.M. and tosses a few names who are available to fill the center position for the Spurs and questions some of the players the Spurs been interested in for the small-forward position.

The Spurscast. The first and original Spurs podcast!

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Music by Stone Temple Pilots

The parade of potential talent for the San Antonio Spurs pushes forward as the Spurs continue player workouts before the 2010 NBA Draft.  This time the Spurs worked out Samardo Samules from Lousiville.

According to The Gleaner, the Spurs have worked out Samuels:

"His stocks have really risen. This is a big jump from mid-second round to undrafted which happened after impressive showings with a number of teams such as the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves and a number of them have requested a second workout," he continued.

According to the source, Samuels has improved with every workout, which began in Miami.

"Samardo is showing that he has all the tools. In his workouts he shot phenomenally from the field and displayed adept basketball skills, qualities about him that were not widely known before.

"He is also hitting a lot of three-pointers and the feedback we are getting is that in terms of shape, size and skill readiness for the NBA, he is one the most impressive," said the source of the Louisville sophomore."

Here we go again! San Antonio Spurs' point-guard, Tony Parker, is involved in a new trade rumor. This time it involves the Indiana Pacers.

In an ESPN/SportsNation chat with Chad Ford, he had this to say when asked about Parker's future in San Antonio:

What would you say the chances are the Spurs would trade Tony Parker? And have you heard anymore or anything at all about them trading up in the draft to get Favors?

I believe they're open to it if they can get two young assets in return. I think San Antonio understands that if they don't start rebuilding now, it could be two late. If they could get two high picks or one high pick and a young player, I think they'd do it. One scenario floating out there is Parker for No. 10, Troy Murphy (in the last year of his contract) and Brandon Rush.

My first reaction is who can the Spurs get at number 10 in the 2010 NBA Draft? We all know the team needs size. Second, if true, this will mean George Hill would obviously take the reigns at point-guard and I do not feel he is ready to take on the role of the floor-general.

He is the Spurs' most tradeable asset. He has an expiring contract, considered one of the NBA's better point-guards, is still young, and has plenty of trade value. Spurs fans know Parker has made it clear he wants to remain a Spur but with all these trade rumors involving him, one has to begin to wonder if he is being used as trade bait.

What are your thoughts Spurs fans?

Once again, the kind folks at San Antonio's WOAI TV invited Project Spurs to be a part of the Sports Roundtable.  This time, Project Spurs' very own Mike De Leon joined this edition of the show.

On the Sports Roundtable, Mike joins friend of Project Spurs, Humbie Cervera and Kyle Boenitz of WOAI.  They discuss what the Spurs need to address in the off-season, thoughts on Roger Mason, Tiago Splitter, and much more!

Oh and Mike defends Rasho Nesterovic when he was with the Spurs.

Thanks to Bob Gambert of WOAI for inviting Project Spurs once again!

Project Spurs had the privilege to interview Rider's Ryan Thompson.

Thompson worked out with the San Antonio Spurs earlier this month and will be having his second workout with the Spurs this week scheduled for Wednesday.

In this exclusive interview he gives Spurs fans an inside look into what a pre-draft NBA workout is with the Spurs.  He talks about his first workout with the Spurs when he went up against Andy Rautins, Willie Warren, Paul George and Brian Davis.

He also talks about what he can give the Spurs should they draft him, advice from his older brother, Jason Thompson, of the Sacramento Kings, and has a special message for Spurs fans.

Thompson will be back on the Spurscast to tell us how his second workout with the Spurs went. So stay tuned for that!

Good luck Ryan! Show the Spurs what you got! Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ryt5.

Please excuse the audio quality as we had some technical issues but it is a a great interview nonetheless.

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To all of those who are serving our great Republic of the United States of America and those who given their lives defending this country, we here at Project Spurs want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day.

Though we cover the San Antonio Spurs, we recognize any hardwood "battle" pales in comparison to what today signifies.

No Spurs game or moment can compare to honoring the brave men and women who fight or have fought for our great Republic.

With the 2010 NBA Draft inching closer and closer, the San Antonio Spurs continue to evaluate players who might fit their needs when the team drafts at number 20 and 49.

According to The Trentonian, on May 12, 2010, the Spurs worked out Rider's Ryan Thompson.

Thompson talked to The Trentonian by phone before boarding a flight for San Antonio, where he'll work out Wednesday for the Spurs.

Thompson is a 6'6" shooting-guard/small-forward who averaged 17.2 points, shot 42% from the field, 32.4% from the three-point line and averaged five rebounds for Rider. During the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, he led the tournament in scoring and was named to the all-tournament team.

Thompson is also the younger brother of Sacramento Kings' Jason Thompson.