http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-kawhi-leonard-will-be-the-nba-s-most-intriguing-free-agent-recruiter-this-summer-084241791.html

Whoa. Even if Tim and Manu retire we'd have a team that could still make a lot of people swear.

Would yall want Lamarcus over M Gasol? Is Gasol even attainable? Is Lamarcus really attainable?

I'd want gasol. Way better fit. Passing, defense and rebounding.

Idk if these are truly realistic. Big time FA's like that have typically not come to the Spurs, even to win a championship.

Gasol actually grew up in Memphis. I think he stays there.

TheMarcus obviously went to the school in Austin and grew up in Dallas. I think he is much more attainable.

LMA is a better scorer and I think having that would be great. I think LMA and Tiago would fit together well - much better than Gasol and Tiago.

It would also be easier to get LMA to not play international ball than Gasol.

What concerns me is how much Danny Green will command on the open market. I hope it isn't too much more than he is making now. He is a vital part of our team.

No way we can keep DG and get a second big name. Unless kawhi takes less, which he won't.

Lamarcus would be great but dont know how well he'd fit with our motion offense. Would definitely give us another look being a post threat which we havent had since young timmy.

It'll be interesting to see if DG wants to play with Kawhi and take a bit of a pay discount to stay, because with Kawhi getting max, and hopefully pulling a big FA, DG will unfortunately be a lower priority.

These guys seem to be playing really well together this year, and together they create a pretty scary defensive duo.

But everything hinges on resigning Kawhi. I know the rumblings are probably just rumor about him possibly going elsewhere, but I'll be nervous until his contract is final.

The cap is or has gone up considerably right? It'll be interesting to see if Tim and Manu retire or not, because that will determine a lot of how much room we'd have available to bring in a big name FA like Lamarcus and how much we'd have available to re-sign Danny. Kawhi is getting the max deal as well.

I believe so which is part of why we didn't resign Kawhi last offseason, which apparently didn't sit well with him initially. But I think (hope) he realizes that, while he's our top priority, he will need help. And the best way to get that right now is to have some cap flexibility.

Lamarcus to the spurs? What a horrible fit.

Dude gets raped night in and night out by Z bo. There is no room for rape victims in the beautiful game.

Spurs only have 5 guys under contract next year (Parker, Splitter, Diaw, Mills, & Anderson) - 33M. Leonard will get a max(~17M). Even if Timmy and Manu take less (50% of 2014-15 = 8.5M), it will be tough to get The Marcus(~22M) under the cap.

Manu is thought by many to retire. It mainly depends on what Duncan wants to get paid. LMA's max is 19m this year. Depending on where the cap falls, the Spurs should have 34-37mm in space. That is plenty of room for DG&KL's cap holds, Duncan to get a few mil and 19 for LMA.

Everything I've seen Manu say looks like he's going to retire. He's not actually saying it, but he sure talks a lot about how tough it is to keep up with the grind of an NBA season at his age and after all of his injuries.

I think most people would rather have Gasol. I just don't think Gasol is leaving Memphis, though.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Gasol. ZBo already took a 2y20mm contract so Memphis is sitting pretty at 48mm before they resign Gasol. Next year they have to resign Conley, Jeff Green and Courtney Lee.

Manu is not the player he used to be but man, it'll be tough seeing him retire and the Big 3 era come to an end.

I was thinking LMA has been in the league 10+ years. This is only his 9th. He moves his max from ~30% of cap to ~35% of the cap next year. If I were him, I would want a deal I can op out of like LeBron and sign at the higher % and at the higher cap #.

LMA asked if Portland would be good first option, responds with "we'll see"http://mweb.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25163768/lamarcus-aldridge-on-whether-portland-is-his-no-1-option-well-see

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The cap is or has gone up considerably right? It'll be interesting to see if Tim and Manu retire or not, because that will determine a lot of how much room we'd have available to bring in a big name FA like Lamarcus and how much we'd have available to re-sign Danny. Kawhi is getting the max deal as well.

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Cap goes up for the 2016-2017 I believe. One more season to go.

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Manu is not the player he used to be but man, it'll be tough seeing him retire and the Big 3 era come to an end.

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Manu is already a shell of himself, and probably should have retired last year. Tony is starting to break down and probably only has 2-3 more years left on him. Tim is Tim, but he probably doesn't WANT to play forever.

If the Spurs don't bring someone in like Lamarcus to pair with Leonard, there are some dark days ahead. I don't think Leonard will stay past next season if the Spurs don't bring in some big guns to run with him.

Gasol loves Memphis. Memphis loves gasol. I would be shocked if he left. I think Memphis does whatever they have to to keep him.

The only thing the Spurs have going for them is what is Memphis' future? A declining ZBo. Mike Conley that seems to have topped out at 15/6. An injury prone Jeff Green who isn't very efficient and probably should be able to rebound way better than he does.

Does he want to trust Memphis to build a Championship team around those pieces or does he want to roll the dice with Kawhi, Parker, Green and the Spurs front office?

I still think he stays in Memphis, but it is worth a pitch.

Man if we would've gotten Pau...

I think there are two things that hurt getting FAs to San Antonio.

- Who wants to follow Duncan who has been the standard for sustained excellence? It's like trying to follow Magic, Elway, or even John Wooden. Now maybe he commits to 3 more years, because it looks like he could, but I don't think a FA would want to follow a legend.


-Pop needs to commit to staying after Duncan leaves, even if he doesn't mean it. Much of the attraction for playing in SA is Pop, and he and TD are SA. I can't imagine it is appealing for a FA to not know if Pop is going to be around in 4 years.

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I think there are two things that hurt getting FAs to San Antonio.

- Who wants to follow Duncan who has been the standard for sustained excellence? It's like trying to follow Magic, Elway, or even John Wooden. Now maybe he commits to 3 more years, because it looks like he could, but I don't think a FA would want to follow a legend.


-Pop needs to commit to staying after Duncan leaves, even if he doesn't mean it. Much of the attraction for playing in SA is Pop, and he and TD are SA. I can't imagine it is appealing for a FA to not know if Pop is going to be around in 4 years.

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as a Rockets fan, this is all spot on. i think number 2 is far more important though. Pop is one of the top 3 all time coaches. losing him will be like Man United finally losing Fergie.

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- Who wants to follow Duncan who has been the standard for sustained excellence? It's like trying to follow Magic, Elway, or even John Wooden. Now maybe he commits to 3 more years, because it looks like he could, but I don't think a FA would want to follow a legend.

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Anyone with balls.

I don't get that line of thinking at all.

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I think there are two things that hurt getting FAs to San Antonio.

- Who wants to follow Duncan who has been the standard for sustained excellence? It's like trying to follow Magic, Elway, or even John Wooden. Now maybe he commits to 3 more years, because it looks like he could, but I don't think a FA would want to follow a legend.


-Pop needs to commit to staying after Duncan leaves, even if he doesn't mean it. Much of the attraction for playing in SA is Pop, and he and TD are SA. I can't imagine it is appealing for a FA to not know if Pop is going to be around in 4 years.

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Who wants to follow Gervin? He is a god in San Antonio and put the Spurs on the map.

Who wants to follow Robinson? He is a god in San Antonio and saved the franchise along with being a perfect fit for the city with his military background.

Who wants to follow Duncan? At this point that is Kawhi. The FA they are looking for isn't going to be a Duncan replacement so much as a great player to pair with Kawhi.

The appeal to San Antonio is strong for the right player and Gervin and Robinson were actively involved in recruiting their heirs just as Duncan will be. San Antonio is a Spurs town, period. There is no other show. It reveres former Spur players and treats them like royalty, yet also allow them space to have a private life. If a player wants the spotlight it isn't the right fit but if a player wants to be revered and live a great life in a town that loves its Spurs it is a great sell.

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Spurs only have 5 guys under contract next year (Parker, Splitter, Diaw, Mills, & Anderson) - 33M. Leonard will get a max(~17M). Even if Timmy and Manu take less (50% of 2014-15 = 8.5M), it will be tough to get The Marcus(~22M) under the cap.

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You don't have to get under the cap. Here's why.

Leonard's cap hold will be fairly small. $7,235,148 to be exact. The whole reason they waited on signing him was because of this.

Danny Green is the one I worry about. With a cap hold of $7,647,500, we might need to renounce him (and lose his bird rights) to sign a big name FA.

The salary cap next year is projected to be about $66.3M with a luxury tax line of $80M (that's the line I would watch).

The Spurs first have to sign or retire Duncan/Manu. Let's use your number $8.5M for the 2 of them.

7 players. $41.5M

Cap Holds: Leonard, $7.2M, Green $7.6M, Joesph $5.1M, Bellinelli $3.7M, Baynes $1.1M

Add the 7 players to the cap holds and you get: $66.2M or in other words, no cap space to sign FA.

So the Spurs will either need to work a sign and trade for a major FA, or renounce basically all of their FA (not named Leonard). Mind you they could still sign these guys, but they can't go over the cap to do it if they renounce their Bird rights.

So we can basically add a FA that makes $17.6M/yr if we renounce everyone not named Kawhi. Lamarcus max offer is $19.7M for the first year. Still lots of moving parts. Can we make space to add Aldridge? Yes, but it would take Manu + Duncan making $6.4M together (not $8.5M). If Manu retires will Tim play for $6.4M? Probably, maybe, I don't know. But I know if we get Aldridge (or Gasol) a lot of the bench players that we have enjoyed watching over the last couple of years won't be back. But hey, I bet the Red Rocket can come back for veterans minimum again!!!!!

In the best case dream scenario to me? Duncan and Manu come back super cheap. Veteran's minimum cheap. We sign Marc Gasol for whatever he wants. Re-sign Danny green to a deal like Pattys, 3 years, $15M or so. And hand Kawhi the max.
We lose Belinelli, Joesph, Baynes, and Ayres in that scenario. But Our lineup would be:

PG: Parker, Mills
SG: Green, Ginobilli
SF: Kawhi, Anderson?
PF: Duncan, Diaw
C: Gasol, Splitter


Seems worth it to me. Seems like we would be short a quality SG/SF, so the person you miss the most in this scenario is Belinelli.

Lamarcus's current GF lives in SA

That would be hilarious, although it was actually my college roommate who hooked them up.

CIA Pop with the Cat's Paw strategem.