Post by RManske2 on Feb 12, 2011 19:57:21 GMT -5
Spurs Finally Move Bibby[/b]
With the trade deadline quickly approaching, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves in a bit of a dilemma. During the entire season, the team had planned on trading veteran point guard Mike Bibby for a few reasons. While the 28-year old was putting up big numbers for the team, there was not as much team progress as the Spurs front office was hoping for. In addition, the team was looking to get out of the $12.75 million the point guard is owed for next season. Combine this with the fact the team selected a point guard with its first round pick in the draft last year many people, including Bibby himself, knew the writing was on the wall for his time in the Alamo City.
As the trade deadline got even closer, the Spurs finally decided to make a move and traded the former University of Arizona star back to the state he became a star as he went to the Phoenix Suns. In the deal, the Spurs received four players (most of them for salary purposes) with the primary player being 18-year old Daequan Cook, a rookie out of Dunbar High School. At 6'6"/203 pounds, Cook has the size to be a productive shooting guard in the league and has spent time in the D-League working on his game. With a versatile offensive game and still improving defensive game, San Antonio is hoping that Cook can become the team's shooting guard in the future with a bit more work and development. Many around the team believe that the Spurs will send Cook to the D-League next season as well with the hope he will continue to develop and be ready to start at the age of 20.
The Spurs are hoping that another year in the D-League and a bit more work will make the young Daequan Cook develop into the answer to pair with current rookie Marcus Williams in the backcourt for the extended future.
In addition to Cook, the other key piece of the trade the Spurs received was the right to Phoenix's 2007 first round pick. With one more sim to go in the regular season, it would appear that the pick will project somewhere into the late-teens or early 20's. If San Antonio holds onto the pick, the feeling around the front office is that the team will evaluate the draft and go for the best overall player and send him to the D-League along with the recently acquired Cook to build up the team's young talent. However, depending on how the draft lottery plays out, don't be surprised to see the team package the rights to the Phoenix pick along with their own to make a jump towards the top of the draft to go after a possible impact player that will start immediately next season.
By making this deal, the Spurs figure to save somewhere between $4-6 million in salary heading into next offseason. This is significant based on the fact depending on how the free agency class plays out, it would allow the team to hit the market aggressively and try to land a superstar player with a max contract. In the alternative, the team could look to offer less than max deals out to the next tier of players and improve their roster by adding quantity to the young core they already have.
With the trade deadline quickly approaching, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves in a bit of a dilemma. During the entire season, the team had planned on trading veteran point guard Mike Bibby for a few reasons. While the 28-year old was putting up big numbers for the team, there was not as much team progress as the Spurs front office was hoping for. In addition, the team was looking to get out of the $12.75 million the point guard is owed for next season. Combine this with the fact the team selected a point guard with its first round pick in the draft last year many people, including Bibby himself, knew the writing was on the wall for his time in the Alamo City.
As the trade deadline got even closer, the Spurs finally decided to make a move and traded the former University of Arizona star back to the state he became a star as he went to the Phoenix Suns. In the deal, the Spurs received four players (most of them for salary purposes) with the primary player being 18-year old Daequan Cook, a rookie out of Dunbar High School. At 6'6"/203 pounds, Cook has the size to be a productive shooting guard in the league and has spent time in the D-League working on his game. With a versatile offensive game and still improving defensive game, San Antonio is hoping that Cook can become the team's shooting guard in the future with a bit more work and development. Many around the team believe that the Spurs will send Cook to the D-League next season as well with the hope he will continue to develop and be ready to start at the age of 20.
The Spurs are hoping that another year in the D-League and a bit more work will make the young Daequan Cook develop into the answer to pair with current rookie Marcus Williams in the backcourt for the extended future.
In addition to Cook, the other key piece of the trade the Spurs received was the right to Phoenix's 2007 first round pick. With one more sim to go in the regular season, it would appear that the pick will project somewhere into the late-teens or early 20's. If San Antonio holds onto the pick, the feeling around the front office is that the team will evaluate the draft and go for the best overall player and send him to the D-League along with the recently acquired Cook to build up the team's young talent. However, depending on how the draft lottery plays out, don't be surprised to see the team package the rights to the Phoenix pick along with their own to make a jump towards the top of the draft to go after a possible impact player that will start immediately next season.
By making this deal, the Spurs figure to save somewhere between $4-6 million in salary heading into next offseason. This is significant based on the fact depending on how the free agency class plays out, it would allow the team to hit the market aggressively and try to land a superstar player with a max contract. In the alternative, the team could look to offer less than max deals out to the next tier of players and improve their roster by adding quantity to the young core they already have.
