San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 15 – NBA Blog

Marco Belinelli is back on the Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs signed guard Marco Belinelli today.

Belinelli, 6-5/210, previously spent two seasons with the Spurs from 2013 to 2015, helping San Antonio capture the 2014 NBA Championship. Belinelli averaged 10.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 24.0 minutes while shooting .460 (536-1,165) from the floor and .405 (212-523) from long range in 130 total games in Silver and Black.

A native of Italy, Belinelli split last season between Atlanta and Philadelphia. In 52 games with the Hawks, he averaged 11.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 23.3 minutes. In 28 games with the 76ers, he averaged 13.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26.3 minutes while shooting .385 (57-148) from long distance. Belinelli played in all 10 Playoff games for Philadelphia, averaging 12.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 27.3 minutes.

The 11-year veteran has appeared in 724 total games and holds career averages of 9.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23.3 minutes while shooting .427 from the field and .377 from three-point range. Originally drafted by Golden State in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft (18th overall), Belinelli spent his first two NBA seasons with the Warriors. He then played with the Raptors (2009-10), Pelicans (2010-12) and Bulls (2012-13) before joining the Spurs. After his time in San Antonio, he spent one season with the Kings (2015-16) before joining the Hornets for the 2016-17 campaign.

Prior to his NBA career, Belinelli played professionally in Italy for Virtus Bologna from 2002-04 and Fortitudo Bologna from 2004-07. In 2005 at the age of 19, he was named the Italian Supercup MVP after leading his team to the league title and the Italian Cup. Belinelli has played on the Italian National Team since 2006.

Spurs trade Kawhi Leonard to Raptors for DeMar DeRozan

The San Antonio Spurs have obtained guard DeMar DeRozan, center Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first round pick from the Toronto Raptors in a trade for forward Kawhi Leonard and guard Danny Green.

DeRozan was named to the 2018 All-NBA Second Team after averaging 23.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 33.9 minutes in 80 games last season with Toronto. The 6-7, 220-pound guard shot .456 (645-1,413) from the field, .310 (89-287) from three-point range and .825 (461-559) from the free throw line. A four-time All-Star, DeRozan holds career averages of 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 675 games over nine NBA seasons. He earned All-NBA Third Team honors following the 2016-17 season when he ranked fifth in the league in scoring, averaging a career-best 27.3 points.

The ninth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, DeRozan is one of 10 players in the league to average 20-or-more points in each of the last five seasons and has been named to three straight NBA All-Star teams. A gold medalist on the 2016 USA Olympic Team, he has earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors nine times and has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month three times (April 2015, January 2016 and January 2018).

Appearing in all 82 games, Poeltl averaged 6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.22 blocks in 18.6 minutes for Toronto during the 2017-18 season. Selected by the Raptors with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the 7-0, 230-pound center has appeared in 136 games in his two-year NBA career, averaging 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.8 minutes. Poeltl holds a career field goal percentage of .641 (320-499), which ranks fifth in the NBA among all players with at least 300 field goals made in the last two seasons.

Poeltl is both the first Austrian to be selected in the NBA Draft and to appear in an NBA game. He played two seasons at the University of Utah, earning All-American second team honors as a sophomore during the 2015-16 season. Poeltl was also named the 2016 Pac-10 Player of the Year and won the 2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the top center in college basketball.

Leonard is a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2015, 2016) and twice was named First Team All-NBA (2016, 2017).

Leonard joins the Raptors after spending his entire seven-year NBA career with San Antonio and helped the Spurs win the 2014 NBA Championship. He holds career averages of 16.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and a .386 three-point shooting percentage (529-1370) in 407 career games. The Los Angeles native averaged a career-best 25.5 points in 74 games during the 2016-17 season and was third in NBA Most Valuable Player voting. In 87 career playoff games, Leonard averaged 16.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and is shooting .427 from beyond the arc (125-293). He was named the MVP of the 2014 NBA Finals after averaging 17.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and shot .579 (11-for-19) in five games against Miami.

Green spent the last eight seasons with San Antonio, averaging 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists in 25.8 minutes per game. In 520 games with the Spurs, Green posted a .396 (959-2421) average from three-point range and was a key contributor to the team’s 2014 NBA Championship title. A native of New York, Green played 70 games (60 starts) for the Spurs last season averaging 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25.6 minutes. He was named to the NBA All Defensive Second Team during the 2016-17 campaign.

Spurs promote assistant coach Becky Hammon

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that assistant coach Becky Hammon has been promoted. Hammon fills the position vacated by James Borrego who was named head coach of the Charlotte Hornets on May 10.

According to the San Antonio Express News, “although the Spurs do not rank their assistants, the move essentially makes her the team’s No. 3 bench assistant behind Ettore Messina and Ime Udoka.”

Hammon has served as an assistant on the Spurs coaching staff since 2014, following a 16-year career in the WNBA. She served as head coach of the Spurs Las Vegas Summer League teams in 2015 and 2016, guiding the 2015 squad to the Summer League championship.

Named one of the WNBA’s Top20@20, an honor given to the WNBA’s 20 greatest and most influential players in the league’s 20-year history, Hammon played eight seasons for the San Antonio Stars (2007-14) and eight seasons for the New York Liberty (1999-2006). A six-time WNBA All-Star, Hammon ranks ninth in league history in points (5,841), third in three-point field goals made (829), fifth in assists (1,708) and 10th in games played (450).

Spurs draft Lonnie Walker with 18th pick

The San Antonio Spurs selected Lonnie Walker IV with the 18th overall pick in the first round and Chimezie Metu with the 49th overall selection in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft, which took place last night in Brooklyn, NY.

Walker, 6-5/205, played last season at Miami University, leading the Hurricanes in scoring by averaging 11.5 points to go along with 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27.8 minutes in his 32 appearances. The Reading, Pa. native was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team in his lone season at Miami. Walker also became the first freshman in school history to earn all-league honors, receiving Honorable Mention All-ACC, while helping the Hurricanes finish 22-10.

Metu, 6-11/225, spent last year at the University of Southern California earning All-Pac-12 First Team honors. The Lawndale, Calif. native averaged 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.74 blocks in 31.0 minutes in 34 appearances last year during his junior season for the Trojans. Metu played in a total of 104 games and averaged 12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.62 blocks in his three seasons at USC, finishing his career third in school history with 168 blocks.

Kawhi Leonard reportedly seeks a trade

Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard is one of the most talented players in the NBA. When healthy. Here’s the LA Times reporting on Leonard’s apparent desire to take his talents away from San Antonio:

Add Kawhi Leonard to the list of NBA stars with an interest in playing in Los Angeles.

That interest is mutual from the city’s two NBA teams — with some conditions.

The star forward’s desire to leave the San Antonio Spurs became clear on Friday morning, when the San Antonio Express News first reported he wanted to be traded. According to sources not authorized to speak publicly, the Lakers have long been Leonard’s preferred destination, though the Clippers are among the teams he would consider.

Neither the Lakers nor the Clippers have had trade discussions with the Spurs yet, but both teams have concerns about the severity of Leonard’s quadriceps injury. That injury sidelined Leonard for most of last season. He spent several months away from the team while rehabbing, which led to public barbs from Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich about Leonard’s absence — an unusual move for the Spurs.

Full article

Some Spurs adjustments that helped them win Game 4 vs Warriors

The Spurs looked totally down and out in their first-round playoff series against the Warriors, yet were able to come up away with a Game 4 win. Here’s the San Antonio Express News reporting:

Spurs acting coach Ettore Messina made one key defensive adjustment in Game 4, assigning Danny Green to defend Klay Thompson from the start. Thompson had been abusing matchups against the smaller Patty Mills throughout the first three games, averaging 25.6 points. With a bigger, longer defender on him in Game 4, Thompson went 4 of 16 from the floor and finished with 12 points. The Spurs also took the novel approach of putting point guard Dejounte Murray on Draymond Green, limiting the Warriors forrward’s upside as a playmaker.

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Hornets interested in coach Ettore Messina

The general rule is, any coach who works as an assistant to Gregg Popovich is probably a good coach. And usually winds up getting offers from other teams fairly quickly. Well, the Hornets have a new GM, and need a new head coach. Here’s the Charlotte Observer with the latest:

The Charlotte Hornets will act quickly to interview San Antonio Spurs assistant Ettore Messina for their head-coaching opening, as soon as the Spurs season is complete.

A source familiar the situation said Messina will interview as early as the middle of next week, if the Spurs are eliminated by the Golden State Warriors by then. Ettore coached the Spurs in Thursday’s loss to the Warriors, as head coach Gregg Popovich mourned the death of his wife, Erin.

The Spurs trail the best-of-7 series 3-0. Game 4 is Sunday in San Antonio. A possible Game 5 is Tuesday in Oakland, Calif. It’s yet to be determined when Popovich would rejoin the team.

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Kawhi Leonard telling Spurs teammates his season is not over

The Spurs are a Western conference 4th best 36-25 this season, a solid record considering they’ve played almost all of it without star small forward Kawhi Leonard. He has played just nine games this season. Leading the Spurs has been LaMarcus Aldridge (22.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg). After Aldridge, it’s mostly been a team effort, as nine other players on the team average somewhere between seven and 11 points per game. As for the latest on Leonard, here’s the San Antonio Express-News reporting:

The injured Spurs star was back in San Antonio, and back in the team’s practice facility Tuesday, less than a week after coach Gregg Popovich said he would be “surprised” if Leonard played again this season.

The 26-year-old did not participate in the team portion of the Tuesday’s workout session, nor is it immediately clear when he might be able to…

Concerned with the slow progress of his recovery, Leonard spent the past three weeks in New York, rehabbing and consulting with additional doctors. He has also been in contact with teammates, letting them know he didn’t consider himself done for the season…

Before Leonard can return to game action, he will need to progress through a protocol that includes 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 action. There is cautious optimism Leonard might be able to play again in March, with a soft target date somewhere on the three-game road trip that begins March 8 at Golden State.

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Rudy Gay may return after All-Star break

A post shared by Rudy Gay (@rudygay) on Jan 25, 2018 at 11:41am PST

The Spurs are 32-19 this season. An impressive record, especially taking into account their injuries, which have removed Rudy Gay from action for a big chunk of the season so far, and have limited Kawhi Leonard for the majority of play so far. Gay isn’t ready to return to action yet, but may finally do so in mid February, after the All-Star break. This according to the San Antonio Express-News (via the Houston Chronicle website):

League sources tell the Express-News Gay is expected to return to the lineup after the All-Star break as he continues to recover from right heel bursitis he suffered last month.

According to sources, Gay, who has missed the last 15 games due to the injury, was aiming to return next week, possibly against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. After consulting with doctors, a mutual decision was made to allow Gay more time to heal.

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Kawhi Leonard is back on the injured list

Kawhi Leonard returns to the injured list

The Spurs began their season with Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker unavailable due to injuries, and now in mid January the 29-16 squad will be without Leonard.

The team announced today that Leonard will be out for an indefinite period of time, so he may continue recovering from right quadriceps tendinopathy.

“Kawhi has made significant progress and continues to move forward in his rehabilitation,” said Spurs General Manager RC Buford, obviously trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. “This is the best approach for the next steps in his return to play.”

Leonard has managed to play in just nine games this season, but has done big things in very limited playing time, averaging 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in just 23.3 minutes per outing.

Only four Spurs are averaging double-digit scoring this season: LaMarcus Aldridge at 22.4 ppg, Leonard, Rudy Gay at 11.5 ppg, and Pau Gasol at 10.4 ppg.

According to the San Antonio Express News, “the Spurs will also face the Nets tonight without Rudy Gay, who Popovich said is “still a couple weeks” from returning from a bout of right heel bursitis. They also will not have Manu Ginobili, who Popovich expects will miss tonight’s game and Friday’s contest in Toronto with a thigh contusion. Pau Gasol (hand) and Danny Green (groin) are planning to play through their bumps and bruises, Popovich said.”