Kurt Thomas is an excellent fit for them...is anyone else worried? And I'm not talking about the regular season, but in the post-season...smart and still talented.
I just have to hand it to the Spurs management for getting Stoudamire and Thomas for nothing. It rivals what we did in getting Gasol.
Do those 2 trades make San Antonio, again, the team to beat in the West?
Honestly, IMO until someone knocks them off, they are the team to beat...
They are the only team I worry about in the West (period)!
It's a great move on San Antonio's part. Their management sat back while everybody else was making big blockbuster deals and didn't panic. They made an excellent move to shore up what is probably their one weak spot. They definately do deserve some credit. They won it last year and positioned themselves to be right in the thick of things this year.
Think about when the last time Tim Duncan had a smart, defensive minded big man next to him was. Through all of those championships the only person I can think of that Duncan had next to him that was good was David Robinson (and he wasn't just good, he was great). Other than that it was pretty much a whole bunch of guys whose name I can't pronounce.
The Thomas aquisition allows for Duncan to not need to constantly focus all of his efforts on defense and constantly needing to gaurd the opposing teams best big man. One of the things the Suns fans hated early this year was the fact that they got rid of Thomas. As the year progressed they realized they had a huge hole down low defensively, hence the Shaq trade. Looking back on things they were probably a better team with a healthy Thomas and Marion rather than just Shaq. Unfortunate for them that would have put them too far into the luxury tax.
Everything slows down in the post season. It's when everybody takes it up a notch and gets that much more serious about things and that's why we see more of the half court offenses. Picking up Thomas for the Spurs will be huge for that. I think it's one of those trades that will fly under the radar a bit and once the Spurs start creeping back up in the standings (which they aren't far out) and get hot right as the post season hits then people will realize how much it helped them. But even with that long post, I'd rather have Bynum & Gasol on my front line than Duncan & Thomas, although it's pretty close and may be because I have a slight bias.
Kurt Thomas is an excellent fit for them...is anyone else worried? And I'm not talking about the regular season, but in the post-season...smart and still talented.
I just have to hand it to the Spurs management for getting Stoudamire and Thomas for nothing. It rivals what we did in getting Gasol.
Do those 2 trades make San Antonio, again, the team to beat in the West?
Honestly, IMO until someone knocks them off, they are the team to beat...
They are the only team I worry about in the West (period)!
Great fit for the Spurs, and they avoided the risk to have someone else pick Thomas who was bothering Tim in the playoffs.
But please, no comparison with our Gasol trade. They already had few assets and they gave up them all for an old player who's under contract just for 30 games and the playoffs.
On the other hand, we gave up very little and ended up with one of the best post players in the NBA, who's still very young and will be with us for many seasons.
But for the current season I have to agree, the Spurs got better without giving away a lot.
On first sight, the Dallas trade seems crap. I have the feeling Kidd still looked so good in the east also because there were not many good PG down there.
But here in the west, he will face Nash, Paul, Williams and Parker. In his first game, he was badly outplayed by Paul. Let's see how he will play from now on.
Parker has already sad he's happy with the Dallas move, as Diop and Harris were bad fits for the Spurs.
G
On first sight, the Dallas trade seems crap. I have the feeling Kidd still looked so good in the east also because there were not many good PG down there.
But here in the west, he will face Nash, Paul, Williams and Parker. In his first game, he was badly outplayed by Paul. Let's see how he will play from now on.
Parker has already sad he's happy with the Dallas move, as Diop and Harris were bad fits for the Spurs.
I was thinking the same thing about Kidd. Think about the all-star selection controversy next year. This year Kidd is an all-star. Next year he won't even be close with Nash, Paul, Roy, Williams, Parker, heck you can even throw Baron Davis in there. The only PG left in the East is Billups. Harris created match up problems for teams out there.
San Antonio does these trades all the time and thats the thing noone ever considers. They do exactly what they need to do to stay strong defensively and at the same time, kurt sure knows how to sink Jumpers.
He's an upgrade over Fransisco but Losing Barry was tough and I hope San Antonio can find a way to bring him back.
The spurs are dangerous for this season. The lakers will dangerous the next three. They have an avg age of like 26. But they are one of the top teams in the league. I bet they win 65 next season.
Well if Barry comes back to sign with SAS expect Phil to mock Pop.
However, something tells me the NBA will not allow Barry to sign with the Spurs. Which seems great until you realize that the Suns want him too.
Which is exactly why I want Barry to go back to San Antonio or come to us.
I get so happy when superstars are traded because the other team loses so much depth but if they are ever to gain something good in return through via free agency, it becomes problematic especially for a team like us. We never seem to defend the perimeter well.
The core of the Spurs team is solid, but I don't think signing Kurt Thomas puts them over the top any more than they already were. It was a nice incremental move, but certainly will not have the magnitude of impact for the Spurs as Gasol has had for the Lakers. The Spurs are already tough as nails, with or without Thomas.
I hope the Spurs start showing their age this year. But I I don't think that will be the case. It's gunna be tough out West....any team can get ya from 1 -9 basically.
We have to watch out for the Spurs of course....the Suns with Shaq they can be very dangerous....the Rockets are playing real good....N.O. is a good team....the Warriors can shoot the lights out and cause headaches....Utah is hot right now.....and Denver and Portland can get hot at any moment.
The West is stacked....and then IF we make the playoffs....I really think the Celts or Pistons will be better rested then us and tough to beat.
Gunna be a fun one!!!
I just hope Bynum and Ariza comes back healthy and ready to go!
How Kurt thomas to spurs affects lakers
