Ime Udoka to sign multi year w/ Spurs on Tuesday

Hawkins · Star Player Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 1171

Link: Joe Freeman, The Oregonian

"Ime Udoka, whose rise from the NBA Development League to NBA starter made him a fan favorite with the Trail Blazers, is poised to sign a multiyear contract with the reigning-champion San Antonio Spurs.

Udoka's agent, Erin Cowan, told The Oregonian on Sunday that Udoka has made a commitment to the Spurs and hoped to have a deal finalized by Tuesday."

Socks · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 8:21 am Post subject:

Great move by the spurs if they ink him. Nice athletic young defensive SF. Great character and he can spell old man Bowen and hopefully develop a good shot to complement Duncan/Parker/Ginobili. The Spurs do a tremendous job with cheap signings to fill in the cracks.

Hawkins · Star Player Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 1171

They can trim Bruce's minutes and groom Udoka as a successor if he fits in. Bowen will be fresher in the playoffs as he had the most minutes per game as a Spur last season being one of the oldest at 36. Barry I guess moves over to immediate back up to Parker (loses minutes) or becomes a third to Vaughn. A lot of flexibility if he learns the team defensive schemes quickly, normally about a 1 season learning curve.

It would seem Beno Udrich is the lone man out (immediate trade bait and still a decent downtown shooter, (young and athletic) or Barry as the losers in this though their 3 point shooting is still available if needed.

Udoka is strong at the corner as well. RC and Pop seemed to have the whole bench as credible 3 point shooters now. One thing for sure the Spurs after next season are going to be an entirely different team with Horry, Bowen, Barry, Udrich?, Finley probably gone or retired.

C Oberto, Elson
PF Duncan, Bonner, Horry
SF Bowen, Udoka
SG Finley or Ginobili, Barry
PG Parker, Vaughn, Barry

ajaxxx · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:19 pm Post subject:

Spurs continue to make the right moves no matter how small they are. Udoka will log on heavy minutes behind the aging Bowen.
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Ares24 · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:45 pm Post subject:

ive always liked udoka. i wish him the best!

DancingBarry · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject:

Hawkins · Star Player Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 1171

It's official. Monroe's never wrong with his pipeline to the Spurs.

AirKobe8 · Star Player Joined: 30 Jan 2005 Posts: 8586

Nice glue guy... I want to see Marcus Williams consolidating himself as a big backup PG off the bench for the Spurs but at this point it doesnt even look like he's making the team.
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LHQ · Starting Rotation Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 611

Nice sign. Great defensive backup.
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B_P · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 1:53 pm Post subject:

hi_ma · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 4:42 pm Post subject:

B_P · Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:26 pm Post subject:

Dennis_D · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject:

Man, I am so sick of the "Spurs always do the right thing" posts

hi_ma · Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject:

Socks · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:41 am Post subject:

^^^ Absolutely. In looking at the comparison to the Lakers, the Spurs have realized they have the best PF of all time in Duncan. They're not going to surround him with young inexperienced project players. Udoke stopped being a project last year. He's got things to work on like everyone else, but being an exceptional perimeter defender at $2M means you bring immediate value and great return on the dollar. They are surrounding Duncan with players who will help him win NOW.

Yeah, they need to find a way to infuse youth into their team. But that needs to be secondary to filling in the cracks that let them extend their championship window for another few years. Udoke doesn't do that by himself, but he's a great example of a role player signing that's going to help them on their way and contribute. The Spurs can start to really worry about youth in another 3 - 5 when Duncan has slowed. But then because they have managed the cap so well, they will probably be in a good position for a quick re-build...

Dennis_D · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:22 am Post subject:

Socks · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:33 am Post subject:

Hawkins · Star Player Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 1171

Dennis_D · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:44 am Post subject:

PushingtheLimit · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:51 am Post subject:

Dennis while I agree with you, you cant discredit the Spurs for putting together that core. You have to give credit where it's due, and the Spurs have been winning for several years now.

Socks · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:20 am Post subject:

Ah, clearer for me, thanks. I would disagree on a few points there.

Absolutely Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Bowen have been the foundations for their championships, no question. I won't talk about the '98-'99 team since it was so fundamentally different, but some of the nice role player signings for the other 3 championship years include:

'02-'03: Stephen Jackson, Malik Rose, Speedy Claxton (in the playoffs at least)
'04-'05: Horry, Barry, Nesterovic, Mohammed
'06-'07: Horry, Finley, Oberto, Barry

I realize these guys are not all stars and they may not be huge contributors. But they all provided a specific set of value at very reasonable contracts. When the bulk of your cash is tied up in the core 4 guys, it's not always easy to keep any sort of talent around them - just witness the Lakers (I know, the Shaq thing was a killer, but still). I'm just saying the SA FO has done that. I don't think they've screwed up a lot and the SA core still needs help to win those championships. I know that core is good, but you still need a couple other quality role players to win championships.

I agree the Spurs are old. I would also say everything is based of TD - he is the guy that keeps that championship window open. So if the Spurs FO can continue to bring in quality role players that can play with TD over the next 5 years then they are doing their best to take advantage of TD - no matter how old those players are. Yes, you want to build for the future simultaneously. But in observing the history of the NBA it seems very hard to build to win now and build for the future at the same time. I'd rather have the FO focused on one of those goals and have a good chance to succeed at it, rather than trying to accomplish two goals at once and not doing well at either.

As far as their primary need of youth, you could argue the Spurs did get a little younger. Bowen at his age is the most likely guy to slip. Udoke provides a cheap means of shoring up this position by giving him more time to rest. Udoke is needed to spell Bowen - IMO an understated need that SA was shrewd to address before it becomes a real problem.

Also, I believe Bowen's contract runs out after this season. Udoke is potentially a guy who can replace him. Agreed, they didn't bring in a young guy with superstar potential or a bunch of young guys with good potential. But really, one young stud is going to be very hard to get (can't draft him, and is there room for him to grow in a win-now climate), and a bunch of young guys wouldn't necessarily get a lot of PT or be able to contribute at the level they need.

I also feel like the Lakers didn't necessarily accomplish their goal as well as they could have. Yeah, Fish is an upgrade. But how much of one? And at what cost? I would've rather our FO signed both Brevin Knight and Udoke if possible - splitting the MLE instead of spending the whole MLE on Fish. This would help our permiter D as well as the PG slot. So I think where some Laker fans are coming is that SA signed a small piece of their puzzle at an undeniable good deal. The Lakers signed a small piece of their puzzle at a much more expensive rate when it seems as though there was greater opportunity.

Dennis_D · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 12:14 pm Post subject:

Socks · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject:

I hear you. Some fans are definitely unreasonable. I for one don't feel that Mitch's inability to go get young starter quality players during our championship years reflects on him. You just can't do it with today's salary cap and it doesn't make sense when you're trying to fill in cracks that require a veteran presence.

And agreed, it will be challenging for the Spurs this year. They also haven't shown an ability to repeat. But I think it's after this year that the only guys they will have under contract are TD, Parker, Ginobili and now Udoke. That leaves a lot of flexibility to infuse youth and skill, but also a lot of downside risk for them in trying to rebuild for a final run at a few championships.

I also agree with you on some trepidation around Knight's fit. He's not an ideal fit skill-wise though I like the different look he'd bring combined with Farmar and Critt since Knight would probably only get about 20MPG anyway, but as you say it's a different discussion. I'd just rather have gotten two players to address our multiple needs instead of just the one.

Dennis_D · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:30 pm Post subject:

hi_ma · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject:

TD can make worse players look better than Kobe can. Thats really what it comes down to. Its the gift of a legendary Big. Thats why they can sign below avg. guys and succeed. I love TP but he aint leading the league in Pts. in the paint if TD isnt hanging around