Spurs are aggressively shopping for a small forward....

Is Jefferson on his way out?
Matt Moore / probasketballtalk.com
Dec 3, 2011, 4:00 PM EST



The Spurs will likely look a bit different this year than they did last season. Tim Duncan‘s a year older. Manu Ginobili is a year older. DeJuan Blair‘s knees are a year older. They traded George Hill for Kawhi Leonard. Tiago Splitter will get more minutes. And from the looks of it, they’ll have another small forward. Which is… interesting. From the San Antonio News Express:

The Spurs are believed to have been in contact with representatives of at least four free-agent small forwards: Dallas’ Caron Butler, former New Jersey Net Bostjan Nachbar and Washington Wizards Josh Howard and Maurice Evans.This doesn’t necessarily mean the Spurs have already decided to waive Jefferson, who has three years and nearly $30.5 million left on his deal . It only means that option is on the table, and general manager R.C. Buford is apparently preparing for that contingency.

via Spurs Nation »Amnesty for Jefferson still on table.

Using the amnesty on Jefferson should be a near certainty. His production improved last year in the regular season and then vanished into nothingness in the playoffs. Leonard is a gifted defender with exceptional length, and adding Josh Howard might replace Jefferson’s offense if Howard is healthy. Butler would be another good fit at both ends of the floor.

The Spurs are clearly looking for a cheap pickup. It’s reasonable to think Peter Holt is considering scaling back on spending in anticipation of the new luxury tax. The money would still have to be spent on Jefferson, but the Spurs could move forward. If Jefferson were to be amnestied, though, he’d get a significant number of offers.

Using Amnesty Clause on Richard Jefferson Wouldn't Help Spurs
By Thad Novak / BleacherReport.com

Among the most-discussed provisions of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is the amnesty clause. Under the new rule, teams would be able to regain salary cap flexibility by buying out the contract of a single veteran.

One slumping veteran who’s being talked about as a potential casualty of the new rule is San Antonio's Richard Jefferson.

The San Antonio Express-News reports the Spurs “are believed to have been in contact” with agents for a number of free-agent small forwards, including Dallas’ Caron Butler and Washington’s Josh Howard.

For all that, Jefferson scored just 11 points a game last season—his worst output since his rookie year—and it’s hard to see what the Spurs hope to gain by parting ways with him.

San Antonio needs to decide whether to make one last push with its aging core or begin building for the future, and the proposed replacements for Jefferson would contribute little to either goal.

Jefferson’s poor scoring numbers were largely a result of his taking the fewest shots per game he’d attempted since he was a rookie.

San Antonio’s current offense mostly requires the small forward to stand in the corner and hit three-pointers, and Jefferson did that (at a career-best 44 percent clip).

None of the projected alternatives are drastically better three-point shooting options than Jefferson himself, so if the Spurs are playing for the short term, they might as well stick with the player who’s already established in their system.

Jefferson has never been much of a creator offensively, but that’s not his job in San Antonio.

If, on the other hand, the Spurs want to begin the painful process of building for the post-Tim Duncan era, they’re looking in the wrong places. At 31, Jefferson isn’t as old as Duncan or Manu Ginobili, but he also isn’t a player you want to build around for the long term.

Neither, however, are the other forwards the Spurs are apparently courting.

Howard and Butler (and Bostjan Nochbar, another candidate) are the same age as Jefferson, and Maurice Evans is even older.

Unless San Antonio thinks it can bring in a younger player to help reshape the offense, the team is better off keeping the steady Jefferson (even at an unnecessarily high salary) until a better option presents itself.

NO

we're keeping Batum

daldridgetnt David Aldridge
Caron Butler itinerary: CHI Mon, LAC Mon night/Tue, SAS Tue, NJ Wed, DET Thursday if he hasn't made up his mind yet.

Michael Lee
Busy week for Josh Howard: He will visit SAS on Tues. Plans to visit CHI, NJN & #wizards, though the dates haven't been set

You know if the Spurs brass would have been smart and not sign jefferson to that stupid contract lets not forget the stupid Red Rocket contract as well this team would be in a better state. I blew a gasket last off season over those signing and I took a beating because i thought we should have just went with cheaper options. Guess what the Spurs now have to blow 30 million on player that will not play another minute for the Spurs most likely

I am sorry I think Buford has gotten dumber since Pesti has left

looks like you can add Tayshaun Prince to the list of SFs the Spurs are looking at.
http://projectspurs.com/2011-articles/december/is-tayshaun-prince-on-the-spurs-short-list.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+projectspurs+%28Project+Spurs%29

What about Shane Battier?

Spurs might also have a new back up PG as well:

AlexKennedyNBA Alex Kennedy
Unrestricted free agent T.J. Ford is leaning toward signing with the San Antonio Spurs, according to league source.

Very good news. Ford would make a very good back up PG.

1kangaroo wrote:You know if the Spurs brass would have been smart and not sign jefferson to that stupid contract lets not forget the stupid Red Rocket contract as well this team would be in a better state. I blew a gasket last off season over those signing and I took a beating because i thought we should have just went with cheaper options. Guess what the Spurs now have to blow 30 million on player that will not play another minute for the Spurs most likely

I am sorry I think Buford has gotten dumber since Pesti has left

Kind of makes a mockery of the claim that the NBA owners were losing tons of money and were willing to blow up the whole season over 2% of revenue (about 3mil per team).

Battier is signing with the Heat, Grant Hill is leaning toward NY, so that leaves Caron Butler, Josh Howard, Tayshaun Prince.

Butler is signing with the Clippers

So that leaves Josh Howard and Grant Hill now

According to hoops hype the pacers are going to use their amnesty on James Posey. I believe the spurs should start going after him before some other teams go after him.
Also, why are the spurs going after josh howard? I really don't know what to think it.

andre_spurs21 wrote:According to hoops hype the pacers are going to use their amnesty on James Posey. I believe the spurs should start going after him before some other teams go after him.
Also, why are the spurs going after josh howard? I really don't know what to think it.

Posey was always under rated but I wonder what he has left in the tank?

Josh and Prince are off the market now

Prince back to Detroit and Howard to Utah