Layups, Oct. 05

• Miami is going to start Michael Beasley at small forward. I get it; they want to start their best 5 players. Plus, if they’re going to go after Carlos Boozer or Chris Bosh this summer, they’re not going to want Beas playing the 4. Still, I’m a bit worried about this plan. As I said in my Heat preview, one of the biggest goals this season has to be Beasley’s development. He was actually very good offensively last year, but wasn’t given the minutes or touches to really show what he can do. It’s in the Heat’s long-term best interest to raise Beasley’s stock around the league. Plus, they need his scoring. If you ask me, putting him at the 3 for long stretches of time might hurt his offensive numbers. He’s more valuable offensively on the post than he is on the wing. Plus, on the defensive end, multi-talented 3s will routinely expose his weaknesses. At the end of the season, the Heat need people to be talking about what Beasley can do rather than what he can’t, and, in my eyes, he needs significant minutes at the 4 for this to be the case.

• The Toronto hype machine is saying that Andrea Bargnani is much improved at everything. Most notable is that his defense is supposedly better – apparently, his anticipation has improved and so has his understanding of team defensive principles. Still, even though I defended his contract extension, I am wary about buying into this. Who exactly is he defending, with Chris Bosh sitting training camp out? Rasho Nesterovic, Patrick O’Bryant, and maybe a bit of Amir Johnson, that’s who. I’m going to wait and see what Bargnani does in a real game, because, as much as I want to believe he’s made a big leap on D, the objective side of me tells me this kind of story is meaningless.

• Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer is saying that the Bobcats offered Ray Felton a long-term deal for about $7 million a season and HE TURNED IT DOWN. Whaaaa? Isn’t this team trying to shed its long-term deals? Don’t they want to develop D.J. Augustin? You don’t give $7 million a year to a guy who hasn’t shown any improvement in 4 seasons. Yeah, it seemed like Felton had a lot of potential coming out of UNC, but since arriving in the league he’s been a below average player. He doesn’t score efficiently, can’t shoot the 3, and the only reason his stats look decent is that he plays upwards of 37 minutes a game. Bill Simmons is wrong about this one. If there’s truth to this story, both sides are crazy

• Brandan Wright will be out 4 to 6 months because he will require shoulder surgery. Don Nelson is upset because Wright “might be the best player in camp” and “it’s quite a loss for us”. So, Nelson’s saying he was finally going to give Wright a shot then. Really? He only let Wright play 9.9 minutes a game in his rookie season and 17.6  in his sophomore season, so why should we believe him? Both seasons, there wasn’t much consistency in the minutes department – he was jerked in and out of the line-up like all other young players tend to be in Golden State. All the while, he’s put up very good per-minute stats, making us dorks who care about such things wish that he will be given an opportunity to showcase his skills somewhere else. I’ve felt bad for this kid the last two years on the Warriors’ bench and feel really, really bad for him now that he’s hurt. Hope he returns at full strength.

• Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell is speculating that DeJuan Blair might end up putting up the best per-minute stats of any rookie. While I’m not ready to fully jump aboard that train, I’ve got to say I’m excited about the guy. It’s unbelievable that a guy who rebounds like he does slipped so late in the draft. How well does he rebound, exactly? Well, his offensive rebounding rate last season was better than some entire teams’ rates. The guy is a monster. I’ve said it many times before but it bears repeating: The Spurs off-season has been mind-bogglingly good. Without a ton of cap room or a high draft pick, they’ve added a ton of rotation-worthy players and put themselves into title contention once again.

Looking Forward: San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs were not good enough last season. With Manu Ginobili injured, they were thoroughly outplayed by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. Those of us watching that series were treated to fantastic play from stars Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, but disappointed to see such a lack of help coming from their teammates. When the series ended, the future looked rather bleak for the team that had just missed the second round for the first time since 2000. They didn’t have money to spend in the summer, beyond the exceptions you get when you’re over the cap. They didn’t have a first round draft pick. Of course, Manu’s return would help, but with veteran role players Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, Ime Udoka, and Roger Mason Jr. getting a year older and likely less productive, it was difficult to picture the Spurs returning to the spot near the top of the rankings that they’ve occupied for the last decade. If they didn’t want to waste Duncan and Parker’s efforts once more, the Spurs’ management somehow needed to get an injection of talent.

Well, in late July, it’s fair to say that they’ve done exactly what they were supposed to do. The first splash was when General Manager R.C. Buford cleverly acquired small forward Richard Jefferson from the cash-strapped Milwaukee Bucks for the expiring contracts of Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, and Fabricio Oberto. To trade some spare parts for a very talented wing player in his prime at the age of 29 is a shrewd, shrewd move from an organization that is known for its shrewd moves. RJ is an additional scoring threat for this team that needed a scoring punch, and he’s more than capable of hitting the corner three-pointer that we’re used to seeing from their wings. He’s a solid individual and team defender, too. The rave reviews given to Buford after consummation of this deal were well-deserved.

The Spurs were also able to address their frontline, which was suddenly quite bare after the RJ deal, by adding Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair to the roster. McDyess, signed at the mid-level exception, is essentially a better version of Kurt Thomas – he’ll play solid defense and hit baseline jumpers, opening up the lane for Tony Parker. With his skillset at 34 years of age, he should remain effective for the duration of his contract. I believe he is perfect for the system in San Antonio. Blair, who miraculously (or absurdly, depending on your perspective) fell all the way to the Spurs at #37 in the draft, is quite simply a beast of a rebounder. He fell because of injury concerns, not talent, and I predict that there will be plenty of teams regretting their decision to pass on him once the season is underway. He can contribute right away on the glass and at 20 years old he will only get better.

Getting to the point, the Spurs’ should have a top 9 that looks like this next year:

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Roger Mason Jr., George Hill, DeJuan Blair, Matt Bonner, and Michael Finley.

Not bad, I say. Now let’s look at the 9 players who stepped on the court for their season-ending loss to the Mavericks in the playoffs:

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Michael Finley, Matt Bonner, Kurt Thomas, Roger Mason Jr., George Hill, Bruce Bowen, and Ime Udoka.

That second group of players was well-coached and efficient. They moved the ball on offense and played solid defense. Two of them are stars who had great seasons. Problem is, that is not enough talent for an elite team – there were just too many average to below-average players eating up minutes and possessions last season. Next season, the Spurs will still have the system we’ve grown to love, with a very talented roster running it once again. Sure, questions remain about Jefferson adjusting to being a 4th option and playing off the ball more than he’s used to. Sure, the Spurs could probably use another shooter in the backcourt off the bench. Regardless, with the moves they’ve made this off-season, they have to be in the conversation if you’re talking about title contenders.