In our post “Title Aftermath“, we wrote about the possibility of LB James coming to San Antonio and ran a quote from ESPN:
James is unselfish. He has a high basketball IQ. He loves to play hard. He has every tool in the bag and an affinity to display them. This is a coach’s dream. Could you imagine James playing for Popovich? Would the Spurs ever lose? Seriously.
That’s not happening. James supposedly wants a max deal, and the Spurs can’t do it. Not without putting themselves into the luxury tax bracket, which they won’t do to any extent.
But there’s talk that LB James is non-committal to Miami. His agent is meeting with leadership from other teams. I find this of concern to Miami, but I do believe he will ultimately go back to the Heat. There’s no way he’d go back to Cleveland; it’s just not happening. Houston and Phoenix are a different story. They both have a chance to pay the man. The league certainly would not like to see James leave Miami, since the East will go nowhere. Frankly, I’m surprised Washington didn’t make a run at James. He could turn that unit into a legit title contender.
Meanwhile, there’s some talk here of San Antonio having a shot at Pau Gasol. I can safely say that’s not going to happen even though Greg Popovich is great for pitching the Spurs program. If you hear of Popovich going to visit a player, the Spurs are fully engaged. Anyway, a player like Gasol is going to get more than the MLE, and from quality teams with a chance to win a title. Gasol would have to swallow hard to take even the full MLE, but coming here would give him a chance to compete for a title with a team that could put his full skill set to use.
Another player the Spurs have interest in is Caron Butler. Makes sense, because Manu Ginobili is breaking down again and San Antonio probably wants insurance.
