2010 Free Agent: Ian Mahinmi

[J_Paco]

Bruno, what's the likelihood that Ian will play for the French NT? Wasn't he playing well for them prior to getting injured last summer? Would be a great chance for Ian to play against quality international compe ion and help him with sticking in the NBA (with us).

[Bruno]

Bruno, what's the likelihood that Ian will play for the French NT? Wasn't he playing well for them prior to getting injured last summer? Would be a great chance for Ian to play against quality international compe ion and help him with sticking in the NBA (with us).

It's a too soon to say. Ian wants to play for the NT this summer but it will depend on who is in (Noah and Turiaf are doubtful) and who the coach will select. I'm also not sure Ian will play with the NT if he hasn't signed a contract with a team when the NT campaign start (July 25th).

Yesterday, French NT coach has given a list of 31 players for this summer. Ian was in the list. What was said was the list would be shortened to 24 at the end of the month and to 16 in mid June. So we will a better idea on Ian playing or not with the NT this summer in one month with the 16 players list.

[SenorSpur]

It's a too soon to say. Ian wants to play for the NT this summer but it will depend on who is in (Noah and Turiaf are doubtful) and who the coach will select. I'm also not sure Ian will play with the NT if he hasn't signed a contract with a team when the NT campaign start (July 25th).

Yesterday, French NT coach has given a list of 31 players for this summer. Ian was in the list. What was said was the list would be shortened to 24 at the end of the month and to 16 in mid June. So we will a better idea on Ian playing or not with the NT this summer in one month with the 16 players list.

If Ian does play with the French NT this summer, should we read anything into that?

[coyotes_geek]

As old as this roster is, the objective is to get younger. Pop reiterated as much during exit interviews. That said, you don't accomplish that by jettisoning a young, 23 year-old, athletic center, who has not been given an opportunity to play. The time has come again to purge out older unproductive guys -not young talent.

This isn't an old roster anymore. Not by a longshot. Tim, Manu and Dyess are the only guys on the team older than 30 and there's seven guys younger than 25.

[yavozerb]

This isn't an old roster anymore. Not by a longshot. Tim, Manu and Dyess are the only guys on the team older than 30 and there's seven guys younger than 25.

How many of these seven actually have contracts for next season?

[coyotes_geek]

How many of these seven actually have contracts for next season?

Six. Hill & Blair = guaranteed. Hairston, Temple, Gee, Jerrells = unguaranteed. Mahinmi is the only <25 yr old on the team without a contract right now.

[mogrovejo]

Next season I want our bigs to be

C - Splitter, Ian, Duncan, Blair, Pittman
PF - McDyess

McDyess retires after next season, and Duncan in a couple of years.....that leaves us Splitter, Ian, Blair, and Pittman...which is a very nice nucleus of bigs to have.

Fixed.

[scottspurs]

Next season I want our bigs to be

C - Splitter, Ian, McDyess
PF - Duncan, Blair, Pittman

McDyess retires after next season, and Duncan in a couple of years.....that leaves us Splitter, Ian, Blair, and Pittman...which is a very nice nucleus of bigs to have.

Pittman is horrible and this is coming from a Texas fan. I wouldn't even want him on the toros. He can only play 18 minutes a game because of his conditioning and he would be the biggest transition D nightmare ever. He would make Tim Duncan look like a track star he is so slow. If you want a player from Texas it should be either Avery Bradley or Damion James because they actually have a chance to make it the NBA unlike Pittman who will be lucky to make it 3 seasons in the D-League.

[Biggems]

Pittman is horrible and this is coming from a Texas fan. I wouldn't even want him on the toros. He can only play 18 minutes a game because of his conditioning and he would be the biggest transition D nightmare ever. He would make Tim Duncan look like a track star he is so slow. If you want a player from Texas it should be either Avery Bradley or Damion James because they actually have a chance to make it the NBA unlike Pittman who will be lucky to make it 3 seasons in the D-League.

Pittman has improved each season and so has his conditioning. You give him to Pop and he will be 6'10, 250 lbs of wide load in the paint.

I am a UT fan and I feel that Barnes wasted Pittman...IMHO, Dex was not a great fit for the style the Horns play. They are too up and down, to erratic. He was one of the biggest players in the nation, and they refused to feed him in the half court. Instead James, Bradley, Hamilton, and Johnson would take turns throwing up shot after shot.

BTW, if we drafted Pittman in the 2nd, he would be an end of bench player until McDyess and Duncan retired.....by then, he would have learned our system and had a few years in our strength and conditioning program, as well as allowed his game to evolve (improving his FT% and adding a midrange jumper).



But if you dont like Pittman, and I cannot convince you, there is always Zoubek from Duke. He is not a great athlete, but he is one heckuva rebounder, he is a legit 7 fter and he is a decent shot blocker.

[J_Paco]

Next season I want our bigs to be

C - Splitter, Ian, Duncan, Blair, Pittman
PF - McDyess

McDyess retires after next season, and Duncan in a couple of years.....that leaves us Splitter, Ian, Blair, and Pittman...which is a very nice nucleus of bigs to have.

Fixed.

I think Ian and Tiago both have the mobility to guard power forwards, and I definitely think Ian can play PF on offense. Plus, Blair just doesn't have the size needed to be a center in the NBA. DeJuan needs to develop his jumper so that he can be paired with an interior scorer (Ian, Timmy and Tiago).

[Uriel]

If you're a proponent of bringing back Mahinmi, I think there are 2 things you genuinely need to be concerned about.

First of all, the Spurs have made it clear that they intend to go hard to try and acquire Tiago Splitter. The way I look at it, having a frontcourt rotation that consists of Duncan, McDyess, Splitter, and potentially Bonner essentially relegates Ian to the end of the bench, leaving him with little to no playing time. This is especially troublesome since Ian, though he has great potential, is still somewhat raw and his deprivation of minutes, which is only compounded by his lack of D-League eligibility, will only derail his development.

Second, and I think most people fail to consider this, is that other NBA teams actually seem genuinely interested in him. As stated above, Ian, with his astounding physical tools, has, at least in my opninion, quite a high ceiling, and an NBA team may, as is usually the case with free agency, find a way to make him an offer that may put him outside of our price range.

Looking at things from this perspective, it's hard to see Mahinmi being back in the Spurs next season.

[venitian navigator]

If you're a proponent of bringing back Mahinmi, I think there are 2 things you genuinely need to be concerned about.

First of all, the Spurs have made it clear that they intend to go hard to try and acquire Tiago Splitter. The way I look at it, having a frontcourt rotation that consists of Duncan, McDyess, Splitter, and potentially Bonner essentially relegates Ian to the end of the bench, leaving him with little to no playing time. This is especially troublesome since Ian, though he has great potential, is still somewhat raw and his deprivation of minutes, which is only compounded by his lack of D-League eligibility, will only derail his development.

Second, and I think most people fail to consider this, is that other NBA teams actually seem genuinely interested in him. As stated above, Ian, with his astounding physical tools, has, at least in my opninion, quite a high ceiling, and an NBA team may, as is usually the case with free agency, find a way to make him an offer that may put him outside of our price range.

Looking at things from this perspective, it's hard to see Mahinmi being back in the Spurs next season.

The way I see it, is that you can't have enough good big players on your team in a season that plays 82 regular season games.
My idea for next year will be (bigs) : Duncan - Splitter
Blair - Mahinmi
Bonner - Mc Dyess

Tim will be 34, Dice 37...how many regular season minutes per game should they play ?
I'll say more : how many regular season games should they play ?

The good of having 15 players is you can, and must, rotate them if you want to preserve energies...so let the young studs (Splitter, Mahinmi, Blair) play all games and the most part of minutes in regular season games, so they can develop confidence in each other.
I don't care if we don't make the play offs, we already seen that with our actual core we're gonna be swept long before the finals.
If with a young core we also make the play offs than our veterans will be rested and effective.
We have to talke some risk.
We need young energies...and start to think to preserve our veterans for what can be their effective contribution at a maximum level in play off's time.

[Bruno]

Some news about Ian:
He was today on French radio and talked about his future:
- The deciding factor will be playing time.
- His goal is to stay in SA but it would depend on playing time.
- Spurs said they were happy with his season but they haven't told they want to re-sign him because there are a lot of parameters (FA, draft...). Ian told Spurs still don't know what they will do this summer.
- Splitter will be a factor. If Spurs signs Splitter and Keep Blair, Duncan and Dice, Ian should go. He doesn't want to be the 5th bigman like at the end of the year because only 4 ones get consistent playing time.
- If he has nothing in NBA, he is ready to come back in Europe. However, he sounds confident about getting another opportunity in the NBA. Even if teams aren't allowed to make offers, there are some good talks around him.

For French speaking people, a podcast of the show is available: http://podcast.rtl.fr/podcast_rtl_carrement_basket.xml
I recommend to listen it, Ian is damn well-spoken.

[Mel_13]

Some news about Ian:

Thanks, Bruno.

Ian appears to be taking a mature, professional approach to the process. It's good to see that, as opposed to some of the emotional stuff posted around here, Ian still sees the Spurs as his first choice. It means that Ian never stopped working and the staff never stopped coaching.

Coming back as the 5th big, as you say, makes little sense for him. Although if the Spurs would guarantee 2 or 3 years then he could move into the spot that will be vacated by Dice in one year. Still, going someplace where significant minutes are more likely is probably better for his career.

I'd love to see Ian emerge as a productive NBA player with the Spurs. We've seen a few intriguing glimpses of what might be possible. Look at Robin Lopez. The guy had more fouls than points for more than a season and then, almost out of nowhere, becomes a legit NBA player.

[mogrovejo]

He's done with San Antonio. Avec un peu de chance, il ira à Boston. Allez, allez Ian.

[MaNu4Tres]

Thanks Bruno

FWIW, not that it means much, a family amigo of mine that has ties in the org. made it aware they intended for Mahinmi to grow with George, Blair, Hairston on forward and he indicated San Antonio being his first option as well. Truth of the matter is, Spurs can't really foresee the future and know what exactly is going to happen. There's too many unknowns this early in the off-season, Splitter signing?; a trade proposal they can't turn down; a player in the draft dropping to them; ect.


Anyway it's good to know Spurs are still high on Mahinmi and were still happy with his season.

I'll be the first to admit, a year ago I wasn't sold on the guy. I was wrong. As the season went a long, the more and more he won me over in the limited action he received. Like Mel 13 said

I'd love to see Ian emerge as a productive NBA player with the Spurs. We've seen a few intriguing glimpses of what might be possible. Look at Robin Lopez. The guy had more fouls than points for more than a season and then, almost out of nowhere, becomes a legit NBA player.

[Bruno]

Coming back as the 5th big, as you say, makes little sense for him.

It isn't me who say that but Ian. Ian said that if Spurs sign Spliter and keep Blair, Dice and Duncan, he would be again the 5th bigman like this year. He added that it would be a complicate situation for him. When asked if he would try to go elsewhere in that scenario, he said yes.

Personally, I can see Ian being back in that scenario.
First, it's not a given Ian will find a team where he could be the 4th PF/C.
Second, Spurs won't guarantee Ian some playing time but they can explain him he will get way more opportunities than this year. I can see Spurs sitting Duncan for a game of a b2b and Dice for the other game of the b2b. With about 20 b2b per year, Ian will be the 4th PF/C in 40 games. Add injuries, bad games from Blair/Splitter/Dice and Ian could have some serious playing time next year even as the 5th PF/C. In 2011-2012, Dice will be gone and Ian could end up as the 4th PF/C. If Spurs wants him back, they should be able to convince him with these arguments.

[Mel_13]

It isn't me who say that but Ian. Ian said that if Spurs sign Spliter and keep Blair, Dice and Duncan, he would be again the 5th bigman like this year. He added that it would be a complicate situation for him. When asked if he would try to go elsewhere in that scenario, he said yes.

Personally, I can see Ian being back in that scenario.
First, it's not a given Ian will find a team where he could be the 4th PF/C.
Second, Spurs won't guarantee Ian some playing time but they can explain him he will get way more opportunities than this year. I can see Spurs sitting Duncan for a game of a b2b and Dice for the other game of the b2b. With about 20 b2b per year, Ian will be the 4th PF/C in 40 games. Add injuries, bad games from Blair/Splitter/Dice and Ian could have some serious playing time next year even as the 5th PF/C. In 2011-2012, Dice will be gone and Ian could end up as the 4th PF/C. If Spurs wants him back, they should be able to convince him with these arguments.

That makes sense. I'm just glad that some reasonable scenarios exist for Ian staying with the Spurs. For much of the season his return seemed almost impossible. I'd much rather see the team go a little further with Ian than sign another past his prime vet like Theo.

[Brazil]

He's done with San Antonio. Avec un peu de chance, il ira à Boston. Allez, allez Ian.

you speak french mogrovejo ?

[benefactor]

I'd like to have Mahinmi back, but if I were him I'd go elsewhere. Why would he want to come back when he sat on the bench watching Pop go small time and time again instead of actually using his big man rotation?

[mogrovejo]

you speak french mogrovejo ?

Yeps, bien sur. Learning French was actually mandatory where I went to school.

[tav1]

scuttlebutt from the draft combine was consistent with all this...Ndiaye is most concerned about playing time for Mahinmi...he'd prefer Ian play for a Euro team that will give him solid minutes...Ian is not content as the 5th big, but would be interested with San Antonio if he assumed McDyess' regular season minutes...assuming Duncan, Blair and Splitter are 1,2,3 in the depth chart. The Bucks and Nets are two teams that have, at least as of last regular season, an interest in Mahinmi. Situation is very much up in the air.

[HarlemHeat37]

Yeps, bien sur. Learning French was actually mandatory where I went to school.

Same here, although I don't really have anywhere to speak it these days..


As for Ian, I hope he's back, but obviously it would make sense for him to want PT..TBH, I can see Mahinmi getting minutes here next year..Duncan's knees gave up on him again this season, so I'm assuming that Pop will rest him even more..McDyess doesn't play a lot during the regular season anyways..

There will be minutes available if both parties are interested IMO..I wonder how Bonner ties in here though..

[Mel_13]

There will be minutes available if both parties are interested IMO..I wonder how Bonner ties in here though..

Let's hope he doesn't. If they add Splitter and Bonner stays, then there is almost no way for Ian to get minutes.

[HarlemHeat37]

Ya, that's what I meant..

I imagine the FO still likes Bonner though, so we'll see..