Rollin' the McDyess: Will the San Antiono Spurs Sign the Newly-Free Agent?

Jason Rodriguez by Correspondent Written on November 03, 2008
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What a difference a day or two can make.

One moment people are speculating about Allen Iverson's future in Denver, and now we know he has no future in Denver.

Iverson will now be taking his game to Detroit, while Chauncey Billups heads into the tough Western Conference.

Yet, while these are obviously the big players in the trade, Antonio McDyess was a part of the trade package as well—and at least at the time of this writing, it seems he'll be having his contract bought out by the Nuggets.

Enter the San Antonio Spurs.

If there's been one painfully-missing piece to the Spurs team these two games into this season, it's been a lack of defense and a lack of rebounding. Simply put, their frontcourt is not that good—not with two of their prime big men sidelined by injuries.

Yet even with the imminent return of Fabricio Oberto and Ian Mahinmi, it's hard to ignore that impact McDyess would have on the silver and black.

Let's just examine the numbers for a second. In last year's campaign, McDyess averaged close to nine rebounds and nine points per game. So, just in those two stats, you're getting more production than San Antonio's starting center, Oberto. Beyond that, though, you have a strong big man who can play good defense as well as step out and hit the mid-range jumper.

While McDyess is not as long or as tall as Tim Duncan, if the two were paired on the court the Supers could easily slide Duncan to the center and have McDyess man the power forward spot. Since McDyess wouldn't have to rely on banging on the inside for points, and instead could shoot from farther out, that would provide enough space on the floor for Duncan to work his magic.

Double teamed? Pass out to McDyess, he'll hit the jumper. Need a big who will get you rebounds? McDyess will get them. A big man who'll defend in the post? This is pretty much a prerequisite for playing on the Spurs, and McDyess fits the bill.

In a lot of other ways though, he also fits the Spurs' team character. He's not an outlandish sort and carries himself well, something the Spurs as a whole try to do.

With the influx of young bigs and a lack of both scoring and rebounding on the interior, it seems the Spurs would have to play dumb in order to miss the benefits McDyess could provide. If McDyess is indeed bought out, it seems very likely he'd be the sort of player San Antonio would seek out at this point, hoping to shore up its frontcourt,

The only real question is whether or not whether McDyess would want to come here, as his preference seems to be to stay in Detroit. However, the lure of a championship ring can be strong—and this is an odd year, which so far has played out to the Spurs' favor.

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written on November 03, 2008 Opinion

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