Malik Hairston's Deserved NBA Promotion Might Not Make Sense for Spurs

Malik Hairston does everything Gregg Popovich could ask a second-year, second-round pick to do.

He runs the floor as if his career depends on the outcome of each possession. He takes smart shots and swooshes 52 percent of his looks. His game emphasizes the simple pass instead of the fancy SportsCenter highlight reel scoop shot in traffic, and most of all, he plays tenacious defense.

The Spurs coach must decide by next week between three players for a final roster spot—with Hairston competing against Arizona point maker Marcus Williams and Baylor floor leader Curtis Jerrells for the job.

With 14 guaranteed contracts and the highest payroll in team history, GM R.C. Buford and Pop could opt to leave the 15th spot open.

Former lottery pick Marcus Haislip and Frenchman Ian Mahinmi are far from roster locks.

Given the economy’s continued downward spiral, the usually frugal Spurs could justify eating the salary of one guaranteed contract to trim the inventory to 13 players.

Hairston and the Spurs find themselves in the ultimate quagmire. Williams and Mahinmi cannot be sent to Austin again, having played a league-allowed maximum of two seasons with the Toros.

Even after missing the summer league with a left wrist injury and laboring through a scraggy preseason campaign, the Spurs brass still loves Williams potential as an impact reserve scorer.

He has done everything possible to talk the Spurs out of keeping him, from missing basic defensive assignments to forcing poor shots, but he could develop with more pro-level experience.

With Michael Finley, Manu Ginobili, and Roger Mason Jr. competing for minutes at his position, expect Popovich to reluctantly cut Williams and let someone else fawn over his potential.

Jerrells is a sure-fire goner, but the Spurs could send him down I-35 to work with Quinn Snyder and Dell Demps.

Blair, though a Toros candidate, has already earned rotation minutes in San Antonio.

An undersized tough guy with a vendetta against the 23 teams who said “no thanks,” who also brings 20-year-old legs and a fierce rebounding prowess, Blair should play at least 10 minutes a night.

Haislip cannot be relegated to the D-League, and the team did not sign 29-year-old defensive specialist Keith Bogans a week before training camp to cut him in the final week of the preseason.

Hairston is the obvious choice for the final slot, if the front office elects to fill it, but Bogans’ arrival complicates the situation.

Popovich entrusts veterans while keeping his youngsters on short leashes. If Hairston tries to lunge at anyone, he’ll find himself tied to a pole, with the key hidden in another universe.

Remember Beno Udrih?

Hairston’s a player the Spurs must keep in the system, but unlike his roster spot competitors, he can play one more season in Austin, per league rules.

If Bogans, Jefferson, and Finley gobble up most of the minutes at small forward, would it make sense to guarantee Hairston a spot and pay additional luxury tax money for a benchwarmer?

Who will replace retired defensive stalwart Bruce Bowen? This kid could do it and be a lot better on the other side of the ball than No. 12 ever was.

Hairston’s range extends from around the basket to the three-point line, he’s smart and deft with the ball in his hands; he’s unselfish and knows how to fill defensive gaps and rotate inside and to the perimeter.

He flashed the potential of his energetic game in 15 contests last season.

His most impressive pro outing came against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, when Popovich decided—much to the basketball-viewing public’s chagrin—to sit Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and Finley.

Hairston scored 12 points, hauled down five boards, and recorded a steal.

Every time he’s given a shot to prove he belongs in the pros, he runs with it like ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons being chased by a hair stylist.

Herein lies the paradox.

If the Spurs elect to keep him, his game will only improve if he gets meaningful minutes.

If he is to become the Spurs’ next great defensive pest, or even a consistent support defender, he needs to play minutes that count in games that count.

That means defending Kobe Bryant or LeBron James late in the third quarter with the outcome in the balance, not Adam Morrison or Danny Green in garbage time.

Newcomers Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, Blair, Theo Ratliff, and Bogans are learning one of pro basketball’s toughest systems.

The complexities of the offensive and defensive schemes can at times read like a foreign language.

Can Popovich tolerate another rotation regular who will require constant tutelage, even if he has run similar plays as a Toro?

If Hairston heads back to Austin, his NBA dream will remain unfulfilled, and he will make the D-League All-Star team as a 20-point scorer, with no promise that such production will afford him the NBA-level improvement he craves.

A player can only do so much in the minor leagues, but he cannot do anything in the pros if there are no minutes for him.

When Popovich informs Hairston of his decision late this week or next, there is one certainty.

It won’t make sense.