We’ve known all season long that the San Antonio Spurs are a little thin up front. Earlier this week we looked at a couple of available bigs who 
are close to not being available anymore. Yesterday, reports emerged that forward J.J. Hickson was on the verge of signing with the Golden State Warriors and today Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Heat are finalizing a deal with back up center Ronny Turiaf.
Alas, a new but familiar name has emerged. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer was the first to report that the Bobcats and Boris Diaw have come to an agreement on a buy out.
Early rumors are that the Spurs are front runners for Diaw in part thanks to this comment from Spurs point guard Tony Parker.
“He’s in shape. I’m the first to make fun of him when he gains too much weight but right now it’s not the case. We’re very interested to get him but New York is interested too. We’ll see’.”
It’s pretty well known that Diaw and Parker are really close so if the Spurs are serious about bringing Diaw in, they do have an early advantage. Parker also mentioned that the Knicks were interested in Diaw, but that was the Mike D’Antoni led Knicks. Who’s to say if the Mike Woodson coached Knicks have any interest?
I would again contend that this would be a good move for the Spurs.
Despite his size (he’s only 6’8″ or 6’9″), ESPN’s John Hollinger notes that Diaw is a good defender who is strong and moves well. You’re worried about him being out of shape? I’m with you on that one, but we’re also not asking the guy to play 35 minutes a game. He probably wouldn’t start and also probably wouldn’t play more than 25 minutes in any game. His versatile game also lends itself to being able to play with Tim Duncan, Tiago Splitter and Matt Bonner (he’s probably a little too short to play with Blair). Also, the Spurs have two guys who can defend the post, they need more mobile guys to defend the pick and roll. I noted in an earlier post that Diaw ranks 23rd in the league in defending the pick and roll according to Synergy Sports.
The Spurs have a back to back to back coming up next week and another next month. The Spurs could use the depth for the stretch run, especially a guy with Diaw’s unique skill set. So Tony, get the griddle going, get the French Toast cooking and get Boris Diaw in a Spurs uniform.
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