Andray Blatche is easily the most talented player left in the free agent pool. Obviously talent isn't the only thing that goes in to signing a player, especially for a team like the San Antonio Spurs who actively search for non-knuckleheads.
Despite Blatche being a "non-Spur" type of player, both parties continue to be brought up together, whether it's by ESPN's Marc Stein, Blatche himself or lesser-known NBA scribes. Is this a "where there's smoke there's fire" situation or an exercise in some August boredom in the NBA circles?
There's a couple of reasons why the Blatche rumors might have some legs. First, is the practical reason that the Spurs are thin on the front line. Second, the Spurs are right in the middle of figuring out their training camp roster and it's entirely possible they're thinking about offering him a make good contract similar to the one James Anderson just agreed to with Atlanta. Third, it's entirely possible the Spurs think Blatche is too good to pass up for cheap money. It's not normally the Spurs style, but stranger things have happened.
The third reason needs to be examined because frankly, we've discussed the Spurs' frontline ad nauseam. In doing more research on Blatche, he might fit better on the court than you'd initially think. First off, I'm throwing out last year for Blatche much like many of us threw out Boris Diaw's season. He was in a bad situation, with a coach he either didn't like or didn't respect (or both) and he quit on his team. I'm not defending his actions, I'm merely saying Diaw's a very recent example of a player who's character and conditioning were questioned before he got to San Antonio and things turned out alright.
As for Blatche, If you're an ESPN Insider and visit John Hollinger's player breakdown there's a part of his Blatche summary that jumps out. The first bullet point reads "jump-shooting big man miscast as go-to guy. Struggles to create quality looks." Playing alongside JaVale McGee made Blatche the only low post scoring option for the Wizards. On the Spurs, he wouldn't ever be a go-to guy.
The Spurs ball movement would also solve the "struggles to create quality looks" as long as someone can explain floor spacing to him. NBA.com's Advanced Stats shows us he can pass a little and that he spends the bulk of his time on offense either in the paint right by the basket or out in the mid-range. That would mean he's able to play with just about any of the other Spurs bigs.
This isn't an endorsement of the Spurs signing Andray Blatche, just more of a look at how he might fit with the other pieces around him. Of course there's always those pesky character issues to consider, so who knows if Blatche would actually be a good fit in San Antonio. We'll wait before a credible rumor crosses our desk before diving much deeper in to this topic.
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