Things never really panned out the way they were supposed to with the San Antonio Spurs and 
Richard Jefferson. I remember thinking when the Spurs got Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks that they got him at a great price because he was such a talented guy. I thought he would make the Spurs a whole lot better.
It didn’t really work out that way.
Jefferson had a lot of pressure on him when he came to San Antonio. He had been averaging around 20 points a game during his last few years with the New Jersey Nets and his one season with the Bucks. He was a great scorer in the prime of his career, it looked like the Spurs had landed a big time player.
But RJ just never really fit in with the Spurs.
All of his offensive stats in San Antonio are well below his career averages. That was probably expected since he joined a team that was already so talented, but the city expected him to take the Spurs to the next level, and he didn’t.
At first it seemed like he would just need some time and he’d find his spot in the system. There were definitely signs that he might get to where the Spurs needed him to be, but he was just so inconsistent over the long run that it looked like the Spurs had made a bad move.
Over time, Jefferson fell into the shadows and became a role player on the team. People forgot that he was once expected to be one of the team leaders in scoring and just accepted him as a guy who would put in about 10 points a game.
Now it’s time to say goodbye. I can’t say Spurs fans will miss him. They’re probably a lot more excited to have Stephen Jackson back than they are sad that they’ll be losing Richard Jefferson. Maybe the move to Golden State will resurrect his career and he’ll put in a few solid years before retirement and finish on a high note. I guess we’ll see.
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