James Anderson

[...] The ineffective forward pairing of Weems and Brown will be replaced by Anderson and Moerman. Anderson is in the prime of his career, and although he projected in his youth as a three-and-D player, he has never excelled as either even now. Nevertheless, a bit of both plus some right-handed driving comes with some much-needed athleticism at the position, athleticism not so much provided by returning veteran Krunoslav Simon. Simon does a lot more with the ball in his hands, is crafty as anything and is an excellent extra passer, but last season, he never quite had his jump shot with him. With that back, he will be a key offensive contributor. Moerman meanwhile will bring his face-up, spot-up, post-up game to a forward rotation that hopes to offer more than just the athleticism of Brown, and should be an upgrade on Motum, a smooth and athletic face-up scorer who does much the same offensively as Moerman, but without rebounding. [...]

[...] If the second season was added at Houston's insistence, or in exchange for the first season being fully guaranteed, the second season makes sense. Houston held the leverage in negotiations, and it is certainly in keeping with their nature - Ronnie Brewer finds himself in the same situation, as Reggie Williams would have as well. Former Rocket James Anderson (claimed off waivers by Philly who thus assumed the contract Houston gave him in its entirety) is also now in the same situation - in the midst of a breakout season, he will be able to do nothing about it next summer, as he is tied down to an unguaranteed minimum salary deal. The longer the deal you sign, the better it sounds, but if the length of that deal is mostly at the team's discretion, that length is not a virtue.

James Anderson

Anderson landed an extended run with Houston last season, and, although the unguaranteed nature of his contract makes his position rather tenuous, he's done enough to merit the minimum. He could have a Danny Green-like role for someone if he can hone that jumper further.

A fifth player joined the less-than-120% club this year; Spurs draft pick and England frontline seamer James Anderson. After about a month of negotiations, San Antonio eventually signed Anderson to a contract that pays a maximum of 120% of the scale in the first year, but only 115% in the second year, and 117% in the third (fourth year salaries are calculated as a percentage of the third), all years of which contained more significant performance incentives than usual. This is the kind of thing Memphis are accused of being doing, if not an even more extreme example. Furthermore, this now means that three of the five players to have received less than the full 120% have been Spurs picks. They've actually gone through with the deed Memphis stand accused of trying, and they've done so on an annual basis. In the cases of Mahinmi and Hill, San Antonio could invoke the "no one else was drafting you that high, so live with it" excuse. Not so with Anderson. San Antonio have better leverage, given their strength as a franchise and the fact they aren't doing it with lottery picks, yet it is the same practice.

Pick 20: The San Antonio Spurs pick next, and Woj chimes in with the news that, were he healthy, Nemanja Bjelica would be their pick. Bjelica is one of the most overrated players in the draft. #20 is about 30 places too high. And besides, he just signed with Benetton Treviso for three years. (Although since the Spurs are renowned for their draft-and-stash tendencies, that probably doesn't matter.)

More teams should play the long game with international players, but they don't. While first rounders contracts are bound by the terms of the rookie salary scale, the rules states that if a player does not sign in the NBA for over three years after being drafted in the first round, then they are no longer bound by the scale. Everyone knows this rule, but no one does anything about it, which is why we see players like Tiago Splitter and Nikola Pekovic fall so far every year. But the Spurs, who picked Splitter, have the self-confidence to work with the rule in mind. Most executives are on short term contracts, which is why they make short sighted moves; they're trying to keep their jobs. But R.C. Buford of the Spurs surely knows of his job security, and drafts accordingly. And it's for that reason, plus a healthy dollop of common sense, that the Spurs are able to draft so well. It's a simple formula that so few others follow.

Anyway, sans Bjelica, the Spurs pick James Anderson, a swingman from Oklahoma State and inconsistent frontline seamer for the English cricket team. Anderson's highlight montage is mainly of jumpshots, as Bilas talks about how he's "possibly the best shooter in the draft", but while Jay speaks of Anderson's considerable improvements at creating his own shot, Anderson's caption says he "Must Improve: Creating own shot." Must Improve: Caption synergy.

It probably benefits James Anderson to go to a place that will encourage him to turn into Bruce Bowen early, because being a defensive role player with a good jumpshot seems like Anderson's destiny. Anderson could get to the rim and the line in college, but only because of an athletic advantage he won't now have in the NBA. He is not an offensive creator, he is not a ball handler, and he can only drive right. Anderson tries defensively and has the athleticism to be irritating (which is about as good of a characteristic as any man can have defensively), but barring significant further improvements in his handle, he won't be a big time scorer.

He should, however, be better than Keith Bogans. In fact, he must be better than Keith Bogans.