The San Antonio Spurs have been relatively quiet on the player movement front after the signing of Gary Neal. Should the team decide to bring their current roster to camp, they will have 14 players under contract, three of them (Curtis Jerrells, Alonzo Gee and Garrett Temple) not fully guaranteed.
As I have mentioned in the past the Spurs still need to add another player to provide more depth at the small forward position and maybe another big man to round out their front line rotation.
Enter free agent Erick Dampier.
Dampier recently became a free agent when the Charlotte Bobcats decided to waive the final year of his contract to get under the luxury tax. However, according to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski he is already finalizing a lists of teams he’ll meet in the future. On top of the lists are the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks.
Should the Spurs join the bidding war to get Dampier’s services?
There are reasons why many teams have expressed their interest in him. Even at age 35, he is an imposing presence inside the paint, could help on the defensive end of the floor, and be an enforcer type of player for any NBA team.
Last year, Dampier averaged 6 points and 7.3 rebounds in 55 games for the Dallas Mavericks. Getting him will bolster the Spurs’ lineup as he will add more size, length, toughness and experience on the teams’ front court.
But the real question is, will there be any mutual interest between him and the Spurs and is the 1.7-1.8 million leftover from the MLE or the two million bi-annual exception enough to entice him to sign with San Antonio. Also the Spurs have Antonio McDyess, Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan to man the middle and the question then becomes will there be any minutes to spread around?
What do you think? Should the Spurs target Dampier or are there any other available free agents the Spurs should consider?
