Swerve! The Austin Spurs Strike Again

Am I the only one that wonders at times if the San Antonio Spurs are more committed to winning a championship in Austin than San Antonio?

Perhaps it only seems that way because of the way the Spurs effectively use their NBA Development League affiliate.

They developed point guard Curtis Jerrells all year and signed him for the rest of the season to keep him in the family, but sent him right back down to Austin.

They developed Alonzo Gee all year and the Washington Wizards discovered that he's actually NBA ready during a 10-day contract. Then they decided not to sign him for the rest of the year as Flip Saunders announced, and, what do you know? The Spurs got their guy back, signing Gee for the rest of the year today. Haven't heard if the monster power forward will be assigned back to Austin yet, but you know that thought has crept into my head and that of others as well.

Truthfully, I think Gee can help the Spurs make noise in the NBA playoffs, where they'll be dangerous, sure, but probably too old, too slow, and not good enough to go all the way. Can Gee change that? I doubt it, but I think it could help them a little bit.

If the Spurs assign Gee to Austin, you'll have a hard time convincing me it's for more seasoning or because he needs playing time. Not at this point of the season. You could argue it'd be because Gee deserves the chance to win a championship with the Toros after helping them to get to where they are. If that's the case, I'll say, fair point, good move, and move on. But they could also simply do it to help Austin.

I think the telling thing will be how many guys get assigned to Austin for the playoffs. The Spurs can assign up-to four guys at a time. Jerrells is one. Gee could be two. Malik Hairston, who's spent time dominating the NBA D-League and riding the pine in the NBA over the last two years, could be three, and then there's former-Viper Garrett Temple who could be four.

I can't imagine the Spurs would assign all four at once and play with an 11-man roster in the playoffs. I could see three, though, since you can only have 12 active players in a playoff game anyway.

The Vipers went 5-2 against the Toros this season, but managed to avoid Hairston all season and didn't see Gee for their final two meetings (after Gee took Mike Harris' spot in Washington). If the Vipers and Toros should face each other (perhaps in the semi-finals), it promises to be a very interesting series...