by Robert Kleeman (Columnist)

Malik Hairston stopped behind the arc, set his feet, released the ball in one fluid motion and drained the three-pointer to seal a win for the San Antonio Spurs in a Sunday contest against the New Orleans Hornets.

The details—that this was a meaningless win in the Las Vegas Summer League with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Chris Paul, and David West nowhere to be seen—can wait for later.

For now, Hairston is enjoying the moment—and the chance to make a rigorously renovated roster most expect to challenge for league supremacy next spring.

The outlook for South Texas', small-market dynasty was dreary after the Dallas Mavericks triumphed in a quick first-round series. The Mavs represented the right-place, right-time carnivores and the Spurs represented the banged-up, slow-footed dead meat.

Since that fateful and disastrous five-game exit, Spurs Majority Owner Peter Holt has signed off on the costliest roster overhaul in franchise history.

General Manager R.C. Buford traded Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto and Kurt Thomas to the Milwaukee Bucks for swingman Richard Jefferson. The Spurs will pay the 29-year-old forward $29 million over the next two years.

Buford then lured coveted free agent forward/center Antonio McDyess with a three-year deal at all or most of the mid-level exception, about $5.6 million. McDyess expects to play two more years but has a third on his contract to guarantee him extra cash.

Sources said that bonus incentive convinced him San Antonio was the place to go, even if winning a ring was the greater motivation.

The Spurs also signed former Bucks lottery pick Marcus Haislip to a veteran's minimum deal and inked prized second round steal Dejuan Blair for three years at a total of $2.7 million.

The whirlwind offseason, a dream for any squad in search of youth and athleticism, will push the franchise well beyond the luxury tax threshold.

I found this Holt quote in the San Antonio Express-News to be particularly funny.

"They all think I'm cheap as hell," he said of fellow owners who threw him playful jabs at this week's NBA Board of Governer's meeting.

Some fans have accused the penny-penching Holt of refusing to open his wallet for Tim Duncan. After a few weeks of moves that make the Spurs as talented, on paper, as any team in the league, they can no longer do so.

Parsimonious? I think not.

The payroll already exceeds $80 million, with more signings expected.

Additional signings? That would be where Hairston and the Spurs each stand to gain.

The former Oregon Ducks standout tore up D-League competition as a member of the Austin Toros last season. He played some spot minutes on the Toros' big brother, too.

Hairston soon learned that scoring big in the NBA's version of a minor league and being a serviceable pro are different concepts.

The Spurs acquired him in a draft night trade that sent Goran Dragic to the Phoenix Suns.

While Dragic continues to throw errant passes and play unacceptable, horrendous defense, Hairston has the Spurs' prepared to part ways with free agent Ime Udoka.

If he continues to shoot better than 50 percent and show off his impressive defensive chops, would Buford tell Holt to spend more on a 30-year-old veteran who can't promise the same kind of improvement his younger counterpart can?

Gregg Popovich liked Hairston's activity and energy enough to give him minutes against lowly squads like the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings.

In a game both Duncan and Manu Ginobili missed with injuries, Hairston even guarded LeBron James and did a passable job.

The coaching staff, though, wanted to see his intelligence and confidence match his vivacity.

It would appear that improved player has shown up to Vegas ready to prove to Popovich that he deserves more than a training camp invitation.

When it became clear the Bucks would waive 38-year-old Bowen right after the Jefferson trade, many expected him to return to San Antonio.

However, in the wake of the team's dramatic youth movement, there would seem to be no place for an aging forward whose over-the-top, physical defense has lost some of its edge. Bowen can also no longer knock down his signature three from the corner with any reliability.

Hairston is part of that movement back to jejunity.

If Derek Fisher's two treys in Game Four of the Finals last month reminded observers that championship teams need veterans armed with acumen and experience, Trevor Ariza's two game-clinching steals in the Western Conference Finals proved that such squads also need youth.

The Spurs of last year were the oldest of the old, and without Manu Ginobili, arguably the least athletic team in the association.

No one anticipates Hairston being the 22-year-old panacea to those woes or the new guy who guards Kobe Bryant in crunch time.

Jefferson will likely take on those duties. This writer has already predicted the former New Jersey Net will make an All-Defensive team.

What Hairston can bring will equal anything Sasha Vujacic gives the defending champion Lakers.

Hey, a Lakers fan re-nicknamed him "the Latrine" on this site for a reason.

He will play sparingly, if at all, against elite competition. Popovich will not ask Hairston to drain big-time three balls in a real NBA game against the Hornets.

What Hairston will do is provide high-powered minutes alongside one of the stars when Popovich opts to rest his others.

You know he will. He always does.

It was against the Denver Nuggets, after all, that the stubborn Popovich decided to sit Parker, Duncan, Ginobili and Michael Finley, prompting a national uproar. That was also the contest where Hairston shined with 12 points and five rebounds.

After the 104-96 near-loss, George Karl ripped into his team for failing to put away the Spurs' "JV squad." The game only cemented what most already knew about the matchup: that the Spurs will beat any version of the Nuggets with Carmelo Anthony and Karl wherever the postseason series is played.

Hairston would do well to up his NBA-level averages of 3.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and less than one assist.

Even five points per game would satisfy the youth doctors' orders.

It would be silly to nitpick prospective numbers.

How many youngsters drafted in the second round—with a shot to make an NBA roster—will get to do as much for a team as competitive as the Spurs?

Holt has already spent the big bucks. It would be kind to the small-market owner's depleted wallet for Popovich to hand a roster spot to a player who commands less than $1 million in annual salary.

If Hairston makes the team (his contract is non-guaranteed), he will join rookie Dejuan Blair, frenchman Ian Mahinmi, and IUPUI combo-guard George Hill as four players younger than 24 with rotation spots on a perennial contender.

The team's average age has dropped to 28, and the addition of 20-year-old Blair, signed to a contract Thursday afternoon, will only drop that number further.

In the team's summer opener, Blair hauled down 13 boards, living up to his standing as college basketball's primo rebounder.

One Spurs' official told Express-News columnist Buck Harvey that Blair could play 20 minutes a night. In two games in Vegas, the undersized forward has shown what many scouts have said all along.

His 6'7" stature won't matter because of his freakish 7'2" wingspan. Given that he will be expected to play limited minutes as a reserve, his absent ACLs should be a minimal concern.

When the rebounding phenom once projected as a lottery pick shockingly fell to the second round, Fabricio Oberto, free to re-sign with the Spurs after the trade that "sent him" to Milwaukee, became expendable.

The Washington Wizards have offered the 34-year-old Argentine a deal and several other teams in need of size have inquired about his services.

Hill earned his rotation spot last year in the absence of Parker and Ginobili. He produced three straight 20-point outings in November and outplayed eventual Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose in one of them.

His long-armed defensive prowess prompted Popovich to proclaim on draft night, when many were puzzled by the little-known pick, that he would "immediately improve the team."

Hill's role will only grow with experience. The coaches want him to lock up a role as Parker's primary back up point man, and his consistent and decisive summer play suggests he can.

What role 2005 first-round pick Mahinmi will play is less defined. He has shown flashes in Vegas of the talent that prompted the Spurs to pick him over David Lee and a few other notables.

The D-League star still needs to prove he can play a few minutes in a regular season game without racking up silly fouls.

His best performance this week—a 16-point, 12-rebound effort—was offset by his commiting 10 fouls.

Because he is in the final year of his deal, with a team option for the fourth, and can no longer be relegated to Austin, the Spurs will have to see what the Frenchman can do in the big leagues.

His NBA-ready athleticism has never been questioned. His inability to execute disciplined defensive schemes has led to incessant, early foul trouble and doubts he could survive on a pro-level roster.

Through all of this gleeful uncertainty comes a comfortable prediction: the Spurs will not finish last in the league in dunks next season.

Popovich won't care about that stat, but he should welcome the youth and exuberance that will allow it to happen.

It is past time for another team to battle the "too old to win a title" label.

Such an insult does not befit the retooled Spurs.

For now, Hairston should enjoy his brief starring role on San Antonio's junior squad in Sin City. His 7-of-13 shooting performance helped the squad remain undefeated in Summer League play Thursday night.

For now, he should forget that no one cares who wins in this week-long, sometimes unwatchable showcase.

Soon, he'll have the chance to slip into the complimentary role of his dreams, the one he sampled last year but could not secure.

Hairston may be a former Oregon Duck in need of further refinement, but he's no quack.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/219280-spurs-youngsters-will-benefit-from-expensive-summer-of-change