By Mike Monroe - Express-News
When Antonio McDyess got into the first five-on-five scrimmage of training camp with his new teammates, he knew what to expect of most of the other big men.
Once he found himself matched up against Ian Mahinmi, however, he began to wonder about a youngster with uncommon size and athleticism.
“I said, ‘Oh, my goodness, this guy is good,'” McDyess said. “I wondered why I hadn’t heard more about him. I love his game.”
Spurs fans have been waiting to see more of Mahinmi since the Spurs made him the 28th pick in the 2005 draft. Beginning with tonight’s preseason opener at the AT&T Center against the Houston Rockets, they will get another chance.
Mahinmi knows tonight’s game is the start of the most important preseason of his young career. He must prove he merits consideration for a spot in a frontline rotation that has added McDyess, veteran Theo Ratliff and rookie DeJuan Blair.
Mahinmi was just 19 when the Spurs drafted him out of the French A League. Young, athletic and raw, he stayed in France for two more seasons before the Spurs signed him on Aug. 23, 2007.
He spent most of 2007-08 with the Spurs’ Austin Toros Development League team. His 23 total minutes in Spurs games were but a tease.
The 2008-09 preseason was to be Mahinmi’s chance to earn a spot in the Spurs’ frontline rotation. A badly sprained right ankle in an August pickup game derailed that plan. He spent most of the 2008-09 campaign looking natty in NBA-mandated business attire behind the Spurs bench.
A tiny bone chip — the source of persistent pain in the ankle — was successfully removed in January, providing relief for both Mahinmi and the Spurs.
Now in the third season of his NBA rookie scale contract, Mahinmi also faces the pressure of an important career checkpoint. The team faces an Oct. 31 deadline to decide if it will extend his contract to include a fourth season.
The Spurs are now well over the NBA’s luxury tax threshold, effectively doubling the price of every added contract. Mahinmi’s extension, at $1.786 million, would cost the club a total of $3.572 million.
Mahinmi understands what is at stake for him in the team’s exhibition games, particularly in the first two or three, when head coach Gregg Popovich typically limits the playing time of proven veterans so he can evaluate untested players.
“I think this is really my first real chance,” he said. “My rookie year, I knew I was going to go to the D-League, so this year is my first chance, and I’m finally feeling good physically.”
Mahinmi got a scare in September when he strained a hamstring while playing for the French national team in the Eurobasket tournament in Poland, whereLes Bleus qualified for next summer’s FIBA world championships. The injury proved minor, and he reported to Spurs camp in peak condition.
His ankles, he said, are 100 percent healthy.
Now 22, Mahinmi doesn’t know how much playing time he will get. McDyess, Ratliff and Blair also need plenty of preseason time to adjust to the Spurs’ system.
“Seriously, I don’t expect anything,” he said. “I just take what they give me. Sure, I’m going to get to play, but I don’t expect 30, 35 minutes. I do know they’re going to play me. I know they’re going to try to see what I can bring to the team.”
Popovich is anxious to see if Mahinmi’s physical potential can produce tangible results.
“Ian is a very hungry player right now,” Popovich said. “For two years, he’s been hurt. It’s his turn to show us what he can do.
“He’s running the floor really well. He’s trying to make some moves offensively. He went down on the block to show he can score a little bit. He’s just anxious to exhibit the things he hasn’t been able to do because of the injuries.”
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Mahinmi_must_show_Spurs_his_worth.html