A little history lesson for you all: since the San Antonio Spurs joined the NBA from the ABA in 1976, the franchise has missed the postseason four times.
FOUR TIMES!
That speaks to the absolutely incredible run the Spurs have had over the decades, thanks in part to an incredible succession plan that worked out for them: they basically went from George Gervin to David Robinson to Tim Duncan (plus Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker) to Kawhi Leonard. Gregg Popovich is a legend, obviously, and the front office stability has been the kind of thing other NBA franchises attempt to mimic and fail at.
Remarkable, yes, and it would have kept going, too. But then Leonard demanded a trade out of town, and there was no way the Spurs could get back the kind of return they deserved for him.
And that’s a long-winded way of getting to the point: for what might be the first time in franchise history, the Spurs should tear it all down and rebuild.
San Antonio started off the season 4-1. Since then, they’ve lost nine of their last 10, and on Wednesday night, they lost to the lowly Washington Wizards. They allow 116.2 points per game and have the third-worst defensive rating in the NBA. They shoot threes decently (35.1 percent) … but they barely shoot them (25.5 attempts per contest).
You could say there’s time to recover from that, but as everyone expected, there are six bona fide top-end contenders in the West, and there might be three teams (all surprises in the Suns, Timberwolves and Kings) vying for the final two playoff spots. Heck, maybe the Trail Blazers figure out their woes (I’m not sure they can) and Zion Williamson’s return sparks a bit of a Pelicans run.
My point is: the Spurs would be fighting for a chance to have a first-round exit. Wouldn’t you rather see the franchise reboot and start anew?
The timing is terrific. DeMar DeRozan has a player option for next season before he’s a free agent. LaMarcus Aldridge has one more year on his deal after this season, as do Rudy Gay and Patty Mills. All of them could fetch some good returns from contenders. Sure, DeRozan doesn’t shoot threes, the flaw that’s followed him throughout his entire career, but who doesn’t want a player who can score like he does? Aldridge is as underrated as he’s always been.
Then, the Spurs can concentrate on whatever they get in return and the development of point guard Dejounte Murray, fellow backcourt mate Derrick White and Lonnie Walker, the 18th overall pick in 2018. Bryn Forbes has been a revelation as a shooter, so he’s a keeper as well.
It’s a pretty great position to be in for a team that lost out on having one of the NBA’s players under contract for the future, one who would have attracted other talent to come (a reminder that we just learned from ESPN that Paul George wanted to be dealt to San Antonio while Leonard was still a Spur). The one downside? Maybe Coach Pop doesn’t want to stick around for a rebuild, and that’s understandable after coaching for … 24-plus seasons!!!
But if the Spurs want to get back to consistent year-to-year contention, the time might be now to tear it all down.
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