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Like the old saying goes..."If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it."
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11...won-summer-too
Why the Spurs won the summer, too
Amid a flurry of movement, '14 champs prove that retaining is the new improving
Originally Published: July 12, 2014
By J.A. Adande
The most successful offseason of any NBA team didn't involve a news conference or an as-told-to story. It quietly reached its conclusion in the form of an email from the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday morning announcing the re-signing of Boris Diaw.
If the immediate goal is to win the 2015 championship, there's no better place to start than preserving the 2014 champions. No, the Spurs didn't make the eye-grabbing move of the summer -- the return of LeBron James to Cleveland snagged that honor -- they just made a series of low-key announcements that four main components of their championship squad were coming back: Diaw, Tim Duncan, Patty Mills and coach Gregg Popovich.
Put it this way: Would you rather have a team with LeBron adapting to a new group of players, or a team that just beat LeBron by a total of 70 points in five NBA Finals games? The Spurs epitomize the underrated story of the 2014 NBA free-agent fest, which is that retaining is the new improving.
Yes, LeBron altered the landscape in the East, while making a move that will bolster the financial value of the Cavaliers and the psyche of the city. It was transformative. The Spurs did not transform, and that was the point. They stuck with what works, similar to last offseason when they brought back Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter. If other teams want to model themselves after San Antonio, they can start with that. To borrow from Rudyard Kipling, If you can keep your players when all about you are losing theirs ...
For example, the Indiana Pacers would be better positioned to capitalize on LeBron's departure from Miami if the they hadn't lost Lance Stephenson to the Charlotte Hornets themselves. Stephenson was Indiana's second-leading scorer and rebounder in the playoffs, and led the Pacers in assists. In the same vein, Stephenson's addition to the Hornets would have meant more if they hadn't lost the versatile Josh McRoberts, who was second on the team in both rebounds and 3-pointers.
Toronto got the message and locked up Kyle Lowry early in the free-agency period, then brought back Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez, which means they'll have a chance to keep the momentum from their unexpected trip to the playoffs. So will the Washington Wizards, who re-signed Marcin Gortat. Yes, they lost Trevor Ariza to the Houston Rockets, but they made Gortat their priority and kept him. Big men are harder to find than wing players, and the Wizards rebounded nicely from Ariza by snagging Paul Pierce.
Pierce, don't forget, won a playoff game against the Raptors with some clutch fourth-quarter buckets and saved Game 7 with a blocked shot on the final play. If he can still win playoff games in crunch time for you, he's a worthy addition. Let John Wall and Bradley Beal handle the scoring duties throughout the regular season.
We've never questioned Carmelo Anthony's ability to score throughout the regular season. With his return to New York the Knicks don't have to start from scratch and Phil Jackson has more to sell to free agents than just the bright lights and Broadway when he recruits next year. The Memphis Grizzlies, after a tumultuous front-office shakeup, have roster stability with Zach Randolph and coach Dave Joerger back in the fold. They also nabbed Vince Carter because they didn't make the same mistake as the Mavericks, who presumed Carter would stay in Dallas at a low price.
The Mavericks failed to proactively preserve their assets, similar to how the Clippers lost Darren Collison to Sacramento. Collison showed his value in holding things down for the Clippers while Chris Paul missed 18 games with a shoulder injury, and Collison's offense helped fuel the fourth-quarter comeback in Game 4 of the Oklahoma City series that proved to be the Clippers' final victory of the playoffs. He wanted to stay in Los Angeles, he just didn't want to wait while the Clippers explored other ways to spend their available money.
Though LeBron is taking his talents back north, big-named free agents like Carmelo Anthony stayed put.
That's why I liked Toronto's swift lockup of Lowry, even if $48 million sounds steep for a player who's never made an All-Star team and just set a personal high with an 18 points per game scoring average. The Raptors knew they weren't going to find a better recipient for their money. Lowry went against the history of stars leaving Toronto, which dates back to Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter. But he bought into what general manager Masai Ujiri is creating.
"It's rare that you can get a situation that you can call a team your own," Lowry said. "We're building. Jonas [Valanciunas] is young. DeMar [DeRozan] is young. Terrence [Ross] is young. They need somebody to lead them. That's the long-term plan."
You can think long-term when only one player on the roster is over 30 ... and when the impact-player movement isn't as dramatic as it was four years ago.
In 2010 it wasn't just LeBron changing teams. Four other players who led their teams in scoring moved on. Chris Bosh went from Toronto to Miami, Carlos Boozer went from Utah to Chicago, Amar'e Stoudemire went from Phoenix to New York and David Lee was traded from New York to Golden State. The Knicks had a net positive by adding Stoudemire, then trading for Carmelo Anthony the next season. But Cleveland, Utah and Toronto haven't won a playoff series since.
The only leading scorers to move on thus far this summer are LeBron and Arron Afflalo, who was traded from Orlando to Denver. The market's a little colder because teams want to keep their payrolls flexible for the 2016 free-agency class, so they're not quite as willing to hand out hefty deals now. Meanwhile, the fact that Carmelo, Bosh and Gortat are in their 30s made the extra year and larger guaranteed amounts in the contracts offered by their home teams more appealing than if they'd been in Dwight Howard's shoes as a 27-year-old free agent last year. It's easier for Dwight to assume the same type of money would be there four years later at age 31 than a Gortat to guess he could make it back when he's 35.
The Rockets were the biggest victims of the lack of appe e for movement by the likes of Carmelo and Bosh, but their summer isn't as disastrous as it's been made out to be. Yes, they wound up trading Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik and Omri Casspi without maximizing the salary cap space they received in exchange. They lost Chandler Parsons after they passed on the chance to bring him back for less than $1 million next season. But they still have two All-Stars in Dwight Howard and James Harden. They still average out to a high grade if you factor in the previous two seasons.
But this year they failed to get players to come to them when it turned out many players were more inclined to stay where they are. The Rockets' wheeling-dealing ways were then. The Spurs, who seemed so long ago, are now.
Like the old saying goes..."If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it."
Since the Spurs almost repeated, can't blame them for the moves they made.
tl;dr: The defending champ Spurs stayed the same, and the rest of the league got weaker.
I'd still worry about OKC and LAC in the west (and sort of the Mavs, but not as much since less ref help), but if we make the Finals it's going to be #6 pretty easily if healthy imo. The east is even tier than before.
Looks like I'm buying league pass again for yet another year.
The only challenge for the championship is a healthy OKC and a healthy Bulls team (even if the Cavs get Kevin Love).
The TrailBlazers are good but not that good. The Warriors might be better but probably not. And the Clippers don't play enough defense to win a championship. The Lakers probably won't make the playoffs again!
Expecting our guys to step up again especially with Kawhi being even more confident in himself and his performance. Lots of contract years so I'm expecting everyone to really go all out.
Adande is a moron. LOL at him trying to pretend Houston's off season is anything but a trainwreck. And he props Memphis for bringing their guys back while ignoring Miller's departure to Cleveland? And how does Adande talk about the Spurs off season without mentioning how cap friendly the deals for Mills, Dias, and Bonner are in a summer where so many average players are making huge money.
Has Baynes re-signed yet? We need our Big Banger, pls.
39 days until World Cup. I imagine that Baynes will sign his QO before whatever camp Australia has. He won't want to play without an NBA contract, but it's in his interest to wait for offers. It's likely that the Spurs will leave the QO in place until he either signs it or gets another offer.Has Baynes re-signed yet? We need our Big Banger, pls.
the rockets part made me
I think the issue with the HOU thing is that they are still a good team with talent. They lost Asik/Lin but have brought in a few people. Even though the results may pan out decent, the fact is it was a poor off season no matter what (even if they luck into some success).
However, they still have some assets to improve with (MLE, Trade Exception from Lin deal). But the point is their past moves in conjunction with current moves haunted them. They can recover, but finances are tight moving forward and the culture there appears to be a trainwreck (Dwight & Morey).
I think the west teams are still strong compared to the East, but weaker than last year.I'd still worry about OKC and LAC in the west (and sort of the Mavs, but not as much since less ref help), but if we make the Finals it's going to be #6 pretty easily if healthy imo. The east is even tier than before.
Looks like I'm buying league pass again for yet another year.
OKC lost Caron Butler and Thabo Sefalosa
LAC lost Danny Granger and Darren Collison
HOUSTON lost Jeremey Lin, Omer Asik, Chandler Parson, Omri Casspi
LAKERS. Lost Pau Gasol, Chris Kaman, Meeks , Marshall, Blake, Bazeman etc.
SUNS Lost Channing Frye maybe Eric Bledsoe
Utah lost their best players last year.
Portland, Dallas and Golden State are going to be tougher this year.
Memphis is still good.
Oh great, wouldn't you know Dallas would have to get stronger. That's all we need.
Seems to me that no other team upgraded much, although the Clippers improved with a much-needed 3rd big in Hawes, and Memphis got some more much-needed shooting. Kevin Love is the final remaining domino, and if he moves to Golden State or Cleveland, those become teams to fear (a little bit), as does Chicago if Derrick Rose returns to All-Star form. Still, by retaining all our players in a happy and harmonious system and culture that suits them, I think the Spurs have as good a shot as any to win the championship next year (injuries notwithstanding).
That's arguable, actually. They lost Calderón who was great for them, and Vince who anchored their bench. They gained Ty Chandler for some rim protection, but he is not who he used to be, and Chandler Parsons, a definite upgrade at small forward. I'd say Dallas's off-season was a slight improvement or a wash.
I think for the Spurs.. Maintaining the health of everyone entering and during the playoffs will be keys for next year
Tldr NBA is still fckd
I think it's impossible to say Dallas got stronger with Richard Jefferson on their team. He is a cancer to team success for a while now.
Cleveland, obviously.
OKC is still capable of beating us with the refs. Never count that out. Clippers didn't really get weaker imo. Dallas is clearly better, Portland is more experienced and good now. Golden State has a real coach.
The Rockets are worse though with the loss of those three players (especially Parsons). I don't think the others are very downgraded at all. Still gonna be tough and a "key injury" away from being ed as usual.
How is Kerr a real coach over Jackson....? Dallas "clearly" better? Who is their point guard?
I loved reading the Power Rankings from yesterday which said "Key additions: Larry O'Brian, ..."
hoping the Spurs don't get lulled into complacency. Banking on our contract year guys e.g. Belinelli, Joseph, Dayres, and Green.
Yeah, sure, I meant to mention them of course. They have improved, but I'm not really concerned about them in their first year with so much relying on Wiggins maturing quickly, Irving and Waiters getting along, and no rim protector. If they trade for Love I think they're more of a threat, but most newly created teams take more than one season to mature. I believe in the Spurs' corporate knowledge.
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