how long until the spurs recover from losing an all-timer?

[Genovaswitness]

two years out and it’s all anybody talks about or remembers when talking about the spurs—losing all time great kawhi leonard of riverside, california

the cavs had the benefit of lemafia-driven league narrative and refball (draymond suspension) en route to a welfare championship.

at this point I’m starting to think we’re going to have to wait until kawhi shines his light on us again to win a ship.

Thoughts?

[Millennial_Messiah]

don't draft another player from the LA metro area, tbh

[TimDunkem]

They won't. Not until they properly tank, or acquire some legit top 10 talent.

[Millennial_Messiah]

They won't. Not until they properly tank, or acquire some legit top 10 talent.

Or relocate to a better, more caring city.

[TimDunkem]

Or relocate to a better, more caring city.

They have just enough here to float by, imo. Probably why they're content fighting for the 8th seed these days. Just enough is enough for the Spurs now.

[Millennial_Messiah]

They have just enough here to float by, imo. Probably why they're content fighting for the 8th seed these days. Just enough is enough for the Spurs now.

I don't disagree with this but I also think this city isn't willing to support a non-playoff team for any considerable number of years. It's a small, relatively nonchalant fanbase in a smallish metro area and the fans are not used to supporting anything less than a perennial contender. 6th-8th seed is just enough to float by but once they start becoming the Sacramento Kings for a few years, "how much are they willing to pay to break the lease" will start being a thing.

[K...]

everything you say about the spurs can also be said about memphis, charlotte, okc, sac, phoenix, and New orleans. They are not breaking the lease and by the time the lease is done San Antonio will be ready to spend $$$. It's not fans fault that the stadium is in a crap spot

[widowmaker]

two years out and it’s all anybody talks about or remembers when talking about the spurs—losing all time great kawhi leonard of riverside, california

the cavs had the benefit of lemafia-driven league narrative and refball (draymond suspension) en route to a welfare championship.

at this point I’m starting to think we’re going to have to wait until kawhi shines his light on us again to win a ship.

Thoughts?

They recovered after he left. Question is how long is it going to take for certain people on this forum to recover?

[widowmaker]

Or relocate to a better, more caring city.

Like LA, NY, Dallas, Chicago, Houston? Like what is considered a better city? Please dont say Austin LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! Austin might as well relocate to California and take all those homeless, hippies and faggs back home. LMAO!

[Yogatti]

Just move this team to Seattle already.

As for OP's question, until Gregg Popovich retires the Spurs won't recover from it. No superstar free agents wants to be coached by Pop as evident by all of them not participating in the FIBA tournament.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Like LA, NY, Dallas, Chicago, Houston? Like what is considered a better city? Please dont say Austin LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! Austin might as well relocate to California and take all those homeless, hippies and faggs back home. LMAO!

Seattle for sure, then there's a handful in the Midwest like KC, STL, CIN, PIT after that.

[R. DeMurre]

Seattle for sure, then there's a handful in the Midwest like KC, STL, CIN, PIT after that.

You think of Pittsburgh as the Midwest?

[Bynumite]

Calling Lebron's 3-1 comeback a welfare ring but no mention of the Warriors being completely butchered by injuries while Toronto was fully healthy :lol

[Chucho]

They recovered after he left. Question is how long is it going to take for certain people on this forum to recover?

Answer to that is: until the schtick dies, which will be never. Some dudes here are running 15 year old schtick.

[widowmaker]

Seattle for sure, then there's a handful in the Midwest like KC, STL, CIN, PIT after that.

hahahhahaha ok sure OMG where do they find these people LMAO!!!

[R. DeMurre]

"Recover" is pretty relative. For most teams, making the playoffs would count as recovering. The Post-Lebron Cavs became an immediate lottery team. The Spurs lost four all timers in a three year span, and still haven't missed the playoffs... contrast that with the post-Kobe disaster that the Lakers have been-- half a decade of not even having a shot at the 8th seed. And, yeah, I guess I'm counting Kobe's last two seasons as "Post-Kobe."

[Dex]

How long did it take the Bulls to recover from losing Jordan?

That should give some perspective. At least we haven't gone completely in the toilet like Chicago did when he left.

It's been 3 seasons since Duncan left, and the Spurs haven't really gotten a fair chance to compete largely due to injuries (Parker and Kawhi in '17, Kawhi in '18, Murray in '19)

[daslicer]

Seattle for sure, then there's a handful in the Midwest like KC, STL, CIN, PIT after that.

All those markets you mentioned except Seattle are garbage. They will have the same small market problems a city like SA,Charlotte has when their teams are not winning.

[Genovaswitness]

Seattle for sure, then there's a handful in the Midwest like KC, STL, CIN, PIT after that.

you're huffing paint if you think midwest shitholes in missouri and ohio are better than san antonio :lmao

[SpurOutofTownFan]

two years out and it’s all anybody talks about or remembers when talking about the spurs—losing all time great kawhi leonard of riverside, california

the cavs had the benefit of lemafia-driven league narrative and refball (draymond suspension) en route to a welfare championship.

at this point I’m starting to think we’re going to have to wait until kawhi shines his light on us again to win a ship.

Thoughts?

Not sure Kawhi is an all-timer, really.

This is more like what could the Spurs do after losing Duncan. That's an all-timer.

[Genovaswitness]

Not sure Kawhi is an all-timer, really.

This is more like what could the Spurs do after losing Duncan. That's an all-timer.

good point. hopefully tim is a calming force on the sideline

[widowmaker]

Calling Lebron's 3-1 comeback a welfare ring but no mention of the Warriors being completely butchered by injuries while Toronto was fully healthy :lol

Part of the game it os what it is nephew could have gone down too like he has before and warriors would have benefited from that and won. Hopefully lebron doesn’t suffer a season ending injury early or maybe the lakers will be moving to Seattle or KC or Pittsburgh or a better city than San Antonio LMAO!!!!!!!

[widowmaker]

Just move this team to Seattle already.

As for OP's question, until Gregg Popovich retires the Spurs won't recover from it. No superstar free agents wants to be coached by Pop as evident by all of them not participating in the FIBA tournament.

why don’t you move to Seattle?

[ismael-robert]

In about 2 weeks

[dbestpro]

Seattle for sure, then there's a handful in the Midwest like KC, STL, CIN, PIT after that.

Businesses are leaving Seattle, not moving to Seattle. Meanwhile, big money keeps moving to Austin and San Antonio from California. This is absolutely the wrong time to think about moving a business from San Antonio. The only really viable city for an NBA franchise that is growing economically you did not even mention and that would be Louisville.

[AussieFanKurt]

you cu nts are so dramatic..

[gambit1990]

don't worry, spurs got demar derozan :lol

[gambit1990]

this isn't something you recover from tbh. this is a shark bite. spurs fan will just have to live with it.

pop isn't ringing again... the future is bleak at best. can spurs overachieve in the the next few years? sure. are they winning it all? nope.

[gambit1990]

spurs shoulda moved DDR for westbrook. that would've been an absolute power move. dude is an ironman and loyal af.

[gambit1990]

even if you hate WB, dude got PG to resign in oklahoma city :lol

did it last long? nope, but okc got a haul for him.

who was ddr recently linked to? demarcus cousins :lol

[YGWHI]

They recovered after he left.

Agreed. I wonder how many teams lost their best player, top 2/3 in the league and still made playoffs? In the last years I just remember OKC after KD's departure. I guess the Spurs recovered very fast.

[ginobilized]

Spurstalk will never recover, the Spurs already have.

[UncleDennis]

This is unfortunately the best the recovery could be. An ok regular season team that has a playoff ceiling of a 2nd round out. As we can now see clear as day, nothing would have kept Kawhi here so while it will forever be a stain on the franchise and a HOF coach to lose someone like that in his prime, it's still less then the stain would have been if he stayed in Toronto or the LA-at-any-means-possible narrative didn't ring true.

[Dex]

This is unfortunately the best the recovery could be. An ok regular season team that has a playoff ceiling of a 2nd round out. As we can now see clear as day, nothing would have kept Kawhi here so while it will forever be a stain on the franchise and a HOF coach to lose someone like that in his prime, it's still less then the stain would have been if he stayed in Toronto or the LA-at-any-means-possible narrative didn't ring true.

I still think it's better than going full on tankathon. As currently constructed, all it would take is one or two of the right big pieces to put the Spurs over the top and back into contention.

If you blow it up and try to join the lotto party, it could take years of losing before you land one or two of those coveted Top 3 picks. Then you have to completely rebuild the team around them (and the Spurs do so well in drawing free agents).

And after all that is said and done, we could still, in all likelihood, be right back to where we are now...a semi-contender whose ceiling is 2nd round, maybe WCF. It's pretty rare to find a generational talent like a Duncan or Robinson who will instantly propel you to contender status.

The Sixers spent 5 years executing "The Process" and they still only have an oft-injured center, a point guard who can't shoot, and a pair of Semi-Finals losses in a weak Eastern conference to show for it. Anthony Davis spent the first seven years of his career floundering in New Orleans.

And don't even get me started on teams like Phoenix or Sacramento who have been picking in the lottery for years and are still somehow stuck in purgatory.

People who seem to think blowing it up is going to be some sort of quick-fix (or even a slow fix) don't seem to be paying attention to the rest of the league.

[UncleDennis]

I still think it's better than going full on tankathon. As currently constructed, all it would take is one or two of the right big pieces to put the Spurs over the top and back into contention.

If you blow it up and try to join the lotto party, it could take years of losing before you land one or two of those coveted Top 3 picks. Then you have to completely rebuild the team around them (and the Spurs do so well in drawing free agents).

And after all that is said and done, we could still, in all likelihood, be right back to where we are now...a semi-contender whose ceiling is 2nd round, maybe WCF. It's pretty rare to find a generational talent like a Duncan or Robinson who will instantly propel you to contender status.

The Sixers spent 5 years executing "The Process" and they still only have an oft-injured center, a point guard who can't shoot, and a pair of Semi-Finals losses in a weak Eastern conference to show for it. Anthony Davis spent the first seven years of his career floundering in New Orleans.

And don't even get me started on teams like Phoenix or Sacramento who have been picking in the lottery for years and are still somehow stuck in purgatory.

People who seem to think blowing it up is going to be some sort of quick-fix (or even a slow fix) don't seem to be paying attention to the rest of the league.


I hear you, totally agree. I'd rather ride with the best we have and keep looking for that missing piece.