Grading and Ranking the Spurs Players 2016-23017

With 6 games left to play, the spurs are set. Realisticly, they have nothing to play for and don't be surprised to see players sitting the last two games. Ranking is based heavily on expectation..I scored from a score of 0 to 100 to create a rank.

1. Kawhi Leonard - Another explosive season from kawhi. Strong Narrative prevents him from winning MVP, but his improvement this year is unlike I have ever seen from a Spurs player. Improved his FT to 88%, improved his playmaking and it's pretty clear, he understand that the spurs can't afford to have a passive Leonard. His combined difference Drtg and Ortrg is floating around the 30s. The last players to do that are both Lebron and Micheal Jordan and in all those years, they all won MVP comfortingly. Screw the media narratives.

Green has taken maybe 10% of Leonard's defensive responsibilities and I suppose this is perfectly natural. His Advanced numbers in other categories are somewhat down, but minimally. His DRPM rating is head Scratching.

Make no mistake though, Leonard is having the best Spurs season since Timothy Duncan MVP years. 95/100

2. David Lee - A lot of concerns with Lee before the start of the season. His defense in particular was a worry and while it is clear he's defensively challenged, he made up for it in hustle and offense. At 18mpg, he's averaging 7pgg and almost 6 rebounds. Perhaps the biggest contribution though is his ability to pass the ball from a Roll. Recall how San Antonio lost last year, the Spurs could not create efficient corner threes and other wide open shots because they had zero rollman. RC admitted this was a problem. Lee has really helped this team move the ball and he's been fantastic both against Bench players and even Starters. Safe to say, Lee has exceeded everyone's expectation. 91/10


3. Davis Bertans - An Absolute Gem. Early in the Season, specifically the spurs first road trip Bertans might have been the biggest factor in winning some of those early Road games against East opponents. The defense was always a question mark and he clearly lacks the strength to defend the post but it's been a while since the spurs has had a natural offensive player. He's never shy with the three..Shooting it at a decent 40%. His offensive rating is at 116. The Spurs got the player they wanted him to be. He doesn't play as much minutes, but don't be surprised to see him in the playoffs. 89/100

4. Dejunte Murray - it's been an up and down season for murray. The Groin Injury doesn't help but what he's done this season is pretty remarkable. Sure, he's had multiple underwhelming games, but that's expected when you play very little minutes. The fact that Majority of Us want him to start getting Rotational Minutes speaks volume of his abilities and the mentality he's shown this year. When he had to start, he's looked liked a very competent PG and that's all you could every expect out of a 30th pick. He's performed better than 90% of 30th picks in the history of the NBA. 86/100

5. Dwayne Dedman - For about 70% of the regular season, we've been constantly complaining about his lack of minutes, pop continuing to start Gasol etc. His defense is obviously a revelation. His ability to keep up with Guards is Tiago Splitter level and before Teams adjusted, he was a very capable rollman. He's played better defensively than his 99drtg suggest. He's worth way more than his contract. However, since Starting his inability to to defend the Post, the dumb fouls and teams adjusting to his aerial gravity..He's dissapointed. But we can at least rest assured that we have a Big that can run with Perimter players. Very important in a potential GSW series and CLE series. 84/100

6. Pau Gasol - I had Pau 9th before the All-Star break, but he's jumped to sixth because he's been the best bench guy in the NBA Post All-Star break. The dude would be a unanimous 6th man right about now if he started in the bench. No signs of Diva tendencies yet as a bench guy and has easily been the second best Spurs post Allstar. He is shooting 53% from the three ball and he doesn't hesitate to take them. Fantastic second half from Pau. Although, the eye test suggest he's a nightmare to have on the court against fast Guards, he hasn't really been that much of a liability defensively. His DPM is 2.5 and DRTG 102..Not the best, but not super bad either. Would still probably get killed in the playoffs. Another concern before the season started was his mid-range shooting and inability to finish from 3-6 ft.He's shooting 47% from within post up territory, but his mid-range has been horrendous. Shooting a disgusting 35%. 83/100

7. Danny Green - much Improved season from Green. His defense has been questioned a few times in a few games, but you can always depend on him as a go to defender. The biggest improvement this year is in his three point. Compared to last years 32%..Danny is shooting a much better 38% this year. In fact, he's improved virtually almost every spot. He connects his layups better. I just wish Danny Green would stop with the Mid-range Game. Don't ever dribble to a midrange and shoot..Just Shoot the three ball or pass the damn ball. Green is shooting a disgusting 18% from 10-16 ft:lol..Still boggles why the team keeps on giving him these shots or why he continues to do this. 81/100

8. Manu Ginobili - Did not expect Ginobili to still have 20 or so games in a regular season as the best bench player, but he just did. He's 39 freaking years old. Amazing what he's done this year. Obviously at his age he's always going to have terrible games, maybe more so than good games, but I'd be lying if I told you I knew Manu would still provide the movement and the change of pace that the bench employs. Also, he's been huge for Gasol and Lee. Just a fantastic pick and roll player. 80/100

9. Lamarcus Aldridge - after last year's get to know proccess. It was expected that aldridge would be a better player now for the spurs than he was last year. Sadly, that's not true not all. While the counting stats, shouldn't concern anyone because he was naturally going to score less as leonard demands the ball more. The regression in shooting from 3-16ft is really dissaspointing.

The talk before the season was a potential increased in three point attmepts ala Pau Gasolbit the truth is, that never happened. He increased his attempt by a measly .3%. That isn't much really. His defense was just as good as last year, but its his inability to improve in the shots he takes that is dissapointing. He also also shooting worse in FT this year. Last year he was an 85% FT shooter this year he is an 81%.79/100

10. Patty Mills - I expected better from a contract year guy. He did manage to improve his three pointer by a hair though and his overall game did not decline. But that's not much since he's had a somewhat so so season last year. His defense per DRPM and DRTG is all time worst. 78/100


11. Tony Parker - Nothing he's done this year suggest he's found a niche. His three point shot is much worse than last year, shooting 33%. His midrange that he relies on so much is at an abysmal 37%..worst than last year and he even regressed in finishing around the rim. It's a decline. It's happening. What is pop going to do? To be fair, I didn't expect much of Parker but I was hoping he would increase his three point attempts and shoot around 37-39%. He shot 41% last year. 72/100

12. Jonathan Simmons - The expectation according to Pop was to play Simmons and Anderson more minutes. A natural Progression. I haven't seen that though. So that's pretty disappointing. He's even shooting worse in almost all distance category than last year. Great Start to the season but he's fallen off the cliff. 71/100


13. Kyle Anderson - Most disappointing player of the year. Anderson was suppose to be the guy that ultimately help the spurs against the warriors. A reliable 20mpg guy. Pop said it, RC said it..Spursalk acknowledged the need for him to improve. That never happened. He had his opportunity early in the season with green out, but he never took advantage. He has improved his three point % but his post ups, his midrange, any shot that isnt a three pointer has regressed by a good margin. To credit anderson though, he's shoot more threes this year and is shooting them better. Also, the cavs have no idea how play against him. He's been terrific in the two meetings against the Cavs...He's the perfect Kevin Love Answer. 68/100

14. Bryn Forbes - not enough minutes
15. JOel Anthony - Not enough minutes

No LMA?

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

No LMA?

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He forgot tim last time..

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

No LMA?

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I screwed up with the copypaste. I was doing this with my phone notepad. Just need to copypaste LMA grade.

Welp, it looks like you'll have him at 13. Even with as disappointing he's been on offense (and he hasn't been all that bad considering he should be a third option on a championship team) he's been a monster defensively. Should be in the Top 5.

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Originally Posted by Robz4000

Welp, it looks like you'll have him at 13. Even with as disappointing he's been on offense (and he hasn't been all that bad considering he should be a third option on a championship team) he's been a monster defensively. Should be in the Top 5.

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I have him at 9th.

List is 90% based on expectation. That's fair, imo.

If production was a huge part of my ranking and grading, I'd have him as a top 5 player.

Thanks for doing this - intersting read. I'd have to put some more thought into whether I disagree with any at a level that is meaningful.

This is a good list and I think it's perfectly fair taking into account expectations. Bc of that Anderson was clearly the most disappointing. Although him eliminating the midrange game and post ups seems by design. He was a good midrange shooter bc he selected those shots well but has done away with that and gone with the 3 or trying to get to the basket of dish. Since he was decent to good with the midrange shot I think that's by design. He's improved his 3 ball but I still wanted him to shoot it more. He's changed a few games with his defense and became more aggressive with his opportunities once he was clearly out of the rotation. For r as few minutes as he's played he's still more impactful with bigger WS and VORP than Simmons and very close to Davis who is a terrific shooter. So I would pit him at 70 and not 68. Spurs are something like 12-1 when he starts. He's a good complementary player to high usage offensive players bc he does other things to help you win a game, but one would just like him to take more shots when he has them.


I really don't have any other difference of opinion anywhere else. Good post. :tu

Edit: Relative to expectations Tony is more or less where I expected but he's looked done often so he's a big question mark, specially with his inability to stay healthy and he hasn't had a good season. I don't know where to rank him bc I didn't expect much from him though.

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Originally Posted by SAGirl

This is a good list and I think it's perfectly fair taking into account expectations. Bc of that Anderson was clearly the most disappointing. Although him eliminating the midrange game and post ups seems by design. He was a good midrange shooter bc he selected those shots well but has done away with that and gone with the 3 or trying to get to the basket of dish. Since he was decent to good with the midrange shot I think that's by design. He's improved his 3 ball but I still wanted him to shoot it more. He's changed a few games with his defense and became more aggressive with his opportunities once he was clearly out of the rotation. For r as few minutes as he's played he's still more impactful with bigger WS and VORP than Simmons and very close to Davis who is a terrific shooter. So I would pit him at 70 and not 68. Spurs are something like 12-1 when he starts. He's a good complementary player to high usage offensive players bc he does other things to help you win a game, but one would just like him to take more shots when he has them.


I really don't have any other difference of opinion anywhere else. Good post. :tu

Edit: Relative to expectations Tony is more or less where I expected but he's looked done often so he's a big question mark, specially with his inability to stay healthy and he hasn't had a good season. I don't know where to rank him bc I didn't expect much from him though.

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It could be that the regression in % from 3-16 stems from the increased three poin attempt. At least the numbers suggest that Anderson and Pop knows that he needs to shoot the threes and less of the midrange except in certain rare situations

I think these guys putting up those numbers over 21,001 years is respectable tbh.

Thanks for taking the time to do this! Agreed with Robz in that LMA has been a monster defensively, so I would rank him higher regardless. However on Offense he's been terrible. IIRC, last year he posted up more while going to his hook. This year he only takes jumpshots which is very frustrating at times.

Agreed with pretty much of the takes. To me, Simmons was the most disappointing player this season after a fantastic opening game that showed everything he needed to do consistently as a bench spark.

Do you see Murray getting minutes in the playoffs now that he's going through an extended period of time without gametime?

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Originally Posted by SASdynasty!

I think these guys putting up those numbers over 21,001 years is respectable tbh.

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:lol

Oyes, puto. None of us are going to be alive in 23017, guey. It will be a new crop of IMHO, Scro, last centurie's NBA, how Avangapo got it's name, etc. Pero you're not going to be able to call each other jotos porque everyone will be asexual.

so close .... so close not to have a mistake in the thread title ... always so anxious ...

What are the scores based on? What is the scale? What is the point of this? Why will the season last 21,000 years? Where can I get a good sandwich? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Just wondering.

Anderson has been awesome the last few weeks. He's finally coming into his own as an NBA player, both defensively and offensively. I hope he continues it in the playoffs.

In my dreams, Anderson and/or Ginobili play in some jumbo lineups at point guard this playoffs. It could be especially effective against the warriors.

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Originally Posted by Fireball

so close .... so close not to have a mistake in the thread title ... always so anxious ...

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It's by design.

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Originally Posted by itzsoweezee

Anderson has been awesome the last few weeks. He's finally coming into his own as an NBA player, both defensively and offensively. I hope he continues it in the playoffs.

In my dreams, Anderson and/or Ginobili play in some jumbo lineups at point guard this playoffs. It could be especially effective against the warriors.

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:lmao

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Originally Posted by SASdynasty!

I think these guys putting up those numbers over 21,001 years is respectable tbh.

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:wow Poop's resting of players paid off. :wow

murray and to a lesser extent bertans, yes they are encouraging but theyve played so little its hard for me to consider them top 5 players for the team.

dedmon, again in terms of expectations he has been a revelation- you could even argue he is the number 1 player, after all kawhi was already mvp runner up last year- but considering he plays 17.4mpg and has the least responsibilities of all rotation players, not sure i would consider him top 5 (though more reasonable than the two rooks)

its logical to take into account expectation, but IMO you also should take into account role / minutes / production.

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Originally Posted by diego

murray and to a lesser extent bertans, yes they are encouraging but theyve played so little its hard for me to consider them top 5 players for the team.

dedmon, again in terms of expectations he has been a revelation- you could even argue he is the number 1 player, after all kawhi was already mvp runner up last year- but considering he plays 17.4mpg and has the least responsibilities of all rotation players, not sure i would consider him top 5 (though more reasonable than the two rooks)

its logical to take into account expectation, but IMO you also should take into account role / minutes / production.

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That's why I also graded them.

Yeah but the rank is determined by the grade. Its probably fairer to give a grade based on expectation, and a rank based on production. I'm super disappointed in Lma, but I couldn't rank him as one of our worst players when he's lead us in boards, blocks, 2nd leading scorer, etc.

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Originally Posted by diego

Yeah but the rank is determined by the grade. Its probably fairer to give a grade based on expectation, and a rank based on production. I'm super disappointed in Lma, but I couldn't rank him as one of our worst players when he's lead us in boards, blocks, 2nd leading scorer, etc.

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Oh it's a very clean point rating system everyone can use to great effect. David Lee got 91 points out of a maximum of 10. Yessir.

And hell, its good for 21,000 years.
New languages will come and vanish, we will go extinct, but the method lives on.
I, for one, find comfort in this durability.
Biblical stuff.

imo, in order of impact:

Kawhi
LMA
Gasol
Manu
Dedmon
Mills
Green
Lee
Parker
Simmons
Anderson
Bertans
Murray
Forbes
Anthony

imo

Your grades don't make sense if they are based on expectations.

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Originally Posted by apalisoc_9

10. Patty Mills - I expected better from a contract year guy. He did manage to improve his three pointer by a hair though and his overall game did not decline. But that's not much since he's had a somewhat so so season last year. His defense per DRPM and DRTG is all time worst. 78/100

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Agree with your Mills rank :tu..His defense has become a bigger joke..You could officially file it under disappointing season unless he bounces back in the playoffs..definitely lost money the past few months..

how on earth is Parker a 72? He can't pass, a streaky shooter, can't guard ANYONE, plays hero ball, and is selfish. That is a 72 rating?