The window for a le probably has been closed for some time now. But this is the first season were the conversation has gone from " do we still have another run" to how do we start rebuilding. No longer are we looking to putting pieces around Duncan to have a shot, rather the focus has been how do we rebuild knowing timmy is going.
Where so out of it. ( le run) that even if we got the best free agent out there. (nene , chandler etc) we still won't be considered le prospects. It's gotten to the point that if Nene joined us he won't just be Duncan sidekick but our best frontline player.
Seriously i think it will take a couple of years before we can rebuild to being contenders again. and that might not even happen unless we get really luck agian in the draft and find a franchise player .
Oh how blessed we have been this past 12 years.
Spurs will be better this season than expected by most experts (as always), but cannot go deep into the playoffs. They might with a guy like Nene, but such a player acquisition is not gonna happen. Thats why many people here including me are just looking forward to enjoy watching a bit of Manu and Timmy riding into the sunset plus a heavy dose of Splitter, Anderson, Leonard and Neal :-)
Short of hitting another homerun in the draft, Spur fan probably needs to prepare themselves for a long time being out of contention. I think they will remain a fixture in the playoffs as they have only missed them a handful of times in their 44 year existance, but I don't see them as contenders again for quite some time.
Spur fan really needs to keep things in perspective moving forward. Life has been really, really good to you. Beyond the 4 les and 50 win streak, most of you are probably too young to remember the Spurs actually missing the playoffs and I'm betting only a select few remember it happening twice. Missing the playoffs twice in the past 21 seasons is a ton of success...especially when you consider a team like the Nets who have been around just as long as the Spurs and have only made the playoffs 10 times over that same 21 year span. You could also be Hawks fan...who only a few seasons ago was at the end of watching their team go 8 straight seasons without a post season appearance.
Whatever the future brings, hold your head up and be thankful. I know I am.
The best prospect on the market is Dwight Howard. If we got him I think we'd definitely be contenders in everyone's eyes since hes exactly what we need.
Too bad we won't get him.
Here's a game of what if.
What if Duncan reworks his contract to try and recapitalize some of the lost revenue this season, with a few extra guaranteed years, and at the same time allows us to drop below tax threshold enough to sign a nice free agent. Is it feasible?
Not allowed under previous CBA. No mention of any change to those rules in the draft agreement.
Duncan should retire after this season ... I am more convinced of thatafter I read that his knee is "bone on bone". Then use the amnesty rule on RJ next year and the Spurs would have a "little" room under the cap to acquire a decent player. With the young players in the team I do not think its necessary to blow everything up or tank a season to get a high draft pick. Spurs won't be contenders, but not a bad team either.
We've proven that you can't truly re-build on the fly, you can only re-tool. There's only one way to really do it, and it doesn't involve FAs, and it only peripherally involves trades: blow it up and build through the draft. You have to be really bad for 2-3 years, draft well, and use your cap space to facilitate trades that bring additional young players/picks for short term contracts that teams are trying to offload to avoid the tax. Look about 8hrs north on I35 to OKC for your template.
Not sure OKC are a great example of a team drafting well ( given the picks they had and the draft classes they've picked from ), but otherwise agree fully.
I think the big 3 will ride into the sunset together for a couple more years before the Spurs start fully implementing the plan you're talking about. Meanwhile, I'm just going to enjoy watching them, don't care about wins or losses at all, tbh.
The only place I've heard the "bone on bone" comment was Shaq, so pardon my skepticism, but that's a pretty shaky source. If Tim does leave, though, you can't "fix" that with a middling FA signing. You have to blow it up, because Manu will be out the door a year later.
Just curious, but who would you have drafted if you were OKC? I think they've done pretty damn well. I wasn't ONLY talking about their draft, though. They got players like Eric Maynor and DaQuan Cook for FREE as luxury tax evasion casualties from other teams.
I know Shaq is not the best source for that, but I am willing to accept that Tims knee is that kind of bad. I do not want to see him hobbling through more seasons after this one.
And I am just not a fan of blowing the team up ... we will see which way the Spurs go after Timmy and Manu are gone.
Easy to say with hindsight, obviously, but since you're asking - Kevin love above Westbrook and either Steph Curry or Tyreke Evans above Harden.
How quickly we forget that the Spurs had the best record in the league last season going into the final week.
How quickly we forget that they had a major injury to their best player in the last game.
How quickly we forget that the best player for the Spurs in the playoffs sat on the bench most of the season because the coach wouldn't put him in the rotation.
The Spurs have every chance of being better than they were last year, which means they can contend. There were no overwhelmingly great teams last season, and it doesn't look like there will be this season. Once the superstars all converge in LA, Miami and New York, yeah then the window will be closed.
It's the same concept as the Jefferson contract.
How quickly we forget that the Spurs met a load of challengers who's best players were injured or suspended or something along those lines.
How quickly we forget that the Spurs had no defense to speak of.
Dallas, LA or OKC would have destroyed a healthy Spurs team in a series. I doubt we get past Memphis with a healthy Spurs team in fact.
No defense = no ring
False
Opinion with no facts to back it up. 14th in the league in defense, 4th in point differential.
Dallas was right there with the Spurs for best record until they really got decimated by injuries. They were pretty clearly the class of the NBA along with the Spurs. One team peaked at the right time, one didn't. Would haves and could haves don't make much of a case.
And 10th in defensive efficiency at 106.0. In fact, the gap between 10th and 12th was bigger than the gap between 10th and 5th. The Spurs definitely weren't elite on defense, but they weren't bad, either.
No they weren't bad. Due to the emphasis on getting the ball up the floor they started challenging passing lanes and taking more chances to get turnovers, something they'd stopped doing for a few years which really cost them. Sacrificing a bit of defense for easy points on the other end helps to preserve the health of the players as well.
People that act like the Spurs have any choice over whether or not they're an elite defensive team underestimate just how good Bruce Bowen was, and forget how hard he is to replace.
Durant was an obvious pick, but no one figured Westbrook could really play the point (he never did at UCLA); you have to think they did really well with that pick. The Green selection wasn't great, but then again that draft had quite a few lotto busts like Yi, Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, Acie Law, and Julian Wright, so it wasn't a horrible pick either.
Mathematically, giving up 1 point per possession, but have a 0% chance of getting a turnover is worse than giving up 1.05 PPP and a 5% chance of a turnover. That, and turnovers many times lead to those easy points. The sacrifice you speak of may not be much of one at all, really, depending on personnel.
Pop is so inert as a coach now that you guys are doomed. He coaches with a Quija Board, a Magic 8 Ball, eny-meany-miny & moe, and crossed fingers.
No, it wasn't. Many differences (ETO v player option, Duncan's age and the over 36 rule, and the lockout that was looming when Duncan had to make his decision). It was never possible for the same sort of arrangement to be made.
In any event, it's a moot point. The deadline for Duncan to exercise his ETO was June 30th. He'll be playing under the terms of his existing contract this season.
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