After taking a step forward last season, will Anderson be able to take another step forward and become a consistent rotational piece for the Spurs? The answer to this question lies in both his ability to be a frontcourt playmaker off the bench and his fit into different small ball lineups the Spurs will use this season. While lineup stats aren’t perfect and can be noisy at times, they can help shed light on both of these areas for Anderson. The Spurs were lackluster when both Boris Diaw and Anderson were on the court. Lineups that included both players only outscored opponents by 2 points per 100 possessions. Not only that, but the Spurs were outrebounded by 1.4 rebounds and only tallied 1.8 more assists than their opponents per 100 possessions, a lower number than would be expected when two players known for their passing share the court. While it is impossible to know exactly why the 67-win Spurs looked more average when Diaw and Anderson played together,
one plausible theory is that they were maybe too similar for their own good. Many pointed out the similarities between Diaw and Anderson when Anderson was drafted, and for good reason.
While both are known for their court vision and crafty moves to get teammates or themselves baskets, it’s possible they overlapped too much.
The Spurs’ numbers when Anderson shared the court with Leonard, however, are on the opposite end of the spectrum. The team outscored opponents by 20.8 points per 100 possessions while playing both players. The Spurs were far more efficient than the other team as well, scoring 7.7 more field goals while attempting 1.5 less than opponents. The Spurs also committed almost 5 less turnovers per 100 possessions than the rival team when playing Anderson and Leonard. Obviously, some of these numbers can be contributed simply to the greatness of Leonard, last season’s runner-up MVP, but the numbers still lend themselves to a good deal of optimism for the success of lineups that use both Anderson and Leonard . While the pair only shared the court for 278 minutes, the numbers show that the Spurs can successfully play Leonard and Anderson together, which may lead to a new role for Anderson this season – a staple on the Spurs’ small-ball lineups.
The Spurs tested Anderson’s ability at power forward during the 2016 Summer League with much success, sending Anderson home after only several games in Las Vegas. While summer league compe ion is definitely a different level than that of the NBA, this success lends to the belief that the Spurs will experiment with Anderson at power forward more this season. While the Spurs most common small ball lineup will probably be Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green, Leonard, and LaMarcus Aldridge, Ginobili will be facing the most minute’s restriction of his career and will probably take off more games for rest than he has in the past. Due to this, a small ball group of Parker, Green, Leonard, Anderson, and Aldridge will probably be trotted out more than a few times throughout the season as needed. While the Spurs can switch out Mills for Parker and Gasol for Aldridge when necessary, Anderson’s success in these lineups can provide answers to the Spurs’ quest to countering other small ball lineups. Because of this, along with his increased importance in bench lineups, Anderson is poised to take another step forward this season. He will certainly have more responsibility and expectations than ever before. Due to some roster turnover in the frontcourt for the Spurs, Anderson has a chance to become a key piece in the Spurs’ rotation similar to Diaw before him, and this season may be his best chance to prove that.