The San Antonio Spurs might have been good enough to challenge the Golden State Warriors for Western Conference supremacy at full strength. The reality is that we will never truly know what would have happened had Kawhi Leonard been healthy for the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs were up 23 points in the third quarter of Game 1 when Zaza Pachulia closed on Leonard following a jump shot and got caught underneath him on his way down. Leonard re-injured his ankle, the Warriors rallied back in Game 1 and went on to sweep San Antonio in four games. The Spurs will have the offseason to think about what went wrong and retool their roster in order to be ready for a potential rematch with Golden State. San Antonio might even have the opportunity to squeeze its championship window open a little more with the right moves this summer. Here is a look at the Spurs offseason plan.
3 Things The Spurs Have To Work On
1. Upgrade At Point Guard
How close is San Antonio to competing with the Warriors for Western Conference supremacy? They certainly have some quality pieces in place. However, there is no doubt that the Spurs must upgrade at the point guard position. Tony Parker isn’t getting any younger and a ruptured quadriceps injury likely won’t help rejuvenate his career. Patty Mills took another step forward this season but he is set to become an unrestricted free agent and could command a king’s ransom to return. Dejounte Murray has star potential but he is still just 20-years-old and is better off coming off the bench for a championship caliber team next season. The best option for the Spurs might be trying out the free agent market and potentially upgrading by attempting to sign a star like Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry at the point guard position. San Antonio’s roster is built to win now. However, they still need to find a star point guard to help put them in the championship discussion along with Golden State.
2. Add Another Big Man
The Spurs will have to figure out what they have in LaMarcus Aldridge at the power forward position. While he seemed like a perfect fit when he first arrived in San Antonio, he underperformed in the postseason. Head coach Gregg Popovich didn’t call him out but he did mention that Aldridge looked tentative at times and his numbers certainly weren’t outstanding. Pau Gasol will likely accept his player option for just over $16 million so Aldridge and Gasol will likely team up again up front in 2017-18 for the Spurs. San Antonio will have a chance to bring back David Lee at $2.3 million as well as David Dedmon for $3 million. However, San Antonio might be better off looking elsewhere for more support. The Spurs should still have some flexibility to scour the free agent market for another upgrade up front. Aldridge and Gasol could start in 2017-18, but San Antonio needs to upgrade the depth behind them.
3. Another Round Of Imports
The Spurs pipeline reaches around the world and they will likely need some imports again this offseason. San Antonio owns the rights to 24-year-old Nemanja Dangubic of Serbia so he could be an option. Cady Lalanne is a 25-year-old big man from Haiti who has played in the summer league with the Spurs for each of the last two years and could be ready. Meanwhile, Olivier Hanlan has averaged 10.4 points per game for a French club overseas and might be worth taking a shot on. San Antonio has remained committed to finding talent from all over the world over the years. They could certainly use another round of imports to help fill out their depth chart in an effort to compete with the big guns moving forward.
Key Free Agents
A player option for just over $16 million will likely be too much for Gasol to turn down. Lee and Dedmon will also likely be back on player options. That leaves Mills and Manu Ginobili as the two biggest free agents for the Spurs, assuming that Ginobili does not retire. If Ginobili retires, it will free up $14 million for San Antonio to spend elsewhere. If he does return then it might very well be at a lower amount than he made this past season. Meanwhile, Mills is due for a raise after making $3.2 million this past year so it will be interesting to see whether the Spurs want to pay him or go in a different direction. San Antonio has a variety of options with some obvious flexibility. The Spurs will likely need to get creative in order to put together a roster capable of challenging the Warriors for Western Conference supremacy in 2017-18.
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