The San Antonio Spurs were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs on Saturday when the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted them in a classic Game 7. Now that the Spurs have been ousted, the debate begins as to what their veterans will do. More specifically, will Tim Duncan return for another season? What’s Manu Ginobili’s plan? Can the Spurs win with this cast or do they need to find some reinforcements?
There’s a great supporting cast with Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Patty Mills and Boris Diaw but Duncan may not have the legs to carry this team anymore. That’s why there have been hot rumors about the Spurs pursuing free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, who reportedly has San Antonio at the top of his wish list.
Portland has made it clear they intend to bring him back and Aldridge has said he wants to return, but the rumors haven’t quieted – especially after Aldridge flew back in a separate plan from the team after Game 2 of the first-round of the playoffs. He wants to win and he’s a Texas kid, so that helps the connection. He’s humble, solid and coachable, and he just might be the next Duncan in the waiting. So if the Spurs do sign Aldridge, here’s how it’ll affect everyone else’s fantasy value.
[related_post_one]
Kawhi Leonard
The NBA world has been waiting for Leonard’s emergence as the consistent superstar player that he has shown flashes of being over the last two seasons – including in last year’s NBA Finals when he put on an absolute show. However, the potential addition of Aldridge would definitely hinder Leonard’s room for improvement from a fantasy perspective next season since it would mean the presence of another star player that would threaten his touches. There are times when the Spurs offense runs through Leonard and if everything remained status quo, which would probably be the main plan next year. However, if Aldridge comes over, he’ll sap a lot of production away.
Tim Duncan
Duncan is nearing the end of his career but he can still contribute at a high level in spurts. That makes him draftable. However, the potential addition of Aldridge would severely hinder his fantasy potential. Aldridge would give San Antonio the young star forward that would take away some of Duncan’s touches when they are on the floor together and more importantly, would provide them with even more reason to rest Duncan more often – including the potential for him to sit more games to keep him fresh. Duncan can still play at a very high level and will be a useful fantasy asset next season if Aldridge doesn’t sign with San Antonio but if he does land with the Spurs, he’d be Gregg Popovich’s key man in the post. Not Duncan.
Tony Parker
Parker isn’t getting any younger either and it has shown with the nagging injuries he has constantly had to deal with. However, he can still play the position at a high level and the addition of another star power forward wouldn’t hurt his fantasy value. The addition of Aldridge would allow Parker to shift even more of his focus to creating for his teammates and that could really help his assists totals. Parker needs to worry more about staying healthy and Patty Mills than he does about an Aldridge signing.
Boris Diaw
Considering that in order to potentially sign Aldridge, they would have to part ways with Ginobili and Green in order to create the cap space, it’s Diaw who is next in line to have his fantasy value affected by this move. Diaw has been an underrated fantasy contributor because of his ability to contribute in a number of different areas – especially in daily fantasy leagues when injuries open up room for him to log more playing time. However, the potential addition of another star big man would take away some playing time as well as those instances where he would be slotted in for starter’s minutes, so Diaw might be third on the list of Spurs players whose fantasy value would be most negatively affected by the potential addition of Aldridge.
