Looking back at what the San Antonio Spurs did right and wrong during the 2018 NBA offseason, including free agency and the draft
The San Antonio Spurs did everything in their power to try and save the relationship between themselves and Kawhi Leonard. In the end, it simply didn’t work out between the two parties and that was the theme for much of the summer for San Antonio.
For a franchise that was once viewed as professional as they come in pro sports, the Spurs didn’t exactly come out looking the best this summer. And while a lot of that has to do with how they handled this whole Kawhi situation, there are certainly more questions that have yet to be answered beyond their former disgruntled star.
And it appears those same questions are simply going to follow this team into training camp and the regular season.
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But even without Kawhi in the lineup last year, the Spurs still managed to find their way into the playoffs, losing to the Golden State Warriors in five games of round one.
After swapping Kawhi and Danny Green for DeMar DeRozan, there’s a small glimmer of hope that this team can continue to build off last season’s “accomplishment.”
DeRozan is a really good player. He’s an all-star, when he’s on top of his game. There’s no denying that. However, with all that said, there’s a distinct gulf between Kawhi and DeRozan. And while the Spurs will probably win more games this upcoming season, they likely won’t have any shot at playing with the kings of the West.
With Kawhi, there was at least that question of competing with the likes of the Warriors and Rockets. After losing Kawhi, who when healthy is a top 5 player and arguably the second or third best two-way player in the game, all that goes out the window.
The San Antonio Spurs are a better team today than they were when Kawhi was sitting out games a few months ago, but there’s no way that their ceiling is any higher than it was a few months ago. That may sound a bit confusing, but it’s 100 percent the truth.