9. San Antonio Spurs
Key additions: DeMar DeRozan (trade), Jakob Poeltl (trade), Marco Belinelli (FA)
Key losses: Kawhi Leonard (trade), Danny Green (trade), Tony Parker (FA), Kyle Anderson (FA)
ALL GREAT DYNASTIES eventually come to an end. Russell’s Celtics couldn’t maintain their hunger and cohesiveness once he retired in ’69. Magic’s HIV and Bird’s back robbed them both of at least five more high-level years. Jordan retired as the league’s best player twice. Shaq and Kobe couldn’t sort out their egos. LeBron and Wade only spent four years together before health and an evolving league broke them up. Durant, Westbrook, and Harden were torn apart before they could even start.
The San Antonio Spurs were supposed to be different.
Known as the baseline franchise for competitiveness and professionalism, the Tim Duncan-Gregg Popovic era saw San Antonio win five titles in a 19-year stretch where they won 50 or more games (lockout adjusted) every year. They were already the greatest NBA dynasty of the 21st century, and by the 2014 Finals, Kawhi Leonard had emerged as their best player.
By age 23, Kawhi had a championship, Finals MVP, and DPOY on his resume, joining an exclusive club of Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only guys to make such a claim. Duncan was ready to pass the torch; Leonard was supposed to carry the Spurs to greatness for the next decade.
In back-to-back years as THE guy in San Antonio, Kawhi succeeded: two All-NBA first teams, two 60-win seasons, and two top-three finishes in MVP voting. But a mysterious quad injury (which kept him out of all but nine games in 2018) and an apparent lack of trust between he and the Spurs’ training staff caused a lot of in-house problems. As the season went on, the divide between Leonard and the Spurs’ organization grew bigger and bigger.
Most of his time was spent with his camp in New York away from the team, which seemed to really bother Popovich (take a look at this quote from Pop from early April with the 3-seed still in play). Veteran point guard Tony Parker went as far as to call his own injury (which he played through) “100 times worse” than Kawhi’s.
The 2018 Spurs were known more for their drama than anything else. A franchise we had long thought to be perfect finally showed some imperfections, culminating in them headlining an offseason that included LeBron James switching teams. This stuff just isn’t supposed to happen in San Antonio.
"“I’ve been through it… same kind of injury (as Kawhi’s), but mine was a hundred times worse” – Spurs guard Tony Parker on Kawhi Leonard’s right quad injury."
Now, the Spurs are faced with a plethora of questions. Duncan is retired and Manu Ginobili could walk away any day. Parker shockingly signed with Charlotte (contender for the most WTF? signing of the last decade). Kawhi and long-time Spur Danny Green are in Canada. All that’s left from the dynasty is Pop and president R.C. Buford. While Lamarcus Aldridge and newly acquired DeMar DeRozan are both All-NBA calibre guys, the Spurs have an ancient roster, play in a loaded conference, and can’t shoot 3’s in a league predicated on exactly that.
Their projected starting five for 2019 (Dejonte Murray, DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Aldridge, Pau Gasol) combined to hit 205 3s last year, as many as Joe Ingles alone. That’s a problem. Pop will make the best out of things and the Spurs will likely have one of the league’s 16 best records, but will fall short of the playoffs for the first time since Biggie left us for good.
The dynasty has officially ended.
Spurs’ projected record: 43-39
Spurs’ chances of beating the Warriors in a series: 1 percent