San Antonio Spurs: How they got here and what’s next after a strong start

What’s next for the San Antonio Spurs?

What the Spurs should do going forward really just depends on how you view their success in the first half of the season. You could point to their uninspiring point differential (+0.1 per game) and the veterans on expiring contracts to say they should be selling high and trying to bring in future assets to help the young core.

You’ll see a lot of people making that case, and on paper I understand it. Their veterans on expiring contracts would draw interest from contenders and trading those guys away would provide an opportunity for increased roles among the young guys. But if a team that has overachieved into a playoff team despite dealing with health and safety protocols, as well as some injuries to key players, should be a seller then what are we even doing anymore?

What is better for their young core – trading away their veterans to get a future draft pick that is likely outside the lottery, or keeping those veterans around and playing in meaningful games down the stretch and maybe even a playoff series against one of the best teams in the NBA? It has to be the latter.

What also needs to be considered is that having expiring contracts makes you just as dangerous as a buyer as they do as a seller. Why couldn’t the Spurs use a draft pick plus one of those expiring contracts like Patty Mills or Rudy Gay to make the money work in a trade with a struggling team that brings in more talent to help them in the second half of the season?

I look at players around the league like Aaron Gordon, John Collins, and Lauri Markkanen that could fill a needed role on this current Spurs roster, are young enough to fit their current timeline, and have all been rumored to be available in the trade market. So why not buy? Windows close fast in the NBA, and having the chance to build around this core of young players on relatively cheap contracts while at the same time having the ammunition of expiring deals to bring in more talent is a type of flexibility that so many teams would love to have.

Not using that flexibility as a buyer to help your team make a playoff push would be a missed opportunity, but being a seller for draft picks and punting on making winning moves until some indefinite time in the future while you’re already a playoff team would be a disservice to their players.