An open letter to Spurs fans expecting big moves this summer
It may be fun thinking about what big moves the Spurs could make this offseason, but it’s easier said than done.
Dear Spurs fans:
I think we can all agree that was a rough season. Sure, the Wembanyama highlights were great, but from game to game there was not a lot to be excited about. Granted, the struggles were expected since it was clearly a rebuilding year, but tanking is a lot more palatable in theory than it is in practice. It’s not fun only watching 22 wins, with a lot of those coming late in the season, no matter the intelligence of the plan behind it all.
After such a tough year, it’s understandable to go into the offseason hoping for an aggressive overhaul that gets San Antonio as close to contention as soon as possible. It’s been five years since the Spurs made the playoffs, which is not a huge negative streak, but this fanbase is not used to losing. It’s logical to want big improvement heading into next season. But it’s probably not going to happen.
The eagerness for a big offseason doesn’t just come from an emotional place. San Antonio has put itself in a great position for the future and, at a glance, speeding up the timeline seems possible. The franchise will have cap space if it wants it. All future Spurs picks belong to them and they have extras of varying value. There are no albatross contracts in the cap sheet. After tanking this season, they will have a lottery pick and could get two if the Raptors get unlucky with the ping-pong balls. There is also an incentive to use those assets soon. The Hornets’ first-round pick owed to the Spurs is already a first in name only because of its protections (1-14) and, the Bulls’ pick (1-8 protected) could follow suit if Chicago decides to rebuild soon. Rolling over the cap space is possible but the young players won’t be cheap forever. It feels like a good time to take risks.
Unfortunately, there are two problems. The main one is that even with the right assets, the Spurs will depend on the cooperation of other teams and will be limited by who’s available in the trade market and free agency. Even if the front office knew exactly what pieces it needed (more on that later), there’s no guarantee it can get them. The free agency class is not the best and San Antonio will probably not have max cap room. There are no superstars there. If one becomes available via trade, the Spurs could potentially outbid most suitors, but it would take a significant part of their assets and probably a young player they don’t want to lose. That would be fine if they were getting the final piece of the puzzle, but it doesn’t feel like the Spurs are at that point yet. Making a rushed move could be costly in the long run. Just ask the early LeBron career Cavaliers or the young Anthony Davis Pelicans how that works.
The other issue is that the Spurs don’t even know what they have yet. It’s probably why those rumors about not making big moves exist. The only certainty is that Wembanyama is a surefire superstar but it’s still unclear how to maximize him on offense and what type of players he needs around him. Some of the guys currently on the roster could be fits, with Devin Vassell seeming like the most seamless one, but others may not be. There’s also the question of how the offense will run through Wembanyama. Will it be through the post, requiring shooters and cutters at every position? Will it be as a playmaking fulcrum in the perimeter, as the team continues to use the same system? Does he need a pick-and-roll point guard? We all have our ideas but the Spurs don’t seem to know yet, if we go by how experimental last season was until the end.
It is possible that the stars align and the Spurs somehow come out of this offseason with an established star to pair with Wembanyama. If that doesn’t happen, at the very least there should be some improvement in the margins, even if it means reducing the opportunities and playing time of some of the young guys currently on the roster. It’s hard to imagine the front office doing nothing. But it’s similarly difficult to see a leadership that has been patient and opportunistic suddenly turning needy and desperate and using assets that were hard to acquire and players that took time to develop to bring in some big name just to appear active.
If the goal is to eventually build a contender instead of just another playoff team, it could take time and some luck to get there. Trying to brute force the next step typically backfires, as the Vlade Divac Kings and, more recently, the Rockets found out.
The last few years have not been great but the worst is over. The Spurs have Victor Wembanyama now. He could singlehandedly turn San Antonio into a more attractive free-agent destination. Even if he doesn’t, the front office has done a good job of loading up on assets to add players through the draft or trade. Sooner or later, the Spurs will be scary again.
It’s completely understandable for every single fan to want it to happen as quickly as possible, but if it takes a little longer to get it right, the wait would be worth it.
