For the Culture: Taking a look at the “who” in who the Spurs have brought in this offseason
The San Antonio Spurs’ acquisitions seem to all have character in common
For years, the culture the San Antonio Spurs has created under Coach Gregg Popovich has been widely talked about. While Miami’s “Heat Culture” may have made them the most discussed team on that topic lately, Spurs culture is still alive and strong. Its ever-present in everything the team does, whether that be hiring personnel, working with sponsors, or filling out a roster. The underlying message of that culture is to do things for others, even if that means making personal sacrifices.
The quote that probably highlights this the most is this one for Coach Pop: “It’s not about any one person. You’ve got to get over yourself and realize that it takes a group to get this thing done.”
It’s that quote that seems to epitomize the moves the Spurs have made this offseason. PATFO has made three draft picks, signed one free agent, and traded for a player, all of whom have shown a willingness to make personal sacrifices in hopes of team success.
Starting with the free agent signing, who is polarizing in his own way for Spurs fans, Chris Paul. It’s safe to say there are enough antics on film and reports off the court that make you feel a certain way about him. It’s also safe to say that Paul is one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. One of the ways he achieved the latter is by understanding he needs his teammates to be the best they can be if the team was going to compete for championships. During his time with the New Orleans Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers, he was seen toward the top of the time of possession leaderboard (which only started being tracked in 2013-14), but this starts to change when he gets to the Houston Rockets.
It comes as no surprise that playing with James Harden means less time on the ball, but that’s a choice he made. He knew that the two of them could compete for a title (which maybe happens if not for an unfortunately-timed hamstring injury), and that would require letting Harden run the show. Paul did get more than his fair share of time on the ball and calling shots, but the Rockets were Harden’s team.
Two years later, Paul would get moved to the Oklahoma City Thunder and lead them to the playoffs as the Western Conference’s fifth seed. That year, we got a good glimpse of how great of a mentor he can be to young players. Since then, we’ve seen him take something of a back seat, doing his best to fill a role to help his team reach their goals. Sure, there have still been some antics, but he’s shown that he’s “over” himself. It’s also likely why it was reported that Pop talking to him about the team culture was a big selling point.
Next is Harrison Barnes. He may not be who most fans wanted to see the Spurs trade for, but getting a player of his ilk (not to mention the pick swap) just by having cap space is an incredible get. He’s somebody who will step right into the locker room knowing what his job is, as he’s had quite the journey to get here.
Going into college as the No. 1 recruit in the country according to ESPN, Barnes had high expectations to become an NBA superstar. When he was drafted to the Golden State Warriors, he joined a team with Steph Curry entering his fourth season and Klay Thompson entering his second. They also had veterans David Lee and Jarrett Jack, so the need for Barnes to be the go-to guy at any point was non-existent. In his four seasons with the Warriors, he never averaged 10 field goals attempts per game. He was asked to play a role, and he played it. He was then pushed out the door so the team could bring in Kevin Durant.
When the Dallas Mavericks brought him in, his role changed to being the main scorer, which he did his best to be. After his first two seasons in Dallas, his role would change again as they brought in rookie Luka Dončić. Barnes was traded to the Sacramento Kings midway through the season and went back to playing a supporting role, but this time as a veteran presence. De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield were his new Steph and Klay, and his job was to help supplement scoring, space the floor, and rebound a little.
With 12 seasons behind him, Barnes understands he’s not going to be asked to lead the team in scoring or guard the opponent’s best player. In coming to San Antonio, he’ll be asked to do something similar to what he’s been doing the past couple of seasons with the Kings, likely with even less usage. He can come in, eat up some minutes, knock down some three pointers, and be a consummate professional. And with no offense to some of the other veterans the Spurs have rostered since trading DeMar DeRozan, nobody understands coming into the league with high expectations only to be tasked with being a role player quite like Barnes. That’s one of the toughest lessons to learn, but with Victor Wembanyama at the head and Devin Vassell being his running mate, everybody else will need to learn it (Castle is in his own territory, so he’s a bit of a time-will-tell situation).
As for the Spurs’ draft picks this year, we can start at the top with Stephon Castle. The No. 4 pick in the draft, Castle could have practically gone anywhere for his one year out of high school before entering the NBA Draft. Instead of signing with a school who would’ve highlighted him as an individual more, he committed to UCONN, even before they’d go on to win the first of their back-to-back NCAA titles. Here’s a quote from Castle talking about why he chose UCONN: “I could tell the culture there, the fans and how the players reacted with coach and how hard coaches pushes them, I could tell that’s an environment I want to play in.”
Saying the right thing is pretty easy to do — it’s the following it up with your actions that really matter. And with Castle, he walked it like he talked it. He played off the ball most of the time with Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton acting as the main ballhandlers, he was asked to guard the opponent’s best player time and time again, and he took the fourth most field goal attempts per game for UCONN. The connotation of being called a role player can sometimes diminish the skill level of a player, but that’s what Castle needed to be for UCONN to win the title: a role player.
Now, as he joins the Victor Wembanyama-led Spurs, he’ll be asked to do the same in his rookie season. This won’t be new territory for him, which is a good thing. He’ll be able to get acclimated to the NBA, work on some rougher areas of his game, and learn from the aforementioned Chris Paul.
The Spurs’ next pick, Juan Nunez, is no stranger to sacrifices as well. Instead of joining the Spurs’ summer league team to get his feet wet with the NBA, Nunez chose to play for Spain in hopes of helping them qualify for the Olympics. “Play” is doing some heavy lifting there, as he only played 19 minutes and in two of their four games. He knows being there for his home country means more than how many points he scores or the number of assists he racks up. So long as the team made the Olympics and when there, they have success, playing time doesn’t matter. That’s a sacrifice Keldon Johnson and numerous others have made in previous years, and something that is admirable in a player.
With their final pick, the Spurs drafted North Carolina’s Harrison Ingram. Ingram spent his first two years in college at Stanford, filling the role of a point-forward. But when he transferred to North Carolina, he transferred to a team who had a legit point guard in RJ Davis and big man in Armando Bacot. That meant his role was off the ball, focused on rebounding (went from averaging 6.2 rebounds per game at Stanford to 8.8 at North Carolina) and becoming a more efficient shooter (went from 31.6% on 3.5 three-point attempts to 38.5% on 4.6 attempts). His defensive numbers also increased, which does lend its hand to playing with a better team.
Nevertheless, Ingram didn’t hesitate adjusting his game to fill his team’s need. And that’s something Brian Wright has said they liked about him. Whatever he’s asked to do, he’ll do it.
These are the kinds of players the Spurs emphasized bringing in this offseason. It remains to be seen if their work is done, but one thing is for sure. Surrounding Wembanyama with players more than willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the team has been the goal. Now, we just have to wait and see what they’ll be able to do together on the court.
