FanPost

A tale of two cities... how the Spurs are showing they are exceptional again

I wrote a post last week stating my top three possibilities for Kawhi Leonard:

1) Trade to the Lakers (for Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and draft picks)

2) Trade to the Clippers (for Tobias Harris and draft picks)

3) Keep him for this year.

Well the Spurs taught me something that other teams around the league would benefit from learning: Don't be an active participant in developing super teams. Don't help your rivals. Don't give teams you will be battling for a playoff spot an advantage over you.

Last year, there was a similarly odd situation with Kyrie Irving wanting out of Cleveland. He was under contract, there was no obligation to trade him, and his reasons for wanting out were bogus. Still, what happened? Cleveland panicked and they pulled off an awful trade. They went from comfortably the #1 team in the Eastern conference to the #4 seed in the playoffs... which yes, I know the Cavs still made the finals but that was only because of LeBron James. Team might have actually had a chance in the Finals had they gotten anything close to fair value in that trade.

Not only did they not get fair value. They traded Irving to BOSTON, which will now be a threat to the Cavaliers for years to come. And because they did this, they've potentially made Cleveland an environment that LeBron no longer wants to be a part of.

Enter the Spurs: They face a similar challenge with a superstar demanding a trade for bogus reasons. They could have easily traded him to LA to set the groundwork for the next super team in an attempt to get optimal trade value. But the Spurs are showing us a franchise can hold its head high and be respectable even in the face of threats from its players.

I blamed the Spurs for the Leonard situation... but I am slowly having a change of heart.

Kawhi is being paid close to $20 million dollars a year to show up and play for this team. If Whataburger is paying my salary, I don't get to demand a job at In-and-Out. If you have an issue with things being said about you... take it up with he people saying it. Yes, the negative things got reported in the media. But I am sure there was plenty of support sent Kawhi's way.

So I'm not sure how this will play out, but I'm proud of the Spurs for not jumping the gun and trying to improve the relationship with Kawhi.

Thoughts on expected depth chart:

PG: Murray, Mills, PG#3

Murray enters the year entrenched as the starter... hopefully his shot/offensive game have improved... if it has, he'll be a star... if it hasn't... it's going to be a long year. Mills needs to have his rightful place coming of the bench with a playmaker next to him. He needs to be able to play to his strengths: pesky defense, and 3pt shooting. Expecting more from him at this point is unreasonable. As for the PG#3 spot... my hope is Parker takes a huge pay cut and takes this role. He's perfect as a 3rd point guard with experience to help guide the team and can quickly step in if Murray or Mills get injured. I don't know there will be a huge market for Parker. I think he wants to contribute, win, and get paid... but I don't know he'll find a team where he can do all three at this point in his career. If he doesn't stay, they'll find a veteran to fill the role (Jose Calderon?)

SG: Green, Walker, Ginobili, White

Best case scenario... Walker overtakes Green and has a Donovan Mitchell-like effect on the team. We know he has the tools to play defense and could be an exciting player to watch on the offensive end. Murray and Walker could form a decent core for the future if they develop well. Rookies can also be flops too... so who knows. As of right now, Ginobili is still the best playmaker on the team. I don't think he had such a close relationship with Tony that his return would be affected by Tony coming back or not. I think Ginobili returns if he thinks the team is competitive and if he thinks he can contribute. That may be dependent on other moves the Spurs make and Kawhi's ultimate status. If he does retire... no way you could replace a guy like him. White, I think, will be able to fill some minutes as a decent back-up SG. Green at this point is a solid 3&D player, but not much else.

SF: No freakin clue.

The Spurs season will likely hinge on who fills this position. Will it be Leonard? If so, we're set. The Spurs may or may not bring back Bertans. So I have no idea what this position will look like.

PF: Aldridge

Hopefully he's solid in the front court for the next 3 seasons. Who we have backing up up matters little given that he'll likely play at least 35 minutes per game.

C: ???

I don't think Gasol is the answer in the modern NBA and his contract is atrocious. Maybe the Spurs have some moves up their sleeves?

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