What to do with the Spurs? If it weren’t for Zaza Pachulia’s long loose limb, San Antonio might have unseated the Golden State Warriors in last season’s NBA playoffs. People forget, since Golden State triumphed so easily after, that the Spurs and Kawhi Leonard seemed to have the Warriors number — until Kawhi went down courtesy of Zaza. Then it was over. Playing Golden State is tough enough; playing without your best player is a fool’s errand. So do the Spurs need a revamp toward youth? They let Jonathan Simmons get away and return Ginobili and Parker, both of whom are closer to 60 than 16.
Hoops journalist Jesus Gomez at PoundingtheRock looks at the Spurs contract and cap situation carefully, mostly considering the effects of the Pau Gasol re-signing and what the Spurs future holds (besides winning at least 50 games, because that’s what the Spurs do). Somewhere between the youth and the veterans sits the underrated (but not underappreciated by Spurs fans) Danny Green. Green will have a player option next year and Gomez rightly calls Green “a bargain at $10 million a year.” Green is also quietly part of the heart and soul of the current incarnation of post-Duncan Spurs, a guy who, like Kawhi Leonard, plays both ways with intensity and purpose. It’s often the big names leaving that seem to mark the end of an era for teams (see OKC/Durant), but keep an eye on Danny Green. In many ways there is no player more characteristic of the Spurs consistent success.
