San Antonio Spurs: 2016 Offseason Grades

The San Antonio Spurs didn’t dominate the summer, but they managed to regroup from the loss of Tim Duncan and remain title contenders. Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

The moment that Kevin Durant chose to sign with the Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs‘ offseason kicked into overdrive. As if missing out on the 2014 NBA MVP wasn’t bad enough, the greatest player in the franchise’s history, Tim Duncan, decided to call it quits after 19 unforgettable seasons.

This summer was nowhere near as make-or-break as last summer, when the Spurs landed LaMarcus Aldridge and re-signed Kawhi Leonard, but make no mistake about it: San Antonio will be entering a very weird and scary post-Tim Duncan era, and they’ll be doing so in the wake of the creation of perhaps the NBA’s greatest super-team.

That being said, the summer wasn’t all doom and gloom for a Spurs squad that posted 67 wins and boasted a historically stifling defense last season.

With a successful 2016 NBA Draft and the addition of a Spaniard star who’s perfectly suited for Gregg Popovich’s offense, the Spurs are still a contender in the West. The question is, how large is the gap between them and the Warriors? Here’s a look at San Antonio’s complete offseason grades.

Next: The Draft

The Draft

The Warriors have probably been the best drafting team in the NBA over the last decade or so, but the 2016 NBA Draft was a perfect reminder of how the San Antonio Spurs have held that prestigious title ever since Tim Duncan first entered the league.

In short, the rich continued to stay rich, even if those riches are less “lavish spending” and more “putting money in a trust and watching it accumulate steady interest over the years in the smartest and least sexy way possible.” In any case, getting Dejounte Murry at No. 29 was quite possibly the steal of the draft.

At 6’5″ and with a 6’11” wingspan, Murray possesses the physical attributes and foot speed to potentially grow into the franchise’s long-term replacement for Tony Parker. A player with his athleticism isn’t seen often in San Antonio, but this Washington product was exceptional value for so late in the first round.

Though Murray is not a great perimeter shooter (28.8 percent from three-point range last season, 15.6 percent at NBA Summer League), he’s a superb playmaker, a crafty passer, a terrific rebounder for his position and a stout defender.

In Las Vegas, Murray put up 12.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game, shooting 41.5 percent from the field. Given the way Parker blossomed in San Antonio after being a late first round selection, Murray is bound to be yet another example of how the Spurs churn out quality players no matter where they’re picking from in the draft.

Grade: A+

Next: The Diaw Trade

The Diaw Trade

After learning that Kevin Durant had chosen the Warriors over the Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and his other suitors, San Antonio moved quickly to acquire Pau Gasol and put their cap space to good use.

In order to get there, however, the Spurs had to give up yet another important piece of their depth, trading Boris Diaw to the Utah Jazz for the rights to former second round draft pick Olivier Hanlan. With Duncan on the fence about retiring at the time and the Dubs getting that much stronger, the Spurs needed to do something with their cap space to respond.

That being said, this necessary evil comes at the expense of San Antonio’s most important bench player, the original Draymond Green who brought positional versatility and inventive passing to any lineup he joined off the bench.

Last season, Diaw only averaged 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 18.7 minutes per game.

But the Spurs also breezed through the regular season thanks to their incredible bench depth that feasted on opponents, blew games out into the open and allowed Popovich to rest his older players, including the 34-year-old Diaw.

A fan favorite over the last four and a half years with the Spurs, Diaw is a key loss to a bench that will now have to rely on Patty Mills, Kyle Anderson, the aging Ginobili, Jonathon Simmons and rookie Dejounte Murray to carry the load.

Let’s not forget, San Antonio’s highly vaunted bench depth completely fell apart in the playoffs, when the lights were at their brightest and the reserves’ combination of inexperience and old age was stampeded by OKC’s more athletic lineups.

Trading such a useful and versatile piece of the team’s bench hurts, especially in a salary dump that only netted the Spurs the rights to 2015 second round pick Olivier Hanlan.

Hanlan, a 6’4″ combo guard from Boston College, spent the last year playing for Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania. He has yet to play an NBA game, and even in a salary dump move, the Spurs didn’t come close to getting any value for Diaw.

With Duncan retiring, this move becomes more defendable. Clearing the room to acquire Gasol keeps things at the status quo in San Antonio, and having a capable passer and perimeter shooter like that will em-Pau-er Pop to unleash some truly potent scoring lineups featuring fantastic ball movement. This offense is perfectly tailored to his passing ability, and has been for years now.

But even with the Spurs looming as the biggest obstacle to Golden State’s reign in the West, they’re still a distant second, and this move comes at the expense of one of their biggest strengths: bench depth.

Grade: B-

Next: Getting Gasol

Getting Gasol

Losing Diaw (and quite a bit of San Antonio’s depth as the rest of free agency carried on) hurts, but the Spurs did have something to show for it after all.

With a two-year, $31.7 million deal (including a $16.2 million player option for the final year), the Spurs are acquiring a player who represents a near-perfect fit within their offense that will thrive thanks to his passing, shooting and high basketball IQ.

Last season for the Chicago Bulls, Gasol averaged 16.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.0 blocks per game on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 34.9 percent shooting from three-point range. He’s clearly still a valuable player, even as he just turned 36 years old.

There’s also the small issue of Tim Duncan’s departure. After 19 seasons and five championships in this league, he could hardly be blamed for wanting to call it a career at age 40. With the addition of Gasol, he couldn’t have picked a better time either.

The Warriors are looking fairly dynastic at the moment, and last year, Duncan averaged only 8.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game before being rendered ineffective against OKC’s back line of Steven Adams and Enes Kanter in the playoffs.

Gasol gives the Spurs a viable replacement for Duncan at the center spot, preventing LaMarcus Aldridge from having to play out of position. Gasol’s rim protection will be useful, and the Spurs’ defense can hide many of his deficiencies on that end of the floor.

Still, the defense is bound to take a noticeable step back from its historic stinginess with Gasol in the lane and Duncan gone for good. This move keeps San Antonio in the contender conversation, but it’s still mostly a dialogue between the Warriors and Cavaliers.

Grade: B+

Next: Re-Signing Ginobili

Re-Signing Ginobili

Duncan may be retiring, but Spurs fans will get to enjoy at least one more season of Manu Ginobili, who signed a one-year, $14 million deal to remain with the franchise where he’s spent all 14 seasons of his career.

That was temporarily in doubt, however, when the Philadelphia 76ers swooped in with an offer in the $16-17 million range. Ultimately though, the Spurs upped their offer (nearly tripling their initial offer) and Ginobili’s future was no longer in doubt.

He may no longer be the Sixth Man of the Year candidate he once was, but losing Manu would have been yet another devastating blow to San Antonio’s depth — and the overall happiness of the fan base — this summer.

Last season, Ginobili averaged 9.6 points and 3.1 assists in 19.6 minutes per game — the lowest numbers of his career/since his rookie season. However, he also still managed to shoot 39.1 percent from three-point range, and letting him go play anywhere else would’ve been unnatural.

With Gasol signed and Diaw traded, the Spurs needed to take care of their own. Under the new salary cap, this is hardly an overpay, especially for a lifetime Spur who is probably on his last legs anyway.

Grade: B+

Next: Dedmon Addendum

Dedmon Addendum

Duncan wasn’t the only frontcourt casualty for the Spurs this summer. With fan/league/universal favorite Boban Marjanovic signing a three-year deal with the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio needed to provide some extra depth for Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge.

With a two-year, $6 million contract for rarely used Orlando Magic reserve Dewayne Dedmon, the Spurs secured a fairly underrated player who may finally get his opportunity with a shorthanded but still superb franchise.

Through his first three years in the league, Dedmon has struggled to find his place on three different teams. Last year, the seven-footer averaged a career-high 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game over 58 appearances for the Magic.

When Nikola Vucevic was injured, Dedmon became the default starting center, averaging 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game on 55.8 percent shooting in 20 starts. Considering what, say, Miles Plumlee got this summer, this is a steal even if the Spurs are only able to extract mediocre production out of him.

Grade: A-

Next: Odds And Ends

Odds And Ends

To round out the fringe of the rotation, the Spurs went about bolstering the frontcourt and adding one of the heroes of Villanova’s NCAA championship run, Ryan Arcidiacono.

Though Arcidiacono went undrafted this year, the Spurs liked what they saw from him in college and in Summer League, signing him to a two-year deal worth the minimum with $75,000 guaranteed.

Though he only averaged a negligible 2.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in Las Vegas, his poise was worth a minuscule offer like this. His high basketball IQ and team-first attitude makes him a natural fit within the organization, even if he’ll be hard-pressed to actually earn minutes.

There was also Davis Bertans, a 6’10” power forward who put up 15 points, three rebounds and three three-pointers in his lone Summer League appearance. A Lithuanian product, the 23-year-old Bertans provides the Spurs with some extra padding in the frontcourt.

On a rookie-scale contract, 2013 first round selection Livio Jean-Charles is finally joining the team that originally drafted him three years ago. At 22 years old, he’s part of a youth movement that gained steam the moment Duncan decided to call it a career.

A 6’9″ forward from France, Charles averaged 4.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game on 54.5 percent shooting at NBA Summer League.

Finally, the Spurs added Summer League standout Bryn Forbes on a three-year deal after he averaged 11.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game on solid .463/.406/.944 shooting splits in Vegas.

At 6’3″, this undrafted guard out of Michigan State will get his chance to prove he belongs in a backcourt including Parker, Murray, Patty Mills and Arcidiacono. None of these signings move the needle much, but given San Antonio’s penchant for player development, don’t write them off either.

Grade: B-

Next: Signee, D-Lee

Signee, D-Lee

By agreeing on a two-year, $3.2 million contract with David Lee, the Spurs continued the trend of trying to replace Tim Duncan with no-defense, skilled, passing big men. At the very least, Lee adds another able body to San Antonio’s once formidable bench.

Though Lee is no Boban, he has a decent chance of becoming a fan favorite. He’s far past his All-Star days with the Knicks and Warriors, but Lee is coming off a revived half-season with the Dallas Mavericks in which he averaged 8.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 25 appearances.

Like Gasol, Lee is a crafty interior passer, making him a wonderful fit for a Spurs offense that hums because of its stellar ball movement. Also like Gasol, Lee is a woeful interior defender despite his solid work on the glass, making it hard to envision just how many minutes he’ll earn for a head coach who prizes hard-working defenders.

Lee is an efficient shooter, a nimble finisher around the rim and can spread the floor to the midrange, shooting 53.6 percent from the floor overall last season. He’s something of a poor man’s Boris Diaw, only without the three-point range, defense or same level of passing ability.

His defensive flaws may make it hard for Pop to play him too consistently, even with San Antonio’s D expected to regress this season after downgrading from Duncan to Gasol on that end of the floor.

The second year of Lee’s contract is a player option worth the veteran’s minimum, meaning this could just be a one-year rental. That’s enough for a team that needs as much depth as possible if they want to challenge the Warriors for Western supremacy, but it doesn’t change the tide either.

Grade: B-

Next: Overall

Overall

The Spurs did what they could this summer, and the Western Conference is a two-horse race. But the Spurs technically lost the offseason the moment Durant committed to the Warriors, and the pain didn’t get any better when the greatest player in the history of the franchise decided to retire.

Tim Duncan calling it quits is obviously an emotional loss for Spurs fans everywhere, but his departure also leaves a defensive void that Pau Gasol will struggle to fill.

Though Gasol’s passing, perimeter shooting and all-around superior basketball intellect makes him a natural fit on offense, this is hardly the kind of signing that elevates San Antonio into the same upper echelon as the Dubs. In the frontcourt, the Spurs are now left on the wrong side of this exchange:

The Spurs were quick and efficient in regrouping from Durant’s free agency decision, finding a short-term, star-caliber replacement for Duncan before they even knew he was actually retiring.

But trading Boris Diaw to sign the 36-year-old Gasol was a brutal loss for San Antonio’s patented depth, and with Duncan retiring, Boban Marjanovic heading to Detroit and David West also joining the Warriors, the Spurs’ summer feels like a net loss even with the Gasol and Lee additions.

San Antonio’s bench is now comprised of a declining Ginobili, Mills, a backup who still needs to prove his worth in Dedmon, a potentially washed up David Lee, Kyle Anderson, Jonathon Simmons and the rookie Murray. That’s not encouraging for a Spurs second unit that was superior last season and still managed to fall apart in the playoffs.

More hoops habit: Phoenix Suns: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Spurs have one of the better frontcourts in the league with Gasol, and the two-man core of Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge automatically makes them a threat, but by missing out on KD, losing Duncan and sacrificing crucial bench depth, the Spurs’ additions of Gasol and one of the steals of the draft are hard to get overly excited about.

Grade: B+