San Antonio Spurs: Is Tiago Splitter The Most Underrated Center In The West?

Tiago Splitter boxes out Al Horford, hoping for a rebound. (Photo: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule).

Is San Antonio Spurs’ big man Tiago Splitter underrated or under-appreciated? This question has been one of the more burning topics throughout basketball circles for quite a while now.

Splitter, who opted not to join San Antonio immediately after being drafted, has finally come into his own as an NBA player and has even made a home in a starting lineup that includes future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. Splitter’s numbers will not blow you away; In fact, they’ll almost make you question why someone would consider him underrated. That’s why stats aren’t everything when it comes to defining the true value of a player in the NBA.

To further assist in my assessment, I found an excerpt from an article on Splitter done by NBA.com’s Ken Rodriguez:

"The difference between this season and the last two? Splitter uses an illustration to explain. After arriving from Europe, Splitter felt like an occupant in a stranger’s house. A little tight. Seldom relaxed. After two seasons adjusting, Splitter feels like he’s back in Spain. In familiar surroundings. Comfortable.“Like when you are in your own house,” he says.In Splitter’s house, there is a new addition. His name is Benjamin, he is 7-months-old and he attends all of daddy’s games with his mother, Amaia, Tiago’s wife. “It’s been a great experience,” Splitter says, “maybe the best thing that’s happened in my life.”"

Rodriguez then goes on to explain how when valuing or rating Splitter in terms of what he means to San Antonio’s offense or the NBA in general, we need to do our best to avoid the box score at all costs.

As mentioned before, Splitter isn’t a player that’s going to light up the stat sheet, but he plays key parts in the Spurs’ two-way game plans. Has Splitter legitimately improved? Or just responded normally to a player getting a bigger role and more minutes? That’s a tough egg to crack. However, Splitter is one of the league’s best centers, especially depending on where you’d rank a player like Tim Duncan.

When looking at the efficiency the Spurs have when Splitter is on the court, it far outweighs in production compared to when he’s not. San Antonio sees a slight spark in offensive production and a much bigger push defensively with him on the court. While lowering his atrocious turnover numbers, Splitter has increased his free-throw percentage to 75 percent, which is quite good for a center in the NBA and pretty darn good for Splitter–remember, he was sent to the line on purpose late in games in the 2012 playoffs.

The San Antonio Spurs played their cards with Tiago Splitter and his situation perfectly. In 2010, when Splitter declared himself eligible for the NBA draft, teams were hesitant to obtain his draft rights because they knew they’d have to pay out of pocket for him to break his contract with his international club to come play in the Association. The Spurs didn’t care.

Why would they have cared?  They knew they had a quality roster in place. The Spurs know how to manage a salary cap, as well as the players on the roster within said salary cap. They knew that they could do without Splitter’s services while he continued to round out his skills overseas without having to pay a dime to get him. They knew that if Splitter wanted to come over before his contract was up, that he would do so by buying himself out.

So, as the story goes, San Antonio sat and waited for the right time for Splitter to come over and when he did, they found themselves a player who’d eventually become a gem. They’re in a prime position to sign him to a contract of both sides’ liking, with Splitter due to become a restricted free agent on July 1. If, as assumed, the Spurs keep Splitter with a new deal, they’ll be retaining of the most underrated talents in the entire league.

And to think they never had to compete for his services or spend more than they wanted to get them.