San Antonio Spurs: 2016 Offseason Grades

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