San Antonio Spurs: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2018-19
By Luke Swiatek
The San Antonio Spurs have opted to compete now instead of rebuilding, and that means there will be extra pressure on three players.
When the San Antonio Spurs looked to trade Kawhi Leonard, they had their pick of a few different offers. The Boston Celtics offered a bounty of draft picks, including the incredibly valuable Sacramento Kings‘ first round pick this year.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers also made offers that centered around younger players, but the Spurs ended up trading Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan. In doing so, they signaled very clearly that this would not be a rebuilding year, and that they were headed straight back to the playoffs.
That means higher expectations on the players to perform well, and with it can come an added amount of pressure. Without Leonard, the burden falls to other players to carry both the offense and the defense, much as it did last year.
Here are the three players facing the most pressure out of anyone on the San Antonio Spurs for the upcoming season.