3. Develop Dejounte Murray
Obviously, it’s ideal to develop every young player on the roster, including guys like Derrick White and Jakob Poeltl. However, for the San Antonio Spurs’ immediate and future success, Dejounte Murray’s development is the most critical.
Murray is already an incredible, rangy defender who’s capable of guarding positions 1-3 despite his thin frame. In only his second year in the league, Murray was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team, and was fifth in the entire league in both steal percentage and defensive rating.
If he never improves on defense at all and just fills his body out a bit more, he’ll be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league in the years to come. If he does find ways to improve his technique, that’s gravy.
It’s his offense that needs improvement. He’s not a great playmaker, shooter or ball-handler. Incremental improvement in each area would unlock a completely different side of him and help him become less Tony Allen and more of a Shaun Livingston (if he never got hurt).
Neither comparison is perfect. It’s hard to come up with a point guard as long as Murray and as good on defense who wasn’t a complete non-factor on offense. The point is, if Murray develops well, he could be an unprecedented talent that becomes the Spurs’ new foundational star.