Storyline 3: How does 2019-20’s season fit into the future outlook?
For the first time in a while, the tables have seemed to turn on the San Antonio Spurs. Long believed to be the type of franchise playing chess in a league stuck on the checkerboard, it’s never been tougher predicting the Spurs’ long term outlook.
Stars are the difference between winning and falling short. Well, the Spurs have two of them in Aldridge and DeRozan, and they’ll have to figure out if they’re worth keeping for the long haul over the next few seasons.
The more urgent matter is DeRozan’s contract — something he’s promised won’t affect his play or mentality this season — which expires at the end of 2019-20.
The debate for DeRozan revolves around whether or not the Spurs feel their 4-time All-Star guard is a max contract player.
For a max, DeRozan would’ve had to opt out of his $27.73 player option, which would extend his contract to 2023-24, and be worth $176.9 million over a five-year period.
DeRozan has proven time-and-time again that he’s a top-tier talent in the league. But in the analytical era, that’d be quite the bag to offer for a player who over the last seven seasons, hasn’t produced a positive net rating for any of his teams (these are skewed a bit; to his credit, he’s played for some elite benches, and the Raptors’ minutes staggers with Kyle Lowry weren’t of a big help).
As for the other Spurs star, LaMarcus Aldridge is signed through the 2020-21 season. There have been rumors throughout the summer, centered around a potential return to Portland, but a 15 percent trade kicker could make it difficult to match salaries.
Factor in both All-Stars on the back end of their careers, and you’d have to wonder how the Spurs front office will approach that storyline, with so many talented young stars set for the future.
The good news about this storyline is that it either: a) could take a long time to materialize — for example, if the Spurs stumble out of the gates, or find themselves behind the eight ball of the standings at the trade deadline — or b) not materialize at all.
In whichever case, we’ve already begun to hear the rumblings a bit, as to if you can actually win a championship with Aldridge and / or DeRozan as the offensive focal points of a team.
The obvious fall back is likely to build around a backcourt for the future in Murray, White, and Walker IV.
Earlier this week, the Spurs picked up team options to White and Walker, and have until Oct. 21 to decide on Murray, before he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.
In any case, the Spurs have positioned themselves for an abundance of cap space heading into the 2022 offseason — the summer of James Harden, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard as unrestricted free agents, and many other All-Stars on player options. It stands as a far ways out, but it’ll be interesting to see how many of the potential dominoes begin to fall, as early as this season.