3 NBA organizations heading into a bleak offseason
By Luke Duffy
3. San Antonio Spurs
Fans of the San Antonio Spurs have every right to feel aggrieved to have made it onto this list, especially considering the likes of the Sacramento Kings have not. But whereas the Kings have a future All-Star in De’Aaron Fox and guys with trade value such as Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Spurs are staring into more of the same for the time being.
This isn’t always a problem, but what they are signed up for in the immediate future is playing around two players in DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge who represent an era of basketball that we continue to move further away from.
DeRozan has a player option for next season. At over $27 million, you better believe he is taking it. Aldridge will still be around then as well, so what we’re going to see from the Spurs is exactly what we saw during this campaign. Two guys continue to carry this team and pick up some wins in pursuit of the playoffs, before most likely not making it.
https://twitter.com/SpursGive/status/1304087243313774594
They will be doing this with Gregg Popovich as head coach. Although he is still one of the best minds in the game, at 71 he will not be coaching for much longer.
DeRozan and Aldridge could both walk in the summer of 2021. Although that would clear the books completely, marquee free agents don’t sign in San Antonio unless there are stars and a structure already in place. Popovich may be gone by that point too, and outside of Dejounte Murray (and perhaps Derrick White), there is little to get excited about.
DeRozan could be traded as an expiring contract (after Oct. 17, 2020) in exchange for a player who is under contract for a longer period of time and would be forced to stick around. The value of Aldridge at 35, despite having productive spurts, is less enticing to other teams. Meaning a short-term future of more of the same, and a longer-term future of uncertainty awaits.