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NBA Future Power Rankins 3. San Antonio Spurs
- Russell Schmidt
- Sep 16, 2015
- 2 min read
*Photo via USA Today
The 2014-15 NBA season for the San Antonio Spurs ended at the hands of Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers in a first round series that stole the show during the 2015 Playoffs. It seems like the Spurs demise and fall from the mountain has been discussed for the last five seasons. The Spurs simply won’t go away; every time you think they’re done, they come back even stronger. So let’s break the “Spurs are done” trend in a big way; they are third in my future power rankings.
The Spurs had one of the best free agency summers in their history in 2015. They re-signed Danny Green for $40MM over 4-years and also brought in veteran bruiser David West for the veteran's minimum. The real prize of the summer was LaMarcus Aldridge, who agreed on a 4-year, $84MM deal. Aldridge will now be relied upon as the go-to scorer for the Spurs. That’s a pretty damn good offseason, but pretty damn good isn’t good enough for San Antonio. Budding superstar Kawhi Leonard is also back with a new 5-year, $94MM deal, as he looks to be the bridge between the old big three, to the one he will lead in the future.
*Photo via Getty Images
In the next 3-5 years, the Spurs of old will be gone. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, all of whom have been a part of one of the most successful eras in any franchise’s history, will all be retired. So with the old Big 3 gone, why are the Spurs still a top 3 team?
San Antonio is the best organization in the NBA, the last 16 years have cemented that. The system, the unselfishness, the sacrifice and the willingness to do what’s best for this team will not leave with the Big 3. What makes San Antonio so special is those qualities and perspective will be passed to Aldridge and Leonard who will carry the torch into the future.
With the Spurs reloading, I don’t see Gregg Popovich retiring when Duncan hangs it up. Pop and the front office have always done well in finding role players and gems in the draft, especially late in the first and in the second round. The front office is great, the coach is great, the players are great and the Spurs show no signs of slowing down.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, ESPN.com
Salary cap and contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com, Hoopshype.com, Basketballinsiders.com
Future draft commitments and rosters information courtesy of RealGM.com
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