With smart drafting, wise acquisitions, and the genius puppetmaster Gregg Popovich pulling the strings; the San Antonio Spurs’ dynasty of being NBA title contenders continued this past season. They face one major objection this summer; re-sign Tim Duncan.
San Antonio Spurs (50-16 last year)
2011-12 Season Summary:
I keep waiting for the San Antonio Spurs to fall off the NBA map a bit. After getting bounced from the opening round by the Grizzlies last summer, I figured this might be the year that age catches up to the Spurs. Instead, the team was right there in the end, finishing with the best record in the league, winning 20-straight games including a pair of playoff sweeps, and knocking on the door of another trip to the NBA Finals. Head coach Gregg Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford deserve a ton of credit for meshing a group of youngsters with their solid stable of veterans.
2012-13 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Tiago Splitter
PF: DeJuan Blair/Matt Bonner
SF: Kawhi Leonard/Stephen Jackson/Derrick Byars
SG: *Daniel Green/Manu Ginobli/James Anderson
PG: Tony Parker/Gary Neal/*Patrick Mills/Cory Joseph
NBA Free Agents:
C-Tim Duncan (UFA)
PF-Boris Diaw (UFA)
*SG-Daniel Green (RFA)
*PG-Patrick Mills (RFA)
2012-13 Team Salary: approximately $49.2 million
Team Needs:
1. Re-sign Duncan:
Despite all the miles on the 36-year old legs, Tim Duncan proved he is still a valuable asset due to his ability and maybe more importantly, his leadership. I would be shocked if he and the Spurs cannot agree on some sort of reasonable contract to keep the Big Fundamental in San Antonio. I doubt he makes anything close to the $21.3 million he raked in this past season, but this is one marriage that should never end.
2. More Size:
Even if Duncan is re-signed, the Spurs still need to add another post player. Boris Diaw proved to be a terrific mid-season pick-up and I wouldn’t be surprised if San Antonio tried to re-sign him at an affordable rate. If not, they need one more big body just in case Duncan begins to wear down a bit.
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UTAH JAZZ
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David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft on the web.
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik