2017-18 Finish: 58-24 

Season Highlight:

Climbing the mountain once more and getting to the promised land for the second year in a row. It was a little touch and go at times for the Spurs with their star PG Conley going down for the season and ultimately being traded with their starting five missing a combined 63 games. That along with Anthony Davis going back to back MVP’s snatching it from his team mate in Embiid who shouldn’t be to down on himself as he also cleaned up the MIP and DPOTY end of season awards. 

Season Lowlight:

It’s a double edged sword here and despite their valiant effort it was championship or bust for the Spurs as their window to win is right now. Albeit being the start of a seemingly long window in the Western conference as their driving force haven’t even hit their prime, but to go out in four games to the Cavaliers would’ve been heart wrenching to the fan base. A series to forget in the history books of the San Antonio Spurs. 

Best Trade:

The Golden State Warriors send Marcus Smart to the San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs send Jordan Bell and Ramon Sessions to the Golden State Warriors. 

I Love this trade. An established high rated guard in Smart who’s only 24 and despite his flaws is one of the most elite overall defenders in the league. This deal fit a need for the Spurs who needed to bolster their backcourt especially with Conley out. Smart is versatile and can play 1-3 with ease and even found himself running their offence at times during the season. They gave up Bell who has upside sure, but was buried on this team and for the most part is unproven along with Sessions who is waiver worthy at best. Spurs should have no problem retaining Smart this off season on a very friendly contract for what he is able to produce night in and night out. 

Worst Trade:

The Philadelphia 76ers send Marco Belinelli to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Philadelphia 76ers send 2nd-Rounder (Utah) to the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs send Louis Williams to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

To be fair Lou Will seriously underperformed last year and was only really a decent scoring option off the bench for the Spurs on a good day and really didn’t fit their style of play ether. Marco was the better fit on paper I guess but ended up falling out of the Spurs rotation faster then what Lou did. Shortly after Lou Williams agreed to one of the best value contracts in the league with the Sixers and they now have a real asset while Marco will most likely back up his bags and leave after 41 games with the Spurs. Surely Lou could’ve given the Spurs at least some of what Marco did in the last half of the season and being patient would’ve seen them have a 6th man of the year type player locked up on multiple years going forward. 

Other Notable Trades:

The New Orleans Pelicans send George Hill and Ben Mclemore to the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs send Mike Conley and Semi Ojeleye to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The New Orleans Pelicans send 2nd-Rounder (Dal), 2nd-Rounder (Mil) and 2nd-Rounder (Ind) to the San Antonio Spurs.

Great to get off the Conley contract which was more money and for longer especially for a guy who can just not stay on the court. The Spurs made the smart move to make the trade with the intentions of being competitive come play off time and although Hill’s contract isn’t great they wont be hamstrung for years with that Conley money. B-Mac was later moved on and they picked up some useful mid to late seconds to possibly help facilitate future deals or bolster the back end of the roster. 

The San Antonio Spurs send Patrick Beverly to the Boston Celtics.

The Boston Celtics send 2nd-Rounder (Den) to the San Antonio Spurs. 

A few points were thrown in too for good measure. Pat Bev was sidelined all year and with Marcus Smart in the mix he was expendable. To get a decent second for a guy waiving a towel was a solid get. 

Free Agency:

Not a lot to look at here, they have Smart as a RFA who any betting man would throw their house on the fact he is staying put. As well as Ed Davis who is a handy and versatile big in the modern day game who may serve them well if they can coax him into staying. No big loss if he walks and Spurs will look to round out the last 4-5 roster spots with some depth assuming Milton Shake will most likely spend all his rookie season in the G-League. Salary is an issue here as they push the luxury cap with just retaining Smart alone. Decisions, Decisions….

Star:

Trust the Process. Embiid is by far the most impactful player in the game and despite playing next to the back to back MVP he made it painfully obvious that he is the next big thing. Ranked number one overall with season averages of 28 PPG, 13.8 RPG, 1.7 APG, 2 SPG, 2 BPG shooting 58% from the field and 79% from the line on 7.6 attempts. He led the league in blocks, was top 10 in rebounding, 4th in scoring and 6th in steals. For such a high usage player he only turned the ball over 1.4 times a game. 

When Embiid was on the floor the Spurs were +8 and posted play off averages of 27/15.5/1.8/2/1.7 with splits of 55/39/75. He took out both MIP and DPOTY improving on last years seasons averages of 17.9/10.2/1/1/1.5. 

Goat:

Mike Conley. Sorry to do it to you my man I sure have a soft spot for him remembering the days when he was out their in royal purple, but he has just been a big disappointment. Two years ago the guy signed the biggest contract ever at the time and the Kings didn’t bat an eyelid doing so…. For good reason. The following year he missed most of the season as well as the play offs and the year after was traded to the Spurs eventually following the same tragic trend. 

It just wasn’t promising for a guy who’s now 30 getting paid 30m+ a year who relies on his quickness and agility as an undersized guard go down with repetitive back and knee issues. When you get traded for George Hill in an attempt to get someone who can actually contribute at the PG position then things are pretty grim. Which means he’s obviously moved on to the Pelicans and hopefully he can carve out a new role there without the spotlight and so much pressure on him to stay on the court. 

Draft Grades:

Shake Milton, SG -SMU.

Don’t know a whole lot about the kid but any wing player with some upside picked around here is a solid get. He’s projected to be the typical 3nD type guard/wing who can handle the ball and has good footwork. Exactly what fits the Spurs brand of Basketball. 

Grade: B

The Future:

It’s Davis and Embiid all the way for the better part of the next decade or so unless something tragic happens *touch wood*. Retaining Smart and dropping everyone else this free agency period has them right under the Lux Tax but they will obviously have to pick up some quality MLE/vet min type guys to round out the roster and may feel the pinch to make a salary cutting move as they will then be pushing the hard cap. T.J Warren seems expendable at 11.75m for another four years and Hill could be off the books next off season as well if he’s not already moved by then. 

I would imagine they intend to keep Lyles and Johnson around and it would most likely be the long term plan to have Stanley replace Harkless in the starting forward role if he can develop a reliable perimeter shot. I really like Lyles and he is legitimate 6th man type material and a great back up big to their powerhouse front court offering spacing for ether one of them with different line up looks. 

They would desperately need/want to secure ether a young starting calibre point guard who’s on the same time line as the big boys or an established talent at that position who wont break the bank sooner, rather then later. Hill obviously isn’t long term and I don’t think you can rely on Smart to run your offence for long stretches at a time. They have a fist full of seconds over the next few years, the Kings 2020 first which could be nice (who knows what will be happening over there in two months, let alone two years) and their own first comes into play in 2021.