San Antonio Spurs season preview

The NBA season will be here before you know it and FanSided is here to get you ready. In the lead up to Opening Night, we’ll be previewing two teams each day, reviewing roster changes, discussing important players and challenges, and hearing the perspective of our FanSided site experts. Let’s get ready for basketball!

Inputs: Dejounte Murray (PG, NBA Draft pick No. 29); Pau Gasol (PF, signed for two years, $30 million); Dewayne Dedmon (C, signed for two years, $6 million); Ryan Arcidiacono (PG, signed for partially guaranteed minimum); Bryn Forbes (SG, partially guaranteed minimum); Davis Bertans (PF, signed for two years, details undisclosed); David Lee (PF, signed for two years, $3.2 million)

Outputs: Boris Diaw (PF, traded to the Utah Jazz); Tim Duncan (PF, retired); David West (PF, signed with the Golden State Warriors); Andre Miller (PG, unsigned); Kevin Martin (SG, unsigned); Matt Bonner (PF, unsigned); Boban Marjanovic (C, signed with the Detroit Pistons)

Retained: Manu Ginobili (SG, signed for one year, $10 million)

Most important addition

The San Antonio Spurs sustained a loss to their roster this summer that cannot be quantified by looking at last season’s team record and stats. Tim Duncan — the 15-time All-Star, three-time MVP, and five-time NBA champion — leaves behind an immeasurable void that transcends just his elite contributions on offense and defense. The Spurs still have coach Gregg Popovich, of course, and the remnants of a team that went 67-15 last season, tied for the seventh-best mark in league history.

Still, the Spurs needed to replace Duncan, especially to contend in the arms race that is the Western Conference. The Spurs snared in a big fish in free agency this July, signing Pau Gasol to a very manageable two-year contract for $30 million. Gasol will be inserted into the starting center spot and stands to play even more minutes than Duncan did in his last season. While Timmy was limited to a career-low 25 minutes per game in 2015-16, Gasol was still chugging at almost 32 minutes per in his age-35 season.

While Gasol does not bring the defensive presence of Duncan, he is still a prolific and versatile offensive player at this stage in his career. Gasol has long been one of the best passing big men in the league (4.1 assists per game last season) and has expanded his perimeter shooting as such that the occasional three-ball may become an even more common occurrence this season in San Antonio.

Gasol wasn’t his normally efficient self last season, shooting 46.9 percent from the field, and while some of that is attributed to his career-high 69 three-point attempts (34.8 percent) it is also due to the inefficiency and dysfunctionality of Chicago’s offense. He has moved from a team that was 25th overall in offensive efficiency last season to a team that was third overall. Gasol is still an elite rebounder too. Along with sneaky additions like David Lee and Dewayne Dedmon, the Spurs now boast a front line rotation that is hard to beat among the NBA elites.

Biggest weakness

While the Spurs are loaded in the frontcourt, the same cannot be said about the backcourt. Nothing major has changed from last season, as Manu Ginobili has returned for at least one more year. The Spurs will enter the 2015-16 regular reason with a guard rotation of Ginobili, starters Tony Parker and Danny Green, and backups Patty Mills, rookie Dejounte Murray, and Jonathon Simmons.

While the Spurs offense gets by on team basketball that doesn’t rely too heavily on having ball dominant guards, one has to wonder how well that strategy will continue to work with Parker and Ginobili on their way out of the league. Ginobili played a career-low 19.3 minutes per game last season, and while he was still productive on a per-minute basis, it’s hard to imagine he has much left in the tank at 39-years old.

Parker is 34-years old, which just feels ancient with so many elite point guards in the West still in their prime 20s. Parker also played a career-low in minutes last season, at 27.3 per game, while averaging the lowest point total (11.9 ppg) since his rookie season. While Parker and Ginobili are still on the roster, the era of the Big Three in San Antonio is clearly a thing of the past and different guards will have to step up this season.

The problem is Green had a pretty awful season after signing a four-year, $45 million contract in 2015, averaging just 7.2 ppg and shooting a disappointing 33.2 percent from three. Patty Mills is still Patty Mills, an occasionally electric offensive player that is limited in several ways as a point guard. And while Dejounte Murray has promise, he is a rookie in Popovich’s system and can’t be counted on for much this season.

The Spurs will remain a top team in the West do their coaching and elite front line, but in a conference with so many superstar guards (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul, James Harden, Damian Lillard), the Spurs backcourt is a clear disadvantage that may burn them in a handful of matchups.

What does success look like?

— Michael Rehome, @AirAlamo, Air Alamo

There is change, and there is change. When the Spurs open the season without the greatest player in franchise history, for the first time in 19 years, it is going to feel weird. Still, they have the core of a lineup that won 67 games last season and the combination of Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge is the best 1-2 punch in the Southwest Division.

The Spurs have long been blessed with low-maintenance stars with high productivity. That remains unchanged with Leonard and Aldridge taking the mantle from Duncan.

The ever-improving Leonard might be the best two-way player in the NBA at this moment. He’s a devastating force defensively with a super effective offensive game. With the outstanding combination of length, athleticism, motor, skill and basketball intelligence, Leonard has welcomed the Spurs as his team.

Aldridge whom is entering his second year with San Antonio is a finesse big man. He is a superb scoring option from mid-range and in the low post.

Over the summer, the Spurs did lose some key players from their franchise-record setting year. With Boris Diaw and Boban Marjanovic signing with Utah and Detroit respectively, the Spurs went out and got Pau Gasol.

With the addition of Gasol, he will provide a terrific frontcourt for the Spurs lined up with Aldridge. With the Spurs, you don’t have to worry about effort and unselfishness. They are an elite squad when it comes to passing and shooting the ball.

Gasol will help on the offensive end but can he fill the void Duncan left on the defense? Duncan’s absence strides in another top rim protector in Gasol, one who contributed monster numbers in Spurs-styled limited minutes in Chicago for the previous two seasons.

Though Gasol did change or block shots for the Bulls for two campaigns, and though defensive rebounds are still of paramount importance in finishing a defensive possession, he is nowhere near the all-around defender that Duncan acted as in 2015-16.

It’s going to be rather interesting watching Popovich handle Gasol’s limitations. But if there is one coach that can handle it, it is Pop. There is no replacing the talent of the 15-time All-Star, two-time MVP Duncan in the Spurs lineup. But a bigger void to fill will be in the locker room and on the bench.

Over two decades, Duncan built the foundation for the Spurs culture that was both embracing and demanding. With Duncan gone and the new age beginning, the Spurs must find a way to get young blood flowing through their lineup. Kyle Anderson and Jonathan Simmons are holdovers who should step up and rookies Dejounte Murray and Jean-Charles Livio have solid opportunities.

There are a lot of savvy veterans who know how to get it done. Parker and Manu Ginobili are still on the team and their leadership will need to be at the top of their game to lead San Antonio.

In-house improvement is one of the Spurs’ traits, so don’t be surprised if Anderson, Simmons and others return as much better players than the last time.

Popovich, one of the best minds in the business, is still in charge … and the franchise has a well-established winning culture. Maintaining that culture, regardless of the final win total, is the goal this season.

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