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NBA Season Preview 2019-20: The 5 biggest questions for the San Antonio Spurs

By Ian Levy

MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 08: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs looks on against the Miami Heat during the first half of the preseason game at American Airlines Arena on October 08, 2019 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 08: DeMar DeRozan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs looks on against the Miami Heat during the first half of the preseason game at American Airlines Arena on October 08, 2019 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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The San Antonio Spurs are looking to keep their playoff streak alive and build a bridge from the present to the future. Here are the questions they’ll need to answer.

1. What ends up being the Spurs’ most productive backcourt combination?

It’s probably DeMar DeRozan and Derrick White. All the other variables — Patty Mills, Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes, Marco Belinelli, Lonnie Walker — present issues at one end or the other that need to be worked around. However, the Spurs’ nominal small forwards — DeMarre Carroll and Rudy Gay — are both more effective at the four which means there will be plenty of opportunities for Gregg Popovich to experiment with three-guard lineups. Adding Murray to the DeRozan-White combination is probably the trio we’ll see the most often and getting Murray and White on the floor together whenever possible is a step toward the future.

2. What’s the Spurs’ ceiling this season?

On paper, there are seven Western Conference teams who are pretty inarguably in a tier above the Spurs — Houston, Golden State, Denver, Utah, Portland and both L.A.’s. Barring some sort of injury-related collapse with one of those teams, the Spurs are then battling it out with the Mavericks, Kings, Pelicans and Timberwolves for the last playoff spot. The Spurs have some young players who could pop — Dejounte Murray could be an All-NBA defender again, Derrick White could be the version of himself we saw in last year’s playoffs, Lonnie Walker could be molten lava. But the inherent limitations of this team — having to lavish primacy on DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge — mean you just can’t let your imagination run wild.

3. Use a Neil Young song to explain the Spurs’ identity this season.

The Spurs are mismash of young and old, a team caught between two worlds. Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you.

4. Who will lead the Spurs in scoring this season?

DeMar DeRozan. He will also lead the team in the number of times he “looks down at the floor with his hands on hips, eyes unfocused, seeing but like, not really looking at anything, you know? Just like feeling the moment. Letting time and space come together and really turn themselves inside out, and oh…sh*t, timeout’s over.”

Next. Meet the 2019 NBA 25-under-25. dark

5. Who should lead the Spurs in scoring this season?

If the goal is maximizing the present and squeezing every bloody win from the rock of the 2019-20 season, then the answer is DeRozan. If the goal is taking that rock, knapping it down to a fine edge and affixing it to a wooden handle to be used as a tool, then the answer is White. If the goal is to strike the rock with a bit of steel, giving birth to a spark that can be tended and cultivated into a raging bonfire that turns the rest of the NBA into a scorched and barren wasteland, then the answer is Lonnie Walker.