Spurs Insider: Meet San Antonio's Next European Phenom, Davis Bertans
The San Antonio Spurs came to training camp three weeks ago needing to answer more questions than at any time in nearly two decades.
With a regular-season opener against the two-time defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors less than a week away, most of the questions have been answered.
Yes, Pau Gasol was the perfect replacement for Tim Duncan in the starting lineup, in large part because he understands the impossibility of replacing a legend.
Sure, Kawhi Leonard can quietly fill the leadership vacuum left by Duncanโs departure and also be more assertive within the Spurs โgood-to-greatโ offense.
No, Tony Parker has not dropped to the lowest tier among the NBAโs starting point guards and can be happy as a facilitator rather than a primary scorer.
Si, Manu Ginobili can still fly recklessly around the court as the leader of the Spurs' second unit.
Other questions remain unanswered, including the mystery of Danny Greenโs missing three-point stroke. But it appears that Davis Bertans will answer a question that carries more weight than usual on a roster with more newcomers than holdovers from the 2015-16 team that won a franchise record 67 games:ย Which newcomer has a chance to make a bigger impact than anyone could have anticipated when he joined the roster?
On Tuesday night, about 12,000 Spurs fans got a look at Bertansโ potential when they showed up for the teamโs annual open scrimmage at the AT&T Center.
Because the scrimmage was four 12-minute quarters, played with a running clock, it was impossible to get an accurate estimate of live-action playing time. But in what likely was less than 20 minutes of real court time, Bertans squeezed off 13 shots, 11 of them from long range. He made six three-pointers, grabbed three rebounds and had three assists.
He also rejected a dunk attempt by Dewayne Dedmon, showing he retains some of the explosiveness that attracted the Spurs to him prior to the 2011 draft, when he first was eligible for selection.
Bertans was part of what has become one of the most celebrated trades in franchise history: the 2011 draft-night deal that sent George Hill to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for the draft rights to Kawhi Leonard. The Pacers also conveyed their 2011 second-rounder to the Spurs, who instructed them to pick Bertans.
He was an 18-year-old playing in Slovenia for Union Olimpija.
It should surprise no one that the Spurs saw something many teams did not: a quick-release shooting stroke that was accurate out to the three-point line. Bertans combined this with better-than-average athleticism for a 6'10" player and an understanding of the game that was rare in an 18-year-old.
He was a classic Spurs draft-and-stash pick, a second-rounder whose rights they retained while he honed his skills in Europe for a few years until he was ready for NBA play.
A torn right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), suffered in the Serbian League finals for European powerhouse Partizan Belgrade, delayed his journey to San Antonio. When the same ACL tore again during his first season with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia of the Spanish ACB League, it seemed questionable that he ever would make it to the Spurs.
His dedication to rehabilitation got him back on the court in Spain, and his play last season convinced the Spurs to sign him to a two-year contract that starts at the NBA minimum, $543,471.
Now he has a chance to be a bargain-basement contributor as a rookie.
โThe poor guy had the two ACL (tears), back-to-back, basically, so he's been rehabbing for a couple of years,โ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after he wowed the crowd at the open scrimmage. โIt looks like he is healthy and is doing exactly what we thought he could do when we drafted him. He's been very, very good.
โWe've watched him play for several years now, so he's not a surprise, other than maybe he's a bit more athletic than we have been expecting. His speed and quickness are better than one might think than from watching film of him. The guys that have gone over to watch him have always been impressed with him. For people like myself, who have only seen him on film for the most part because he's been so injured, that was nice, a small surprise. But he's had a really good camp. He's done well.โ
Bertans has a keen sense of how fortunate he is to finally have made it to the Spurs roster and believes he is back to being the player he was before suffering the two ACL injuries.
โI was already feeling good back at the end of the previous season in Spain,โ he said. โSo another extra summer of work, and I feel great.
โOn this team, you just have to take the role that comes to you. If I donโt get any touches, I donโt get any touches. The way the ball moves here, itโs easy to get the touches and get wide-open looks. Whatever Coach Pop gives me, Iโm fine with that.โ
Bertans, who will turn 24 on Nov. 12, is learning the subtleties of NBA big-man play. He is not likely to get much playing time through the first month of the regular season, but one of his most important teammates sees him as a quick study who can fill the stretch-4 role Matt Bonner did for 10 seasons in a Spurs uniform.
Ginobili, who understands the difficulty of transitioning from Europe, believes Bertans eventually can make a Bonner-like impact from range and do a few things Bonner could not.
โMatty had a great career, with championships, played 10 years on one team,โ said Ginobili, now the Spursโ oldest player, at 39. โItโs not a bad comparison. For sure, [Bertans] has the potential to do more, because of his athleticism, because of his size, his quick release. Heโs going to need a little time to adjust.
โHeโs going to play. Pop likes his game. Opponents are going to have to respect his shot.โ
โI think itโs getting easier and easier, trying to get the feel for the system and moving around the court,โ Bertans said. โI wasnโt used to being under the rim and in the paint so much. Iโm just getting used to the system, that I have to be in the position where I have to be and then just find open spots on the court offensively.โ
Expect Popovich to deploy Bertans strategically until he is more comfortable with the NBA game, but donโt be surprised if he becomes the contributor off the Spurs bench you hadnโt expected this season.
Handicapping the Cutsย
Popovich likely will carry all 19 players through Fridayโs final preseason game against the Rockets and wait until Saturday, the league-mandated deadline, to cut his roster to 15.
The Spurs have 14 players with fully guaranteed contracts. That means the five with partial guaranteesโveteran center Joel Anthony, guards Patricio Garino, Nico Laprovittola, Bryn Forbes and Ryan Arcidiaconoโhave been battling for a lone roster spot unless Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford are willing to move a player with a guaranteed deal.
There are many reasons to believe Anthony will be on the opening night roster, beginning with the fact that he is the only one of the five with any NBA experience. He is also a proโs pro, one of those veterans coaches love to have as their end-of-the-bench player.
โYou can already tell what a great teammate he is,โ Popovich said of Anthony. โHard worker, runs the floor, knows his role, accepts his role, enjoys his role, intelligent.โ
Of the guards, Laprovittola and Forbes seem to have the best shot at a roster spot, based on conversations with three advance scouts from other teams who have observed preseason games at AT&T Center. Their consensus: Forbes has a slight edge.
The View From Inside
After 11 seasons with four teams, forward-center David Lee was anxious to see for himself how the Spurs became the most successful franchise among the four North American pro leagues over the past two decades.
Nearing the end of his first Spurs training camp, he believes he has a pretty good idea.
โThey have max guys that they have paid, guys that are high-character,โ Lee said, โobviously highly talented, but high-character. You see a lot of these teams that win for two or three years and then hit a big lull and get some other guys and win for a couple of years and then go down. Where the Spurs are really one of the few teams, if not the only team, that has been consistent for the past decades, and that's the reason why.
โWhen you make the leaders of your team Tim, Manu and Tony and you fill in guys with Pau and LaMarcus (Aldridge) as those guys get older, Kawhi, guys like that, those are guys that are going to be really successful. They are hardworking, they are great character guys, good leaders and they do things right, on and off the court. And that makes it easy to bring guys like me in to support them because, being a veteran, I want to play with guys that have that amount of respect for the game. So it works all the way around.โ
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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