How San Antonio Spurs Should Round Out Championship Roster
The San Antonio Spurs elected to keep things simple this summer, quietly reassembling a roster that's thus far identical to the one that quickly dispatched the Miami Heat in last season's NBA Finals.
In addition to inking head coach Gregg Popovich to a multiyear extension, the organization extended point guard Tony Parker and re-signed free agents Boris Diaw, Patty Mills and Matt Bonner. In a bid to maintain the corporate knowledge that's gotten the franchise this far, general manager R.C. Buford avoided any impulse to prematurely shake things up with an eye to the future.
That plan almost certainly owes much to Tim Duncan's decision to put off retirement for at least another season.
So long as Duncan continues anchoring San Antonio's interior presence, the remaining piece to the puzzle consists primarily in surrounding him with high-IQ players who can pass and shoot the ball.
Parker—now 32—will still be the club's offensive engine, and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is poised to take another step forward in his rapid ascendance.
By all accounts, the Spurs are well-positioned to vie for another title. Though much has changed around the NBA landscape, Popovich's squad supplements its talent with unrivaled chemistry, depth and discipline.
That said, Buford and Co. now have some decisions to make.
With just one open roster spot, speculation about the team's final piece has surfaced with a number of names mentioned as possibilities.
The most familiar of those names is still deciding whether he'll retire or play another day.
ESPN.com's Marc Stein suggested via Twitter in August that the, "Reigning champs, I'm told, [are] trying to barge into Ray Allen sweepstakes."
Stein quickly proceeded to note that, "Ray Allen himself, mind you, has been saying for weeks that he's still deciding whether or not to play next season, let alone choose where."
Indeed, Allen and his camp have been persistent in their declarations that there's nothing to see here, at least not yet.
"As Ray has previously stated, he is taking this time to make a decision whether or not he will play next season," agent Jim Tanner said in an August statement, per USA Today Sports. "Any reports otherwise are false."
Allen himself echoed that sentiment.
"It's August, and I don't want to rush to judgment," Allen said, according to the Hartford Courant's Dom Amore. "I want to get to September and see how I really feel."
Now that it is September, we may be closer to some news. If the Spurs can dissuade Allen from joining close friend LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, that would instantly resolve any outstanding questions about how Buford should complete his roster.
Though San Antonio's wing rotation is well-stocked with shooters (including Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and Marco Belinelli), no team is too deep to make room for an icon like Allen. The 39-year-old may be coming off a career-low 9.6 points per contest, but he still converted on 37.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
Allen certainly can't carry a significant load, but he's the kind of specialist who rises to the occasion—as the Spurs themselves traumatically learned in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals.
While adding an accomplished veteran like Allen ranks as San Antonio's ideal scenario, it probably isn't the most realistic.
The organization has already signed a trio of roster long-shots: Bryce Cotton, JaMychal Green and, most recently, San Diego State forward Josh Davis.
Unless one of those guys makes a strong impression during training camp, odds are the Spurs look elsewhere.
Earlier this month, Sporting News' Sean Deveney reported that, "Free-agent forward Earl Clark, who followed up a breakthrough year with the Lakers by bouncing between the Cavaliers and Knicks last year, will be working out this week for the defending champion Spurs, a source told Sporting News."
Still only 26, Clark has bounced around the league since the Phoenix Suns selected him with the No. 14 overall pick back in 2009. He showed some potential during his 2012-13 campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he'd likely struggle to establish himself as anything more than a third-string forward in San Antonio.
Meanwhile, Stein reported amidst FIBA World Cup play that the "Spurs have expressed interest in signing Mexico star center Gustavo Ayon, ESPN.com has learned."
Stein also notes that, "San Antonio remains determined to re-sign Australian center Aron Baynes...but has identified Ayon as both a potential Baynes replacement or a possible addition to the roster even if a new deal with Baynes is worked out."
It's not entirely clear how the team would make space for both Baynes and Ayon, but the big takeaway is that there's a good chance the Spurs carry another seven-footer on the roster before all is said and done. One way or the other, it makes sense to add some depth behind Duncan and Tiago Splitter—especially with Diaw limited primarily to playing the 4 spot.
Baynes was used sparingly last season but made the most of his limited minutes with hard picks and tenacious rebounding. He even made 14 appearances in the playoffs, including some quality minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
His presence was a reminder that the bottom of the rotation matters, especially on a team that spreads its minutes around.
But important as these little things are, there's a strong case to be made for punting this decision down the road a few months. Unless someone like Allen jumps at an opportunity to join the reigning champions, preserving an open roster spot makes a lot of sense.
Recall that San Antonio signed Diaw in March of 2012 after the veteran was waived by the then-Charlotte Bobcats. Buford could take a wait-and-see approach, surveying the free-agent landscape once teams have had the opportunity to waive or buy out what they consider excess baggage.
The Spurs have a way of reclaiming those lost causes.
Alternatively, some extra depth in the middle (in the form of Baynes or Ayon) couldn't hurt. Another point guard to ease the blow of Mills' months-long recovery from shoulder surgery might make sense, as well.
For the Spurs, these kind of decisions are something of a luxury. A title-worthy core is already in place, and the options for supplementing that core aren't half bad.
The rich appear destined to get a tiny bit richer.
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