The San Antonio Spurs went into the offseason with hopes of landing a star point guard, such as Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry. However, Paul decided to sign with the Houston Rockets, and Lowry stayed put in Toronto, forcing the Spurs to turn to other free agency options.
Re-signing their own
The Spurs spent a great deal of their money on re-signing their own players, bringing back Patty Mills, Pau Gasol, and Manu Ginobili.
Mills was the first player to instantly re-sign as soon as free agency began, agreeing to a four-year, $50 million deal. With Tony Parker out for at least half the season, Mills will have a major role for the Spurs to start the season.
He is capable of handling big minutes, usually providing an offensive spark.
Gasol was later signed to a three-year, $48 million deal, which was quite surprising considering he opted out of his contract to take a pay cut. Nonetheless, Gasol may have to step into a starting role this season since Dewayne Dedmon signed with the Atlanta Hawks.
Most recently, the Spurs also re-signed Ginobili, who did not want to retire just yet. The 40-year-old Argentinian signed a two-year, $5 million bargain deal. He was still a solid producer off San Antonio’s bench last season and should continue to offer scoring and high I.Q.
Adding new faces
Perhaps the biggest free agency addition for the Spurs was Rudy Gay, who signed a bargain deal to play for a contender.
Gay will most likely come off the bench to provide the usual scoring and rebounding. However, he is recovering from an Achilles injury, which could affect him in the long run. Also, since Gay is known strictly for his scoring, it may be tough to fit him in a non-stop, ball-moving offensive system.
Joffrey Lauvergne was another addition to the team, to possibly replace Dedmon.
Lauvergne is a much different player, though. While Dedmon is known for his defense, Lauvergne is known for his offense, a floor-spacing big man who can knock down threes.
Lastly, the Spurs signed Brandon Paul, who has played for multiple NBA Summer Leagues and overseas in Russia and Spain. The 26-year-old is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, who went undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft.
He has the ability to score and may see some minutes with the Spurs.
The 2017 NBA draft
The Spurs had both of their draft picks and took Derrick White with the 29th overall selection and Jaron Blossomgame with the 59th overall selection. The Spurs have already signed White but Blossomgame has yet to receive a contract from the Spurs, although he did play in their Summer League.
The biggest downfall of San Antonio’s offseason was losing the promising athletic wing Jonathon Simmons. He was gradually developing into a solid two-way player, but the Spurs allowed him to walk, essentially replacing him with Rudy Gay.
Losing Simmons was probably the most disappointing part of San Antonio’s offseason.
It’s not like they significantly improved the roster anyway since they missed out on star players. They basically brought back almost all their own Free Agents and signed a couple of key pieces, but they are pretty much the same team as last season.
Roster outlook
PG: Tony Parker/Patty Mills/Dejounte Murray/Bryn Forbes/Derrick White
SG: Danny Green/Manu Ginobili/Brandon Paul
SF: Kawhi Leonrd/Rudy Gay/Kyle Anderson
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge/Joffrey Lauvergne/Davis Bertans/Matt Costello
C: Pau Gasol
Coach: Gregg Popovich
Offseason Grade: C
