After a 22-year period of glory, the Spurs were lost in the transition period. Old signs are gone, new signs have yet to be discovered, and today's mediocrity makes the Spurs, accustomed to the great, feel strangely confused about the future.
On April 14, Beijing time, the Spurs lost to the Pelicans 103-113 in the playoffs, folding the playoffs for the second consecutive year and missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Last year, the Spurs just missed the playoffs for the first time in their history, and this year the Spurs once again refreshed the lower limit.
For the Spurs, their unexpected arrival in the playoffs because of the sinking of the Lakers and Trail Blazers is a bonus in itself. But if the Spurs just show their faces in the playoffs and get out, is such a windfall good for the Spurs?
To be more specific, at first glance, the Spurs are like a rising sun, thriving, they have cultivated an All-Star guard this season, and there will be a lot of draft picks and salary space in the future, but can the Spurs, who insist on taking a gentle rebuilding road, really return to the list of giants in this way?
At the end of the 2018-19 season, the Spurs began to go downhill. In the 2019-20 season, DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge remained the core duo of the Spurs, but the Spurs only won 32 wins and 39 losses that season, ranking 11th in the West and missing the playoffs. The 2020 offseason was supposed to be an opportunity for spurs to make a comeback, and there was a lot of discussion about whether the Spurs should send DeRozan and Ade for future assets, but the Spurs refused to trade.
The Spurs did not go up and down like this, and in the end the Spurs still parted ways with DeRozan and Ade, but the most valuable assets that the Spurs exchanged for DeRozan were only the first round picks in 2025, and the way they broke up with Ard was to "buy out the contract", spending a lot of money in vain and not even changing the air back. What is clear is that the Spurs are not taking full advantage of the value of deRozan and Ade's deal.
There is also a result of this up-and-down: Spurs only got the 11th pick and 12th pick in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, respectively. Especially in the 2021 draft, for a play-off place, the Spurs only got the No. 12 pick in the end. You know, this is a difficult draft year for many years, those teams that have sought high draft picks have received huge gains, the teams that got the top 8 picks have generally won, and even the magic of signing Franz Wagner with the No. 8 sign immediately has a forward core. But the Spurs only got 12 picks, not to mention, they just chose the young Primo, which attracted countless complaints.
In this era, the Spurs who refuse to mess up are a clear stream, in order to ensure a winning culture, to maintain a positive relationship with fans, in order to ensure the team's reputation in the local market, the Spurs have been taking a gentle rebuilding path.
The Spurs' courage to take the road of moderate reconstruction may come from previous experiences. After 2011, many people thought that spurs could not return to the top, but spurs not only returned to the finals with a gentle rebuild, but also won the championship in 2014, and remained strongly competitive in the following years. If you think about it, how did the Spurs' gentle rebuilding at that time be completed? With the GDP combination still in place, the Spurs traded for Kawhi Leonard. Leonard himself has top talent and learning ability, coupled with the Spurs' careful cultivation of him, he has become a superstar, and the Spurs core has completed the handover of the scepter.
In the end, there are only a few ways to rebuild, or to take the road of speed, like the Heat of the year, the previous Nets to use the salary space to eat two superstars, or use the transaction to introduce big stars and form a super duo or the big three. Or rebuild completely and use high draft picks to get talented young players. Both approaches essentially need to have talented players at their core.
The Spurs do have salary space, but in San Antonio they do not have the attraction of the Heat, the Nets, and the Lakers, which can attract superstars to join forces here. Do the Spurs have top talented young players? Nor does it.
The Spurs' ability to cultivate is commendable, the 2016 No. 29 show Dezhangtai Murray has been selected as an All-Star, the 2019 No. 29 show Kelden Johnson has become a member of the Olympic championship team, the 2017 No. 29 show Derrick White in exchange for the Spurs in the trade, and the 2020 No. 41 show Trey Jones became a very cost-effective substitute point guard. Including the 2020 No. 11 show Vassell and the 2021 No. 12 show Primo, these two young people also have their own characteristics and highlights.
Among them, only Murray has shown the potential to become the cornerstone of the team, johnson data seems to have improved a lot, but he is still almost blank in the attack with the ball, and the proportion and efficiency of shots are very low. But can the Spurs have a high ceiling with Murray as the core? If the Spurs really thought Murray was the real cornerstone of the team, they wouldn't have considered using Murray to trade Ben Simmons, and even the Spurs themselves knew the meaning of top talent. Like today's life-and-death battle, the Pelicans core Ingram slashed 27 points at a critical moment without a solution, but Murray only scored 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
Instead of a lover to survive, it is better to abandon the son and take the position. It's not that the Spurs don't understand this, but the Spurs are reluctant to do it. Once again this season, the Spurs have entered the play-offs, played one game and then exited, and the result is that the probability of the Spurs now getting the top four picks is very low, and unless there is a miracle, they will most likely only get the 9th or 10th pick. This year's draft is not a big year, and in this pick, it is difficult for the Spurs to get the cornerstone level of genius.
Not long ago, ESPN used the frustration of the Lakers, Nets, and Clippers to discuss a question: Is the era of super teams over? ESPN's view is that it is gradually becoming less popular to form super teams like the Lakers, Nets, and Clippers in the form of free agent signings and trades, because this will cause the team to sacrifice a lot of depth, and the foreign superstars will destroy the original culture of the team. The Bucks, Suns and Grizzlies, who have been successful this season, have all shown that it is a better way to build a team by cultivating their own stars, and then through external reinforcements and their own draft reinforcements.
Regardless of whether this view is right or not, this article is one thing that is right, this season's successful Suns, Grizzlies, Bucks, 76ers, including the Lone Rangers, Cavaliers and other teams, they have all had the experience of swinging for high draft picks, except for the Bucks (Antetokounmpo is the No. 15 pick), several other teams have been given high draft picks that can serve as the cornerstone of the team. There's also the Timberwolves, who returned to the playoffs yesterday, anthony Edwards, who was screwed up by the Timberwolves.
The Spurs desperately need a super genius who can serve as the cornerstone of the team, and it is difficult to get such a player by gentle reconstruction, unless the Spurs can open their eyes like the Bucks and Nuggets and get an MVP-level star with a low pick. Just think about how low the probability is.
Of course, the Spurs rebuilding doesn't necessarily have to rely on the draft. Now the Spurs lineup is very flexible, in the next two years, the Spurs can launch a trade, they have draft picks, but also have quality trading chips. But will the Spurs, which have rarely been involved in big deals, make a move? Does the less than 40-year-old cutting-edge general manager Brian White have the courage?