Dark horse MVP?
Last Seasons Record – 47-35
This Seasons Record – 52 -30
What a whirlwind the off-season was for these Spurs. In fact, the last few years have been not rough, but, emotional. For two decades we watched Tim Duncan dominate the NBA, be the face of this franchise and become one of the best 10 players of all time. We thought he was passing the torch to Kawhi Leonard. The finals MVP, we all thought this was a for sure thing. Kawhi was the prototypical Spur. Well a lot can happen in a single season. The Spurs that we knew are no more, and they traded Kawhi away for a pretty damn good basketball player. This is going to be so weird for fans.
Key Additions and Subtractions.
Unless you were living under a rock, you know, as I just mentioned that Kawhi Leonard is now a Toronto Raptor. Danny Green is also a Raptor and Tony Parker decided to take his talents to Charlotte. Manu Ginobili decided that he was done with basketball all together and retired. That is an INSANE offseason. That is so much lost, so much leadership and culture gone from this franchise. They got back DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl, both grey players, but I don’t know if it’s enough to fill that empty void. Not because they aren’t good enough, but unless they got LeBron, no other player is capable of making up for this much loss. So this is going to be a whole new ball game with the Spurs, but if there’s one man for the job it’s coach Pop.
Year Long Question – Can DeRozan reinvent himself?
Being a life long Raptors fan, I will miss DeRozan, but we got Kawhi for him. So I can’t be that upset. That being said, he is a terrific ball player. He has gotten better every single season he has played. This year will be no different. With a new coach and a new system I’ve curious to see how he does. I think he will become more pass happy and really thrive off cutting to the basket. Coach Pop won’t always rely on him and lean on him for late game buckets. That showed the other night in LA. So if he can reinvent his game a bit, become more efficient, there’s no telling how much he can accomplish this year. If the Spurs have a magical season and perhaps get a top 3 seed, DeMar could be in the running for MVP. At least that’s what I think.
Fan Mindset.
Like I mentioned, the house was cleared this offseason, but they brought in a stud with DeRozan. Coach Pop knows the way of the force, he knows how to be a winner and he knows how to mould and shape a player. So he’s Yoda, and DeMar is a young Luke. He knows he has these powers, but he’s never had the proper teacher. This could be a great marriage and fans want that to be the case. This team had won 50 games for almost 20 straight years, all they know is winning. They aren’t ready to give this all up, and how can you blame them? They have been NBA royalty for so many years and every franchise wants what they have. Yes they have 5 rings, but it’s the consistency that is so damn impressive. So don’t think Pop is going to sit back and just let this team die. He’s got to much pride and he’s to damn smart. When Luke figured out how to use to the force, he became the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. Can the same be said for DeRozan? Can’t wait to find out.
Bold Prediction, Sponsored By Nate – Spurs are a top 4 seed.
I know above I only have them winning 52 games. But this is the bold prediction section so it’s different. Look this is the Spurs. They won 47 games last year and Kawhi played in 9 of them. I repeat he played in 9 games and he wasn’t even fully healthy. They are good no matter what. They have unreal systems and schemes and DeRozan led Toronto to a lot of wins. If no one else gets hurt, this Spurs team can easily sneak into that 4th seed.
