The Spurs won NBA championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. It is now 2009, so they were supposed to be having a parade this June. Instead they are up against the ropes, down 3 - 1 in their first round series against the Mavericks. After struggling to make the playoffs, the Mavericks have appeared stronger and fresher than the Spurs thus far despite the fact that the Mavs starters are just as old on average as the Spurs starters. For the Spurs, 33-year old franchise player Tim Duncan is visibly hobbling and soon-to-be-32 year-old secondary star Manu Ginobili is out for the season. Has age, wear and tear finally put an end to the Spurs dynasty (whether or not their 10-year run is a dynasty or not is a blog topic for another day)?
I say no. Regardless of how this season ends, I think the Spurs still have the pieces to field a championship-caliber squad next season. But a lot of it depends on how this offseason goes. Entering the summer of 2008 the Spurs were a bit too old in the starting line-up, starting to wear down due to injury, and badly in need of a youth infusion. While they added a couple of promising young perimeter players in Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill, they lost Ginobili for essentially the season when he re-injured himself in the Olympics. They also failed spectacularly to add any young talent on their frontline, which is where they absolutely have to concentrate this offseason.
The Spurs had been counting on 2007 first round pick Tiago Splitter, a 7-foot banger, to join them this season. Instead, Splitter re-upped with his Spanish League team through 2012, leaving the Spurs in a lurch. Duncan spent much of this season essentially alone on the frontline, with the rest of his frontcourt teammates either too old (Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley) or not talented enough (Matt Bonner, Fabricio Oberto) to take any pressure off of him. The late-season addition of Drew Gooden was nice, but the Spurs desperately need an athletic, rangy power forward on defense to put next to Duncan. Duncan has lost much of the range that once made him an All-World defensive power forward himself, but he still has the tools to be an excellent defensive center if he gets some help. A Joakim Noah/Anderson Varejao type would be absolutely perfect, and the Spurs should do whatever they can to get someone like that this offseason.
After what could be an extended off-season (Duncan has never in his career lost in the first round of the playoffs), the Spurs should return next season with a healthy Duncan in the middle, a just-entering-his-prime Tony Parker to carry the offense on a game-to-game basis, a finally recovered Ginobili back in his 6th man role, and solid perimeter support in Mason and Hill. That is a strong nucleus, and with Mason getting stronger he should help Ginobili be able to stay fresh over the season. If the Spurs are able to use their offseason to lure some similar support to keep Duncan fresh upfront, I still think that can be a championship-caliber nucleus moving forward.
What do you think? Do you see any reasonable way the Spurs are able to re-tool to compete in the West next year (or this year...they could still come back and take out the Mavs then you never know what happens from there), or have we seen the last of the Big Fundamental and his merry band on the big stage?