The San Antonio Spurs’ time as one of the NBA’s elite teams is officially over. With Gregg Popovich seemingly retiring soon, San Antonio’s strategy in the 2022 NBA offseason was to prepare for the future. It paid off well, as the team is well-suited to begin a tank.
The Spurs took some major steps towards rebuilding this offseason. They drafted three players in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft. They traded All-Star Dejounte Murray for draft picks and a veteran (Danilo Gallinari) that they waved. They took it extra slow in free agency and let Lonnie Walker sign with the Los Angeles Lakers while bringing in a veteran center in Gorgui Dieng. Victor Wembanyama better brush up on his River Walk knowledge just in case.
The Spurs were very productive in the 2022 NBA offseason but left one key move on the table: they should have added a point guard somewhere along the way.
Spurs offseason move they needed to make
The Spurs have plenty of young talent to lead them into their next era: Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Josh Primo, Jakob Poeltl, Tre Jones and a trio of rookies in Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley.
But who is doing the work to get them all the ball? Which player is going to run the offense and find the young players in their spots? The Spurs have plenty of ball handlers, but none of them can read the defense and get the ball to their teammates consistently. The lack of a point guard on the roster is striking and should be addressed soon.
Last season, Dejounte Murray did a bulk of the playmaking for the Spurs. He did a strong job, averaging a career-high 9.2 assists. The Spurs traded their other strong playmaker, Derrick White, to the Boston Celtics at the trade deadline, leaving the team with a dearth of playmakers. The two individuals who combined to produce over half of the Spurs’ 27.9 assists per game from last season are gone with no real replacements.
San Antonio’s roster features only one true point guard at the moment: Jones. The numbers do suggest that he is already a solid playmaker — his 27.0 assist percentage last season puts him just above players like De’Aaron Fox and Fred VanVleet — but the sample size is lacking.
Aside from Jones, the Spurs don’t really have someone who can reliably set the table on offense. Jones’ experience of being such at the NBA level is slim, as he played just 16.6 minutes per game last season. This makes their need for a playmaker even more dire.
Although it is true that Popovich is a master of getting his players to play together, the group at his disposal this season needs a lot of work. Most of the players on the roster are on rookie contracts. The Spurs’ remarkable ball movement in their heyday was the work of Pop’s philosophy and coaching, but it was the players on the court that made it work.
Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan are not walking through those doors. Not even someone like Boris Diaw is. The Spurs do have players who have a little playmaking in their arsenals like Sochan, Poeltl and Branham but none who are true playmakers, except for Jones. Either Jones will need to be responsible for a lot of playmaking or the rest of the roster will have to step up.
Can San Antonio get by using a few players who are merely decent playmakers and have everyone pitch in? Yes. Should that be what they rely on? It probably isn’t given how young the roster is. Popovich’s game planning can only go so far and the development of the young players remains to be seen.
The Spurs’ lack of a floor general may make them tough to watch this season. Having poor organization on offense and tanking don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, it would be beneficial for the Spurs to surround their young players with a strong infrastructure. Player development is just as important, if not more crucial, as racking up losses for a rebuilding team.
San Antonio could address its need for a playmaker by developing its key wings the right way. If Johnson or Vassell can take a leap in the area and/or Jones shows he is built to be a consistent playmaker for long stretches, there won’t be any major concerns. From the way it looks now, though, the Spurs will regret coming into the season with only one true point guard.
