Chris Paul and the Spurs quiet offseason
Every time you think of Chris Paul from now on, you must think of the time he punched Julius Hodge in the crotch. (Photo credit: Keith Allison)
Free agency and the NBA trade winds have been blowing with hurricane force, with front offices scrambling amidst the chaos of starting training camp and free agency on the same day.
The San Antonio Spurs, for the most part, have sat quietly in the eye of the storm, mere observers to the world around them.
“It’s been kind of wild,” Manu Ginobili said, “usually free agency is more like a domino effect where you wait for two or three big fish to sign somewhere, and then the other players start cascading to other teams.”
Yesterday the New Orleans Hornets sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers for an expiring contract (Chris Kaman), a young cornerstone (Eric Gordon), a young prospect (Al-Farouq Aminu) and a potential lottery pick (via Minnesota). The haul was impressive, proving David Stern might be a better general manager than two-thirds of the league.
The trade puts the New Orleans Hornets in context (a small market) and signals their intent (rebuilding). For all the backlash of vetoing the initial trade that would have sent Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, and Goran Dragic to the Hornets and Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, it was absolutely the right call. Especially for basketball reasons.
While the Clippers have added Chris Paul, the Dallas Mavericks Lamar Odom, the New York Knicks Tyson Chandler, and the Miami Heat Shane Battier, the Spurs only have TJ Ford to show for their troubles since the draft. The rest of the training camp invitees are enough to make the Spurs consider activating new intern/coach Sean Marks (he knows the system!).
For a team that exited to an eighth seed in the first round, the Spurs have been maddeningly quiet, content to point out the success of the regular season and untimely injuries to Ginobili and Tim Duncan.
There is some truth to their assertion, and there is also a lack of desirable trade assets or cap space to work with. George Hill was their main card, and they played it. Hopefully well. The only other significant moves they have available would be trading either Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili. And given that Ginobili and Duncan aren’t long for the NBA, there has been some thought that the Spurs explore making such a trade, or risk losing those players for nothing.
But there is fallacy in that train of thought. In vetoing the Lakers trade in favor of the Clippers trade, Stern showed an understanding that great teams are built around stars, and taking on solid complementary pieces to compete this season would have been harmful for the NBA in New Orleans long term.
For a small market team there is no hell worse than being in that limbo between bottom rung playoff seed and lottery team. The Hornets would have been better off amnestying Chris Paul than trading him to the Lakers and landing in that hell.
Great teams are built around elite players. It would be a mistake for the San Antonio Spurs to try and extend their playoff run past the careers of their current Big Three.
You see, teams never lose star players for nothing, even if they lose them to free agency or retirement. In exchange for bottoming out, teams receive top ten draft picks, presumably cap space, and an opportunity to land that next elite player.
There is no shame in a losing season, so long as you can trust your front office through the rebuilding process.
All the improvements surrounding the Spurs core are not going to make a bit of difference if the foundation is no longer capable of carrying them. In short, don’t blame Matt Bonner for Tim Duncan’s decline.
Teams like the Spurs over the past decade are rare, so when you have one it’s best to ride it for as long as conceivably possible. The Spurs will make a roster move or two at some point this season, but don’t expect it to be a significant game changer.
At some point every team loses a franchise player because no athlete is built to last forever. It’s best to enjoy it while it lasts, and then as Stern showed in New Orleans, cut ties and begin anew, not trying to hold onto whatever past glory you had.
