2016-17 Finish: 62-20

Season Highlight:

The highlight for the San Antonio Spurs was the obvious ring they are wearing on their fingers right now! There really isn’t much to be said here besides, NLL CHAMPS, BABY!!!

Season Lowlight:

This portion of this review will not be filled with lowlights as every team tries to win, and don’t, so every team has a lowlight, all but one, the Spurs.

Best Trade:

The San Antonio Spurs send Bismack Biyombo, Reggie Jackson and Hollis Thompson to the Sacramento Kings. The Sacramento Kings send Andrew Bogut and Mike Conley to the San Antonio Spurs.

This was the big one right here, this one turned the tide for the Spurs because this one made them a defensive unit in almost every position. Leeroy made a point of acquiring a floor general with defensive expertise to go along with his pestering wings and twin towers.

Worst Trade:

The Oklahoma City Thunder send Bruno Caboclo to the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs use their trade exception over $ 1,589,640.

Not much to see here for the champs as they put on a clinic all year, but I guess when you trade for the Brazilian who’s two years away from being two years away from being two years…oh wait, how many years has it been? I’d say he’s a year away from being out of a job.

 

Other Notable Trades:

The Memphis Grizzlies send Courtney Lee and Jarnell Stokes to the San Antonio Spurs. The San Antonio Spurs send Aron Baynes and Rashad Vaughn to the Memphis Grizzlies.

I remember saying, “wow” on this one, because it was just such a smart trade for a guy that was leading the league in field goal percentage from three and was precisely the reason I was looking to trade for him. Banger Baynes and the prospect of Rashad Vaughn makes sense for a team that was trying to win-now, and it payed off, plus Lee can defend too.

The Phoenix Suns send CJ Miles to the San Antonio Spurs. The San Antonio Spurs send Timothy Hardaway and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Phoenix Suns.

The idea of adding another three point shooting specialist to the mix to an already lethal team made all the sense in the world, even if it was for a rental in CJ, however it came to the expense of Tim Hardaway, who most people still have doubts about and are split on him. CJ was a great add, and a seasoned veteran, another homer for Leeroy.

Best FA Signing:

Since the Spurs mostly retained their own guys, I guess it would have to be:

Marvin Williams signs with the San Antonio Spurs for $ 12250000 and 3 years.

Later it was discovered that Marvin was actually good at NLL basketball because of the shooting PF glitch, so this counts as best.

Worst FA Signing:

That would have to be shot-blocking expert and veteran cheerleader Joel Anthony. Anthony came in and few people knew this: he had a 99 shot-block rating! I know, right, pretty good useless info.

Still the end result was the same, as expected:

The San Antonio Spurs release Joel Anthony into free-agency.

Star:

Anthony Davis is the name of the beast! This cat was the be all end all, he was the terminator and he was empowered too!

The criticism on Davis was that he could only ball in the NBA and that he could never take his talents to the virtual cuourt like he was always meant too. Davis took that too heart and with the help of the shooting PF glitch (the big-man is back y’all!) he was able to bridge the gap between the wings and guards and totally dominated the opposition taking nearly every post season award he could find, including that elusive ring! Bonafide star!

 

 

Surprise:

I’m giving this one to the only person that it can be given, Joel Embiid!! This cat was phenomenal when he was on the floor, that is, and he was a big part of why the Spurs started out so hot and while he was on the shelf for a good chunk of the season, he was ruled eligible just in time to make the Spurs nuclear again and make that final ring push!

Embiid has the talent to be the best big man in the game, but injury concerns will always be there until he debunks them. That trade Leeroy pulled a couple seasons ago is looking masterful right now, and he was reward by all this talent coming through.

Goat:

I guess you have to give this one to Andrew Bogut, again the guy misses the whole season and it was in a strange fashion, for the NBA Cavs he lost the season like on his first play or minute of action, so this guy is made of glass, but someone will take a chance on him again next year because of what he brings to the table, however briefly. Shelf again for Bogey.

Draft Report Card:

Again the word we’re looking for is masterful.

From afar I came out of the draft impressed with what the Spurs and GM Leeroy did with what they had. First they went out and got one of the more versatile players in the draft in Semi Ojeleye, who had a first round grade on him, though he was taken by the NBA Celtics, I loved the pick!

Then came the best pick of the night for me, Jordan Bell. Leeroy was able to trade for this guy, who’s absolutely a one-of-a-kind prospect because of the electricity he brings to the court every time and the great passion he has for the game. Remind you of anyone? Yep, Draymond Green, and it was the same NBA Warriors who drafted him. Maybe he is Draymond 2.0, but if he is even 70% of Draymond, this is a home run.

Looking to the Future:

The future is very bright I’d say because Anthony Davis is not going anywhere and neither is Joel Embiid, who just signed a 5 year extension cementing his stay. Conley is on a long term contract and one of the best GMs in the business is sitting at the top of the mountain waiting for the challengers to come. I don’t see them going away anytime soon.

Upcoming Free Agents:

Well, not much to see here, I would say,

David West – Has already said he is willing to re-sign if the Spurs will have him. Looks like a done deal.

Alan Williams – A RFA and the team has already offered a new contract extension, also should stay.

CJ Miles – Rumor has it he has already been traded, but the trade is not yet official.