2009-2010 Finish: 39-43

What went bad

The Spurs have long been a dominant franchise in the NLL, but since trading away Tim Duncan the team has been on the decline. While the 08/09 season was the worst on record for GM Leeroy and his Spurs, last season didn’t really turn out much better, as the team finished below .500 again.

The season with very little change to the unsuccessful team Leeroy put out on the floor the season before. Anderson Varejao re-signed for a massive payday and the only free agent that came aboard at first was aging center Theo Ratliff. Once the season began, point guard Andre Miller reluctantly joined the squad after receiving no offers from any other team. May as well make $5 million than nothing, right?

The rest of the season saw the Spurs make a bunch of trades and lose games. They let Willie Green walk and he latched on with the thankful Warriors. They finally traded the inept Ian Mahimni for the equally inept Shavlik Randolph.

With the losses mounting, Leeroy finally pulled the trigger on Tony Parker, his longtime point guard, sending him and Varejao offer to the Mavs for Dirk Nowitzki and Randolph Morris. They also took on Rashard Lewis’ monster deal, along with JJ Redick, from the Thunder in exchange for Samuel Dalembert and salary albatross Mike Dunleavy. But guess what? Dirk and Shard didn’t play well play together and the Spurs’ misery continued. Time to make more trades!

Next to go was Josh Howard, who spent most of his time with the Spurs hampered with injury. In exchange they got big man Mehmet Okur, who would soon have injury woes of his own. Finally, they ditched Ratliff, Brian Cook and Sergio Rodriguez for Glenn Davis and Ramon Sessions, two players with a good deal of potential, for a whole lotta nothing.

What went worse

The Spurs folded and didn’t make the playoffs. Just like his brother in Dallas, Leeroy seems to have fallen on hard times as the Dirk/Shard did not work out. Adding the pressure was Dirk’s insistence that he would opt out of his deal and leave San Antonio after the season. Leeroy and his fans just want to forget this season happened.

Stars

- Dirk Nowitzki, F-

Dirk played for his first team besides the Mavs since the inception of the league. While he was not as dominant this season as he has been in the past, he still managed to put up 16.5 ppg on 55% shooting and haul in 8 rpg. He is a good player to build around and maybe the change in scenery will help him and the Spurs next season.


Looking to the future

The Spurs were very busy on draft, pulling off what could be the most exciting deal in team history. First, Leeroy bought a first rounder for Miami for 23 GM points. However, they then dealt the pick, along with 5 more points to the Hawks for Greg Oden. Say what? That’s a lot of points of Oden who still may not be ready to return to the court. But here comes the kicker, the Spurs then trade the rights of Tiago Splitter and Ed Davis to the Kings for O.J. Mayo and Luke Walton. Yeah, Walton’s contract and injury situation sucks, but O.J. MAYO!? In one single move, Leeroy reinvigorated this franchise. Dirk and Mayo! Wow!

Then Leeroy panicked and ditched Rashard’s contract, sending him back to the Thunder with Courtney Lee for the retiring Rasheed Wallace’s contract, Marcus Haislip and Dunleavy (welcome back, Mike!) Obviously done for fiscal reasons, let’s hope the deal doesn’t come back to haunt Leeroy.

So where do the Spurs stand? They come into the season with $13 million under the cap. However, they need that cash to re-sign Dirk, who will likely stay. Dre Miller will be a goner, especially with the acquisition of Mayo and Sessions. The sticky point is Okur. They need a backup plan to Oden. DeJuan Blair is probably too small. Plus, is Dirk really a small forward? I wouldn’t really want Thabo Sefolosha starting at shooting guard. This team, although it has some interesting pieces, is still a long way from contending. The money freed up when Sheed goes will be helpful, but the $15 million tied up in Dunleavy and Walton seriously hurt this squad.