Photo: AP

Photo: AP

Well, Spurs fans, we got what we wanted. The Spurs are the darlings of free agency 2015 – something our grandchildren will have a really hard time believing one day, and something I still have a hard time believing myself.

In the time it takes to blink, the Spurs acquired the consensus No. 1 pick on the market, former Portland Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge; re-signed Kawhi Leonard to a max deal; somehow convinced Danny Green that money is stupid; brought back fan favorite Manu Ginobili; and of course, inked an extension with franchise cornerstone Tim Duncan.

Following that, former Indiana Pacer David West set $11 million on fire outside Bankers Life Fieldhouse while signing a veteran’s minimum deal with San Antonio. Suffice it to say, the 2015-16 Spurs roster is one of the most talented Spurs rosters we’ve ever seen on paper, and while paper doesn’t mean a whole lot, you’ll be hard pressed to find a true NBA fan who isn’t excited to see what the Spurs are capable of on the court next season1.

But at what cost do these landscape-changing moves come? Do the silver and black have the depth required to slog through another bloodbath campaign in the NBA Western Conference? What of those we left behind in the wake? Will we miss them? Let’s find out.

The Departed

Tiago Splitter

I think Splitter is the clear-cut “biggest loss” the Spurs suffered this offseason. Traded to the Hawks to clear cap space for their new big man, LMA, Splitter was often a very, very good NBA center for San Antonio in his five years with the team, but he was not always a very, very good NBA center and I have to admit I screamed at him a lot more than he probably deserved until the 2013 playoffs started. By the time The Finals rolled around, I went back to screaming at him constantly again, as the team steamrolled their way to the most heart-wrenching playoff collapse we’ve seen.

That said, I truly believe that Tiago – sorry, healthy Tiago – is a very, very good NBA center, and was a huge contributor on the 2014 championship squad (Spurs were +7.5 with him on the court). However, I don’t count this as a huge, devastating loss. Without his health, he is pedestrian at best. I think, unfortunately, I’ll mostly remember him for getting destroyed trying to dunk on LeBron James in the 2013 NBA Finals, being totally non-existent in the 2015 playoffs, and for not having the cool hair I imagined him to have before seeing a Brazilian guy named Splitter for the first time.

Marco Bellinelli

I wish I thought Bellinelli’s departure hurt more than it does. He’s a very good shooter, but I don’t feel like he had a great 2014-15 season. This may not be a fair thought, because 2013-14 was without question his greatest NBA season: he shot 43% from behind the arc and set career highs in rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and points scored. The Spurs also used him nearly 700 minutes fewer last season, so it’s hard to go with anything other than my gut when I say he declined in his second Spurs season.

The Spurs have lights out shooting already, though. And you have to think that this years iteration of the team will feature more of an inside game, given the players they added. This, unfortunately, makes Marco expendable and probably too pricey for San Antonio’s liking anyway. I will forever remember Bellinelli as the guy who let me annoyingly scream BELLINELL-THREEEEEEEEEEE several glorious times during his Spurs years, for looking eerily similar to my favorite bass player, and for being really bad at sexting.

Cory Joseph

I like Cory Joseph a bunch. In an alternate dimension, where Manu Ginobili retired two years ago, I would be really excited about what Cory Joseph has been doing for the Spurs and how he’s grown into a very good guard in the San Antonio system. As it stands, I’m watching a very talented, and still very young Cory Joseph pack his bags to spend his winters in Toronto. Have fun with that, buddy!

The loss of CoJo worries me a little more than the others, if only because I don’t see a lot of depth in our current guard lineup. Tony Parker is the obvious starter at PG, with Green over at SG, but behind them we have hopefully-good-but-always-unpredictable Ginobili and please-be-healthy Patty Mills followed by the up-and-hopefully-coming Kyle Anderson. I’m a huge Patty Mills fan, and I hope he’s back to shooting and ball-hawking like he was in the championship campaign two years ago when the season starts, but if he isn’t?

*Gulp*

Aron Baynes

A big man who makes his free throws and isn’t scared to get after it in the paint? What’s not to like about Aron Baynes? I thought it was really cool to see him develop this season, especially after seeing how brilliantly Popovich used him in the playoffs during the championship run, but I suppose the budding love I’d developed for Baynes wasn’t meant to last.

Losing Aron Baynes definitely hurts, because there’s no team in the NBA who doesn’t want big man depth. But at the same time, Baynes got paid quite handsomely and well outside the range the Spurs would have gone after him for. In turn, the Spurs brought in the aforementioned West for nothing more than a song and a dance and drafted Serbian Center Nikola Milutinov to plug in the hole. I’m not suggesting David West play center. I’m just saying that San Antonio did manage to find another quality large body for a lot less than Detroit paid for Baynes.

Add it all up, and the Spurs clearly came out winners. But let’s have a little moment of silence for a few players who contributed to an NBA Finals victory two years ago, and wish them well with their new teams.

But obviously, let’s hope to crush them in every head-to-head matchup going forward.

Is it October yet?

 

1. Except probably Warriors and Cavaliers fans.