What are you doing with your summer? Whatever it is, it’s not nearly as awesome as what the Spurs’ front office is doing.

I ran a half-marathon the morning of July 4th, which isn’t nothing. After crossing the finish line, cooling down, drinking some Powerade and eating some watermelon, I retrieved my phone. Like most Spurs fans, I had been getting anxious, awaiting news on LaMarcus Aldridge. Could he really choose Phoenix over us? Staying in Portland I get: more money. I never begrudge any person taking care of themselves financially. But going to Phoenix was a lateral move for less money.

Getting down to it, his decision would ultimately tell us everything we’d need to know about him. Put another way, if he spurned the Spurs, he was never a Spur to begin with.

Or maybe this was all just justification running through my head on those 13.1 miles, bracing myself for disappointment. Thankfully, I did not have to wait long. Minutes after the race, the Woj bomb came.

LMA was coming to San Antonio, the newest member of the family.

The Aldridge signing was just one (albeit the biggest) of many perfectly timed moves by the Spurs’ front office this offseason. In many ways, this is the first time the Spurs have been big-time players in free agency. In years past, they’ve mostly just filled in the gaps, replacing old cogs with new ones.

So watching the team work with this ruthlessness and grace, perfectly executing each move as if it was nothing at all, is exciting for us first-time free agency watchers.

On the first morning of free agency, they signed Danny Green to a below-market contract, agreed to a new contract with Kawhi Leonard, and traded Tiago Splitter, effectively creating enough cap room for Aldridge. (Because of some complicated machinations, the Aldridge signing will officially have to happen before the Green and Leonard signings, but the agreements could happen before.)

Next, they made their pitch to Aldridge. Because of their lack of free agency chases, it’s never come up, but it’s become quite clear that the Spurs have two huge advantages in pursuing top players: one of the greatest coaches of all time, and one of the greatest players (and teammates) of all time. Who could resist Pop and Timmy?

LaMarcus-Aldridge-Tim-Duncan-Spurs

Duncan announced his return. It seemed inevitable, but it was still an important domino.

Aldridge agreed. Marco signed with the Kings. Baynes signed with Detroit (for way more money than the Spurs would ever pay him). The Spurs renounced Cory, who then signed with Toronto. (Like most Spurs fans, I’m sad to lose Cory, and wish him great success back in his hometown.)

Four pieces lost for one (big) piece gained. But let’s think of it this way: the Spurs gave up their 5th (Splitter), 9th (Joseph), 10th (Marco), and 11th (Baynes) players for LaMarcus Aldridge1. That’s not bad.

More impressively, everything went nearly perfectly for the Spurs. They hit their biggest target, and they did so while retaining the key smaller pieces they wanted: Diaw, Green, and Mills. This is literally the best case scenario the front office had planned out years ago when they targeted this summer as their big free agency move, and they played it perfectly.

And it continues to play out perfectly! Manu agreed to come back for one more season (at least) on Monday, quickly followed by news that David West is forgoing $12 million in salary to come play with San Antonio for the league veteran minimum. That’s insane.

Before we dig in to some of the specific players, look at the roster we already have for next year: Duncan, Aldridge, Leonard, Parker, Green; Manu, Mills, Diaw, West, and Anderson. That is a frightening 10-man roster.

Aldridge

LaMarcus is obviously the biggest get of the off-season, and possibly the first huge free agent to come to San Antonio in the Duncan-Pop era. He’s definitely the first player who the team will have to adjust to as much as he’ll have to adjust to the team. He has that much gravity on offense.

First things first, LMA is an elite offensive player. Some of his more advanced stats paint a slightly different picture, but this is based on him being the focal point of the Blazers offense for nearly half a decade, and often having to sacrifice efficiency for the sake of the team. Defenses have been keyed into him for years, and I think his effectiveness and efficiency will blossom in San Antonio with so much offensive diversity and balance, even as his overall numbers might dip. (Speaking of, he is the only player to average 23-10 over the last two seasons. The last player to put up those numbers over two seasons? Mr. Tim Duncan, way back when.)

He gives the Spurs something they’ve never had: a true big man with a pure outside jumper. All those 18-footers that Duncan has shot over the last few years with almost no arc that you can’t believe go in most of the time? Imagine Aldridge’s pure jumper in those spots now. Yeah, I know. And if he extends his range out to the 3-point line (as I imagine Pop and the staff will strongly encourage)? He’ll be pure offensive devastation – Kevin Love (pre-Cavs) with more athleticism.

But Aldridge is more than just a shooter. He can function in the post, in pick and roll, he can handle the ball a bit himself. Imagine a Kawhi-Aldridge pick and pop. Good luck with that.

He’s spent most of his career in isolation-heavy offenses, so it might take some time to adjust to all the cutting and movement the Spurs employ. But once he adjusts, it will only serve to make his game more efficient and ruthless. All those Tiago short-armed layups and missed dunks? Aldridge isn’t missing those. Plus, it’s good to have a player that can score well in low-efficiency situations, that can always get a good look in late clock and late game.

People much smarter than me about basketball think as highly of his fit as I do.

Defensively, I think he’s probably better than most realize. His rim-protection numbers last year were only slightly behind Splitter’s. He doesn’t have the solid build as Tiago, but he can hold his own in the post. And he still has the quickness for a big man to do well in the pick and roll. He’s increased his rebounding numbers over the years, and has averaged double-digit rebounds for the last two seasons. Mostly, though, I think he has the intelligence, ability, and desire to fit into the Spurs’ defensive system, which usually makes people look better than normal at defense. Playing alongside Green, Leonard, and Duncan will do that.

There are some concerns about his locker room fit, and the Blazers seem to be waging the typical out-the-door smear campaign. It is well-known that he didn’t always get along with players in the organization, and he is by all accounts a complicated and introverted person. But the Spurs’ culture is designed to put team above all else, to treat everybody with respect and as a man, and to be at once both professional and familial. He’ll be coming into a situation with a strong locker room, and I think he’ll fit into the culture well. He wants to win, he wants to focus on basketball. Plus, he’s about to turn 30, and I think this signing is as much a personal growth as a professional one for him.

He might not seem the prototypical Spurs player; but does the player make the culture, or the culture make the player? I’m not worried about his personality fit, mostly because the Spurs have the best leadership in the NBA in Duncan and Pop.

Leonard and Green

Re-signing Kawhi was more or less done last October; they just had to wait until now to free up the space to sign Aldridge. (And my God, it worked perfectly.) Another team could have mucked up the plans if they’d offered Kawhi a contract and he’d accepted, but it seemed that the two sides had a mutual understanding that things would get done easily and quickly. Keeping Kawhi was arguably the most important move of the off-season. And now we have a slightly longer dominant big man to pair with him for the next 3-4 years, thus keeping the Spurs in championship contention ad infinitum. I think the Aldridge-Leonard pairing could be really special, particularly since Kawhi isn’t necessarily a #1 offensive option. Aldridge is, and that can allow Kawhi to continue to be the best two-way threat in the league.

Keeping Green was much trickier and very important. It seemed almost inevitable that the team would have to lose Danny to sign Aldridge, unless Green would sign for less than the market would bear for him. And he did. I suppose some people value quality of life, enjoyment in workplace environment, and good company as much as they value money. Thankfully, staying in San Antonio and in an environment where he knows he thrives and he knows he’s happy was as important to Danny as getting as much money as he could.

And boy are we lucky he stayed. He is the perfect wing partner for Kawhi, a lethal 3-point shooter and very good defender. I would put those two against any other pair as the best defensive wing tandem in the league. He’s smart, knows the system, and is a great locker room guy. Keeping Danny adds more value to getting Aldridge.

Duncan and Ginobili

I was never worried about Duncan re-signing. When he went to the LaMarcus recruiting pitch, it seemed inevitable. He was still ridiculously good last season, and there is no reason for him to retire. And now the team is reloaded and ready to challenge for another title.

What Duncan’s contract will be is very interesting. The amount he signs for determines a lot of what the team can do after that, and if they’ll even be able to keep Mills and/or Diaw. If he signs for a minimum-level contract to allow the team to stay intact, we should bless his name every day. He invests in the Spurs as much as they invest in him.

(Of course, I also think that the Spurs will hire him after he retires to coach or be part of the front office, so I imagine he’ll recoup this money over the rest of his life fairly easily.)

Ginobili was different. There was real thought that he might retire. He certainly looks closer to done than Duncan, and the emotional toll of not being as good as he once was seems to weigh more on him. He can’t give even what he gave 3-4 years ago.

Yet, like pretty much every Spurs fan, I wanted him to come back. I’m not ready to say good-bye to Manu; I probably never will be. I really think this will be his last season, so let’s be grateful for it.

While his ability and minutes will be down, he can still be quite valuable to the team. He’ll function as both the back-up to Green and the 3rd point guard, I think. I imagine he’ll play about 20 minutes a game, and get to run the second unit like he has the last few seasons, with Mills being the nominal 2-guard next to him. I can’t wait to see the first crazy Manu pass to Aldridge; I wonder if he’ll even know to expect it.

David West

This kind of came out of nowhere. Once we got Aldridge, I think all Spurs fans started thinking we could get anybody we wanted. And then we kind of did. Like many of us have joked privately and on Twitter, might as well just sign David Robinson to a contract. I’m sure he can still give us 5-10 good minutes a night.

All kidding aside, West is a steal at the price. He’s probably dropped off a bit more than we realize, but he is vastly overqualified for the role of first or second big off the bench.

His best attribute? He is one tough mamba jamba (or less appropriate word, if you’re so inclined). Some people act tough: West is tough. You don’t want to get into a tussle with him. He’s the consummate teammate, and will have your back no matter what. (His comments regarding the Pacers’ handling of Roy Hibbert are very telling.) To borrow the parlance of the Spurs, he’s gotten over himself and he’d run through a brick wall to win a game. He’s an old-school Pop-type player; I’m sure he loves him. Any roster would be lucky to have him.

At 35, I’m not sure what quickness he has left, and his biggest strength on offense is the midrange jumper. (Between Kawhi, Aldridge, and West, we might be the most midrange-heavy team in the league next year. That might not be all bad, but I’ll save those thoughts for another day.) He’s still a stout dude, but he’s not tall for a PF, and probably can’t really give us minutes at Center.

But at the vet minimum? Yes, please.

The Rest of the Roster

So the Spurs have 10 players and will need at least 3 more, mostly at minimum contracts. It could get tricky.

I imagine the team will re-sign Bonner, because he’s still a great shooter, a great teammate, a cheap contract, and I think his value in the locker room is pretty high. Who doesn’t love Bonner?

There are still one or two mildly glaring needs (I mean, with that roster, how glaring could it really be?). Duncan, Aldridge, West, and Diaw are all PFs. Duncan will actually start at C this year, and I’m sure Aldridge will play some when the team goes small (and that could be a devastating line-up). But the team needs an actual, honest-to-God center, a big body who can bang, get rebounds, and gobble up 10-15 minutes a night. Baynes, actually, is the prototype (the Spurs would’ve never given him the type of contract Detroit did, though).

Now we’ll have to find one cheap, and maybe one with some risk. A few names bandied about: Okafor, who is coming off of two seasons of injury recovery. When healthy, though, he is exactly what we need. And he might be willing to sign for the minimum to prove he still belongs in the league. Another out of left field name: Greg Oden. Wouldn’t that be crazy.

The team could also probably use another PG or high-level ball-handling 2-guard, and another wing, in case Kyle Anderson doesn’t have a solid season or isn’t quite ready.

But really, with the 10 we already know we’re rolling out, I’ll take my chances against anybody in the league.

The Future

I was a little shaken after losing to the Clippers. Was it finally over? Would the Spurs fall back to the pack? Was our dream ride over as the luckiest fans in all of sports?

While all of the moves the team has made in free agency have certainly put us back in title contention for the next season, it’s also done something else: it’s given the team a very clear and bright future. With Kawhi, Aldridge, Green, and Pop (yes, Pop, too) locked up for the next 3-5 years, there is a clear post-Duncan plan in place that will be very good. The cap is going up, and the front office has still managed to keep flexibility, so they’ll be able to continue to build around the players already in place, while remaining competitive.

Duncan and Manu will be able to retire gracefully, Parker will be able to hit NBA “old age” remaining effective with a lessened burden, Kawhi can become a superstar without having to take on too much too soon, Aldridge will be able to continue playing at a high level for many seasons, and hopefully Pop can get more years out of him than most other teams could, and the front office will continue to be smart and effective.

It’s hard to overstate how amazing this offseason has been for the Spurs. The past, present, and future have perfectly collided.

We are the luckiest fans in all of professional sports.

Go Spurs Go.

1

These rankings are completely my subjective opinions, based on no numbers whatsoever. I put Tiago at #5 because he was a key starter, even if his impact was less than Top-5 overall. (His impact was also lessened by being perpetually injured last season, his balky calf being as good a reason as any to trade him.) Manu, Boris, and Patty are the heart of the bench, so they get #6-#8 for me, even though Cory likely had a better season last year than Patty and Boris only enthusiastically played 1/5th of the season. You could make the argument that Marco should be #9 ahead of Cory, but if you’re making that argument, then you’ve already missed the point: We got a Top-15 talent in the league and kept 7 of our 8 best players. And those 7 players won a title a scant 13 months ago.