Minutes after the Spurs’ season ended Wednesday with a play-in loss at Memphis, DeMar DeRozan was asked to play a dispiriting round of word association.
Asked to describe the COVID-marred, 33-39 campaign the Spurs had just completed, DeRozan found three terms that seemed apt.
“Unique. Roller coaster. Weird,” DeRozan said.
By the time the Spurs returned to San Antonio to clean out their lockers and finalize vacation plans, a fourth word was also appropriate.
Over.
While Spurs players at least can look forward to an offseason devoid of daily coronavirus tests, management will set forth with continuing to rebuild a playoff contender.
Here are five burning questions that will guide that pursuit:
1. When the Spurs return for training camp in the fall, who will be the coach?
For 24 consecutive camps, the answer to that question was written in indelible ink: Gregg Popovich.
Now that Popovich has turned 72, America’s longest-tenured professional sports coach might actually have prowled his last NBA sideline.
Popovich hasn’t made his intentions known, of course, and he might not until after he finishes coaching Team USA at the Olympics in August.
The Spurs would love to have him back, and the call will be Popovich’s to make.
The future has to arrive some time, but if Popovich does walk away, it will be a blow to the Spurs’ culture. It is unlikely the next coach — whoever he or she is — will come with Popovich’s gravitas.
It was once impossible to imagine the Spurs without Tim Duncan. It’s equally unimaginable to picture them without Popovich.
But change is inevitable.
2. Whose jersey will DeRozan be wearing next season?
The 31-year-old guard was the closest thing the Spurs had to a star this season. He led the team in scoring at 21.6 points per game and in assists with a career-best 6.9.
More than that, he was a steadying veteran force on a team overrun with kids.
For the first time in his 12 NBA seasons, DeRozan enters the summer open to outside offers in free agency.
It will be interesting to gauge the market for him.
The Spurs likely would take him back at a certain price. DeRozan likely would return for a price.
Whether those two price points line up remains to be seen.
DeRozan will be one of the biggest names on the free-agent market when it opens Aug. 2. It is possible, if not likely, that another team offers a deal the Spurs will be disinclined to match.
If the Spurs do lose DeRozan in free agency, they could have something approaching $60 million in salary cap room with which to replace him.
But be warned: Star players don’t grow on trees in the NBA, and they don’t often come voluntarily to small markets such as San Antonio.
DeRozan’s departure would create a void difficult for the Spurs to fill.
There is an argument to be made that the Spurs would be better served committing fully to the youth movement already in progress. DeRozan’s exit likely would accelerate that process.
3. What about the Spurs’ other veteran free agents?
DeRozan isn’t the only significant Spur seeing his contract expire this summer.
Rudy Gay and Patty Mills also are lined up for free agency.
The 34-year-old Gay has been the quintessential Spur since his arrival in 2017, and he remained a valuable bench scorer this season.
Mills, 32, has been with the Spurs for 10 seasons and remains the last on-court link to their championship days.
If the Spurs were to lose both Popovich and Mills in the same offseason, it would be a double hit in terms of corporate knowledge lost.
Even as they turn the keys to the franchise over to a gaggle of 20-somethings, the Spurs value veteran leadership. It would not be surprising to see some combination of 30-somethings return.
4. How valuable will a normal summer be for the Spurs’ youngsters?
The COVID-ravaged summer of 2020 did not offer good development opportunities for up-and-coming Spurs who could have used it.
There was no Summer League, a truncated training camp, no open gyms, and limited opportunities to work out with coaches.
With things seemingly close to returning to normal this summer, the Spurs’ development program has a chance to get back on track.
That is good news for still-growing players such as Keldon Johnson, Lonnie Walker IV, Devin Vassell and others.
Dejounte Murray, not exactly a graybeard at age 24, already has appointed himself the ringleader of the Spurs’ summer workout crew.
No matter what else happens with the Spurs’ offseason, their chances of competing for a playoff spot in 2021-22 are predicated on the development of players already on the roster.
A full-scale summer also will be beneficial to whoever the Spurs draft in July, which brings us to the final burning question …
5. Have the Spurs considered trying to win the lottery again?
In decades past, the Spurs found a foolproof formula for building a championship contender: Win the No. 1 overall pick and draft David Robinson, then win the No. 1 overall pick again a few years later and draft Tim Duncan.
The math might work against the Spurs in that endeavor this time around.
Still, having missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in club history, the Spurs are poised to add a lottery pick in consecutive seasons for the first time.
They snagged Vassell with the No. 11 selection last year, and the 20-year-old swingman is expected to be a key part of the Spurs’ foundation going forward.
As it stands, the Spurs are tied with Charlotte, which also finished 33-39, for the 11th-best lottery odds this summer. That tie will be broken by coin flip.
At either 11th or 12th, the odds of the Spurs picking in the top four remain miniscule.
Still, no matter the outcome of the coin flip, the Spurs are in position to add another talented young prospect this summer.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
