Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
For years, analysts suggested any given playoff failure augurs the Spurs' demise simply because Tim Duncan is aging. Back in 2008, when San Antonio's last title defense fell flat, Duncan was 31. That typically indicates a player on the downside of his career.
But plenty of stars have remained relevant into their mid- to late-30s, and just because Duncan was getting older didn’t mean the Spurs would. Check out how well the front office has kept the roster balanced between the veterans and fresh youth.
The story of the Spurs is not that they remain amazing despite getting old, it’s that they stay young despite relying heavily on a superstar who is getting old.
A survey of San Antonio's current roster shows us how the Spurs stay young. Of the 14 players who have logged at least 300 minutes for the silver and black this season, nine of them are in their 20s. (One of those, Nando De Colo, was traded in February.) Two more -- Tony Parker and Boris Diaw, who are Nos. 2 and 4 in minutes played, respectively -- are just 31. Really, there are only three Spurs well past their age-based primes: Duncan, Manu Ginobili (36) and Matt Bonner (34).
This isn’t an old roster by any means. Its centerpiece just happens to be pretty old.
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2. There are no bad Spurs
Credit R.C. Buford (the best GM in the NBA) and Gregg Popovich (the best coach in the NBA) for the fact that San Antonio basically never puts below-average players on the court. Look at how few (two) of the Spurs' rotation players have a below-average PER.
Those two players below the red line, by the way, are Swiss French Army knife Diaw and 3-and-D wizard Danny Green. It stands to reason that PER, which heavily weighs offense, doesn’t accurately capture their contributions.
Let’s compare that to a team built differently: with one superstar, a few good supplemental pieces and a whole lot of yikes.
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The Timberwolves are better than they've been in ages, thanks largely to a herculean effort by Kevin Love. But the supporting cast beyond Nikola Pekovic, Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and defense-first Corey Brewer is ... yikes. Part of that is on the former GM David Kahn, who struck out repeatedly in the draft. Part of it is on Flip Saunders, who didn't have a great first offseason. Part of it is on Rick Adelman, who waited until March to play Gorgui Dieng and has stuck with J.J. Barea for way too many minutes.
The Spurs never have these problems. Popovich is almost never forced by his front office to play a mediocre guy (with the rare Richard Jefferson-type exception), and he never sticks with a player who isn't working out.
San Antonio’s not alone in this regard. Memphis is similar -- basically everyone in the rotation is at least average. The same applies to Dallas. Depth matters in the NBA, especially if you don’t have one of the league’s supreme stars like LeBron or Durant.
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3. The salary cap is skillfully managed
The Spurs were into capology before capology was a thing. Buford and Popovich have always kept their eye on the long-term balance sheet while rivals spent the Aughts signing as much salary as possible. More than a decade ago, the Spurs got Duncan to take less than the max in order to leave cap space for free-agent reinforcements. Ever since, the Big Three have been on reasonable contracts and the front office has made few mistakes. (Hello, Richard Jefferson!)
To have sustainable success, managing that cap is a must. Few (if any) do it better than San Antonio.
4. Things change slowly in the NBA
The top reason any good team in the NBA stays good is that the league is relatively stable. Bad teams need quite a bit of time to crawl out of holes, usually doing so only after multiple trips to the ping-pong trough. Good teams typically stay pretty good until a major injury or free-agent loss drops their status. Contracts in the NBA are long and guaranteed. Usually that works against teams. But for good teams, it provides predictability and stability.
In a more volatile league -- like, say, the NFL -- teams are given more opportunities to detonate an underachieving team. Perhaps if the Spurs didn’t have Duncan, Parker and Ginobili locked up in 2009 or 2010, Buford and Pop would have decided to angle for a retooling as the Finals drought grew and it began to look like San Antonio’s title run was over. Perhaps if NBA contracts weren’t usually fully guaranteed, the Spurs would have cut Manu loose a couple years ago when his injuries piled up.
Instead, the Spurs have remained steadily near the top of the West. They damn near won another championship in 2013 and might just be the favorite as the 2014 playoffs begin. This is the franchise all others in the NBA should emulate.
5. Duncan and Popovich are all-time greats
Pop is right up there with Red Auerbach and Phil Jackson. Duncan is one of the best big men ever. (I’d put him in the top three with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.) Of course the Spurs are awesome! With Pop still cranking and Duncan maintaining a high level of play, it’d be stunning if San Antonio wasn’t brilliant.
