Something Changed

During our decent into the depths of despair otherwise known as the First Round, I emphatically stated that something had to change.  Well, the changes started last night, and I’m not sure what to make of them. 

Those that follow what I do on the various websites that compose the Spurs blogosphere know that I was emphatically against the Spurs using the #29 pick on a draft-n-stash player.  So I’m on the one hand glad that they didn’t do that. On the other hand I’m happy the Spurs grabbed Leonard because I think he will help on the defensive end a great deal.  I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that George Hill might be changing his zip code in the near future, so that part of the deal doesn’t bum me out too much.  Add in the fact that they were able to grab a couple of other prospects in the deal and I think R.C. and Pop did well by themselves.

Where I start to get a bit confused is Cory Joseph.  I don’t understand how he gives the Spurs anything they don’t already have…or didn’t at the start of the night, and if R.C. is to be believed, the plan was to take him at #29 all along.  I think that means that Georgie was gone no matter what.  With Parker, Ginobili, Neal, and maybe Anderson I think the backcourt would have been covered had the pick been someone else.

Whenever the next season starts up, the depth chart doesn’t really look all that different.  For a team that in no short order was exposed as flawed during the playoffs I wonder if that is a good thing.  I have to believe that the Spurs brain trust knows what it is doing, and I guess in some ways I can see how they’ve address some of those flaws¹.  But at this point I don’t know if they’ve done enough.  We still aren’t long enough, quick enough, or beefy enough on the front line to withstand the challenges presented by LA, OKC, and Memphis.  There is a log-jam of players at the two and three spots (Manu, Neal, Anderson, Jefferson, Green, Butler, Leonard, and Joseph(?)).  And, shot creation outside of the Big Three will be a tough to come by.

All that in mind, I feel like something else is (or will be soon) in the works.  As composed right now, there are just too many unproven commodities and too many players with some sort of limit (height, slowness, lack of talent) to think that this is a contending team (recent evidence from the Mavs to the contrary).

So stay tuned because I don’t think the show is over just yet.

1. It is common knowledge among Spurs fans that the Silver-n-Black struggle with speedy, little cockroach type point guards.  Joseph is known a speedster so maybe that particular issue has been solved.  Another area weakness for the Spurs, and has been for awhile, is athleticsm on the wing.  Hopefully Leonard will fix that.