Spurs must face 2 hard truths in most important offseason in franchise history

There's a lot going on in San Antonio this summer and that's unusual. The usual low-key franchise will be one of the major storylines of the offseason for several reasons. The NBA world will be checking in on Victor Wembanyama's recovery; the organization's offseason moves will be under a microscope, again because of Wembanyama's presence.

We'll be headed into year three of the most unique talent the NBA has ever had and everyone wants to see some serious basketball being played in Alamo City. The timing lines up for it. They acquired De'Aaron Fox during the season, the young players have been developing for years, and the incoming draft class is littered with talented prospects. With the assets at their disposal, the time to strike is now.

However, these aren't common times for the Spurs. They'll need to go into this offseason with their eyes wide open and an inordinate amount of patience in addressing one major concern while being extremely aggressive in another.

1. Popovich decision may not be quick

Retiring this way would be very difficult for anyone to do, but I would imagine it's especially hard for someone as competitive as Gregg Popovich. Coaches are no different than players when it comes to their professional pride. They have much of it and it's what emboldens them to continue coaching into their elder years along with their love of the game.

Coach Pop is the greatest coach of all time and you don't achieve that without being obsessively competitive. After going through all the down years of frustrating basketball he's had to endure from a lackluster roster, he gets a chance to coach the next great player of our time. He signed a five-year deal in 2023 because he's excited to do so and he intends on being around.

Pop knows how important he is to the organization. Planning a transition is one thing, but being forced into retirement this way wouldn't be ideal. Reports have indicated the most tenured coach in the league wants to keep going. That likely means giving himself as much time as possible to work through his rehab before making a decision.

Hopefully, that announcement ends up being a return to the sideline. If not, the Spurs will end up losing out on some of the best head coaching prospects on the market. There's nothing they can do about that, though. Coach Pop has earned the right to take his time and the organization will respect that.

2. The Spurs/Atlanta trade is no longer a grand slam

The Atlanta trade is shaping up to look like a regular home run. It was still a great deal for the Spurs but forecasts for ATL have flipped dramatically. They're better than we thought they would be faster than originally projected.

While SA has their pick, they have one of their own they acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers and a top-12 protected pick from Sacramento, so they'll still improve through the draft if they make the right selections. The Kings are currently projected at the 13th spot. If the NBA Draft Lottery shakes out that way, the Hawks will be in great shape.

The hope was that they would be awful and San Antonio would have a chance at another top-5 pick in this year's draft. Instead, they'll be fighting in the NBA Play-In Tournament and that pick will likely land somewhere between 12-15. Fortunately, it's a deep draft so the Spurs should still acquire a good player, but that may not be the case for the 2026 and 2027 picks they got from the Hawks.

Atlanta finished this season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and they lost one of their best players months ago. Jalen Johnson tore his labrum in January but will return next season. Dyson Daniels had a breakout season on the defensive side of the ball. Zaccharie Risacher, while still not the Rookie of the Year, has stepped up as of late and played more like someone deserving of the spot he was drafted.

They can't rely on the Hawks getting worse over the next two years. On the contrary, the odds are that they'll improve. They should get ahead of that reality coming to fruition and trade those picks while their value is still on the higher side.

How the Spurs navigate these things will play a huge factor in determining the success of this offseason. They've reached a crossroads summer and instead of the team's leadership being ready to execute a yearslong plan, the design suddenly needs adjusting and there is uncertainty at the head of the table. It's a tough place to be.