SAN ANTONIO — If you're looking for a week to explain the season the San Antonio Spurs are having, look no further.
The young guns put together one of their best games of the season to beat DeMar DeRozan and Chicago, fought until the end in Phoenix despite key injuries, and fell apart against a depleted Warriors squad at home. The three-game run exemplifies the growth and growing pains for the Spurs, and the whiplash between the two.
San Antonio has enough wins to compete for a play-in spot, and enough losses to wind up with a wonderful draft pick if it doesn't work out. That's an interesting place to be a week before the trade deadline. The biggest question is what will happen with Thad Young, who got a surprise start against the Heat.
Let's take a look at how they got here, and what comes next.
No Bull
DeMar DeRozan returned to the AT&T Center for the first time as a Chicago Bull, and the young Spurs team that he helped guide welcomed him with one of their best performances in a new era for the team.
Fans gave a warm standing ovation after a beautiful tribute video for the man who spent three seasons as a veteran leader in Silver and Black. Many of those fans wore red and continued to cheer for DeRozan, an All-Star starter this year after being snubbed last season as a Spur. He put up 32 points and 8 assists, and he's never looked more like Michael Jordan with hair than he does this year in that scarlet uniform.
DeRozan deserved to be an All-Star for the Spurs last season, but he's taken a definite leap with Chicago. He's putting up 26.5 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds per game, the second highest scoring average of his career. He's also hitting a better percentage from three, and on more attempts, than any of his years in San Antonio.
DeMar didn't attempt a shot against his former team for the first six minutes before punishing Keldon Johnson with a back cut. Johnson spent the rest of the contest draped over him, but it didn't seem to matter much. He started 8-for-10 from the floor, posting up, stepping back, fading away and displaying some of the best footwork you've ever seen.
When the Spurs traded Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green for DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and the pick that became Keldon Johnson, they did it because they felt it was the best way to remain somewhat competitive after that whole... thing. DeRozan wanted to be a Raptor for life and was heartbroken and surprised by the trade, but nonetheless, he came into his new situation a complete professional.
DeRozan averaged 21.6 points and 6.2 assists in his three seasons in San Antonio, played the closer role, and mentored the young core on and off the court. When his contract came to an end after the Spurs missed the playoffs for the second year in a row, the writing was on the wall. He was a win-now player in a rebuild situation, and finding a sign-and-trade was best for all parties involved.
San Antonio signed and traded DeRozan to the Bulls for a first-round pick, a second-round pick, Al-Farouq Aminu, who was waived before the season, and Thad Young, a quality veteran who has ridden the bench as the Spurs work to trade him before the deadline on February 10.
The move helped DeRozan get to a team with aspirations of a deep playoff run, and San Antonio got assets back for a guy who could have just walked away. It also gave them an opportunity to see what members of the young core step up into the void of offensive creation and leadership.
The Bulls came into the game 30-17 with a pair of sure All-Stars and another guy who made the game last year. The Spurs entered 18-31, leading the league in hard-fought losses and teachable moments as everyone takes on additional responsibility.
Despite the divergent directions of these teams, the Spurs dug in and competed on Friday night. They were down just 5 at halftime, and outscored Chicago 35-23 in the third to surge into the lead.
Dejounte Murray has answered that question of who would step up. He averaged nearly 23 points, 10 assists, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals in the month of January, and nearly had a 30-point triple double facing off against DeRozan, who he calls a brother.
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Little brother doesn't have as much of a post-up game, but he can finish at the cup reliably and stop his drive at any time for a pull-up jumper. Dejounte's passing, much like his scoring, is both simple and effective. Most of his dimes travel just a few feet, and most of his offense relies on making simple reads in pick and roll. He colors within the lines, and not in a bad way.
Dejounte wasn't selected to the All Star game, but still has a chance to make it as an injury replacement.
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He ripped his friend Zach LaVine at the top and took it coast to coast, but missed at the rim. When Nikola Vucevic got the board, Murray swiped it from him, briefly surveyed the court, and busted out the Dirk fade.
Murray hit a pair of catch-and-shoot threes as well, and showed patience, poise and control throughout the game. He notched a dozen assists, and helped fuel 20-point performances from the other two guys who came over in the DeRozan deal.
Jakob Poeltl's pick-and-roll chemistry with Murray has been the centerpiece of San Antonio's offense this year, and Poeltl has been upping his game along with him. He averaged about 15 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in the month of January, and the Spurs are looking for him in the post where he hit a deep hook shot over Vuc.
Poeltl is still at his best setting screens, finding open space for layups and cleaning the glass, and that was his primary impact in the game against the guy who was his main pick-and-roll partner for the first five seasons of his career.
Keldon Johnson was the last piece of that trade, and the gold medalist/ball of manic childlike energy has learned how to be dangerous while standing perfectly still in his third NBA season.
Johnson is hitting 44% of his three-point shots, and the only player in the NBA shooting more attempts at a higher clip is Eric Gordon. Of Johnson's 201 attempts from deep, 180 have been of the catch-and-shoot variety. He hit over 47% of them, shooting with a deliberate, mechanical release and a lot of confidence. He's hit 28-50 from the corners, making him the most accurate shooter in the league there.
He shot 4-8 from deep against Chicago while hardly moving, and showed that there's a bit more nuance to his downhill game than just barreling through the defense. He popped a nasty spin move on DeMar, then hit it again later. He operated a bit as a screen and roll/pop piece, then drove in pick and rolls and dribble handoffs and showed an array of finishes. 23 points, 8 boards, and the defense on DeRozan made it one of the most complete games of his season.
Derrick White had 14 points and 9 assists with some special passes. He helped limit Zach LaVine, who scored 30, but shot just 2-10 from deep.
Devin Vassell finished all over the floor with catch-and-fire threes, and that opened up the rest of his game as he went from pump fakes at the arc to pull-ups in the mid-range. He even got all the way to the rack and used his long arms to place a gentle dunk in.
Lonnie Walker IV was aggressive to the basket and ready to shoot. McDermott did his job with three triples, and rookie Josh Primo joined the three-point party and played will in 12 minutes off the pine.
Put all those contributions together, and San Antonio carried a seven-point lead into the final frame that everyone in the building would come down to a duel between DeMar and Dejounte.
Johnson played his best defense of the game down the stretch, forcing DeRozan into long shots with physical play. White dished four dimes in the final quarter, Murray scored 9, and Poeltl matched him on a clutch push shot late in the guts of a close game.
San Antonio pulled away late and won 131-122 for one of their most impressive victories of the season, which has had a few big ones despite the record. The Spurs have beaten the Bulls, Jazz, Bucks and Warriors this year, showing that at their best, they can compete with anyone.
Good Loss/Bad Loss
The other two types of results for this team are less enjoyable. There's the one where they fight really hard against a good opponent and their best just isn't good enough, then there's the one where they face a depleted foe and can't close the deal. In the two games after their statement win over Chicago, they got those other two results.
Popovich left Murray, Poeltl and White home for a one-game trip to Phoenix to take on the best team in the NBA this year. Nobody who played seemed to care about the circumstances at all, and after three quarters San Antonio's complimentary players had built a 12-point lead.
Tre Jones started and had one of the best games of his career, McDermott hit 6 triples, Walker sparked things off the bench, and Keldon had another solid showing.
But in the first few minutes of the fourth, Phoenix outscored the Spurs 17-2 to rip away control of the game. Chris Paul had 8 of his 19 (!!!) assists in the fourth quarter, and the Suns escaped with a 115-110 win.
“I thought we were great," Popovich said after the game. "Couldn’t ask for more. Down the stretch, their experience showed and Chris (Paul), Devin (Booker), Mikal (Bridges), everybody, they showed why they got the best record in the league. I’m thrilled with how we played. We just did a little bit of film, watched our mistakes down the stretch that a young team is going to make, in an effort to get smarter and understand what goes on in those situations, but I thought our guys were spectacular.”
The next game came against Golden State, but a matchup that would usually be quite daunting was made much less scary when the injury report came out. Steve Kerr did an ode to load management on the second night of a back-to-back, with all the stars out for one reason or another. San Antonio got their three best guys back, and fans started writing in a W on the schedule.
Jakob Poeltl and Jock Landale sat the second half after each taking hits to the head, and the Warriors kept things interesting behind guys like Jordan Poole, Damion Lee, and Moses Moody, but trailed by 15 heading to the fourth. San Antonio shot 15-25 from three in the first three quarters.
With 7:14 left in the game, a dunk by Keita Bates-Diop put the Spurs in front 112-102. In the next five minutes, Golden State went on a crushing 15-2 run with Steph Curry watching from the bench in a velour tracksuit and no other All Star on the floor.
Dejounte Murray shot 3-5 and was the only Spur to hit a field goal in the final seven minutes. He wasn't infallible as he turned it over three times in that stretch, more than his per-game average for the year. He acknowledged after the game that it was unacceptable for him to have six turnovers.
San Antonio got outrebounded 11-4 down the stretch and gave up extra chances that the less-famous Warriors capitalized on. Murray passed to Vassell for three and the lead late, but he missed for the third time in a cold fourth quarter.
Golden State won the fourth quarter 35-16, making this one of the more embarrassing and deflating losses for the Spurs this season. Like stinkers against the skeleton crew Kings, Hornets, Thunder, Rockets and Pistons, the minimal bright side is that the coaching staff got tape on what not to do, and the team managed to improve their draft odds on a night where that looked unlikely at the jump.
The Spurs have caught a lot of justified criticism for failing to come out of the gate strong in these most distressing losses, but that's not what bit them against the Dubs. They didn't play good enough defense in the final quarter to win, and they still would have won if they just found a way to score late.
Letting this win slip away will hurt, especially after the way this same team played in the two games prior. It should lead to some soul searching, and motivate the young guys to make it right the next time out.
Maybe they're getting too high after wins, or not treating banged-up opponents with appropriate fear. Or maybe we're just trying to find an explanation for the volatile swings in competence from a team full of talented young players learning on the go.
After all, bad losses happen for every team, maybe even more this season. On Wednesday night, the Mavs followed up a loss to the league-worst Magic by losing to a Thunder team missing SGA. Embiid's Sixers fell to a Wizards team without Bradley Beal, and Brooklyn suffered their sixth loss in a row, in Sacramento.
Maybe it's less about whatever team is on the other end of the court, and more about what version of the Spurs shows up to the arena that day. Consistent winning can only happen as a result of consistent effort and execution, and that's still a messy work in progress for San Antonio on a night-to-night and minute-to-minute basis.
The last week has contained some of the highest highs and lowest lows of a Spurs season full of those extremes. They've proven that their best can be enough to beat anyone, but anything less can result in a humbling loss.
Deadline Decisions
San Antonio has offered glimpses of their best through the growing pains. They're 19-33 with a win total better than only four teams in the league, but still just two games back of the play-in out West.
What does that mean for the Spurs a week before the trade deadline? There seems to be interest in Murray, White and Poeltl, though there's no indication San Antonio wants to part with any of them. They won't be looking for short-term win-now veterans either; in fact, they're trying to find a trade destination for a guy like that.
Thad Young has been kept in bubble wrap for most of the season, and he could have certainly helped San Antonio with their big-man depth. The Spurs haven't kept him on ice because they want to lose games, they've done it because if he gets seriously hurt out there, it would be devastating for all parties involved.
Pop kept him on the bench as the Spurs got hammered on the boards by the Warriors, but started him in the next game against the Heat with Poeltl, Landale, and Bates-Diop all out. He had played in just three of the 25 games leading up to his first start of the season, and put up 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in the shorthanded loss.
"He's one of the consummate pros, if he wants to coach some day, he'll definitely be a coach," Popovich said. "He understands the game, he's a good teacher and helps all our young guys, and stays in shape. He works, he stays after practice when he doesn't play, and he's ready to go."
"He's definitely someone I've been able to lean on a lot," Tre Jones said. "He thinks the game so highly, so being able to sit on the sideline and pick his brain every single game, being able to learn so many things from him, helps myself a lot and the whole team. And obviously when he's out there, he can produce the same way still, so I love him as a vet for sure."
"He wants to see everybody in here be successful," Jones continued. "He's in there on the off days working with us, trying to help us get better, competing in the gym with us, I think that speaks to the person and teammate that he is."
The expectation remains the same as it has since Young arrived in San Antonio: that GM Brian Wright will find a dancing partner before his valuable trade chip turns into a pumpkin that he has to buy out at midnight. With February 10 about a week away, there hasn't been a lot of action yet across the league. It makes sense to hold on and see what the best deal is when things really heat up.
But if the day passes and Young is still on the roster, it will be a stunning failure orders of magnitude worse than the fourth quarter implosion against some of the Warriors.
Even if Phoenix is less likely now given how well Bismack Biyombo is playing, Young presents value to many contending teams. His expiring contract can also help any GM trying to free up cap space in the near future. It's a seller's market, and the Spurs should be able to move him in a deal that helps them get what they want, whatever it may be.
Picks are always a plus for a rebuilding team, but if they're more interested in adding a rising star on a long-term deal, Young would almost certainly need to be a part of the trade.
If the Hawks really are looking to get John Collins' new deal off the books, trading for Young's expiring contract would help extricate them from salary cap hell. Atlanta has reportedly made inquiries about Derrick White as well.
A splashy mid-season trade always seems unlikely for San Antonio, but there should be several options on the table that offer some sort of future-focused assets for Young if he isn't part of a bigger trade.
Whatever moves are made, a radical change to the on-court product seems unlikely, in either direction. A flash sale on their best players doesn't fit a team that has been slowly building for a long time and values continuity, and blowing it up at this point would send a rough message to the next young men up. An all-in move to be more competitive this season would make even less sense for a team that clearly isn't competing for a title.
If the Spurs surge into the play-in or stumble into fantastic draft lottery odds, it won't be the result of any phone calls made by the general manager this week. Their fate will be decided by how well these players execute, down the stretch in games, down the stretch run of the season.
How many heart-pounding upset triumphs? How many moral victories that increase the number of ping pong balls? How many failures that leave them feeling hollow? Most importantly, how regularly can they take care of business?
Dejounte Murray and the rest of the young Spurs are responsible for how the rest shakes out, and for better and for worse, that's how this season was always supposed to be.