The San Antonio Spurs are screwed

(Originally posted on Monday, 18 November 2019; updated on Thursday, 21 November 2019)

The San Antonio Spurs are screwed. Why? Because NOBODY in the organisation could forseen that when DeMar DeRozan would be playing in the Western Conference he would get much fewer calls than he used to get in the Eastern Conference.

This is ridiculous – it's as if there were a set number of players in each Conference who get a set number of calls every game day (across all games played on that day) and if a player is not among these players he gets fewer calls by default, except maybe for some obvious calls that cannot be ignored. Well, in case of DeMar DeRozan he sometimes doesn't even get the obvious calls, not to mention the standard calls. To me it's not basketball anymore, but more like a series of rigged gladiator shows.

I feel bad for DeMar DeRozan and I feel bad for the San Antonio Spurs. DeMar DeRozan can always go back to the Eastern Conference where he would be definitely treated better, but I have no idea what the San Antonio should do – the team can't change the Conference without losing their fans, right?

UPDATE:

It seems to me that right after I had posted the above part, DeMar DeRozan started to get more fair calls. What a coincidence. Anyway, the San Antonio Spurs are still losing, but at least DeRozan is getting the respect he deserves for what he can do, instead of the disrespect for what he can’t do.

Well, the San Antonio Spurs are still screwed because this year’s team is even more “fundamentally flawed” than in the previous season. Moreover, the father time is knocking on the doors of some players and the young prospects haven’t made the leap they were supposed to do. Maybe “supposed” is too strong a word and the word “hoped” should be used instead. Obviously they lack the experience, but Gregg Popovich seems to be still torn between extending the Spurs’ playoff streak and focusing on the young prospects.

This situation must be hell for everybody on the team. I believe that PATFO (Popovich and the front office) have to make a manful decision and trade not only DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldrige, but also a couple of other players. I think it would be the best to:
1) trade DeRozan to the Eastern Conference to any team who wants him for a decent enough price – he is a true professional and will handle it like a man,
2) trade Aldrige to the Portland Trail Blazers for anything of value – apparently he wants to play there and he deserves to be listened to, for all he had done for the Spurs,
3) trade Patty Mills to a contender – this shouldn’t be a problem and he shouldn’t be unhappy about it,
4) trade maybe another player, but only if it helps to create a young AND balanced core for the future.

If the front office did something like this and Popovich started to play many young players and experiment widely with different starting lineups just for the hell of it, then he and the Spurs would be on the lips of everybody, but for a whole new reason. And that would be a positive reason. For Popovich it would be a fun way to end his coaching career (probably at the end of his current contract). Please.