I'm going to do something here that many wouldn't consider doing - rebuilding the Spurs. They have been a consistent playoff contender basically since they got David Robinson over 2 decades ago, but I feel it's time to rebuild, and that's what you are going to be seeing.

I will be starting after the draft.

First thing I do is send Cory Joseph to the D-League. He does have a place in the rotation with 4 other PGs, so I'll let him develop there, see if his 97 FGJ rating can amount to anything.

Next I have to decide who I'm going to keep and build around (for now). The first obvious answer as a long term keeper is Kawhi Leonard, a 20 year old rookie from San Diego State. He has a ways to go before making an impact on the offensive end, but he rebounds well (64 ORB, 57 DRB) and defends very well for a rookie (71 DEF, 77 STL). Keeper for sure.

As of now, he is the only one who is truly untouchable for me. Now on to the guys I wouldn't mind keeping, since they fit, but also wouldn't mind moving.

Tiago Splitter is the first in this category. The guy is a bit old for my taste at 26, but he has solid ratings around the board and I like his attitude and hustle. His potential is also pretty high...if he can reach it he could be great.

After Splitter, Tony Parker is another guy I could keep for now. Once again his age is too high to be built around (29) but he's a true PG who can do it all on O and isn't a liability on D. Very solid starter, and on a good contract as well.

At SG, Danny Green looks like a potential keeper. He doesn't have a ton of great skills, but doesn't really do anything badly either. He could make a really nice wing combo with Leonard if they both develop, so who knows.

Lastly, I'll talk about the guys I'm looking to move now, in order to rebuild. It's very anti-"typical Spurs", but here it goes. I'll be looking to move out Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili first, as they still have value and should bring back something decent with their return. I'll also be looking to dump Richard Jefferson to a contender, since his big, longer contract isn't of use to a rebuilding team like me.

Interesting premise, though trading Timmy D would get you burned in effigy and maybe in actuality.

Not sure what value you will get for manu and duncan

I decided I'm going to try and move these vets before the season starts. Here is my current DC:

Tony Parker / Gary Neal / TJ Ford / Cory Joseph (DL)
Danny Green / Manu Ginobili / James Anderson
Kawhi Leonard / Richard Jefferson
Tiago Splitter / Matt Bonner
Tim Duncan / Dejaun Blair

Looking at my roster and previous analysis, my wings seem to be in OK condition as of now. Leonard is my only true keeper, and I have a few other youngsters like James Anderson, Gary Neal and previously mentioned Danny Green who can all play on the wing, along with Manu and Jefferson, who Im trying to move. Either way, I don't think I'll be looking for a long term wing option as of now. At the point I have a few options, none I really love, but no big holes either. If I could find a young, stud PG I would take it, but I won't be actively searching for one. My biggest hole, however, is down low. I only have 4 bigs on my roster right now, and only 1 I really like (Splitter). DeJaun Blair only has 1 good skill (ORB) and he's really undersized, so idk, and Duncan and Bonner are far too old to be part of a future core. With my trades I'll be looking for a big man first and foremost.

So off I go, looking for a young big man who can potentially be a part of my future core.

First I go to the Utah Jazz to talk Derrick Favors. No go. They didn't have enough salary fillers to reach Duncan and/or Manu's salary and even if they did, I'm not sure they'd give a defensive monster like Favors. I now realize I have to find a team with a big EXP contract or other such filler to trade with, so I can actually move Duncan's 21M contract, Manu's 14M contract and Jefferson's 9M contract, which brings me to...

The Cleveland Cavs. With 8M in cap space and big fillers like Jamison (15M) and Varejao (8M) a deal could potentially get done, if they were looking to move into the playoffs. I start off with an offer of Manu and Tim for Jamison, Varejao and Tristan Thompson, which was quickly rejected. Then I decide to look outside the box a bit more, and propose Tim/Jefferson/Neal for Varejao/Jamison/Samuels, but they don't want to take back Jefferson. Hmmm, time to move on.

Looking around the league a bit more, I find the Milwaukee Bucks. We started off talks basing things around Duncan for Andrew Bogut. We added the useful backup Benp Udrih to their side to balance salary, but the MIL GM then demanded Gary Neal if they were going to give Udrih. I then requested Larry Sanders if I were to give up Neal, and after a bit more back and forth, we came to the final deal of:

Andrew Bogut, Beno Udrih, Larry Sanders

for

Tim Duncan, Gary Neal, Cory Joseph, 2013 SA 2nd

I'm pleased with the trade, even if I gave up 1 too many young pieces (would've preferred to keep one of Joseph/2nd/Neal). However, I like the deal overall. Bogut isn't quite the scorer that Duncan is, and is a bit worse on the boards, but is much cheaper, younger and still provides the great D I need from the C spot. Udrih is a top backup point, posting 72 HDL and 67 PAS (which looks like a starting PGs ratings), even if he isn't strong on D. And I also prefer Sanders to any of the guards I traded, as he is a good shot blocker and could develop into a nice energy big. Overall, pleased with the trade.

After searching a few other teams to see if I can get something decent from Manu or Jefferson, I decide to call it a day and start the season. I put Manu, Jefferson and Bonner on the trade block, find a few nice FAs (SF Wilson Chandler and C Joel Pryzbilla) and I start the year.

DC to start the year:

Tony Parker / Beno Udrih / TJ Ford
Danny Green / Manu Ginobili / James Anderson (DL)
Kawhi Leonard / Wilson Chandler / Richard Jefferson (Inactive)
Tiago Splitter / Larry Sanders / Matt Bonner (Inactive)
Andrew Bogut / DeJaun Blair / Joel Pryzbilla


85-82 LOSS vs PHX: 0-1

It was a game of Cs, as both Bogut and Gortat lead their teams in scoring. Bogut had a monster game, 26 pts (10 of 13), 14 reb, 2 ast, 5 blk, but also had 6 fouls. Parker also had a 23/9/5 game for us, but no one else showed up, especially not Danny Green (who shot 1 of 12 lol).

90-83 WIN @ POR: 1-1

Bogut had another solid game (11/15, 2 blk, 1 foul) but Parker was the one who carried us in this, posting 21/6/10/2. Splitter went toe to toe with LMA and beat him (!) putting up 18 pts (8 of 16) and 16 reb, while limiting LMA to 19 pts on 9 of 21 shooting.

109-105 LOSS vs DAL: 1-2

Our SG's played well, and hit their shots (Manu 21 pts in 28 minutes, Green 20 points in 21 minutes, combined 9 of 11 from 3PT), but the rest of our team was off. Dirk and Terry combined for 53 and their 4th quarter run pushed them to victory.

103-94 LOSS @ MIN: 1-3

Bogut (21/12) and Splitter (24/9) both played well offensively, but combined for 9 fouls. Love was our main problem, shooting 11 FTs and getting 33 points overall. Parker had an off game again, shooting 5 of 17 and getting 4 fouls himself. Felt like we could've beaten that team...

96-79 WIN vs MIA: 2-3

Wow! What a win, our best defensive performance so far, hands down. We held the Heat team to just 31 points in the 2nd half, kept the big 3 to a combined 12 of 48 and their whole team to just 33%. Bogut once again lead us offensively with 22 pts and 13 reb, and our role players played well too (Chandler/Green/Splitter each shot 5 of 7 from the field). Very pleased with this win.

Cleasby wrote:Not sure what value you will get for manu and duncan

Pretty pleased what I got for Duncan, Bogut has pretty much been my MVP through 5 games. Manu though...man his value is low, I'm not sure if I'll be able to move him for much more than cap TBH. We'll see though!

117-110 WIN vs NYK: 3-3

A solid team effort won this game. Parker lead the way with 25/15 (and kept Lin to 12/12 with 6 TOV and 6 fouls). Leonard and Splitter both had good offensive games, but also both fouled out trying to guard Melo and Amare. Manu had 17/3/6 off the bench too. Unfortunately, however, Dejaun Blair went down with a broken hand and will be out for over 2 months. I guess we'll be seeing more of Sanders!

99-87 WIN @ MIL: 4-3

We play the team we traded with, and niether of the main pieces played well. Bogut fouled out in 28 minutes after shooting 1 of 5 (although 8 reb, 6 ast and 3 blk to go with it) while Duncan shot just 4 of 16 for 10 pts and 11 reb. At least my backcourt played well, Parker posting 25/6/6 (and fouling Jennings out in 18 min) and Manu putting up 17 pts, 3 ast on 7 of 12 shooting.

93-85 WIN vs HOU: 5-3

We continue our winning streak with another strong win at home. Parker continues to play well himself, putting up 29 points and getting to the line 17 times. Manu also had a nice game, 26 pts in 28 min on 15 shots. Sanders has yet to have a good game since having increased minutes.

106-98 LOSS @ SAC: 5-4

Their role players had some amazing games, Isaiah Thomas getting 19 points on 7 shots and JT putting up 20/11 on 10 of 13 to lead their team. Bogut (18/12) and Parker (25/7) had some nice games for us, but we didn't play good enough D, giving up 48% shooting (to our 44%) and fouling 27 times to their 21.

93-88 WIN @ LAC: 6-4

Beat a good Clipps team (7-2) on the road, quite a win. For some reason Manu started (and had a great game, 25/5/4 on 10 of 15), but it didn't seem to affect the flow too much, beating a team that was better than us. Bogut still struggling with fouls, fouling out in 29 min this time (after posting 6/13), while Parker continues to score and score, posting 20/6/8/3 in the win.

107-106 WIN vs DEN: 7-4

Parker carries us with 30 pts, 9 ast, and 2 boards, with some help from Chandler (15 pts on 6 of 10), Splitter (14/7) and Manu (15/4/5). We kept them off the glass (42-37 in our favor) which is what you have to do to beat DEN. Another good win against another good team .

110-77 WIN vs UTA: 8-4

After a 1-3 start, we have won 7 of the last 8, including this blowout win against Utah. Manu did his thing (23/6/7 on 10 shots), while Bogut played great D on Al Jefferson, holding him to just 4 of 14, while Bogut only picked up 3 fouls in 38 min. Danny Green also chimed in 3 of 3 from 3PT to help space the floor.

108-94 LOSS @ MEM: 8-5

Well this is embarrassing, losing to the only 1 win team in the league. Surprisingly enough their C Marc Gasol is the one who hit us the hardest, going for 24/7/5/2/3 on 11 shots, basically managing the game from the 5. No one on our team got hot either, it was just an off game for us.

104-94 WIN vs CHI: 9-5

Holding a strong Bulls team to 40% shooting isn't easy, but we did it. Bogut put up 15/8 despite playing with a sore knee, but Parker was the true hero again, lighting up Rose for 26/5/9. Sanders had 8 reb which is good to see, and Leonard had a decent 12/6/2, while holding Deng to 8 points on 12 shots.


Monthly Recap:

PoM: Dwight Howard (33.5 / 15.9 / 0.9, 2.7 blk on .592 shooting)
RoM: Kenneth Faried (17.7/ 10.5 / 1.0, 2.3 blk on .490 shooting)

Leaders:

PTS: 1. Kevin Durant (33.9), 2. Dwight Howard (33.5), 3. Kevin Love (32.9)
REB: 1. Dwight Howard (15.9, 2. Kevin Love (12.9), 3. Marcus Camby (12.7)
AST: 1. Steve Nash (10.6), 2. Deron Williams (10.5), 3. John Wall (10.3)

Team Leaders:

Tony Parker: 21.4 / 4.4 / 7.6 / 1.5, 41 FG% (35.8 MPG)
Andrew Bogut: 13.6 / 10.6 / 1.7 / 1.6 / 2.4, 51 FG% (32.6 MPG)
Manu Ginobili: 15.5 / 3.7 / 3.1 / 0.9, 49 FG%, 41 3PT% (27.7 MPG)
Tiago Splitter: 13.2 / 8.4 / 1.1, 53 FG% (30.9 MPG)
Danny Green: 8.1 / 3.0 / 1.6, 48 FG%, 54 3PT% (20.4 MPG)

Team Record: 9-5 (T4 in West, 1 GB from 1st)
Record This Month: 9-5

Just going to say it. Not a fan of that Duncan move. Bogut for me is not elite and a guy to build around. Perhaps you are looking to ship him to?

Cleasby wrote:Just going to say it. Not a fan of that Duncan move. Bogut for me is not elite and a guy to build around. Perhaps you are looking to ship him to?

Maybe not the greatest value, but through a month, Bogut>Duncan (Bogut 14/11, Duncan 12/7, similar minutes and D) and Bogut is 9M cheaper and 8 (9?) years younger. Udrih and Sanders haven't done much for me, and Neal is playing well I have to admit (13/3/3 as their starting 2) but I think I won the trade.

Bogut isn't a guy I'm totally set on building around, but a 26 y/o is a lot more likely to be part of a future core than a 35 y/o

I'll be following your dynasty with interest, but I have to say that I'm partial to Timmy D and Manu.

Good luck with the rebuild.

So at this point in time I think to myself, "I'm 9-5, sitting in the middle of the Western Playoffs. If I stay this route, I'll likely be in the 4-6 range in the playoffs, and at best finish in the 2nd round, but end up with a late pick. I need to do something".

So I shopped around Parker, Manu, Jefferson and Bonner to see if I had any takers, and eventually I found one for Manu. The deal that was agreed to was:

Ray Allen, Avery Bradley, 2013 1st

for

Manu Ginobili, Dejaun Blair

I like this trade for me. First, Manu was on a 2 year deal while Allen is only on a 1 year deal, helping me save some money. Second, Bradley>Blair IMO. He's already an 82 DEF with a lot of room to grow, and I wasn't impressed with Blair's game. I also pick up a late 1st, which is never bad. Now to adjust the depth chart and more simming!

Current Depth Chart:

Tony Parker / Beno Udrih / TJ Ford (Inactive)
Ray Allen / Avery Bradley / James Anderson (Inactive)
Kawhi Leonard / Danny Green / Richard Jefferson
Tiago Splitter / Wilson Chandler / Matt Bonner (Inactive)
Andrew Bogut / Larry Sanders / Joel Pryzbilla

(Yes I decided to go a bit smaller this time around to get the minutes more correctly distributed)