The San Antonio Spurs have had a relatively quiet offseason, which should not come as much of a surprise to anyone. Outside of landing LaMarcus Aldridge during the summer of 2016, the Spurs are not typically big players in free agency, and that trend has remained true this summer.
San Antonio brought back Rudy Gay, signed Trey Lyles and acquired DeMarre Carroll via trade. The Spurs also thought they were signing Marcus Morris to a two-year, $20 million deal, but Morris ended up reneging and signing a one-year, $15 million pact with the New York Knicks. What made that sting even more was that San Antonio traded Davis Bertans away just to make room for him.
So, what should we take away from this offseason for San Antonio? What direction are the Spurs headed?
Here are three takeaways from San Antonio's summer.
3. They Really Need to Rebuild
Let's face it: this Spurs team is not a contender. Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan aren't taking them anywhere in the Western Conference, and Tim Duncan isn't walking through that door.
I understand that rebuilding is foreign to San Antonio, as the Spurs haven't had to do that in over two decades, but it's blatantly obvious that this team needs to start fresh.
That means trying to rehome Aldridge and DeRozan and extracting whatever value you can get in return.
Will the Spurs be able to get back? Probably not, but it might be worth gauging the market for both players.
San Antonio already has some solid young talent, so it might be time to start committing to the future.
2. They are Fading into Irrelevancy
Since the Spurs drafted Duncan all the way back in 1997, they have consistently been one of the best teams in the NBA, winning five championships and making six finals appearances.
But since Duncan retired in 2016, things have slowly been unraveling.
Not only were Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker mere shells of their former selves, but Kawhi Leonard demanded a trade last summer, ripping away any chance San Antonio had of contending.
The Spurs were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs in each of the last two years, and now, going into 2019, there is a chance they don't even make the postseason.
It's a shame, but San Antonio is gradually fading into irrelevancy, and it's going to be very difficult for it to get back to prominence without a Duncan-like superstar at the center of it all.
1. They Lack Direction
This is something we never thought we would say about the Spurs, but it's true: they don't appear to have a sense of direction at the moment.
Think about this for a second: San Antonio was always known for sharing the basketball better than anyone else in the league, but now, the Spurs are becoming more and more iso oriented, with Gay, DeRozan and even Aldridge being iso scorers.
And San Antonio would have had four iso-heavy players had Morris not backed out of his deal.
So just what are the Spurs doing right now? Do they even have a plan? Or are they just trying to throw a collection of players together while hoping they fit?
It's clear something is amiss in San Antonio.