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The San Antonio Spurs have some big decisions to make whenever the 2020 offseason begins. Since the franchise was on its way to missing the playoffs in 2019-20 for the first time since 1997 before the campaign was suspended due to COVID-19, most pundits expect changes to happen in San Antonio this summer.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich signed a three-year extension with the Spurs last April. However, it's worth mentioning that The Athletic reported in December that the legendary tactician is widely known to be taking a year-by-year approach at this stage of his career.
Popovich is 71 and has been working with the franchise since 1988, so he has earned the right to walk away when he feels like his time is up.
The big changes that pundits expect to happen with the Spurs have nothing to do with Popovich, though. It's the roster in San Antonio that needs some tweaking.
The Spurs explored trade scenarios involving All-Stars LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan near the February trade deadline but wound up keeping both players. DeRozan has a player option for the 2020-21 season and multiple reports have said the California native doesn't intend to pick it up since he's not happy in San Antonio.
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With that being said, the Spurs must do what the Golden State Warriors did with Kevin Durant last summer and pull off a sign-and-trade deal involving DeRozan so they don’t lose the All-Star shooting guard and come away with nothing in return.
The Warriors acquired D'Angelo Russell from the Brooklyn Nets in the Durant sign-and-trade deal and wound up sending D'Lo to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins six months later.
The moral of the story is that the Spurs can't afford to watch DeRozan leave and not get a player or draft pick in return. Once DeMar declines his player option and verbally agrees to sign with a new team, that's when the Spurs get on the phone with the said team and work out a sign-and-trade agreement.
DeRozan was averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game before the 2019-20 season was suspended. His lack of 3-point shooting ultimately limits what the Spurs as a team can do on offense when he's the No. 1 option. San Antonio made 671 shots from beyond the arc in 2019-20. That was 26th in the NBA out of the 30 teams.
Maybe the Spurs and Nets could work out a sign-and-trade deal. Brooklyn is said to be looking for a third star next to Durant and Kyrie Irving. San Antonio could target players such as Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, and Jarrett Allen in sign-and-trade talks with the Nets.
