The San Antonio Spurs are no longer the Spurs we came to know and love over the years. Tim Duncan isn't walking through that door, and neither are Manu Ginobili nor Tony Parker.
It's a new era in San Antonio, one that might not exactly yield the best results in the 2019-20 campaign.
However, while the Spurs are currently very reliant on veterans LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan to drive them, they have some interesting young talent that could really show out this coming season.
Here are three San Antonio players poised for a breakout year:
3. Lonnie Walker
The Spurs used their 2018 first-round draft pick on Lonnie Walker, but the 20-year-old played in just 17 games during his rookie campaign, spending most of his first season in the G-League.
But now, Walker seems to be prepared for a larger role.
The youngster had a terrific showing in Summer League, demonstrating his ridiculous athleticism and terrific defensive ability that has some thinking he could become an All-NBA defender at some point.
Of course, Walker will have to fight for playing time in what is a crowded Spurs backcourt, but due to his length and defensive chops, Walker should find a way into Gregg Popovich's rotation.
It didn't take long for Dejounte Murray to make an impact in San Antonio, earning Second-Team All-Defense honors in his second season in 2017-18. However, a torn ACL prevented him from playing at all last season, which was a massive disappointment.
Murray still has a long way to go on the offensive end, as he lacks a perimeter jumper and doesn't have much of a scorer's mentality in general, but the instincts are there.
Remember: Murray did average 16.1 points per game during his lone NCAA season at Washington, so it's not like he is incapable of putting the ball in the hoop, and we already know how good he is defensively.
With a ridiculous 6-foot-10 wingspan, Murray should continue to be a game-changer on the defensive end, even after his injury. You just have to wonder if the ACL tear sapped any of his athleticism.
Derrick White showed flashes of brilliance last season, particularly in the playoffs when he dropped 36 points in a Game 3 first-round win over the Denver Nuggets.
It wasn't until January that White really started to take off during the 2018-19 campaign, but from that point on, he developed into a pretty reliable scorer in the Spurs' offense.
The overall consistency isn't there just yet, and it would be nice if White can do a better job of getting to the free-throw line (he averaged just 1.8 free-throw attempts per game this past year), but you can see the vast potential.
In addition, White plays the defensive end of the floor, and while he may not be as good as Murray on that end, he is still good enough where we can consider him a legitimate two-way force.
With White, Murray, Walker and also Bryn Forbes, who almost made this list, the Spurs have a very exciting group of young guards who could propel San Antonio to a playoff spot in the rugged Western Conference.
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