In a recent interview with ESPN's Nick Friedell, Warriors executives Bob Myers and Kirk Lacob revealed that they view the San Antonio Spurs as the model franchise when it comes to player development.
One of the biggest reasons the Spurs have been able to enjoy such a successful run is the fact that Gregg Popovich has been at the helm. Coach Pop is viewed as one of the greatest playcallers of all time, and Myers praised his ability to change his style as needed:
“One thing Popovich is so great at is, he's been so successful at changing his style,” Myers told ESPN. “You've seen the Spurs evolve and play a certain way and then shift with their personnel.”
Like many other teams around the NBA landscape, the Warriors are looking to emulate what the Spurs have been able to do over the past 20 years (five championships and six conference titles from 1999 to 2014). San Antonio drafts well, and they are great at developing their players.
“We have immense respect for what the Spurs have done and have been able to outlast everyone and be great for 20 years, and so there's certainly very strong elements,” Lacob told ESPN. “I think their player-development pipeline is incredible. You look at all the young players and a lot of them [are] later draft picks, which are, percentage-wise, statistically hard to hit on. They do a really good job of allowing people to become NBA players and that is extremely valuable.”
The Warriors will still have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as their focal point for the coming season, but using San Antonio's template for player development is certainly a good idea for the future.
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