Spurs, Clippers, Cavaliers Take a Seat in Losers’ Lounge

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

In a span of 32 hours earlier this week, the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, and Los Angeles Clippers exited the playoffs and began their off-seasons. It’s unusual, but the length of their to-do lists is inversely proportional to their regular season records this year.

The San Antonio Spurs, of course, won the NBA title last season. En route, they thrashed the uptempo Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals and barely nipped the slow-paced Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. Not surprisingly, the Spurs spent last summer fortifying their roster for an anticipated rematch with Detroit. They reasonably assumed that they could best a team that adapted the smaller, fast model.

As Dallas illustrated time and again during the last two weeks, the San Antonio braintrust was mistaken. While the Spurs, 63-19 this year, might be better than a team that has one personality, they had terrible difficulty against one that could mix and match, go big or go small depending on what the situation called for. The Spurs’ vaunted defense, the cornerstone of their three titles was breeched. They allowed 100.8 points per game in the playoffs, as opposed to 95.6 during the regular season. As Dallas’s guards went whizzing by them, the Spurs looked like an old team.

The good news at the Alamo is that the Spurs aren’t really that old. Their nucleus – power forward Tim Duncan, swingman Manu Ginobili, and point guard Tony Parker – are still in their primes and will be for several more years.

However, some of the team’s role players are a tad long in the tooth. Ace defender Bruce Bowen turns 35 next month; big shot specialist Robert Horry is 36; reserve guard Brent Barry will turn 35 early next season; and reserve guard Nick Van Exel is 34. Van Exel is retiring and Bowen is showing few signs of decline, but Horry and Barry are slipping a bit. For Barry, the Spurs have a capable replacement – Beno Udrih – already on the bench, but they will need to start shopping to fortify their frontline depth with an eye toward making the team more competitive with smaller, faster lineups.

The Spurs’ only significant free agent is center Nazr Mohammed. Although he started 30 games, the former Knick averaged only 17 minutes a contest. If he’s likely to draw starter’s money from another team, then the Spurs would be best advised to let him walk and try to manipulate the situation in a multi-team sign-and-trade to get younger and quicker.

One player they should covet is Sonics power forward Chris Wilcox. After leaving the L.A. Clippers, the 6-foot-10-inch forward played like a borderline all-star. He runs the floor well, rebounds, and has a soft touch from medium distances. As a sixth man, he would give the Spurs new lineup flexibility.

The Spurs’ starting five – center Rasho Nesterovic, Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, and Bowen – is unlikely to change, but they will need to promote Udrih into the rotation and find a big man who can run the floor. Otherwise, next year’s summer vacation might get started right around the same time, which is earlier than expected in San Antonio. The Spurs’ primary competition in the Western Conference – Dallas, Phoenix, and the L.A. Clippers – are able to play uptempo, and San Antonio is in the unusual position of having to adjust to league trends.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, 50-32, enjoyed their best season since 1993 and just missed the conference finals. The major reason was on display during their 79-61 Game 7 loss to Detroit.

Aside from LeBron James, no one can shoot straight. James and reserve guard Flip Murray were the only perimeter players to shoot better than 44% from the field. With teams likely to double- and triple-team James as Detroit did on Sunday, the Cavs will need to have another outside option. Unfortunately, their draft position, no. 25 and no. 55, doesn’t bode well for finding sharpshooters, nor does the free agent market. The Cavs will need to engineer a deal to move up in the draft, or they will have to remedy this weakness via a trade. They do have a number of small contracts that allow them some flexibility in roster reconstruction work.

As strange as it was to write about the Los Angeles Clippers in glowing terms all season long, it seems even stranger to discuss the 47-35 team with rose-colored glasses in the off-season.

Team President Elgin Baylor was long a laughingstock in the league for his poor roster management (sadly, he’s been replaced by the Knicks’ Isiah Thomas in that regard). But this Clipper team is well-structured for a long run as a playoff team. From their current lineup, they will need to re-sign point guard Sam Cassell, but the only issue in that negotiation will be one year or two. At 36, with a career ahead of him in coaching or television, Cassell can’t afford to engender any bad PR by looking greedy.

The Clippers also need a good rebounder, (perhaps the Spurs Mohhamed), who can be had with a portion of their mid-level exception. With those two moves, the Clips should be set to cement their change from being merely an alternative to the Lakers to being a viable choice for Los Angeles hoops fans.

mjohnson@nysun.com


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