This season, John Collins and the 1997 draft and if the season ended today (reasons for optimism)

[thecampster]

Back in the 90's, the Spurs were a very good team but not contender quality. They just couldn't get over the hump. Then the disastrous 96-97's season happened.

See here from Wikipedia:

"The 1996–97 NBA season was the Spurs' 21st season in the National Basketball Association, and 30th season as a franchise.^[1] During the offseason, the Spurs signed free agent and former All-Star Dominique Wilkins, who played in Greece last season,^[2] while re-signing free agent Vernon Maxwell. However, without All-Star center David Robinson, who played just six games due to back and foot injuries,^[3] and Chuck Person, who was out for the entire season with an offseason back injury, the Spurs struggled losing 13 of their first 15 games in November. After 18 games, head coach Bob Hill was fired and replaced with General Manager Gregg Popovich. Wilkins appeared in 63 games and led the team with 18.2 points per game. However, it would not be nearly enough as the Spurs finished sixth in the Midwest Division with a 20–62 record."

 

The draft, building an elite contender and becoming a champion is as much about luck as is it about anything else.  Stuck on the good but not great season treadmill. The Spurs thought the signing of Dominique is what would get them over the hump. But injuries to Robinson, Person derailed the season and landed them Tim Duncan. Duncan paired with Robinson led to a terrifying duo that made San Antonio the place stars wanted to play. It changed the NBA landscape for 2 decades.

The moment the Collins suspension came down I immediately choked on my preseason optimism. I saw doom and gloom. Injuries to Huerter, Reddish and the slow start of other aged vets have made the beginning of this season unbearable. But with the explosion of Trae, I'm starting to see correlations to the Spurs of 96-97. The Collins suspension, Huerter injuries are reminding me of how the Spurs survived a year without Person and Robinson.

If the season ended today, the Hawks would be tied with the Warriors for the worst record in the NBA but with a far superior cap situation. Assuming the ping-pong balls fell Atlanta's way, the Hawks would own the 1st and 17th picks (from the Nets) in this year's draft. I played around on the Shamsports Capulator and renouncing our rights next year to Crabbe, Turner, Carter, Parsons, Jones. I "signed" rookies at the 1st and 17th draft slots, added in the player option from Jabari Parker, picked up the team options for Trae, Collins, Huerter and resigned Bembry and Len at 8 million/season each (I needed a number, don't criticize it).  We end up with $54 million in available cap space after all signings, extensions, etc. with 4 empty roster slots.  Assuming we use tour first pick on a Center (James Wiseman maybe?) and our 2nd 1st round pick on a point guard to back up Trae. Our rookies mature and we use our $54 million wisely (1 star, 3 vets). Next year could be a Spurs like turnaround.

Edited December 1, 2019 by thecampster