Richard Jefferson To Spurs = Happy Lank

I love the San Antonio Spurs.

There, I said it.

This blog has never been advertised as objective, and I'm not going to pretend like it is. The Spurs are my favorite NBA team and always have been. It's led me to indescribable joy (watching David Robinson, watching Tim Duncan, and of course, the titles), similar despair (the Derek Fisher Shot, Manu fouling Dirk in 2006, not being able to ever beat the Stockton/Malone Jazz), and everything in between. But above all, the thing I love most about being a Spurs fan is that my team is always in the thick of things. The only time we've missed the playoffs since the Admiral joined the team (1989) was in 1997...and that resulted in us luckily winning the Draft Lottery and selecting Tim Duncan. Yes, I know, it's almost nauseating.

So imagine my concern after the Spurs were beaten by the Dallas Mavericks in 5 games this spring in the first round of the playoffs. Duncan looked human, for once, Ginobili was hobbled, and outside of Tony Parker becoming the second-best point guard in the NBA (try me on this, I dare you), there wasn't much to be happy about. Duncan is 32 and has played God-knows-how-many games in his career. Going deep into the playoffs every year takes its toll, and he finally started to show some wear and tear towards the end of the season. Ginobili has had season-ending injuries the last two years (yes, he played at the end of 2008, but was clearly injured) and can't be counted on to be there for the duration of the year anymore. Was this the beginning of the end? How were we going to emerge from this? You can only draft so many times at 25 and below before it starts catching up with you. And with so much money invested in the Big Three, it's not like we can throw mega-dollars at a free agent.

Well, we figured it out.

By trading Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto to the Milwaukee Bucks for Richard Jefferson, the San Antonio Spurs have made a move that should help them usher in the new era of Spurs basketball. Jefferson is not young (he just turned 29), but he also doesn't have the mileage on his body that Ginobili and Duncan do. What's more, he's an athletic wing player with a good outside jumper who's capable of putting up 40 points if given the opportunity. He's durable (having played at least 78 games in 3 of the last 4 seasons), defends well, and adds a slashing element to the Spurs offense that was notably absent from everyone not named Tony Parker last season. Imagine a crunch time lineup of Parker, Ginobili (fingers crossed), Jefferson, Duncan, and CTBNL (center to be named later). I only have 80% of the lineup filled in and I'm already excited.

The only downside to this deal is that we no longer have Bruce Bowen to harass the other team's best player, and our interior depth, which was already a question, is now depleted. Hopefully, the Spurs will re-sign Drew Gooden or recruit Rasheed Wallace to fill the void; but those are things that will be settled in the future. The present shows Richard Jefferson and his explosive talents joining a Spurs team that was already a Top 5 NBA team. Will that potent combination lead to another banner in the River City in 2010? It's far too early to tell, but as we sit here in June, I wouldn't bet against it.

~~ Lank