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SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs opened their training camp Monday for the first time since the 1997-98 season without a single Big 3 member including Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
However, the most notable absence of the day was Kawhi Leonard, who allowed last season's squads to pull together and was eventually traded to Toronto in July against four defensive players. Star DeMar DeRozan.
All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, introduced by the Toronto Raptors on Monday, said he wanted to focus on this season, not on his future. He was traded to the Raptors on July 18th by the San Antonio Spurs.
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"I'm glad it's over," said point guard Dejounte Murray. "Wherever I went, I could not go anywhere. [without] everyone asks me. All the drama and Spurs are not used to the drama. So it was weird for everyone in the world. It was a lot. Wherever we went, you would see on ESPN or First Take: "Kawhi-Spurs, Kawhi-Spurs". It was a lot of drama. We're just happy to have finished, and we're going to a training camp with no drama, no new guys, and some exciting guys. It will be a fun year. "
The relationship between Leonard and the Spurs deteriorated last season compared to the treatment of his quad injury. He felt that the team had mishandled him and then did not support him saying he could not play. Leonard finally sought treatment outside of the organization and the distance between the parties increased.
The Spurs exchanged discontent Leonard in July with Danny Green at the Toronto Raptors for DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round draft pick in 2019. Meanwhile, Parker chose to sign with the Charlotte Hornets in free agency, and Ginobili announced his retirement in August after 16 seasons in San Antonio.
"I was not even going to talk about it," said attacker LaMarcus Aldridge, to whom he asked if he was happy to see the drama of the saga Leonard finally come to an end. "It's gone now.If you ask questions about all this, I will not answer it.We are happy to turn the page.DeMar is here.It is happy and motivated.I played in Outdoor gym with him.It will make us better.You have to look forward.We have a very talented team with whom I am looking forward to playing with. "
When the club opened on Monday, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich admitted that "I do not really know all the names" of the players. After all, the eighth grade Spurs reserve Patty Mills is currently the oldest player in the franchise.
Eleven of the players in the current San Antonio team, made up of 19 players, have entered the camp with two years or less of experience.
Popovich described opening the camp with a list without Duncan, Parker and Ginobili reissued as "a bit melancholy", but expressed enthusiasm for the future.
"At the same time, it is an excellent opportunity for a new challenge and a new energy, a different route, a different perspective," he said. "Seeing all the new faces that you have to try to develop will make it an interesting and exciting year, but in a good way."
Popovich's season could not have been more difficult. While Leonard's hustle and bustle dragged on, Popovich's wife, Erin, died in April at the age of 67, after a long illness. Popovich is far from the team for the last three games of San Antonio's playoff defeat against the Warriors. Some wondered if the 70-year-old would return for a 23rd season with the Spurs. But he was there on Monday, embracing the changes of the team.
Aldridge described the Spurs 'current incarnation as "more talented" than last year' s team, which featured Leonard for just nine games while it was handed out. of a quadriceps injury. Aldridge emphasized the depth of the bench and the versatility of the club in his assessment.
"Our bench has improved a lot," said Aldridge. "We will certainly miss some guys who have made us better, but we have guys who can play games and just play, and we have young talents who will play games for us too. [big and small]. That's why I said we are so talented. We have pau [Gasol] it can play 5. We have the young guy from Toronto (Poeltl) who can play 5. So we can go small and I'm 5 years old and Rudy [Gay is] at 4. I have the impression that we had more talent because we can play more easily the little ball and that we can play big with a big team. I have the impression that we are in this happy medium where we can do both things. "
Aldridge considered that last season was the San Antonio rebuilding season because of Leonard's absence and the drama that accompanied this situation, in addition to the team that eventually chose Murray with Parker full time. This season, Aldridge feels like "more than a year of transition" for the Spurs.
The Spurs won 47 games last season with Leonard largely sidelined.
"We would just like to take advantage of it," said Popovich. "We are adding a talent like DeMar that we did not have last year.We are enthusiastic.The goal will be the same, like every year.We want to be the best team possible the playoffs roll. . "
As for Leonard, the Spurs continue to wish the best to the old franchise team.
"As long as Kawhi is happy, it's my guy for life," Murray said. "I do not care what happened between him and the Spurs, it has nothing to do with me, it's bigger than basketball, we have a great player. Toronto has a great player, let's go. "
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