SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs are striving to emerge from the rebuilding phase and return to the NBA’s upper echelon.
Drafting Victor Wembanyama and selecting Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan, and Stephon Castle was a massive step in the right direction.
These moves include accumulating draft assets and trading for veteran Harrison Barnes, who will bring much-needed veteran know-how to a young roster.
However, the rebuilding process will continue heading into next season, and Barnes recognizes that the Spurs’ road back to the NBA mountaintop will only happen after a while.
“I think it starts with the commitment. Knowing that, obviously, things aren’t going to happen overnight,” he said. “I think also it’s that shared experience. I’ve said it before, in years past, but you just can’t fast-track experience.”
The Spurs definitely had a shared experience before Barnes came to the team.
The young Spurs have experienced a 22-win season, long losing skids and five consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs.
While NBA players do not want to endure that, it solidifies the team’s resolve to improve and grow on the court individually and collectively.
“You look at every team that’s in the playoffs that’s had success — look at this franchise that has had success — there is a shared experience that happens year after year after year that allows guys to build and grow,” Barnes said.
The Spurs showed signs of improvement to end the 2023-24 season.
Before the All-Star break, the team’s plus-minus differential was -8.6. Following the All-Star break, it was -2.1. The team’s defensive rating was 117.5 before the All-Star break and 111.8 after.
As for finishing close games, San Antonio averaged 6.9 points in clutch situations and a -2.5 plus-minus differential before the All-Star break. Afterward, the team averaged 9.3 points and had a 0.8 plus-minus differential in the clutch.
“These last few weeks or months, we’ve been playing better. We’ve been winning more games and been in a lot more games,” guard Tre Jones said to close the season.
It’s that experience, Barnes notes, that will help the Spurs come out of the rebuild.
“That process was started before I got here, but I’m definitely excited to just be with them,” he said.
The Spurs ended the season on a 2-game winning streak (Denver and Detroit) and won four of their final six games.
The Spurs’ 2023-24 record does not reflect the team’s tremendous growth as the season moved forward, but the work continues.
The team is returning most of last season’s roster, carrying the experience they went through while adding Barnes and Chris Paul.
Put that all together, and you will have the makings of an improved Spurs team to start the new season.
“There are certain things you have to go through as a group,” Barnes added.
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