It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but man it was a fun ride.
Spurs have agree to trade Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green to Toronto for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected 2019 first-round pick, league sources tell ESPN. Trade call with league office is starting shortly.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 18, 2018
July 18th, 2018
BREAKING NEWS: The San Antonio Spurs have traded Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan. I’m not going to lie, I cried a little on the inside when this news broke. No Tim, Tony, or Manu, and now the superstar player that was supposed to lead us to the future is gone too? Devastating.
The preseason started out promising, with a win against Miami. But then the injury bug hit – and it hit hard.
October 2018
A game against Detroit, 1st round draft pick Lonnie Walker IV (Best hair in the NBA), tore his meniscus. Just two days later, starting PG Dejounte Murray tore his ACL. And to add salt to the wounds, in the preseason finale, backup point guard Derrick White tore a ligament in his left heal. Suddenly, the Spurs found themselves starting the season with only 2 guards on their roster: Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills.
December 5th
The Spurs lose to the Los Angeles Lakers. Annually guaranteed playoff contenders, they found themselves sitting with a losing record at 11-14. Since 1997, the Spurs have only been under .500 for a total of 48 days. Yes that’s not a typo, 48 days. Suddenly their season was spiraling out of control and they were looking like they may be a lottery team in this year’s draft, rather than a playoff contender.
What happened after was nothing short of amazing. The Spurs transformed into the #1 ranked 3-point shooting team in the league and won 13 of 16 games, never in fear of missing the playoffs again.
March 30th
No Tim, no Tony, no Manu, no Kawhi – no problem. Greg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs clinchde a playoff spot for an NBA record 22nd consecutive season. HA!
April 27th, 2019
Winners of 4 Finals in the last 15 years, the Spurs lost game 7 to the Denver Nuggets 90-86. After a hard fought series with the 2nd seeded Nuggets, the Spurs just didn’t have enough shooting left in the tank to win one more game.
Looking back on the injuries and new faces just didn’t have enough time to get into a true title contender. But next year, watch out.