Take note, Suns: Spurs know how it’s done

Two years ago the Phoenix Suns swept the San Antonio Spurs
right out of the playoffs, giving the impression that not
only had Planet Orange finally beaten their nemesis, but
likely officially ended their reign atop the Western
Conference, too.

So much for that idea.

All that’s happened since is the Spurs have been the
West’s top seed twice, and are now the favorite to reach
the NBA Finals. Again.

Should the Spurs get past the Zombie Sonics they’ll have a
shot at winning their fifth title since 1999, a feat Suns
fans can only dream about. And, as painful as it may
be, it’s worth asking:

How have the Spurs remained elite for more than a decade,
while the Suns had a nice little run but have begun the
process of bottoming out (sans championship)?

Well, it helps they’ve kept their core together.

The trio of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili has played the
last 10 seasons together, and while the pieces and system
around them have changed, they have not gone anywhere.
They fit the team’s system, accept their roles and do
nothing but win. And flop. But mostly win.

While their stars are aging, the roster is not. The Spurs
average 27.4 years of age this season, compared to 28.8
for the Suns.

Now, tell me, which team is rebuilding and which is
setting itself up for the future?

The Spurs have done this with incredible roster
management, adding guys like Danny Green, Gary Neal,
Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair either late
in drafts or with shrewd free agent signings.

The Suns, meanwhile, rarely added great talents in free
agency while traditionally making the selling of draft
picks an annual rite of summer.

Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby once
said, in effect, the chickens have come home to roost when
it comes to the team not adding young players, and he’s
right. The best teams add talent all throughout the draft,
helping to keep a championship window open. The Suns, on
the other hand, saw little value in cheap youth, instead
choosing to pin their hopes on veteran free agents.

It seems to be the team’s current plan.

“I have no doubt that we are going to be on the top of the
list of a lot of potential free agents this summer,” Babby
told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo last week.

It’s a tough way to build, and it’s probably the wrong way
to build, too. Top free agents rarely migrate to new
teams, only doing so to play in a larger market or with
other stars. Phoenix is not New York, and the Suns are not
the Heat.

The Spurs do not exactly play in a big market, but they’ve
made themselves a perennial contender. Yet, free agency
has never really been their thing.

Of course, the other thing the Spurs have done to get to
this point is have a guy named Tim Duncan. One of the
greatest players of all time, Duncan has been a dominant
player on the court and a stabilizing force off it. The
team knows it will contend as long as he’s around (which
may only be a couple more years), and can build
accordingly.

In fact, Duncan’s presence alone convinced Gregg Popovich and the team to
keep pushing for a title because, as the coach said,
“Timmy didn’t sign on to wait.”

It’s a noble mind-set, one that works because of what the
Spurs have done throughout the course of Duncan’s career.
Maybe the Suns will get lucky in Wednesday’s draft lottery
and be afforded the chance to grab their own Duncan this
summer?

The San Antonio Spurs have exactly one lottery pick on
their roster, yet are on the cusp of reaching the NBA
Finals. They’ve been adept at finding and developing
talent, which has led to them becoming one of the league’s
model franchises.

Two years ago the Suns swept the Spurs and made it to the
Western Conference Finals, before falling to the eventual
champion Lakers in six games. Of the 15 players who were
on that Phoenix team, just five remain.

The same goes for the Spurs, though they found a way to
improve the roster.

Acquire talent, coach it up, build around it. That’s what
the Spurs do. That’s what the best teams do.

And, hopefully, it’s what the Phoenix Suns will do.

Follow @theAdamGreen