MIKE FINGER
Commentary
Gregg Popovich had just finished lavishing Derrick White with heaps of unfettered praise when someone went for the natural follow-up. If White’s second season in the NBA really has been as revelatory
as his coach made it sound, and if Popovich truly has been blown away by the 24-year-old’s rapid ascent at the game’s most demanding position, then are the Spurs ready to commit to White as their point guard of the future?
“We’ll see,” Popovich said.
Here’s an encouraging little secret about where the Spurs are headed: Popovich’s hesitance to answer that question is a
good thing.
White, who since being pressed into emergency duty ahead of schedule has emerged as an irreplaceable cog at both ends of the floor, is going to be an important Spur for a long time. He makes this version of the team go, and he has proven he can change not only a game but a season.
But the Spurs might need him to do that in a different way next year, and it’s not because of anything he has done wrong so far. On the contrary, it’s because he does so many things right that the team is confident he’ll soon be able to handle another change.
After all, why should the Spurs have to choose between White and Dejounte Murray when the idea of playing them together seems more tantalizing than ever?
It will be unconventional. And for it to work, White probably will have to improve as a 3-point shooter, a part of his game that has been solid if unspectacular.
But that tandem, with Murray at the point and White playing off the ball, has the potential to give the Spurs a dynamic look and could define the next era of the franchise.
This season is far from over, but it’s not too early to start thinking about how the Spurs’ current pieces fit, and how they might be able to replenish the roster this summer. If we assume the organization will attempt to re-sign Rudy Gay and remain an over-thesalary-cap team this offseason, here is what they can expect to add:
• The Spurs’ own a firstround draft pick.
• The Raptors’ firstround draft pick (to complete the Kawhi Leonard trade).
• A veteran role player signed for about $9 million with the mid-level cap exception.
• A better-prepared Lonnie Walker IV, ready to contribute after spending the bulk of his first season in the developmental league.
• Most importantly, Murray.
No, the Spurs aren’t going to be able to chase Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving in free agency, and they’re almost certainly not going to be able to trade for Anthony Davis. But even without that kind of splash, they stand to get a serious infusion of talent.
Last September, no player on the roster was drawing more internal raves than Murray, the mesmerizingly athletic point guard who established himself as one of the game’s elite defenders last season and by all accounts took huge strides on offense last summer. His confidence soared during the preseason, and he showed off a remade jump shot that looked vastly improved from the one that held him back in 201718.
Then he tore a knee ligament, ending his regular season before it began, and forcing White into a role nobody was sure he
was prepared for. Before this season, White had been groomed by the Spurs as a combo guard, but now he was expected to get the team into sets and become a playmaker.
He was fine with it. “I always kind of had a point guard mindset, even if I’m not playing point guard,” White said. “I knew when (Murray) went down I had to step up.”
It worked. Aside from LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, White has been the most important player on the team, and there have been nights when he has upstaged both of those All-Stars. This bodes well not only for the rest of the season but for next year, too.
When White has missed games, the Spurs have been forced to make do with one of the absolute worst defensive backcourts in the league. With White and Murray playing together next season, it’s not a stretch to think they might become the NBA’s best at that end of the floor.
With DeRozan playing small forward, the Spurs would have three players capable of breaking down a defense. Spacing might be an issue with that group, which could make the inclusion of a shooter like Davis Bertans with that group intriguing, but it’s not hard to imagine such a lineup giving opponents fits.
So when Popovich says, “We’ll see?” That doesn’t mean the emotion he’s expressing is doubt.
It might be something closer to hope.