After 28 games of the 2018-19 season, the Spurs are essentially back to where they started the campaign — zero games above or below .500.
The 14-14 Spurs had an impressive 6-2 start. But then they went 5-12 over their next 17 games with several ugly performances on the defensive end of the floor. San Antonio has now won three consecutive home games since then, improving its intensity and execution on both ends.
But which players have stood out for the team in the first third of the campaign? Let’s check in with some player awards.
Most Valuable Player: DeMar DeRozan
This isn’t debatable. DeRozan paces the Spurs in scoring (24.1 points per game) and assists (6.2 per game) by a landslide, and his efficiency has been respectable. He’s not exactly helping the Spurs’ 25th-ranked defense, but he’s also far from the only problem with it.
San Antonio gave DeRozan free reign of the offense from the first game of the season as a de facto point guard, and he’s taken advantage with a solid campaign. The 6.2 assists are a career high, and he’s still kept his turnovers at a manageable 2.5 per game.
Incidentally, DeRozan leads San Antonio in PIPM Wins Added (2.0), with Rudy Gay (1.6) as his closest competitor.
There is room for improvement for the four-time All-Star. His attack mindset needs to be more consistent, with his midrange jumper as more of a backup option. While he’s never going to be a great (or very high-volume) three-point shooter, he’ll have to shoot better than his current 17.1 percent when he gets open looks.
Most Disappointing Player: LaMarcus Aldridge
I thought about flipping straight to “Least Valuable Player” for Aldridge, but that would be too harsh. Aldridge is still putting up good raw numbers (18.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game). However, his 51.3 true-shooting percentage is the second-worst of his 13 seasons and his 9.4 turnover ratio is a career high.
Even though Aldridge is now the clear second option, he’s getting shots in pretty similar spots to last year. Unfortunately, his jumper isn’t falling and his finishing around the rim has been unreliable. His effective-field goal percentage on shots outside of 10 feet is down from to 45.7 to 36.5. His percentage on shots inside of five feet is also down from 67.8 to 60.3. Both of those percentages have slowly increased over the past several games, but they still need to get much better.
Defensively, LMA’s impact numbers are down across the board. It’s hard to know how much of this is his fault and how much of it is playing with such poor perimeter defenders and more as a full-time center with no second rim protector.
Aldridge feasted last season as the Spurs’ first option. For the team’s sake, it would be great if he could find more consistency even with the slight reduction in touches and overall usage.
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gay
The competition for this award is not stiff, given how poor the Spurs’ defense has been. But Gay has been above average on D while playing starter’s minutes, and that’s enough to earn him the nod here.
Most metrics are pretty bullish on the 32-year-old’s stopping abilities. His 2018-19 BBall Index talent grades put him in the 67th percentile as a perimeter defender, the 75th percentile as an interior defender and the 91st percentile as a defensive rebounder.
On the impact front, Gay leads the Spurs in Defensive PIPM (+0.9). His DRPM (+1.35) ranks seventh out of 87 small forwards.
Gay is no longer very fleet of foot. However, his instincts are good and he has a 7’3″ wingspan. He’ll get his hands in passing lanes and contest shots well when he’s quick enough to stay in front the offensive player.
Sixth Man of the Year: Jakob Poeltl
To be clear, Poeltl is not the Spurs’ sixth man. He ranks 11th on the team in minutes per game and 10th in total minutes. However, the NBA’s parameters of this award only dictate that its winner must play more games off the bench than as a starter.
The 23-year-old center from Austria has gotten comfortable with the Spurs’ second unit after a poor start. Here’s a breakdown of his per-game statistics before and after November 13:
Before November 13 (eight games)- 10.3 minutes, 1.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.1 blocks, 47.8 true-shooting percentage
After November 13 (16 games)- 15.6 minutes, 7.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, 69.9 true-shooting percentage
Poeltl is a strong rebounder and good rim protector, but he makes his biggest impact in the pick and roll. He sets fundamentally sound screens, rolls fluidly and has a keen sense of timing and spacing.
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Is Poeltl a long-term starter for this team? Probably not as long as LaMarcus Aldridge stays in San Antonio. Two-big lineups like that routinely struggle in today’s NBA.
But after a rough start to the year, he’s definitely a prospect worth watching. It’ll be unacceptable if Poeltl drops completely out of the rotation when Pau Gasol eventually returns.
Most Improved Player: Bryn Forbes
Poeltl’s improvement within this season has been very impressive. But with this award, we’re looking specifically at players’ performances this season compared to last season.
Forbes has stepped up his game as a full-time starter this year. His 43.4 percent mark from three-point range on 4.9 attempts per game has been key for a Spurs starting lineup that needs spacing. His BBall Index talent percentile on perimeter shooting has improved from 85.1 (A-) to 95.0 (A) since 2017-18.
The undrafted third-year guard has also tightened his handle and packed on some muscle. These improvements have advanced his abilities as a penetrator and overall shot-creator. Just 20.6 percent of his field goals were unassisted last year, but that’s up to 37.2 percent this season. His talent percentile as a finisher has improved from 12.0 to 54.8.
It’s still a stretch to call Forbes a starting-caliber guard at the NBA level. His combination of below-average length and quickness for a guard caps his defensive ceiling, and he’s not a natural off-the-bounce creator.
But he’s been a perfectly fine starting lineup replacement for Dejounte Murray this season. That’s a job he probably couldn’t have filled as admirably in 2017-18.
Most Exciting Prospect to Keep Tabs On: Derrick White
The “healthy” qualifier eliminates Murray from consideration. Poeltl is an excellent bench piece, but his ceiling in the modern NBA is questionable. And since Lonnie Walker hasn’t played a minute with San Antonio yet, we’ll take a conservative approach there.
White’s numbers this season look bad on the surface. A 45.0 true-shooting percentage for a 24-year-old guard doesn’t scream “this guy is going to be good.”
However, White is still a solid all-around combo guard with a great feel for the game. Gregg Popovich has been very inconsistent with White’s role and the lineups he plays in. I believe that’s a big reason to the second-year guard still lacks confidence on his jumper and his finishes this season.
White spent the majority of last season leading the Austin Spurs to a G-League championship as a high-volume No. 1 offensive option with a perpetual green light. In the same fashion, he did another bang-up job leading the Spurs’ Summer League contingent. He was the focal point of defenses and still scored pretty efficiently at all three levels.
He was always going to have an adjustment period to a smaller offensive role with the Spurs’ main team, but then a heel injury delayed his start to the season by three weeks.
Even with the shooting efficiency issues from White, the 6’4″ guard has consistently gotten after it on defense every time he’s stepped on the floor. He’s been steadily building chemistry with teammates and is finding more and more success with his slick playmaking chops.
It’s very possible White becomes a reliable starting-caliber player at either guard position in the near future. He just needs more reps with the ball to build confidence.
Note: All statistics are from NBA.com, BBall Index or ESPN.com. Video footage is collected from 3ball.io.
Photo courtesy of Harry How (Getty Images)
