Recently ESPN announced that they believe the Spurs will
repeat as NBA champions. And now they also believe that the Spurs have the
brightest future in the league. In their updated “Future Power Rankings” Spurs
comes on top followed closely by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider's projection of
the on-court success expected for each team in the next three seasons. They
rate each team in five categories to determine the rankings. The categories are
players, management, market, draft and money.
For the first time in Future Power Rankings' five-year
history that the Spurs have ranked No. 1. Not surprised at all, they are the
defending champions and with everyone returning they have a really good chance
to win again. But we are talking about for the next three seasons. The big
three is not getting any younger. Both Parker and Ginobili did not play in the
current Fiba World cup because of injury. Duncan is 39 years old, probably only
has a year or two left. Ginobili is 37 years old. Parker at 32 years old is
entering the end of his best years. So why is the Spurs No. 1?
Kevin Pelton explains Why ESPN’s panel moved the Spurs from
four to one in these power rankings:
"[Kawhi]
Leonard is likely to sign a long-term extension this fall, the Spurs having
already locked up point guard Tony Parker through 2017-18 this summer. San
Antonio also will have to re-sign starting guard Danny Green, which will cut
into the team’s cap flexibility the next two summers.
Still, if
there’s any management we trust to manage the future, it’s the Spurs, who
earned a perfect score. [Gregg] Popovich is clearly the league’s best coach —
he might be as difficult to replace as Duncan when he decides to retire — and
GM R.C. Buford earned overdue honors as the league’s Executive of the Year in
2013-14."
It's hard to argue with his statement. But it does all
remain to be seen. And I hope he's right. But for now we have to wait for the
next three years to answer this question. "Are the Spurs going to be
championship favorites for the next three years?"
