San Antonio Spurs: Analyzing What Spurs Must Do to Contend for Title Next Season - Bleacher Report

The San Antonio Spurs are an aging team. As such, the general consensus seems to be that San Antonio's days of contending for an NBA championship are finished. However, the Spurs have at least one more good run left in them. With the right plan this offseason, the Spurs will be contending for a title next season.

In the fast-paced world that we live in, we tend to focus only on the recent past. For the Spurs, the recent past had the Oklahoma City Thunder knocking them out of the Western Conference finals. To make matters worse, San Antonio lost the series by losing four straight to the Thunder after winning the first two games of the series.

Because of that, it's easy to forget how good the Spurs have been the last two seasons. Sure, they  may have come up short in their attempts at a title, but let's not forget that only the Chicago Bulls have won more regular season games than the Spurs since the start of the 2010-11 season. 

San Antonio's regular season success shows that they still have what it takes to perform on a consistent basis. It also indicates that the Spurs aren't too old to handle the rigors of an NBA season. And while next season's schedule figures to feature 82 games instead of the lockout-shortened 66-game schedule from this season, it will also feature more off days for the Spurs to rest their tired bodies.

San Antonio also figures to have more cap space to work with next season. That's because Tim Duncan's $21 million contract comes off the books on July 1. Duncan's already stated that he'll be coming back to the Spurs (per USA TODAY) next season, so there's no drama surrounding his free agency. But there's a good possibility that Duncan will take a pay cut.

Even if Duncan signs a new contract that pays him $14 million, that still leaves $7 million for the Spurs to work with. That's enough to go out and sign a player to a mid-level exception. Or, as ESPN's Bradford Doolittle points out in his article, a pay cut by Duncan will give San Antonio the option of adding salary at next year's trade deadline without going over the luxury tax threshold.

Do you think the Spurs can contend for a chapmionship next season?

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Another possibility is that the Spurs could reinvent themselves, somewhat like they did this season. Entering this season, the Spurs were always known for their excellent defense. While their defense didn't suddenly disappear, the Spurs saw a significant improvement in their offense.

During the 2011-12 season, San Antonio was second in the NBA in points per game (103.65), first in field-goal percentage (.478) and first in three-point percentage (.393). The Spurs can continue to improve upon their offense, or they can figure out some other way to improve their squad. Knowing Gregg Popovich, they might be able to do both.

As Doolittle mentions, another possibility is for the Spurs to get some improvement from some of their players. The example Doolittle uses is Kawhi Leonard potentially developing into the type of defender that could give Kevin Durant problems.

San Antonio's best chance is for Leonard to develop his already-impressive defensive skill set. One of his primary tasks for this offseason should be to study every move that Durant makes and formulate a counter for it. It's a near-impossible task, but you have to try. Leonard could be to Durant what Bruce Bowen once was to Kobe Bryant.

Durant was the biggest difference in the Western Conference finals. In Games 1 and 2, the Spurs did a good job of neutralizing Durant with their defense. In Games 3-6, Durant was able to counter and ended up taking over the series.

If San Antonio can figure out some way to slow down Durant, then they should be able to compete with the Thunder, as they showed in the first two games of the series.

It's not going to be easy, but the Spurs can contend for a championship next season. Between the potential cap space involved with Duncan's expiring contract, Poppovich's ability to innovate and get the most out of his players and the improvement of players like Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs have plenty of options.

After being an elite team for more than a decade, now is not the time to count out the Spurs. They've still got at least one more good run left in them.