Horror.
Sheer terror.
Uncontrollable sadness.
Those are some of the feelings you may have experienced when San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginobili broke his left hand last night, but there is a silver lining in this cloud. To be honest, I don’t think this is necessarily a cloud at all.
Honestly, how much of a chance did you give the Spurs to win an NBA championship this year?
If you gave them more than a puncher’s chance, I’d call you a fool.
Even at full capacity with everything falling their way, I don’t think the Spurs could beat whatever team came out of the Eastern Conference.
So if they weren’t going to win a title what does this season matter? Nothing. As Spurs fans we know it’s the Larry O’Brien trophy or bust.
That’s why this couldn’t have happened at a better time for the franchise.
With the decline of the “Big Three” in full effect, the Spurs have been searching for their next star and this could be the year they find him.
Let’s say the Spurs miss the playoffs. If that happens, they’ll be entered into the draft lottery.
The Spurs have won the number one overall pick EVERY SINGLE TIME they’ve been in the lottery in recent years which netted them David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
Now I’m not saying it’s a slam dunk they would win this year, but there are a handful of bigs that could do a lot for the Spurs in the future.
As of now, the top five of the projected top six picks are power forwards or centers.
You think the Spurs might need one of those guys to step in and take on the mantle of the next great big man. We all know it’s not Tiago Splitter.
This is a time that Spurs fans should be hoping that they go into full “tank mode.”
Who knows, this could be the best break the Spurs have gotten in a while.