Next season, Tony Parker could be used as a $13.5 million expiring contract.
Or, you could use him as one of the best, most experienced scoring point guards in the game.
Logic might suggest the latter, Parker is part of The Big Three in San Antonio. A good team that looks very spry as of today. But people are asking the question, like Buck Harvey of the San Antonio News Express (via Ben Maller).
So here’s the decision the Spurs will face this summer: Moving Parker might make sense, because George Hill is cheaper and younger.
But can the Spurs find equal value? The Spurs could use a shotblocker, or a more versatile big man, but would he mean more than what Parker has been and is?
If you are trading Tony Parker, you are saying the window is closed. No more titles in this era. Done, time to rebuild. (Unless Isiah Thomas is given another franchise to run, in which case maybe there is a steal to be had, but that’s not very likely.)
It’s a small sample size, but based on last night they shouldn’t throw in the towel just yet. This is a team that still won 50 games despite a host of injuries and trying to work in a new key player into the rotation. This is a team that may find it hard to compete with the Lakers or Mavericks, and they are not up-and-comers like Oklahoma City or Portland. But they are not that far away from one more run at the top. It could happen.
It’s a little early to break up the Big Three and start planning for a new era. Not just yet.