NBA free agency is upon us. That means we are just a few mere hours away from a mad dash of check book maneuvers and bank account padding. This offseason there are a few obvious teams looking to make a splash - the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks come to mind. But there are also some quality teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks who are looking to add top flight talent.
But which team is the one to watch in free agency? It's a question that posed to ESPN's top basketball writers and a handful of them were in agreement.
"The Evil Empire, the San Antonio Spurs," Amin Elhassan wrote. "The idea that they can clear enough cap space to sign a max-level player is making the league quiver. For years, people have sat around and said, 'Yeah, but what's gonna happen when the Big Three moves on?' San Antonio might just find the succession plan this summer."
Who might that succession plan hinge upon?
"They have a chance to do something that's usually impossible if they can add [LaMarcus] Aldridge and then re-sign Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan," Brian Windhorst wrote. "That is to rebuild and retain current stars at the same time. However, to pull this off it is going to take a lot of smoke and mirrors with the rest of the roster and it will bear monitoring."
The Spurs are the front runner (ahead of the Lakers, Mavericks, Rockets, etc.) to land Aldridge. The team is expected to meet with the All-Star big man tomorrow with Duncan, Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich selling him on the winning culture they've built in San Antonio. Aldridge, along with Leonard, would help form a foundation for the Spurs going forward.
Although Aldridge will turn 30 in July, he's coming off a season in which he averaged 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. His sweet shooting offensive game will allow him to age gracefully and push the Spurs right back into title contention next season.
