The San Antonio Spurs come into the 2015-16 season as one of the favorites to win the championship again after a tremendous offseason in which they signed LaMarcus Aldridge among other players. With Aldridge on board and likely to be the focal point of the offense other players that have been around may see their roles changed including Tony Parker. Parker has been the focal point of the offense in recent years but now he expects to be more of a facilitator, according to Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News.
The Spurs have typically been a team, under Gregg Popovich, that has moved the ball around a lot and gotten everyone involved. Even though Parker has been the main guy recently the offense was more so geared towards making the extra pass and finding the open guy. That will still likely be the case for the most part but they plan to feature Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard who has emerged as a legitimate offensive weapon.
Parker has dealt with nagging injuries the past few years but for the most part he has been the number one option. Now though he will likely be the number three option on offense and instead of looking to score when he has the ball in his hands he will likely look to pass.
"I understand my role is going to change. I don't need to score as much and I have to get LaMarcus and Kawhi going. I know my role is changing, but I love it. The way that Tim Duncan changed towards Manu Ginobili, and Manu changed towards me, it's the same thing with me now. The last four or five years it was my job to be aggressive and score, but this year is totally different, I have to be the engine in another way," said Parker.
The Spurs have been the definition of a team with Popovich as their coach and, like Parker said, the players on the team know when it's time to pass the mantle. Parker is now 33 years old while Leonard is just 24 and still growing and Aldridge is 30 years old and in the middle of his prime so he knows his role will be different.
Throughout his career Parker has been a score first point guard as he has averaged 16.9 points in his 14 seasons but he should be able to adjust to this new role just fine. Parker was never the best passer in the NBA but he has had a couple of seasons where he averaged close to eight assists per game and his 5.9 assist per game career average isn't bad. Parker has also shot the three-ball much better as he gets later in his career and that should be a huge help in his new role as well.
