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This offseason served as a bit of a reality check for the Spurs as to where they are at. The big three, especially Tim Duncan, is aging and all the sudden the Spurs don’t have the drawing power on the free agent market that they used to. They swung and missed with their mid-level exception on Caron Butler (Los Angeles Clippers), Grant Hill (Phoenix Suns) and Josh Howard (Utah Jazz). That forces them to rely on the development of their younger guys like Kawhi Leonard, James Anderson, Gary Neal, DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter. Needless to say, this isn’t as good of a team as the one they had at the end of the last lockout. They’ll struggle to defend and have issues with depth until they find an opportunity to properly address it.

3rd Place, Southwest Division

- Yannis Koutroupis

Is this the year the Spurs finally get too old to contend? Last season they were the best team in basketball until untimely injuries derailed them right before the playoffs started. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are the focus of the team, though Tim Duncan’s leadership is still invaluable. The Spurs have some questions to answer in the front court, and need to figure out how to use Richard Jefferson, but otherwise San Antonio looks to be tough . . .as always.

3rd Place – Southwest Division

- Bill Ingram

After their poor showing in the 2011 playoffs, a lot of people are going to be expecting the Spurs to fall flat on their faces this season, and I’m not so sure I disagree with that. Tim Duncan looked whooped at the end of last season, and this is going to be a streak of 66 games played at a breakneck pace. I have no idea how he and Manu Ginobili are going to keep up with that. Expect Tony Parker to end up in trade rumors all season long, and at some point that has to become a distraction. I didn’t love the George Hill-for-Kawhi Leonard trade considering the small window for another ring with Duncan in the middle, and signing T.J. Ford didn’t exactly make the earth tremble. This is a very blasé team this season, and old, so any talk about postseason success has to be taken with a grain of salt. I just don’t see this group having the ability to do much damage there anymore.

3rd Place, Southwest Division.

- Joel Brigham

Father time rests for no man and the 2012 season could be the year the championship window of a Tim Duncan led San Antonio Spurs team slams completely shut. Make no mistake a core consisting of Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker is still good enough to compete for annual playoff berths, but the team is clearly lacking the required extra gear needed to contend for a title.

3rd Place, Southwest Division

- Lang Greene

The San Antonio Spurs surprised everyone last season when they won 61 games and finished as the top seed in the Western Conference. However, few people remember their regular season success because the Memphis Grizzlies eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs. Now, they bring back the same core along with new additions such as T.J. Ford, Kawhi Leonard and Cory Joseph. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili will do their best to keep the Spurs in contention, but younger teams will give them problems just as Memphis did last year.

3rd Place, Southwest Division

- Alex Kennedy

Top Offensive Player: It really wouldn’t be fair to give this honor to just one player as Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili really deserve it equally as much. The backcourt duo, which has combined to win three championships together, has really stepped up over the last two years as Tim Duncan’s offensive production has declined. They are now the focal points offensively and together they really put opposing defenses on their heels with their well-rounded skill sets, speed and unpredictability.

Top Defensive Player: At this point of his career Duncan is primarily a defensive presence who can provide offense when needed but is nowhere near as aggressive or assertive as he used to be. The drop off in his game is less noticeable on the defensive end, where he still averaged 2.5 blocks and 6.7 rebounds a game last year. Despite the fact that the Grizzlies attacked him successfully one on one in the first round of last year’s Western Conference Playoffs, Duncan remains the best individual defender on the Spurs.

Top Playmaker: Once again it wouldn’t be just if only Parker or Ginobili were listed here as they are both pretty even when it comes to playmaking. Distributing is one of Parker’s top duties, but Ginobili creates for his teammates a lot as well. Last year they combined to average 9.8 assists a game. Their familiarity with head coach Gregg Popovich’s system helps a great deal when it comes to playmaking. They have never played for a different coach and possess an intimate knowledge of the plays he calls.

Top Clutch Player: Now in this category it is safe to solely recognize Ginobili as the most deserving because the ball is often in his hands with the game on the line. When he first started playing under Popovich, he was often in the dog house for all of the crazy things he would try and risks he would take. Now those qualities make him the go-to guy. You never know what to expect from Manu, mainly due to his ability to do it all. He can shoot, get to the hole and finish, or setup a teammate for a quality look.

The Unheralded Player: Every team needs a guy who is unconcerned with his stat line and is willing to do the little things that are vital for victory. For the Spurs that guy is undoubtedly DeJuan Blair. Blair is an energy guy, who makes his impact on the game on the offensive glass and by taking charges more than anything. He’s adopted the required work ethic to be a Spur and has become a mainstay in Coach Pop’s rotation since being drafted in 2009.

Best New Addition: In a quite offseason for them overall, the Spurs’ biggest shakeup came early on during draft night when they traded George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for a package that featured rookie Kawhi Leonard. Leonard figures to step right into the backup small forward role behind Richard Jefferson, who the Spurs held onto purely by default this summer since they missed out on their top three targets, all small forwards, in free agency. Leonard brings a defensive mindset much needed out on the perimeter and is already reportedly winning over Coach Pop.

- Yannis Koutroupis

1. Tim Duncan – At the age of 35 it is sad to say that Duncan, one of the game’s all-time greats, is nearing the end of his illustrious career. Still, though, even at this later stage he is one heck of a basketball player. What he’s lost in explosiveness he makes up for with his basketball IQ and fundamentals. Enough cannot be said about the impact he has one the team off of the court. He sets the tone for the way that everyone conducts themselves in practice and with their workouts by giving it everything he has every day. He doesn’t take drills off, let alone days off.

2. Manu Ginobili – Just one year younger than Duncan at 34, Ginobili is actually coming off of a bounce back year in which he averaged 17.4 points a night, the second-highest in his career. More important than anything, Ginobili has played in 75+ games the last two seasons and avoided serious injury. He’s 100% going into this season and is poised for another big year.

3. Tony Parker – Signed to a bargain contract extension for four years at $12.5 million per, Parker is set to be the face of the Spurs moving forward. Always underrated, Parker is going to have the opportunity to really prove himself as a premier player in the coming years since the team is going to be built around him and his abilities. He’s one of the league’s fastest guards and although he’s rarely mentioned amongst the best points in the league, Popovich has never gone into a playoff series, whether it be against a Deron Williams or Chris Paul led team, feeling like he’s at a disadvantage at that position.

4. Gary Neal – One of the things that the Spurs are known best for is their ability to find diamonds in the rough and big time players who no other team believed in. Neal was an undrafted free agent, given a chance by the Spurs to play on their summer league team in Las Vegas two years ago. He shot the lights out then and never stopped. On the year he averaged 41% shooting from deep. His role will be increased now that Hill is a member of the Indiana Pacers.

5. Gregg Popovich – In Popovich the Spurs don’t just have one of the best coaches in the league right now, they have one of the best of all-time. His understanding of the game is second to none and he’s a stellar communicator, who really knows how to get guys to respond and fulfill their potential. Even after he’s long gone, a lot of Popovich’s principles and standards will remain in San Antonio because of their effectiveness.

- Yannis Koutroupis

Popovich, Duncan, Ginobili and Parker have seen it all and experienced it all together. Between the four of them there is no shortage of leadership or guidance for the younger and less experienced players, which is important considering the youth of the Spurs’ bench.

Parker and Ginobili are going to be the catalyst of the Spurs’ attack offensively. With Duncan aging there will be more of an emphasis on letting them get out in transition as they see fit. Their aggressive styles should lead to a lot of trips to the free throw line as well.

Inside the Spurs will still be able to rely on Duncan to facilitate their offense to take some of the pressure off of Parker and Ginobili. He’s not the kind of guy who is going to look to go out and get 20 points a night anymore, but will demand attention that frees up everyone else on the floor.

- Yannis Koutroupis

In the first round of the playoffs against the Grizzlies the Spurs simply got beat up in the interior. Duncan cannot be relied on to do it all himself, he needs help and he got very little from Matt Bonner, Blair and Splitter. Those three are going to have to step up now because Antonio McDyess has retired, leaving a gaping hole in the frontline that the front office has yet to fill.

The small forward position is also really an area of concern. Richard Jefferson has had two of the worst years of his career in San Antonio. Ironically, the way that things have played out have forced them to stick together despite numerous attempts by both sides to move on. Perhaps things will change for him in his third year. If not, Popovich is going to have to rely on the rookie Leonard to handle a big work load his first year in the league.

The bench overall is going to have to prove themselves. Right now it’s hard to have confidence in them, but the potential is there. That potential has to be realized quick because Popovich cannot afford to overwork his starters and in particular the big three.

- Yannis Koutroupis

The key, men, is not the play of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, or even Tim Duncan. We expect those guys to do what they do. They are professionals, and they’ve been through the wars. What we really need is one other guy to actually step up and be consistently productive. DeJuan, is it you? We can use the inside presence – we have struggled a little with some bigger teams, and we need you to be an equalizer. RJ, is it you? Let’s be honest, this hasn’t been the kind of fit we expected at the beginning. But if you play a role, and take advantage of it every step of the way, things can be better for you and for us. Kawhi, is it you? I think you have great tools and gifts, but can you produce on the big stage? We need you to hit the glass and do what you can to be a stopper on the defensive end. The goal for us this year is not to be great at the beginning of the season, but at the end. Let’s give it one more run.

- Anthony Macri

Can the Spurs peak at the right time?

Throughout the current championship draught that they are enduring, Spurs fans have a lot of what-if scenarios that they point to that could have potentially changed the outcome of the season. To their credit, the Spurs have had some bad luck at pretty inconvenient times. That’s just part of the game, though. During their championship run, they had good luck at the most opportune time, which played an intricate role in their success.

In order to try to add another championship trophy to their collection, which is still the ultimate goal in San Antonio, they’re going to need some more breaks to go their way. They are not an overwhelming favorite by any means, if anything they’re on the verge of being forgotten about as contenders.

They cannot afford to be anything other than 100% healthy come playoff time and they also need their largely unproven bench to provide a big boost nightly. If everything falls into place, this team as currently assembled could have one last run left in them.

- Yannis Koutroupis