San Antonio’s Tony Parker, right, is out with an ankle injury, putting a damper on the Spurs’ playoff hopes. AP photo
Advertisement
Thunder fans should be interested whether the Spurs are still playing in late April. Very interested.
Oklahoma City has San Antonio’s first-round draft pick after trading Kurt Thomas to the Spurs in February.
But there’s an asterisk. It’s a "protected” first-round pick.
The Thunder gets the Spurs’ first-round pick only if they make the playoffs. If San Antonio misses the playoffs Oklahoma City receives the Spurs’ first-round pick in 2010.
Confused what to root for? Thunder fans want the Spurs to make the playoffs... barely. That way Oklahoma City would get the Spurs first-round selection midway through the first round.
The Spurs have concerns. Ankle injuries will sideline Manu Ginobili until mid-December and Tony Parker the rest of this month. San Antonio’s legendary suffocating defense hasn’t suffocated anyone the first three weeks.
But don’t be too quick to dismiss the Spurs. There’s a reason future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan has a fistful of championships rings.
San Antonio won NBA titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Spurs fans are hopeful their odd-number-year magic will continue with another title in 2009.
But three weeks into the season, there’s a buzz the unthinkable might happen. The Spurs could miss the playoffs.
That’s highly doubtful.
Ginobili and Parker will return. Even if there’s some catching-up to do, it might not take the usual 45-plus wins to qualify in the West where Dallas and Golden State don’t look like they’ll match last year’s records. For a change, a .500 record might be enough to get in.
The real question probably is how many games San Antonio wins which would determine whether Oklahoma City’s pick via the Spurs is as high as No. 17 or the 22nd, 23rd or 24th selection.
Will the Spurs’ early-season hole continue to dig deeper? Can Duncan and company win enough games through the holidays that San Antonio is still in position for a high seed when Ginobili and Parker return? Is there any chance the Spurs miss the playoffs?
The Thunder has something riding on the outcome of those questions.
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Fourth of July Page
Share your July 4th photos with NewsOK and view other stories and videos.
Multimedia
More Info
Thunder first-round picks
2009
Thunder pick
San Antonio pick
2010
Thunder pick
Phoenix pick
Related to this story
Articles
OKC Thunder loses ninth of 10 11/15/2008 PHILADELPHIA — Jeff Green’s hot streak continued Saturday but so too did his Thunder team’s losing ways. Green scored a team-high 21 points...
1
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).