The San Antonio Spurs head towards another "sleeper" season

In an off season where Cleveland has managed to bring home LeBron James and pick up Kevin Love, where Chicago found another big man in Pau Gasol to go alongside Joakim Noah, the San Antonio Spurs have done nothing much to change there roster.

In some instances, this may seriously be a bad thing, but in the case of the Spurs, this is the best possible off season that they could possibly have.

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The only change that comes to the roster is the fact that the Spurs managed to pick up Kyle Anderson with their 30th pick of the draft. Anderson is a solid point guard coming straight out of UCLA. Although he is probably not going to see to much playing time, his professional demeanor is perfect for the organization. Other than Anderson, the majority of the roster is essentially the same.

While Boris Diaw agreed to return by signing a three year, $22 million contract back in July, Tim Duncan will also return. The five-time NBA champion opted to play out his contract with the Spurs and is set to compete in what is likely his last season of his illustrious NBA career. In addition, coach Greg Popovich agreed to an extension and will be sticking around with the Spurs for quite some time.

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To go along with the usual veteran players in Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Diaw, the young but disciplined talent in Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, and Patty Mills will fill out crucial parts of the roster. Leonard is coming off of a career post season where he was able to turn some heads with his tough defense and solid offense. The soft-spoken small forward has really found a home in San Antonio and has the potential to grow into a big-name and elite NBA star.

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However, Leonard is a product of the San Antonio system and does not necessarily need to be a household name. The thing that has separated the Spurs from the rest of the 29 teams in the NBA, is there commitment to the team itself. Everybody in the Spurs roster knows their role and is willing to give up individual skills for the benefit of their team. We will never see Green isolate or Leonard dribble out the shot clock to take the final shot because that is not the type of team that San Antonio is. Whoever has the best option on that given possession will find the ball in their hands, regardless of which player has the most experience on the floor.

Even the guys who are deep in the bench have the potential of bringing something to the table at any given time. Players like Matt Bonner and Marco Belinelli are excellent spot up shooters that can allow the Spurs to spread the floor; big man Aron Baynes has a physique that allows him to  and muscle his way into the paint to grab boards and score put backs. Not to mention, Baynes solid production also gives Duncan or Tiago Splitter the occasional breathers that they may need.

The Spurs are a smart team and they understand what they must be in order to get the job done. The coaching staff has clearly made all their players check their egos at the door. Nobody on that team is unsusceptible to a good scalding if they take plays off. Even today, at the age of 32, Parker can still be visibly yelled at by Popovich from the sidelines for making poor plays or not hustling hard enough. This places a sense of responsibility in all of the players in the entire team, a feeling that is shared and understood from the starting five to the last man on the bench. This is the difference between a championship team and the contenders.

Although the Spurs still have a championship team, I am quite surprised at the fact that they really have not garnered any attention in the off season. While we all hear minuscule, small scale news that seems to blow up, news about James and what jersey he is going to where or Kevin Durant and his huge contract with Nike, nothing really comes up from the boys in San Antonio. When there is big news, something quite small from another team seems to grab the majority once again.

The news of the signing of Becky Hammon, the first female assistant coach in NBA history, was in the forefront for a good week and a half before more small talk on James, Love, Durant, and other trade rumors that do not even come to fruition take the scenes again.

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Perhaps it is their cohesion and teamwork that prevents the media to point out a particular player or news worthy coverage in the Spurs squad; perhaps this is the reason why no body ever talks about them in the off season, and yet they always seem to be back in the picture once the post season begins. I think that the Spurs are heading into what appears to be another "sleeper" season, which is what they are all about. The organization is composed of many personalities that are self aware and as long as they know what they are doing, what their game plan is, the rest of the league needs to look out, because San Antonio is likely to sneak up and contend for their second straight title.

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