As the Spurs prepared to leave for Houston and a pair of preseason games earlier this week, DeMar DeRozan was still unsure whether he would be reunited with an old friend.
Rockets star James Harden — one of DeRozan’s teenage running buddies growing up in Los Angeles — had been a late show at his team’s training camp.
When Harden finally did arrive, passing the NBA’s COVID-19 protocol in time to make a cameo in Houston’s 112-98 exhibition victory over the Spurs on Tuesday, it was amid a whirlwind of discontent and trade innuendo.
“I think the whole entire league is looking forward to seeing what happens with that situation,” DeRozan said.
Where the Rockets have been the picture of turmoil since the end of last season, the Spurs have trucked on with business as usual.
It is fair to wonder whether this is the optimal scenario for either team facing off tonight at the Toyota Center in a preseason rematch.
It certainly has been no fun for the Rockets, who since September’s loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals have seen All-Star guard Russell Westbrook dealt to Washington for John Wall, Mike D’Antoni replaced by Stephen Silas as head coach, and general manager Daryl Morey leave for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Harden’s delayed start to the season and subsequent trade request was only icing on the circus big top.
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“He’s going to do what’s best for him,” said Wall, a former All-Star himself who has not played in a meaningful NBA game in two seasons while recovering from an Achilles tendon injury. “I don’t try to ask him about that, because that’s his personal business.”
The Spurs, meanwhile, are running back largely the same team that finished 5-3 in the Orlando, Fla., bubble but missed the playoffs for the first time since 1997 with an overall record of 32-39.
DeRozan exercised a $27 million option to return for a third season in San Antonio. Fellow former All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge is back after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
The Spurs’ most notable free agent signing involved bringing back reserve center Jakob Poeltl. Their most notable offseason addition is 20-year-old rookie Devin Vassell, selected with the 11th overall pick in last month’s NBA draft.
“When you look back at last season, it’s not like it was a waste of a season,” guard Patty Mills said. “There’s a lot of money that was put into the bank, all stuff we can grow from.”
The Spurs are betting — or at least hoping — roster consistency will aid them in a season that faces a shortened training camp and preseason.
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Unlike other rebuilt teams throughout the NBA, most Spurs players required no introduction to each other at training camp.
“Continuity is always beneficial, especially if you can build on it,” DeRozan said. “There are a lot of teams with a lot of new faces, a lot of new coaches and systems, so much to figure out in a short amount of time.
“For us, the comfort we have with each other, understanding what needs to be done coming back from the bubble, could definitely be beneficial.”
The benefits of consistency haven’t quite borne fruit in the Spurs’ 0-2 start to the preseason.
Derrick White and Keldon Johnson — two players prominent in what the team deemed a successful Orlando bubble run — have yet to practice while coming back from foot injuries.
Coach Gregg Popovich has employed two different lineups in each game, with Poeltl starting against Oklahoma City and Lonnie Walker IV against Houston.
With neither White nor Johnson expected to be in uniform for Wednesday’s regular-season opener at Memphis, Popovich likely will be mixing and matching rotations to start the season.
The lineup shuffle has not halted Popovich’s plans to use the more up-tempo, fast-paced offense the Spurs unveiled in the bubble.
“It’s like an extension of Orlando,” said Popovich, whose team faces its final tune-up for the regular season tonight. “We’re doing the same stuff. I can’t change things just because they’re out.
“It’s not like we’re playing this team or that team (in the regular season) and have to make adjustments. It’s a matter of putting in how we want to play and getting the terminology down for everybody. When they get back, they get back.”
If there is one preseason box score line that tells the tale of the Spurs’ new philosophy, it is 3-pointers attempted.
The Spurs have launched 69 3-pointers in two games. In team history, the Spurs have attempted more than the 38 3-pointers they tried against OKC just twice in the regular season.
Aldridge has been the team leader in 3-point tries so far, with 14.
The Spurs have made 36.2 percent of their exhibition 3-pointers, ninth in the league this preseason.
“I would say it has been an emphasis, but at the same time Pop just wants us to take the easy shot,” Walker said. “If there is an open shot, take it. And nine times out of 10, he is going to want us to shoot the 3.”
If the Spurs do look different this season, it is going to be in style rather than substance. They are banking on internal improvements to help keep their hiatus from the NBA playoffs to one season.
“We’re one year more experienced, going into a short season,” Mills said. “We’ve got guys who have been around this system a year or more. We’re in a good spot.”
Whether continuity will be enough to lift the Spurs to the postseason remains to be seen.
For the flip side of the equation, the Spurs only need to look to the chaos on the opposite bench at Toyota Center tonight — and wonder if things could be worse.
jmcdonald@express-news.net
Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
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