Spurs Hopes To Land Duncan's Successor In Tiago Splitter
A few years back, the San Antonio Spurs drafted a kid named Timothy Theodore Duncan, a 6-foot, 11-inch, 280 pound power forward/center as the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. The Spurs were coming of a horrible season and were leaning on getting key contributions from Duncan for their following year’s campaign. Little did they know that the long, lanky former swimmer from Wake Forrest would be the missing piece that would enable them to win multiple NBA Championships.
Duncan played alongside David Robinson, who was also a first pick overall albeit ten years before Duncan was drafted. The two would team up to be one of the best power forward and center combinations in NBA history.
But Duncan is now at the point where his NBA career is starting to wind down. The wear and tear of more than a decade of playing in the NBA is already taking its toll on him. Because of this, the San Antonio Spurs are starting to look for Duncan’s heir apparent and the search led them to Tiago Splitter.
Splitter is Brazilian baller who also holds Spanish citizenship. He is as tall as Duncan but weighs a lot less at 245 pounds. Splitter was supposed to join the 2006 NBA Draft but because drafting him involved an expensive buyout from his current team, NBA teams expressed lukewarm interest. He instead joined the 2007 NBA Draft where he was selected 28th overall by the San Antonio Spurs. He has experienced success with the Brazilian National team winning the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2005 FIBA Americas Championship, and the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship.
In the same summer, Splitter signed a new two year deal with the Brazilian team Saskia Baskonia which meant he would stay in the Spanish ACB League through the 2009-2010 NBA season. This decision was driven mostly by money as Splitter, with the Brazilian team, earned almost eight times as much as what he would have been paid in the NBA. But now, it seems that the 25-year-old center who is by far the best big man in Europe is finally ready to jump ship to the best NBA.
“I'm dying to see him,” said Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (in an interview with mysanantonio.com), who is familiar with Splitter via international competition. “I'd love to see him play with us. He's a talented, big guy who really knows how to play.”
“It's not about Tiago. It's about building a team,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford insists. “He's a piece of that. We hope to do what we can to add the best pieces we can.” But the fact remains that Splitter is viewed largely as Duncan’s successor.
The San Antonio Spurs have been branded as old by a few critics citing that two of their top three stars are over the age of 30. Splitter will infuse the Spurs with young blood and will be a key factor in determining if the San Antonio Spurs stay as perennial playoff contenders even if Duncan’s career is slowly but surely coming to the end.
While the attention of the NBA universe is locked on the outstanding lists of free agents available in the market, the San Antonio Spurs are quietly recruiting Splitter. He does not get the attention that other NBA free agents are getting but this single move from the Spurs could make them retain their slot as one of the better teams in the NBA. With this single move, the Spurs are hoping to do another version of the twin towers that led them to so much success in a few years ago.
Splitter is certainly NBA material and the Spurs are smart for wanting to sign him up now.
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