The Spurs have a really good and deep bench. Manu Ginobili is the sixth man of the Spurs but he’s like having another starter….and a good one. He played in 75 games (36 starts) for the Spurs last year and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 16.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Brent Barry is a good shooter and that’s his main job off of the bench for the Spurs as he made 44.6% of his three point attempts last year. He played in 75 games (28 starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 21.8 minutes, 8.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Ime Udoka played well for the Blazers last season and the Spurs were surprised to get him at the bargain price of $1 million bucks. He played in 75 games (all starts) last season for the Blazers and he averaged 28.6 minutes, 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Matt Bonner will likely get more playing time this season and he earned it with his play last season. Bonner played 56 games (0 starts) for the Spurs last season and he averaged 11.7 minutes, 4.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists. Center Francisco Elson will probably be on the floor 20+ minutes per game this season as he will share the job with Oberto. He played in 70 games (41 starts) and he averaged 19.0 minutes, 5.0 points, 48 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Jacque Vaughn will back up Tony Parker at the point again this season. He played in 64 games (4 starts) last year and he averaged 11.8 minutes, 3.0 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Post season stud Robert Horry is back for another go around with the Spurs. He played in 68 games (8 starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 16.6 minutes, 3.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

The Spurs decided that if it’s not broke….you don’t fix it. Power forward Tim Duncan is ready to dominate like he always does on both ends of the basketball court. Duncan played in 80 games (all starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 34.1 minutes, 20.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.4 blocks per game. Tony Parker is back to run the show and he seems to improve every year. He played in 77 games (all starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 32.5 minutes, 18.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Old timer Michael Finley will be the starting shooting guard but he won’t play big minutes. He played in 82 games (16 starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 22.2 minutes, 9.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Bruce Bowen brings big-time defense to the small forward position for the Spurs and he can hit a three once in a while. Bowen played in 82 games (all starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 30.0 minutes, 6.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Fabricio Oberto will be the starting center but he’ll likely only play half of the game. Oberto played in 79 games (33 starts) last season for the Spurs and he averaged 17.3 minutes, 4.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.

The Spurs have traded backup point guard Beno Udrih and cash to the Timberwolves for a 2008 2nd round draft pick. Udrih played in 73 games (1 start) last season for the Spurs averaged 13.0 minutes, 4.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Those numbers mirrored his career numbers as he played in 207 games (6 starts) in his career for the Spurs and he averaged 13.0 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.8 assists per game. Udrih was caught in a numbers game for the Spurs and that’s the reason he was moved.