How Spurs can make changes while preserving 'delicate ecosystem'

Mitch Johnson called it a “delicate ecosystem.” At the time, he was talking about one particular aspect of the Spurs offense.

But he might as well have been describing everything the Spurs head coach is trying to preserve this season.

There’s a reason why airport agents in places like Hawaii and Japan are such sticklers about not letting certain kinds of fresh fruit and plants onto their islands. If the wrong kind of invasive species sneaks through, whether it be a berry borer or a gall wasp, it can create a chain reaction that devastates a coffee industry or wipes out forests.

And when you’re setting out to recreate the magic of an out-of-nowhere NBA Finals run in which every player filled the perfect role, in just the right way? Well, there are all sorts of invasive thoughts and subtle changes that can knock the vibes out of balance.

In an NBA locker room, by the way, vibes can be as important as honeybees are to worldwide food production. When they start to disappear, you might not notice right away. But before you know it, entire ecosystems can collapse.

Johnson did not mention any of this after the Spurs’ preseason opener Thursday night. His “delicate” answer was about spacing the floor in transition. Even so, if he looks around the league, even in early October, there already are some cautionary tales among the NBA’s top contenders.

Less than four months after raising a trophy on the Frost Bank Center floor, having been the only team to out-play and out-vibe the Spurs last season, the New York Knicks are putting their camaraderie and goodwill to an early test. The biggest headlines around the reigning champs this preseason all have to do with the fallout from the contract extensions that Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart aren’t getting.

And in Philadelphia, where the Sixers pulled off two of the biggest moves of the offseason by trading for Jaylen Brown and signing LeBron James, there’s already been a controversy involving a retracted “unfortunate” anecdote from a play-by-play announcer, and a subsequent “Why me?” moment from Joel Embiid.

The point in bringing up both of these examples is not to say that either the Knicks or the Sixers are in any kind of trouble. They’re just reminders that it doesn’t take much for the story around a team to change.

And when the story changes, we start to find out how delicate the ecosystem really is.

This will bring us, in an admittedly roundabout way, to Johnson’s forthcoming decision about his starting lineup. But first, we need to acknowledge a couple of things.

There’s no doubt that the media and fans tend to overstate the importance of who starts and who comes off the bench. In an analytical, X’s-and-O’s sense, it just doesn’t matter that much. For instance, do you know how much a typical starting lineup actually plays together during an NBA game?

During the Spurs’ playoff run last year, their starting five averaged 11.25 minutes per game together. That’s less than a quarter, with most of the time coming in the first few minutes of the first and second halves. The rest of the game features combinations featuring at least one bench guy.

But in part because the media and fans tend to pay so much attention to it, players can’t help but care about it, too. It’s only natural that everybody wants to start. Manu Ginobili, one of the greatest sixth men in league history, went to the bench reluctantly. 

So of course a guy like Dylan Harper, a playoff revelation as a rookie, feels like he merits a “promotion.” And of course guys like Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell, who played their roles so beautifully in helping lift the Spurs to the Finals, might not be eager to step aside for someone new, whether it be Harper or free agent signee Tobias Harris, even if their minutes stay the same.

After all, we’re talking about human beings here. And every human being has at least a little bit of pride.

The good news is that pride can be managed. Ginobili did it. Keldon Johnson did it on his way to the Sixth Man of the Year award last season. And chances are, either Champagnie or Vassell – or both – will do it in the months to come. Even though De’Aaron Fox wound up being scratched in Thursday’s preseason opener, Johnson said before the game he planned on starting Fox, Harper and Stephon Castle together.

That’s the three-guard lineup many wanted to see more of ever since Harper was drafted, and it has the potential to be devastating to opponents. If it goes like the Spurs hope, they not only will preserve last season’s good vibes, they can make them last through next June, too.

But knowing something about delicate ecosystems, Johnson will be careful and intentional about how he tinkers with his. Every change, no matter how subtle, has the potential to lead to others.

And next spring, when the Spurs look around at what those little changes have wrought?

If Johnson handles this right, the honeybees still will be around.

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This article originally published at How Spurs can make changes while preserving ‘delicate ecosystem’.