The San Antonio Spurs will open the season shorthanded. According to the team, starting shooting guard Danny Green will miss approximately three weeks with a strained quad.
INJURY UPDATE – Danny Green has been diagnosed with a left quad strain and is expected to be out approximately three weeks.
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) October 21, 2016
Green is one of the major keys to any success the Spurs have. Despite a down year last season (7.2 points per game, 37.6% from the field), Green’s shot-making ability at his peak, coupled with his defense is an important part of the Spurs’ success.
Fortunately, Green will not miss too much time. A three-week timetable will set him up to miss approximately nine games. The Spurs will be able to last during that time.
Nevertheless, San Antonio has more questions around them than perhaps any other time in recent memory. Tim Duncan is gone, the frontcourt seems to be a defensive turnstile, LaMarcus Aldridge may be traded, and old age could finally come back to haunt the Spurs. Green’s youth and athleticism is a nice buffer in those potential miscues.
San Antonio will have to make do without their starting shooting guard, however. He will be replaced in the rotation with some combination of Kyle Anderson and rookie Dejounte Murray, probably. Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills could also play bigger roles for the first portion of the season without Danny Green.
