I look at the Spurs similar to the Pistons. Pistons got their talent and foundation through trades for "cast offs" and " throw aways". Spurs got theirs running via draft. Obviously tanking the right year and getting Duncan is the big differentiator. Wouldn't be as much, if Darko hit, but I digress. My point is the other two of the big three, Manu and Parker, weren't highly thought of either. Low draft picks that hit big. My opinion, in today's climate those type of hidden gems in the foreign market are much tougher now.
So just like the Pistons, they had a lot of things go their way to get the dynasty in place. Also, like the Pistons, I don't see that as repeatable. As stated, every franchise needs to get that foundational HOFer. Small market teams need to do that via draft. This means being bad enough for the ping pong balls are in your favor AND you need to hit the right guy in the right year. Not every year has a Duncan (also less repeatable since studs don't make it to senior year and are much less of a known quantity).
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