The San Antonio Spurs had never been a force in free agency during the Gregg Popovich era.
They normally signed veterans that were slightly past their prime and could fit in as role players around Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and eventually Kawhi Leonard.
That all changed in the summer of 2015 when the Spurs signed LaMarcus Aldridge to a four-year max deal worth over $84 million.
Aldridge had made four straight All-Star teams coming into his first season in San Antonio, and he was supposed to form a dynamic perimeter-post duo with Kawhi Leonard in the next generation of great Spurs teams.