I'm excited for our future. And on paper, we're a contender already, but there are areas of weakness that needs to be addressed before we're better than the likes of OKC and SAS.
1) Our PF spot. A lot of us believe that either DMo or Jones can improve enough to be our starting PF. I'm not worried about this spot at all because we have enough trade assets to pick up a PF should those two struggle.
2) Our PG spot. This one is a controversial issue with both sides of the argument belonging to the forum. There are some who believe that there isn't a viable upgrade for Lin and that he's good enough to start on a contender as long as he continues to improve his 3 point shot(there is evidence of that post all-star break). Others view him as a scrub and 3rd string material.
3) Backup PG spot. This one's a real concern. Beverley has proven to be a good backup player. But he's not a true PG. He doesn't run the offense well enough. In light of that, we need a Ginobili type 6th man to run the offense through when our stars aren't on the floor. We used to have Delfino for that, but he's gone now. It'll be interesting to see if our new third PG can play this role with Bev moving over to SG on offense and PG on defense. I actually think Lin coming off the bench as the backup PG but still getting quality minutes will be the best way to handle the situation.
4) Howard's post moves. These need to be seriously upgraded if he's going to be getting the ball 12-15 times a game as he wants. In Orlando he bullied people over and I don't really see that working as well here since he's a bit older and more injury prone. He needs finesse moves and who better to teach him that than Hakeem and Mchale. He also needs to stop complaining about the Pick and Roll. We were very effective in the pick and roll last year and Howard is an upgrade over Asik by the fact that he can catch the ball. Hopefully he can see how successful that offensive set can be and not be unhappy with more of it(There were media reports that he didn't like the PnR that much).
5) Harden's game. Harden has a propensity to just fly at the rim and try to pick up a foul. We saw how much that tore his body down towards the end of the season. The refs also stopped calling as many fouls as the season progressed. He needs to get a floater so he's more effective. He also needs to engage on defense more. But the biggest areas he needs to improve on are Assist / Turnover ratio. He ranked 75th out of 88 qualified players with a putrid 1.54. I think some of that comes from playing in a new system in a bigger role. Hopefully he can improve that this year.
6) Parsons. He improved offensively last year, while regressing a bit on defense. Some of that can be attributed to playing against starters and having a bigger role on offense. He needs to continue to improve and hopefully installing a defensive system can help him shine.
7) Most importantly, health. We need to stay healthy(which is easier said than done).