The San Antonio Express-News (Mike Monroe) reports: The 13 players who suited up for the Spurs in their playoff run last season averaged 32.46 years old. That made them, if not quite as ancient as dirt, the oldest team in the NBA. Depending, in part, on what Popovich and his assistants see from first-round draft pick George Hill, who is 22, and a group of equally young players who will put their skills on display in summer league games in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City over the next nine days, the Spurs figure to be significantly younger when the 2008-09 regular season begins. Simply plugging free agent signee Roger Mason Jr., 27, in the guard spot once occupied by Brent Barry, who is 36, instantly drops the average age to 31.76. It will drop more before next season’s opener, perhaps dramatically, depending on which players make the roster. Fans and media critics who have been calling for the Spurs to get younger and more athletic may finally be getting their wish.
