Tony Parker is the greatest point guard in San Antonio Spurs history. There is no questioning it. In his 14 years with the franchise, he’s made six All-Star teams, won four NBA championships, as well as a finals MVP, and was even in serious regular season MVP candidate talks a couple of times. He’s averaging 16.9 points and 5.9 assists per game for his career so far, which is more impressive when you consider he hasn’t played the same amount of minutes as other premier point guards.

But this year, he may have more pressure on him than ever.

The roster is stacked, due to some of general manager R.C. Buford’s best architecture work yet with the recent signings of Lamarcus Aldridge and David West, as well as bringing back key pieces from last year’s team. In a city that has already seen five titles, that means expectations will be high — exceeding the point of just championship hopes and entering the realm of absolute title predictions.

That’s a little unfair considering the team hasn’t even hit the court yet, but that’s how fan bases work. As a 14-year veteran, Parker knows this better than anyone.

What he also knows (although probably doesn’t like to think about) is that for NBA point guards, playing into your 30s is like running through sand. There are a few exceptions (John Stockton, Steve Nash and Gary Payton) but then, they didn’t start logging 82 games a year when they were 19 years old. There are far more examples of the other. Baron Davis, Mark Price, Isiah Thomas, Kevin Johnson and Stephon Marbury are among them. Deron Williams‘ stardom didn’t even make it to 29.

It seems inevitable that the guy who came into the league as the young, underestimated-but-fearless French point guard will be limping his way out of the league when the time comes, worn down by years of pacing down the floor and penetrating through small seams in the defense.

But the Spurs can’t afford for that time to come now. Tony is coming off his weakest season to date — with maybe the exception of his rookie year — and it’s unrealistic to expect a career season from him next year. But that doesn’t mean it’s all downhill from here. It can’t be if the Spurs are going to be champions again.

The great ones adjust. A different role has to be accepted and changes have to be made.

The good news for the Spurs is that Parker is already working on at least one of those changes, and that’s the addition of a long-range jump shot. Last year, he shot a career high 42 percent from beyond the arc. He’s going to want to re-design his shot chart to include more of those now.

A three-point shot is not only an analytically more efficient attempt than the long mid-range shots Parker has always been great at; it’s a way to create an easier path to the basket. If Parker proves to be a significant three-point threat, defenders will have to play him tighter, giving them less time to react to No. 9’s decelerating first step.

Parker’s always been one of the foremost players that comes to mind when you think of relentless rim attacks and is a rightfully famous glass-kisser, but those plays need to be limited. There’s too much contact with bigger bodies down low for a seasoned veteran to be trying it consistently, and Tony already has the arsenal of weapons to re-establish himself as a different kind of scorer, with his teardrop floaters and runners. But adapting to a new style of passing game will be the real challenge here; Parker won’t be able to simply blow by defenders and kick out to a teammate. He’ll have to be more methodical — carefully reading the screens and finding cross-court seams that hit the new-coming power forwards for open shots — to be an effective distributor.

All of this is feasible. Parker could very realistically post an efficient 15-point, six-assist average next year and make it a downhill ride for the offense. The pressure, though, is that if he doesn’t, he may be the one starter who holds the team back. If the past is anything to go by, then the Spurs are certainly in good hands.

Last time he was faced with this much uncertainty was his entrance into the NBA. He responded by becoming one of the greatest players in the franchise’s history.

Drew James is a beat Writer for RantSports. Like him on Facebook.