The San Antonio Spurs are without question one of the favorites to win the NBA Finals in the 2015-16 season after the offseason that they have put together. Signing LaMarcus Aldridge was the biggest move of the offseason, and that alone made them one of the better teams in the Western Conference. They were also able to re-sign both Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, while receiving new commitments from Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. While Aldridge was the big signing, adding David West is the move that will put the Spurs over the top in the Western Conference.

Over the past four seasons, West has been the heart and soul of the Indiana Pacers franchise. He decided to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Pacers and gave up $12.6 million to sign for the veteran’s minimum with the Spurs. Leaving that type of money on the table isn’t easy, but he was willing to do it in order to have a chance at winning a championship.

During the 2014-15 season with the Pacers, West ended up averaging 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He wasn’t the enforcer that he had been in years past, but he was still able to knock down a solid 47.1 percent of his attempts from the floor.

Coming off the bench behind Duncan and Aldridge may not sound like a very glorious role, but he will be one of the most important pieces to the Spurs’ championship hopes. Gregg Popovich wants to keep Duncan as fresh as possible for the playoffs, and that is where West will see his big minutes. Throughout the course of the regular season, there will be quite a few games where West is asked to play big minutes off the bench or even start in place of Duncan.

West isn’t going to be the go-to guy for the Spurs’ offense, but he is more than capable of coming in and knocking down mid-range jumpers consistently. Playing alongside of Tony Parker will be a major upgrade over the point guard play that he has had during his tenure with the Pacers, and it will help put him in even more situations to get open looks.

At 34 years old, it is understandable that West would be willing to take a lesser role in order to play for a ring. He has had a very successful career to this point in time, but no player ever feels satisfied without a championship under his belt. San Antonio needed to bring in more legitimate players to come off their bench and fill out their roster, and West was one of the best available.

It will be interesting to see what kind of production West is able to give to the Spurs, but it will be consistent and valuable. There aren’t many better backup forwards in the NBA than West, and the Spurs are lucky to have signed him. Expect to see him assume a leadership role with the Spurs and be one of the pieces that gets them to a high seed in the Western Conference playoff race.

Evan Massey is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.