Spurs Thread

DeRozan and Rudy are playing together in the drew league. Apparently they are good friends. Hope that leads to good chemistry on the court.

https://sports.yahoo.com/rumor-celtics-offered-most-best-120008656.html

Seems like a package around these Boston owned pics might have been a better option long term considering we're living in the golden state era.

It’s very possible they didn’t want to send Kawhi to a championship contender.

Sure but a short term f u when he can be traded later and you don't have multiple first rounders in big drafts coming up.

I'm torn. Mostly because ddr is flawed star. If he develops a 3 % and plays defense I'll feel better but not holding my breath.

Murray on the other haand is posting videos of improved 3 shot. Cautiously optimistic.

I get the concern but the franchise won plenty of games with a flawed star who couldn’t shoot from 3.

I agree they should still win their share. If the warriors weren't the warriors, even just durant-less, I'd prefer win now.

TP thank you to SA

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/tony-parker-san-antonio-spurs

"People would always ask about why the guys on our teams were so coachable — about how we always seemed to squeeze nearly the best results possible from any player who came through our organization. And how, when new guys would come here, they would seem to just sort of magically get better, you know, or transform their work ethic, or get rid of this one flaw that had been holding their game back. And I tell people, always, that this wasn’t magic. I tell them that we had an elite coaching staff, an elite training staff, sure. I tell them that we obviously had a one-of-a-kind head coach in Pop. But if you want to know the thing that set us apart the most in these situations? It’s Timmy, man. It really was Timmy. Simple as that."

Kawhi Leonard follows TP's lead and sends his own thank you tweet.

Fairly lame tweet as well. He needs a publicist desperately. He's bleeding ad dollars. He is almost unmarketable - a boring interview and tone deaf to fans and media with an Uncle that seems to be the problem. He better find his game again on the court. And whatever qualifies as passion for him.

His team tanked his trade value. then, when they realized he was going to toronto they finally shut up. Weeks later this is damage control.

I'm curious why the lawsuit by his old manager against his new management isn't getting more play. They killed the relationship to get him to LA. Chris Carter was on tv giving scoops and pushing the Kawhi camp take while having financial ties to the management company.

The Washington Post's NBA writer, Tim Bontemps, gave his early take on some NBA season win totals, and he thinks the Spurs will go OVER the posted win total of 43.5. His takes are pretty solid. Here is the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2018/08/06/why-vegas-is-high-on-the-knicks-low-on-the-rockets-and-other-nba-over-under-best-bets/?utm_term=.04d15d970d67

538’s projection for the Spurs is 40-42

Rudy Gay says he finally feels athletic again.

https://m.chron.com/sports/spurs/article/Reunited-with-his-brother-Spurs-Gay-eager-for-13167408.php

too athletic

With manu gone what direction do they go? A 3 with size or a big? Save the spot and decide if they have a glaring need later? Waivers?

They have a lot of 2's so this opens some minutes.

Hard to believe Manu only made 2 All-Star games, but so it goes for 6th men, I suppose.

Rudy Gay slimmed down so I guess he is the SF. Agree, they've got a ton of 2's.

Manu about to take it to spurs on NBCSN right now

deaconson said:

Rudy Gay says he finally feels athletic again.

https://m.chron.com/sports/spurs/article/Reunited-with-his-brother-Spurs-Gay-eager-for-13167408.php

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Reviving this thread for Wemby talk during the playoffs.

Here's where the Spurs stand for those who haven't been following or the wannabe Spurs donks.

The Spurs finished 22-60 in 2022-23 after blatantly tanking for Wemby. They traded All-Star Dejounte Murray last offseason and Jakob Poeltl and Josh Richardson before the trade deadline. Their starters just happened to be injured a lot as well. No player played over 70 games.

Returning core:
SF Keldon Johnson turns 24 in October entering his 5th season in the league. Without Dejounte, he averaged a career-high 22 pts but his 3-point shooting dropped from .398 last season to .329 basically due to taking 1.2 extra shots per game. Hopefully he will return to his 2021-22 efficiency if he doesn't have to be the #1 option.

Johnson is in the first year of his 4 year, $74M second contract and is the highest paid player on the team.

SG Devin Vassell turns 23 in August entering his 4th season in the league. He averaged a career-high 18.5 pts on .387 3pt. Vassell only played 38 games last season due to lingering knee injury. But he increased his production when he was in the game. The Spurs exercised their options on Vassell and he will be a restricted free agent after next season. I would expect him to sign an extension similar to Keldon Johnson this offseason which could go up to 5-year due to the new collective bargaining agreement.

PF Jeremy Sochan turns 20 on Saturday after a All-Rookie 2nd team season. He averaged 11 pts, 5.3 reb, but flashed a high ceiling in his 56 games. Due to the tank and injuries, Pop gave Sochan a lot of responsibility handling the ball and a green light from deep.

SG/SF Maliki Branham had an under-the-radar solid rookie year. He averaged 10.2 peaking in February leading all rookies averaging 16.8 pts on 50% from the field and 38.6% from deep.

Possible returning core players
PG Tre Jones enters the offseason as a restricted free agent who may be the returning starting PG or the backup or somewhere else. Jones led the team in starts with 65 and averaged 12.9 pts and 6.6 asts. I suspect they'll bring him back unless they make a deal for a veteran PG like Fred VanVleet.

C Zach Collins at 25 is old for this core but after the Poeltl trade he became a full-time starter for the first time in his career. He averaged a solid 14.8 pts, 7.9 reb, 3.8 ast as a starter. He's in the 3rd year of a 3 year, $22M deal but it is non-guaranteed. The Spurs need to decide before the draft. I suspect they'll keep him and try to resign him unless one of the backup bigs (Bassey, Manukelashvilli, or Barlow) become a reliable backup to Wemby.

Future assets:
Trading Demar DeRozan, Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Jakob Poeltl, and Josh Richardson paid off with several future picks.

2023 - Wemby, #33, #44 (from Raptors)

2024
1st - Top 6 protected (Raptors - Poeltl trade)
1st - Top 14 protected (Hornets - Murray trade)
1st - Spurs
2nd - Bulls or Pelicans (lowest pick)
2nd - Spurs (top 55 protected)

2025
1st - Top 10 protected (Bulls)
1st - Hawks
1st - Spurs
2nd - Bulls
2nd - Raptors
2nd - Spurs

2026
1st - Hawks pick swap
2nd - Blazers or Pelicans (lowest pick)
2nd - A complicated swap

2027
1st - Hawks
1st - Spurs
2nd - Heat, Pacers, Rockets, or Thunder (lowest pick)
2nd - Spurs

2028
1st - Celtics pick swap (top 1 protected)
2nd - Heat
2nd - Nuggets (top 33 protected)
2nd - Pelicans
2nd - Spurs

2029
1st - Spurs
2nd - Pelicans
2nd - Spurs







Good overview from The Athletic (who may actually hire a Spurs beat writer now):

Helpfully, the Spurs have a blank slate with which to paint around Wembanyama: Nearly $40 million in cap room, depending on other offseason choices, and only one contract commitment beyond 2024 (forward Keldon Johnson’s value extension that runs through 2027). San Antonio also sits on a gold mine of draft assets — five firsts and nine seconds are owed to it between now and 2029, plus two first-round pick swaps. Included in that are unprotected firsts from Atlanta in 2025 and 2027 as a result of last summer’s Dejounte Murray trade — the move that set the stage for this season’s reset, and has now paid off handsomely.

Beyond the 23-year-old Johnson, the Spurs have other players on a similar development track to Wembanyama and who have a good chance of being along for the journey. In particular, 2022 lottery pick Jeremy Sochan looks like a nice complement as a mobile, dynamic forward, and shooting guard Devin Vassell should fit like a glove as a 3-and-D role player. (An extension for Vasssell is likely a prime order of business this offseason.) Rookie guards Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley also showed flashes.

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Thus, the question will quickly shift from how to build the Spurs back from the ashes to how quickly they should try. Would they be better off trying to take their lumps for one more season, for instance, while Wembanyama, 19, learns the ropes under coach Gregg Popovich and staff? They could enter the summer of 2024 with max cap room, three first-round picks (their own, a top-6 protected pick from the Raptors from the Poeltl trade, and a more speculative top-14 protected Charlotte pick), plus all their best young players still locked in on value deals.



Wembanyama’s presence alone eliminates the most abject tanking scenarios, but dragging their heels on the rest of the rebuild could allow the Spurs to play things out with the expiring contracts of Doug McDermott, Devonte’ Graham and Khem Birch. San Antonio could seek opportunistic trades if any come to pass, and if not, let their deals lapse into a sea of cap space. Those future picks they’re sitting on could become part of a package as well if the right player came along. There’s no law requiring them to wait until 2027 or whatever to cash in.



Either way, the most prominent short-term decision (after they’ve finished puzzling over whom to pick at 1) is to shore up the backcourt to give Wembanyama a partner who can consistently get him the ball. (One of the wonders of watching Wembanyama in France this season was watching him play with a shoot-first point guard all season, and all the resultant money that was left on the table on lobs or pick-and-pops.)

San Antonio has a restricted free agent in Tre Jones, who manned the position last season and has the mindset of a distributor, but he’s more of a caretaker at this spot. It would shock nobody to see the Spurs pursue a longer-term solution as a pick-and-roll partner. At the very least, earmarking some of that cap room to adding more ball distributors would seem to be money well spent.

The other immediate need is a hefty post presence who can complement the rail-thin, 7-foot-4 Wembanyama against physical frontcourts. Such a player could also occasionally, um, “restore order” if opponents are too physical with Wembanyama. (Zach Collins, if healthy, may be able to play a role here after a resurgent second half of 2022-23.)

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I thought i read that they lost the 33 pick?