Spurs Select G Malaki Branham with the 20th Pick in the 2022 NBA Draft

[ambchang]

While I’m happy Malaki had a good game he can’t show up once a month like a period. He has to have some level of consistency in, at least, his approach, and ideally in production.

[spurraider21]

the biggest problem is his defense. he has to be very good on offense, not just passable, to justify real rotation time.

his best attribute right now is his age. he's still just 20. he's 6'5 with a 6'10 wingspan and while he's not overly explosive vertically, he's not an abysmal athlete. he should be better on that end. then we can talk about how he's a pretty good ball handler for a 2 and hope the 3 ball comes around. because right now the only area where he is an above average scorer is in the midrange from 10-16 feet and thats not a recipe for prolonged success. if he was an ace defender and we had to deal with offensive limitations, thats different. but he's not an asset on either end right now so its hard to see where he really belongs in the rotation

really need to get him compe ion at combo guard minutes, whether its drafting sheppard or signing monk

[Knoxxx]

I'm thinking of him as hopefully developing into a Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson type player.

Vinnie Johnson The Microwave | Highlights video #NBA (youtube.com)

[Atl Spur]

While I’m happy Malaki had a good game he can’t show up once a month like a period. He has to have some level of consistency in, at least, his approach, and ideally in production.

It just takes time to develop these players, he’s super young still. Keep the faith it’s only year two of the process.

[Knoxxx]

It just takes time to develop these players, he’s super young still. Keep the faith it’s only year two of the process.

The thing with all these young players is how awful they can look for extended stretches. But their good games/stretches show what they could potentially become on a more consistent basis. I too want to stretch waive most our young players but then it passes.

[JPB]

The thing with all these young players is how awful they can look for extended stretches. But their good games/stretches show what they could potentially become on a more consistent basis. I too want to stretch waive most our young players but then it passes.

The problem is that some people have to high expectations for kids like Malaki, Blake, Tre or Keldon. They are what you'll mostly get for those kind of picks, average role players if you're lucky with some potential but also a lot of flaws, then end of bench to borderline NBA players in many cases. Fans tend to focus on the potential, hoping they'll get rid of their flaws.

But there's a reason they"ve been drafted in the 20s or second round. If they had any kind of real star/elite role players potential they'd have been picked higher. And being drafted by the spurs changes nothing to that. Yes, they'll keep improving, like anyone does pratcicing at something, but they're not underperforming or underachieving so far, they are who they're meant to be, this is who they are, non lottery picks. So we shouldn't be surprised, disappointed or put too much hope on them becoming more than that. That can happen but much more often than not, it won't. Blake or Malaki may even be out of the NBA after their rookie contract.

[The Truth #6]

He sort of shows the downside to a culture guy. He's a great person. A team player. But he seems too nice in the sense that his motivation is in question. He seems irrationally unconfident. His skills on offense are fairly mature. He will obviously be on the team next year but there's a scenario where he just rides the bench and gets passed over in the rotation.

[MannyIsGod]

He sort of shows the downside to a culture guy. He's a great person. A team player. But he seems too nice in the sense that his motivation is in question. He seems irrationally unconfident. His skills on offense are fairly mature. He will obviously be on the team next year but there's a scenario where he just rides the bench and gets passed over in the rotation.

If we go into next season and Branham has a position in the rotation then our offseason has been bad. If he wins a spot in the season next year then cool, but the Spurs need to greatly upgrade the 2 guard depth.

[Atl Spur]

The man is not a finished product obviously but he possess a great feel on offense most don’t have ( he’s a smooth player ). Bbiq will increase hopefully as time goes on but him being out the league in two years is crazy talk..

[Atl Spur]

4th year Branham will be a nice piece

[NASpurs]

4th year Branham will be a nice piece

More shiity predictions from Miss Cleo

[exstatic]

Put some respect on the name of our tank commander.

[Atl Spur]

More shiity predictions from Miss Cleo

There she go, looking stupid again. Malaki says hi You obviously aren’t very aware nor compute information well. Although Malaki isn’t my pet cat, it’s clear he has a better chance of succeeding than failing at the current trajectory. Good to see got that Miss Cleo thing down.

[NASpurs]

There she go, looking stupid again. Malaki says hi You obviously aren’t very aware nor compute information well. Although Malaki isn’t my pet cat, it’s clear he has a better chance of succeeding than failing at the current trajectory. Good to see got that Miss Cleo thing down.

What's clear about it? You talk in absolutes when it's obviously clear (see what I did there) that you don't know what you're talking about based on your history. Keep at it Miss Cleo.

[Atl Spur]

What's clear about it? You talk in absolutes when it's obviously clear (see what I did there) that you don't know what you're talking about based on your history. Keep at it Miss Cleo.

Indulge us…. It’s all here to be fact checked What more can I say ? ( Jay Z ). It’s easy to be in your feelings and just spout off foolishness but be a dude this time….give us some facts.

[Atl Spur]

Mr. Sodium Spur, I’m always home but don’t touch the doorbell. ( see what I did there? ) of course you didn’t! lol

[itzsoweezee]

The problem is that some people have to high expectations for kids like Malaki, Blake, Tre or Keldon. They are what you'll mostly get for those kind of picks, average role players if you're lucky with some potential but also a lot of flaws, then end of bench to borderline NBA players in many cases. Fans tend to focus on the potential, hoping they'll get rid of their flaws.

But there's a reason they"ve been drafted in the 20s or second round. If they had any kind of real star/elite role players potential they'd have been picked higher. And being drafted by the spurs changes nothing to that. Yes, they'll keep improving, like anyone does pratcicing at something, but they're not underperforming or underachieving so far, they are who they're meant to be, this is who they are, non lottery picks. So we shouldn't be surprised, disappointed or put too much hope on them becoming more than that. That can happen but much more often than not, it won't. Blake or Malaki may even be out of the NBA after their rookie contract.

The problem is not fans’ expectations. The problem is the role the coaching staff places these young guys into. A competent coaching staff doesn’t play Branham 20 minutes a game when he shown he’s not ready for that role.

[exstatic]

The problem is not fans’ expectations. The problem is the role the coaching staff places these young guys into. A competent coaching staff doesn’t play Branham 20 minutes a game when he shown he’s not ready for that role.

A tanking coaching staff does, though.

[itzsoweezee]

A tanking coaching staff does, though.

I’m talking about this year’s coaching staff, which emphasized how important winning was to the team/development before the season started, not last year’s, which was obviously tanking.

[exstatic]

I’m talking about this year’s coaching staff, which emphasized how important winning was to the team/development before the season started, not last year’s, which was obviously tanking.

They lied.

[itzsoweezee]

They lied.

They thought they would be better. This is just rationalizing

[exstatic]

They thought they would be better. This is just rationalizing

You think they wanted Victor to know right out of the gate that they were dumping games? Don’t you think if Pop was telling the truth, and wanted to win games that they would have spent more than $0 on FAs, and maybe made trades for winning, and not asset ac ulation? I think you’re rationalizing.

[The Truth #6]

I think they wanted to see how the current pieces fit together before making moves, I agree with that part. I also think they got a little excited in the summer handing out contracts and thought they would be better than they are.

[slick'81]

Sours were definitely not trying to "win" this season

[jesterbobman]

While Spurs were able to quite fix their starting lineup with Tre and Champagnie, these moves also created a disastrous bench unit. Spurs' bench unit really lack of a point guard/playmaker, defense, rebounding and isn't that great at shooting. Players don't fit well together. For example, Keldon and Branham as wing combo doesn't work.

One of the main task of Spurs' offseason is to build a cohesive bench unit. A lot of these players aren't as bad as they currently look.

Good point.

We're very small. I think part of it is that Collins doesn't work as a sole big as he's not quite big enough to play drop as a PnR coverage, and we have a bunch of wings around him who don't really offer secondary rim protection, which means that they're terrible defensively and can't rebound well enough. I think you can either try and get a bigger backup centre and move Collins (Signing Hartenstein, drafting Clingan etc) or put a true PF next to him (e.g Get Jeremy Grant and move Sochan to the bench).

I don't think it's likely that we can have a bench as good as the Manu led units (because...Manu was Manu) but a more cohesive unit that could get close to neutral against bench units would be a big boost to the team.