MannyIsGod
04-14-2022, 01:42 PM
A few podcasts I listen to have ranked the entirety of the NBA playerbase and its been an interesting time listening to see where they rank certain players. I think it'll be interesting if we do that with the Spurs.
Tier 1
1. Dejounte Murray.
I mean I can't imagine anyone putting anyone else in this spot for obvious reasons. Dude made his first all star game and really stepped up his game. His finishing especially took a nice tick upwards this year although his shooting seemed to improve as well. The real question going forward is how much he can still improve as he's already in his mid twenties approaching his late twenties when most players peak. That being said, we have seen players who blossom later into their careers and continue to improve. For instance, Kyle Lowery. I'm hoping that despite his age, Murray is able to really improve on his shooting this offseason. If he was able to up his 3 point percentage while also upping his 3 point volume, then I think we can see DJM hit an even higher level. Obviously no one else meets this tier.
Tier 2
2. Keldon Johnson
Prior to an up and down game in the play in, Keldon had really hit his stride and was playing extremely well. Over the last 2 months of the season, Keldon's shooting percentage from deep took a hit, but he was taking many more 3s and still shooting a respectable percentage. Additionally, his drives to the basket and passing off his drives improved substantially as the year went on. If Keldon can consistently provide 20 ppg as the 2nd option I will be extremely happy with his production. The big question, aside from improvement, is how should Keldon approach the offseason regarding losing weight. While Keldon's physicality is almost required on the Spurs, count me among those who feel he would be better served by being a bit smaller and focusing on playing as a 3. One of the Spurs biggest weaknesses this year was on the glass, and this is in large part because they are playing Keldon at 4. He's extremely physical but he's not really able to convey that to playing the glass the way a good undersized 4 is able to. If you look back at a player like Dejuan Blair, he grabbed over 10 boards per 36 during his time in the NBA. Keldon grabs about 7. This is great for a small forward, but isn't going to cut it as a 4. Especially playing next to someone like McDermott.
Tier 3
3. Jakob Poeltl
I think putting Jakob in this tier undersells a bit what his value to the team is, but I also don't think he really has all star potential going forward. Jakob was a great center this year and improved his offense substantially from his previous years. Its hard to overstate how good he is relative to his contract, but his contract is also going to be up soon. My only complaints are his reluctance to finish strong and he still finds himself in foul trouble at times. Although Jakob displays great touch from short range, there are times that he would be better served by remembering he's 7 feet tall and just going up with power and slamming the ball home. Jakob did manage to improve his free throw shooting as the year went on which was also a welcome sight. I don't know how much more we can expect Jakob to improve, but he should anchor the Spurs defense and provide a good offensive option going into next year.
4. Devin Vassell
Devin showed a lot of improvement this year from his rookie campaign and surprised me with some sneaky athleticism on the offensive side that wasn't apparent in year 1. The guy can shoot at a good clip, can penetrate and create shots for himself and is pretty good at playing help defense and producing steals and blocks. I am not thrilled about how much he relies on long pull up jumpers in order to score (this is something a lot of players on this team do and I wish they would do this way less) but I'm interested to see how much he improves going foward.
5. Josh Richardson
Well well well! Came in as almost an afterthought in the Derrick White trade but turned out to be a better fit into the offense than Derrick was by providing good shooting. I was also taken by how quickly he fit in on the team in terms of personality. I'm not sure Richardson is here to stay in the long term as the Spurs roster will be very fluid going into the draft and free agency, but if the Spurs do decide to hold on to the vet, he'll likely be a very valuable piece next season.
Tier 4
6. Josh Primo.
Primo's place here is almost 100% based on future potential. Although from an impact standpoint, there was very little if anything to support Primo being a starter or playing the minutes he did down the stretch, it was always obvious the Spurs were playing him just to give him experience and hope that he learned by doing. Although Primo never really affected games this year, you have to view him through the prism of him being a 19 year old who will be younger than many people taken in upcoming draft. Primo did show some useful skills and the ability to play NBA level defense, so while we're mostly in a wait and see mode with him, there are reasons to be excited.
7. Zach Collins
Collins steadily improved throughout his time on the floor towards the end of the season. The big deal with Collins is just that he's managed to play and stay healthy through half of the season. The big problem with Collins is that I wish he weighed more in order to have more of a presence below the basket. That being said, he has good range and a decent shot and his defense really started to improve as the season progressed. While I don't know if he has potential to ever be a starting caliber center, he does look like he might be a pretty good bench big going forward.
10. Lonnie Walker
Lonnie had a few stretches this year where he seemed to finally be putting things together, and each time, injuries derailed his progress. Its uncertain whether or not Lonnie will be on the team going forward, but I believe the progress he made this year should be enough for him to get another contract with the Spurs. Instant offense is valuable off the bench, especially on a team that doesn't have much offense to begin with.
9. Tre Jones
Tre needs to develop a passable shot. While he does a lot of things well, and shows a good ability to finish in the lane, I don't think there's going to be much of a future for a PG in the NBA who shoots the way he does and doesn't do other things an an incredibly high level. I'd like to see the Spurs bring in a true backup PG next year and let Tre battle it out in camp for minutes.
10. Doug McDermott
I felt that Doug was mostly fine doing the job he came into do this year. Its unfortunate he got hurt when he did, because I feel he was just starting to gel with the rest of the starters in a post trade deadline team, and that just fell apart with his injury. That being said, I'm not sure how much of a future Doug has with this team. While he's still under contract for a couple of years, the Spurs should 100% seek to fill his position in the starting lineup with someone else. Doug fails to rebound at anywhere near an acceptable rate and that alone makes him more suited to a role off the bench. He's not on an awful contract, so the Spurs should not be in a hurry to dump his salary.
Tier 5
Jock Landale
Keta Bates Diop
Joe Wieskamp
Romeo Langford
Devontae Cacock
With the Spurs having 4 draft picks and a fair amount of cap space, I'm not sure how many of the players in this tier have a future with the Spurs. Out of the group, KBD and Landale are the only 2 I think have a future in the NBA. If the Spurs want to keep them as end of the bench players, I think that is fine, but if anyone here is in the rotation next year then that is likely a horrible sign.
Tier 1
1. Dejounte Murray.
I mean I can't imagine anyone putting anyone else in this spot for obvious reasons. Dude made his first all star game and really stepped up his game. His finishing especially took a nice tick upwards this year although his shooting seemed to improve as well. The real question going forward is how much he can still improve as he's already in his mid twenties approaching his late twenties when most players peak. That being said, we have seen players who blossom later into their careers and continue to improve. For instance, Kyle Lowery. I'm hoping that despite his age, Murray is able to really improve on his shooting this offseason. If he was able to up his 3 point percentage while also upping his 3 point volume, then I think we can see DJM hit an even higher level. Obviously no one else meets this tier.
Tier 2
2. Keldon Johnson
Prior to an up and down game in the play in, Keldon had really hit his stride and was playing extremely well. Over the last 2 months of the season, Keldon's shooting percentage from deep took a hit, but he was taking many more 3s and still shooting a respectable percentage. Additionally, his drives to the basket and passing off his drives improved substantially as the year went on. If Keldon can consistently provide 20 ppg as the 2nd option I will be extremely happy with his production. The big question, aside from improvement, is how should Keldon approach the offseason regarding losing weight. While Keldon's physicality is almost required on the Spurs, count me among those who feel he would be better served by being a bit smaller and focusing on playing as a 3. One of the Spurs biggest weaknesses this year was on the glass, and this is in large part because they are playing Keldon at 4. He's extremely physical but he's not really able to convey that to playing the glass the way a good undersized 4 is able to. If you look back at a player like Dejuan Blair, he grabbed over 10 boards per 36 during his time in the NBA. Keldon grabs about 7. This is great for a small forward, but isn't going to cut it as a 4. Especially playing next to someone like McDermott.
Tier 3
3. Jakob Poeltl
I think putting Jakob in this tier undersells a bit what his value to the team is, but I also don't think he really has all star potential going forward. Jakob was a great center this year and improved his offense substantially from his previous years. Its hard to overstate how good he is relative to his contract, but his contract is also going to be up soon. My only complaints are his reluctance to finish strong and he still finds himself in foul trouble at times. Although Jakob displays great touch from short range, there are times that he would be better served by remembering he's 7 feet tall and just going up with power and slamming the ball home. Jakob did manage to improve his free throw shooting as the year went on which was also a welcome sight. I don't know how much more we can expect Jakob to improve, but he should anchor the Spurs defense and provide a good offensive option going into next year.
4. Devin Vassell
Devin showed a lot of improvement this year from his rookie campaign and surprised me with some sneaky athleticism on the offensive side that wasn't apparent in year 1. The guy can shoot at a good clip, can penetrate and create shots for himself and is pretty good at playing help defense and producing steals and blocks. I am not thrilled about how much he relies on long pull up jumpers in order to score (this is something a lot of players on this team do and I wish they would do this way less) but I'm interested to see how much he improves going foward.
5. Josh Richardson
Well well well! Came in as almost an afterthought in the Derrick White trade but turned out to be a better fit into the offense than Derrick was by providing good shooting. I was also taken by how quickly he fit in on the team in terms of personality. I'm not sure Richardson is here to stay in the long term as the Spurs roster will be very fluid going into the draft and free agency, but if the Spurs do decide to hold on to the vet, he'll likely be a very valuable piece next season.
Tier 4
6. Josh Primo.
Primo's place here is almost 100% based on future potential. Although from an impact standpoint, there was very little if anything to support Primo being a starter or playing the minutes he did down the stretch, it was always obvious the Spurs were playing him just to give him experience and hope that he learned by doing. Although Primo never really affected games this year, you have to view him through the prism of him being a 19 year old who will be younger than many people taken in upcoming draft. Primo did show some useful skills and the ability to play NBA level defense, so while we're mostly in a wait and see mode with him, there are reasons to be excited.
7. Zach Collins
Collins steadily improved throughout his time on the floor towards the end of the season. The big deal with Collins is just that he's managed to play and stay healthy through half of the season. The big problem with Collins is that I wish he weighed more in order to have more of a presence below the basket. That being said, he has good range and a decent shot and his defense really started to improve as the season progressed. While I don't know if he has potential to ever be a starting caliber center, he does look like he might be a pretty good bench big going forward.
10. Lonnie Walker
Lonnie had a few stretches this year where he seemed to finally be putting things together, and each time, injuries derailed his progress. Its uncertain whether or not Lonnie will be on the team going forward, but I believe the progress he made this year should be enough for him to get another contract with the Spurs. Instant offense is valuable off the bench, especially on a team that doesn't have much offense to begin with.
9. Tre Jones
Tre needs to develop a passable shot. While he does a lot of things well, and shows a good ability to finish in the lane, I don't think there's going to be much of a future for a PG in the NBA who shoots the way he does and doesn't do other things an an incredibly high level. I'd like to see the Spurs bring in a true backup PG next year and let Tre battle it out in camp for minutes.
10. Doug McDermott
I felt that Doug was mostly fine doing the job he came into do this year. Its unfortunate he got hurt when he did, because I feel he was just starting to gel with the rest of the starters in a post trade deadline team, and that just fell apart with his injury. That being said, I'm not sure how much of a future Doug has with this team. While he's still under contract for a couple of years, the Spurs should 100% seek to fill his position in the starting lineup with someone else. Doug fails to rebound at anywhere near an acceptable rate and that alone makes him more suited to a role off the bench. He's not on an awful contract, so the Spurs should not be in a hurry to dump his salary.
Tier 5
Jock Landale
Keta Bates Diop
Joe Wieskamp
Romeo Langford
Devontae Cacock
With the Spurs having 4 draft picks and a fair amount of cap space, I'm not sure how many of the players in this tier have a future with the Spurs. Out of the group, KBD and Landale are the only 2 I think have a future in the NBA. If the Spurs want to keep them as end of the bench players, I think that is fine, but if anyone here is in the rotation next year then that is likely a horrible sign.