Comprehensive Preview of San Antonio's Summer League Team in Sacramento

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/spurs-summer-league-2023-preview/

Of the leftovers, I kinda like Javante McCoy. His numbers and highlights look pretty good, tbh.

[ambchang]

I’m keeping my eyes on Barlow. I just like his physical gifts and think he is the player who can take a huge step this year. He has a high ceiling and can be a very good piece like a pascal siakim.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm pasting the text from my thread into this one so we don't have multiple ones going. timvp if you want to delete my thread altogether that's fine with me.

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In no particular order, but guys I'm excited about seeing. The other guys on the SL squad that I don't mention I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about.

Jeremy Sochan
Won't be in summer league as of now. Don't know when he will play, but we will be looking at his jumper from 22 feet out and his health. People are concerned about his knee. My guess is that he has overworked it and is now being forced by the team to ease down. If his injury is not something that will threaten his career, he and Victor are going to absolutely wreck the NBA.

Blake Wesley
My dream comparison: Latrell Sprewell
The Spurs' home run swing. Has all the physical gifts, seems like a good teammate and came into the league with a chip on his shoulder. He was playing pretty well on both ends right up to the moment he hurt his knee. This young man is so fast that he looks bad because he moves faster than he can process the game. We want to see how he processes the offense and his commitment level on defense. He can really be special on both ends of the floor.

Malaki Branham
My dream comparison: Michael Redd
Mal was struggling last year, and then a light went on, and he was effortlessly finding his spots and filling it up. He gives you what DDR did but adds the ability to include his teammates in the offense. That's not as crazy a comparison as it sounds; his averages don't jump out but his before and after are pretty impressive. He even played some point guard, bringing the ball up, and did a good job. He's almost the opposite of Wesley in that he does his work without relying on speed or power. It came together for him so well that I'm hoping he develops into Victor's Jamal Murray. He has a wonky jumper, especially from deep, but his offense is so silky smooth that I wouldn't mess with it. He will be effective even without a three pointer, but he has to be willing to take them and able to make at least a few to keep defenders off Victor's ass.

Julian Champagnie
My dream comparison: Josh Richardson?
At the end of the year, Julian's offense became special. Like really special. You gotta explore that and see if it's real. You just can't let him go without finding out. He went from a guy who was taking a space on the roster to someone who might be ready for a rotation spot. He was also a good defender, insofar as one can evaluate defense on a tanking team. I'm pretty sure will all be watching these guys to see if they are actually the worst defensive players in NBA history. Hoping that was by design. We will find out soon enough.

Dominick Barlow
My dream comparison: I don't know, Nazr Mohammed maybe.
Dom is so young and so rough that it's hard to even know what he can be. He's a nice kid. He gives effort. He keeps his head up when he makes a mistake and he doesn't let it bother him. He just showed signs of something that makes me want to see him develop. He feels like a team guy to me. All I'm looking for is maturity and improvement. Maybe I need an excuse to defend keeping him around. Maybe he spends another year in Austin. Maybe I'm just being a fanboy. We'll have to see.

Charles Bediako, Sidy Cissoko, Sir' Jabari Rice
My dream comparison: None. I just needed to practice spelling their names
These look to be, barring some surprise, the only other guys who aren't just filling out the roster. I'm excited to see them play. If they do anything better than expected on scouting reports, I will likely be writing glowing reviews of them in my evaluations.

[Obstructed_View]

I didn't see it anywhere, but is Charles Bassey still on the team? How's that work with his knee? I actually was preparing a write-up for him because I forgot he got hurt.

[exstatic]

I didn't see it anywhere, but is Charles Bassey still on the team? How's that work with his knee? I actually was preparing a write-up for him because I forgot he got hurt.

He signed a multi year contract, so I’d say yes, he’s still on the team.

[Obstructed_View]

He signed a multi year contract, so I’d say yes, he’s still on the team.

Like I said, I couldn't remember. Thank you.

[Maddog]

Like I said, I couldn't remember. Thank you.

There was a twitter post form one of the EN beat writers saying his rehab was going really well- but no timeline

[slick'81]

Sadik kabaca has a kool name so Ima follow him:flag:

[exstatic]

Like I said, I couldn't remember. Thank you.


Pretty easy to lose track of him, since he’s hardly been mentioned this offseason.

[Obstructed_View]

Pretty easy to lose track of him, since he’s hardly been mentioned this offseason.

He's on my list of guys to be excited about following when he comes back.

[slick'81]

He's on my list of guys to be excited about following when he comes back.

Love me some BASSEY!! 5/5 with a block in 15 min per

[intlspurshk]

Players after Barlow has nothing to write home about. All have fatal flaws and what’s the point to bring them to summer league? I T houghts there are some undrafted players originally on the second round mock drafts list but Spurs can’t get one of them

[Ocotillo]

All have fatal flaws and what’s the point to bring them to summer league?

You have to fill out a roster. Those guys are playing for themselves and hoping lightening in a bottle camp so they can get G-League or training camp invites from someone.

[John B]

I believe they play tonight vs Hornets, 7pm CST

The person I’m most excited about is Blake, for the obvious reason that his position at PG is the most glaring need. Blake has mentioned in an interview that he’s been working day and night at the gym, working to improve his finishing in the rim. Somebody also mentioned that he put some 10lbs muscle on him. Blake is uber competitive (see story on his audition with Malaki). He got that dog in him, on top of his fearlessness and burst of speed. He reminds me very much of no other than TP, but with the vertical. TP was fearless going against trees in the paint, uber competitive and likewise very fast in the open court. I see the same focus in Blake. I don’t doubt his hard works would show, just a matter of time. There’s a reason why PATFO didn’t push for a PG in the draft/FA. I’m hoping it’s particularly because of Blake (and Malaki).

Sidy I’m also super excited. Also a consumate professional who left his family at a young age of 13, to pursue his dream. For an international player and got himself drafted by way of ignite, playing against men, that says a lot on his commitment. I need him to continue working on his 3pt and defense which could be the final icing. Already he can pass and facilitate, playing PG growing up. His all-around skills should be a plus. I think he’s a glue guy and can do a lot in the court. He seems like a good kid.

Sir Jabari is an older PG. I think he’ll be a good backup PG but would be in Austin a lot. I like that they get another PG who could develop and help the other players in Austin.

Barlow, I’m excited to see. Osman might take KBD’s minutes. But Barlow could be that big athletic mobile that Spurs have been looking for forever (not named Wemby). I look forward to his development.

[spurraider21]

Excited to see what the pups have been working on. Branham should be looking like the adult in a room of children with what we know is a pretty savvy scoring ability. He should be the leading scorer effortlessly.

Expectations are lower for Wesley but he showed out a bit in summer league last year. His efficiency was bad but his ability to generate offense was visible. Hope he looks more like a point guard this time around.

Cissoko already played in the gleague so summer league competition should be right up his alley.

I know timvp says he wants to see some playmaking from Rice but i just want to see him handle the nba 3pt line. Even without playmaking we know pop loves his Neal/Forbes types

[Mugen]

Nice squad this year even without Wemby tbh.

[ChumpDumper]

Players after Barlow has nothing to write home about. All have fatal flaws and what’s the point to bring them to summer league? I T houghts there are some undrafted players originally on the second round mock drafts list but Spurs can’t get one of them

Getting a lot of Austin players means the coaches don't have to spend time teaching players the basics of the offense and defense. Since the main roster is practically full there's not much point in looking for players after Barlow.

[Mr. Body]

1. Wesley. He can get by anyone. I want to see what happens after. If he slows down, uses his space, pull-ups, floaters, dump-offs, great.

2. Branham. Commitment to defense. He was also super shy last summer league and is still deferential. I want to see a killer in there.

The rest is gravy.

[Adam21]

Anybody know when Wemby will play?

[spurraider21]

Nice squad this year even without Wemby tbh.
oh yeah. last year's roster was a ton of rookies (and sochan couldnt even play). the "vets" last year were Primo, who sucked ass even against that competition, and Wieskamp... who sucks.

branham/champagnie/barlow/wesley are all seasoned compared to last year's group. even cissoko has already played a full year of g-league ball

[rjv]

primo's performance in last year's SL was the beginning of the end. he was just awful.

[Dhbsr555]

Anyone have an idea what the sl starters will be

[heyheymymy]

I saw Bran in the very recent Spurs/Victor practice clip they released and he hit a pull up 3 at one point.

Bran looks ready to explode to the next level and I can't wait to scout his progress. Blake and Barlow look ripped. If Blake has been working in the lab all summer that's a great sign.

Also excited to see Rice with his trademark shot gather fake to draw defenders off their feet.

[heyheymymy]

Starting 5 guesses?

Wesley
Branham
Champagnie
Barlow
Bediako

[TD 21]

Starting 5 guesses?

Wesley
Branham
Champagnie
Barlow
Bediako

Cissoko at the four, Barlow at the five would be logical.

[BackHome]

That’s not a bad line up will be exciting to watch them finally play some ball.