Grades: Spurs vs. Pistons - July 14, 2023

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-spurs-pistons-summer-league-6/

[buttsR4rebounding]

It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of contract Barlow signs.

[BillMc]

I am officially worried about Blake.

[onechance87]

wesley is so bad....Doesnt do anything good

[Fireball]

So Blake Wesley with another trainwreck performance?

[wildbill2u]

Fan boys of Wesley will eventually have to bite the bullet and admit he is not now, maybe not ever, going to be a NBA player. About all he has to offer is speed. There are too many deficiencies in the skills needed for an NBA player. We will be looking back at his draft year and wonder who could we have drafted instead of him.

[Kurik]

Fan boys of Wesley will eventually have to bite the bullet and admit he is not now, maybe not ever, going to be a NBA player. About all he has to offer is speed. There are too many deficiencies in the skills needed for an NBA player. We will be looking back at his draft year and wonder who could we have drafted instead of him.

Maybe but all of the decisions made last year ultimately led to getting Wemby, so no regrets.

[TDMVPDPOY]

watch the highlights...anyone on the team besides barlow even attempt to fkn rebound?

cissoko needs to do more then just another player on the court making up the numbers

[south side spur]

Murray 2017 Summer League

4 games
6 ppg, 3.8 apg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 spg, 4 to


Wesley 2023 Summer League

6 games
12.83 ppg, 3.66 apg, 6.16 rpg, 1.33 spg, 3.16 to

[spurraider21]

So every shitty summer league point guard is destined to be the next dejounte

[Mugen]

Wonder why we haven't heard about Barlowe's contract yet tbh.

[Ariel]

Fan boys of Wesley will eventually have to bite the bullet and admit he is not now, maybe not ever, going to be a NBA player. About all he has to offer is speed. There are too many deficiencies in the skills needed for an NBA player. We will be looking back at his draft year and wonder who could we have drafted instead of him.
Speaking as someone who wanted Wesley (and Sochan and Branham) pre-draft, I always acknowledged he was a raw prospect that could boom or bust and, even if he did develop, it'd take time. Still, taking a gamble at 25 for a prospect with great physical and personality traits in the context of a team that's navigating mediocrity doesn't seem to be the worst use of a late pick. If you go through the list of draftees after Kessler at 22, the draft falls off a cliff and there's hardly better choices: in hindsight I'd say Nembhard (went 31), and for the rest I'd say maybe Hardy looks better but he's far from a sure thing either. Other than that he's as good a bet as any, which admittedly may not be saying much.
With that said, I still think 1 season is way too early to give up on him when he just turned 20, but he definitely needs to work A LOT on his game in the G-League, the main team can't be his playground until he can be even somewhat consistent finishing/shooting/passing/taking care of the ball. I didn't think it was reasonable to not pick up his 3rd year option, but looking at how crowded the rest of the roster is going forward, it may be an option taking into account it doesn't mean he can't be brought back if he shows positive signs next season, especially considering he's unlikely to have such a dramatic improvement that he'd price himself over what he'd cost if kept at the rookie scale (will probably command less even if he improves).
All in all signs are not encouraging so far and he's a long shot to ever make it, but unless we're making a choice between him and a clearly better prospect at his position (which doesn't seem to be the case) I lean towards giving him another season and re-evaluate afterwards according to his progress. By this time next year if he doesn't show any improvement, it's a different story.

[Ariel]

Wonder why we haven't heard about Barlowe's contract yet tbh.
The roster is a bit crowded and they may be waiting for a trade opportunity before finalizing a couple contracts (Tre Jones, Barlow) but this kind of thing isn't something the FO would be oblivious to, Barlow is for sure a long term investment for the Spurs and it'd be shocking if there wasn't a contract in place for hiim shortly (I'd say 4 years in the Champagnie range or over, probably with more guarantees).

[Dex]

Missed this one. Any other impressions on Rice? I was a fan of watching him at Texas and look forward to seeing him play more whether that is in San Antonio or Austin

How many times did he pump-fake?

[onechance87]

Missed this one. Any other impressions on Rice? I was a fan of watching him at Texas and look forward to seeing him play more whether that is in San Antonio or Austin

How many times did he pump-fake?

looks like a real good pick and roll player....which would be awesome for our bigs....Played sum decent d as well...Would like to see him run the offence more as well
to see how good he can be

[Obstructed_View]

Missed this one. Any other impressions on Rice? I was a fan of watching him at Texas and look forward to seeing him play more whether that is in San Antonio or Austin

How many times did he pump-fake?
He pump faked at the three point line and turned it into a high low pass to Dom. It was pretty. Check the beginning of the game thread for video.

[Kurik]

Murray 2017 Summer League

4 games
6 ppg, 3.8 apg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 spg, 4 to


Wesley 2023 Summer League

6 games
12.83 ppg, 3.66 apg, 6.16 rpg, 1.33 spg, 3.16 to

And neither are/were good enough for the Wemby Spurs long term.

[slick'81]

We are soo fckn desperate for a "pg":lol

[RC_Drunkford]

the thing that worries me about Wesley is that he said he's been working out twice a day. What exactly has he been working on?

[GAustex]

Rice prescience and awareness is so advanced. The manner he ran the pick and roll was big boy league like.
He could end up being useful.
I am not sure he can handle a primary role but secondary might work.

[spurraider21]

the thing that worries me about Wesley is that he said he's been working out twice a day. What exactly has he been working on?
If only he put his workouts on Instagram we’d know

[Chomag]

Wesley would be just fine if the coaching staff would let him be the player that he has abilities being. He is a shooting guard , he doesn't have any abilities to make a NBA pg ie court vision and handles , he doesn't see thr floor well enough for the positive.

I just don't understand why they are trying to fit a circle with a square peg with him. He does have great abilities that I think would make him a microwave type of scorer at the 2 guard.

[Chomag]

Rice prescience and awareness is so advanced. The manner he ran the pick and roll was big boy league like.
He could end up being useful.
I am not sure he can handle a primary role but secondary might work.
I agree, he has a smoothness about him and seemed to move around the floor with ease. He looked to always be under control.

[K...]

Wesley would be just fine if the coaching staff would let him be the player that he has abilities being. He is a shooting guard , he doesn't have any abilities to make a NBA pg ie court vision and handles , he doesn't see thr floor well enough for the positive.

I just don't understand why they are trying to fit a circle with a square peg with him. He does have great abilities that I think would make him a microwave type of scorer at the 2 guard.

he's not an nba SG though.

Wesley isn't a failed pick (assuming he doesn't make a massive advance) you sometimes gotta pick primos and weesleys and lonnies to find the one who sticks like kawhi, Danny, and (groan) Dejounte.

[LaMarcus Bryant]

Rice is the future.

He isn't a good athlete but his game is so old guy at the Y cool and collected.

[jjspur]

When I was watching highlights, I asked myself who is this guy, why haven't we seen more of him ? Ah it was Jabari Rice , no wonder. Even though he only played one game, he looked impressive for his first time on a pro court. Always calm and steady, he looks like he actually has nba talent rather than just athleticism. Easily impressed me more than Wesley. I'm glad the spurs signed Rice. He may only end up being a backup but he looks like has a future in the NBA. I'm not so sure about Wesley any more.

[BackHome]

To be honest Barlow and Rice easily best two Spurs players for this game and it wasn’t even close - Everyone else deserved a D or F for this game as most played terrible. As far as Blake I was cool with the pick as we were swinging for the fences and it was the right pick. But I was shocked that he got time with the big boys I thought for sure as a project he should have played almost 90% in G League. It will be interesting to see what the Spurs do as I see Rice as a older better version of Walker - But I don’t know if they would send Blake to G League I don’t know if he could handle it.

[lefty20]

1289992633390047238

This could apply to the current Spurs as well, imo.