Shams: Spurs Trading Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, & a 2026 SRP to the Wizards for Kelly Olynyk

[BatManu20]

Another stretch-big to pair with Wemby.

Olynyk averaged 9 pts/5 rbs/3 asts on 50% shooting and 41% from 3 on 2 attempts/per.


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[Leetonidas]

Interesting. Solid depth but kinda sad to see Wesley go. Spurs now have 3 open roster spots

[BatManu20]

No more logjam in the backcourt tbh. Olynyk should fit nicely on this roster as a veteran stretch-4.


Af9IKZMI5ZQ

[rjv]

I wondered what was taking so long. Ciao to Blake and Maliki.

[Dejounte]

Splash! Now we have two spots to fill…

[ismael-robert]

Finally, prototypical Spur comes home

[TekXX]

Doesn't do much but it was about time Branham and Wesley go.

[Robz4000]

Eh.

[rjv]

some ST posters will be elated to see that the Spurs actually traded a 2nd round pick.

[Chinook]

Perfect, but now they 110-percent had room for 38 on their roster.

[BatManu20]

2/3 of the 2022 Draftees are gone. Only Sochan remains…for now.

[spurraider21]

solid rotational player, and we have SRPs galore to give away. he's making 13.4 mil this year and is on an expiring deal.

neither wesley nor branham had a realistic path to minutes this year barring injury. personally i think wesley is an NBA player and could have been worth keeping around as depth who can come in and play with energy on defense... we've seen him impact games. but it also makes sense that if we were going to have a guard stashed away at the bottom of the roster, that it at least be one who could shoot

i think its a pretty meh move. we now have 3 open roster spots in addition to all the two-way spots

he can also be re-routed during the season if they want to make use of the salary. the second round pick they gave up is the 2026 pick which is the worst between OKC, Dallas, and Philly, so it will probably be one in the late 50s

[BatManu20]

Olynyk is on an expiring deal too. He's owed $13.45M this year. Turned 34 in April.

[Eaglenole2002]

Olynyk can play. Great move for essentially nothing of value except cap room.

[LeBowen]

Good third stringer, the team will always be functional.
Getting rid of Wsesley ans Branham is a good sign that they won't have mercy towards friendship crew if the right opportunity presents itself.

[Uriel]

Perfect, but now they 110-percent had room for 38 on their roster.
Probably shows how lowly they thought of Raynaud.

[Chinook]

Hopefully the next step is bringing in veteran guard depth. Could they bring in Núñez? Not that he's good or ready, but may as well start developing him in Austin rather than hoping he develops overseas.

[BatManu20]

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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GvX9OY1W0AAj5_-?format=jpg&name=medium https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GvX9OY6WQAEk2pu?format=jpg&name=medium

[Leetonidas]

Deals like this are always interesting to me because we heard absolutely nothing about the Spurs being interested in Olynyk or that they were shopping Branham/Wesley and suddenly they're traded out of nowhere:lol makes me think the vast majority of rumor mill reporting is complete bullshit

[tbdog]

Olynyk pairs well with rim protecting bigs. He stinks when he is the sole center out there. So playing the 4 defensively with Kornet or Wemby is ideal for his game. But if he is out there as the only big next to Keldon and Barnes on the wing, then it gets bad.

[Mr. Body]

Good deal.

Olynyk is a nice rotation big and those two didn't have a future here. Let them figure it out somewhere else.

We badly, badly needed that second backup big and KO has legit been a good one for a while, with a strong skillset that we need (can hit from outside).

[NASpurs]

Not earth shattering but considering you're trading your trash, I respect it.

[Chinook]

Probably shows how lowly they thought of Raynaud.

They might be planning on Wemby playing PF full time or at least most of the time now. Though I can't help but notice how Kelly and Barnes are two decent-sized expiring contracts.

[Spurs Brazil]

Good one. It's add shooting to the bench

[BatManu20]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GvX6o3oXwAADSEE?format=jpg&name=medium

[jmard5]

Nice. No more logjam at the G position, and the newcomers getting their minutes.

[bluebellmaniac]

Hopefully the next step is bringing in veteran guard depth. Could they bring in Núñez? Not that he's good or ready, but may as well start developing him in Austin rather than hoping he develops overseas.

Is CP3 retiring? Hadn't heard what's up on that front.

[Spurs Brazil]

BobbyMarks42

Olynyk can be rerouted again within 2 months of the recent trade because his contract is not aggregate with additional salary.

[CGD]

Nice move. Turn just under 10M of expirings into a 13M one, but for a guy who can actually help.

[Mr. Body]

Probably shows how lowly they thought of Raynaud.

It's widely reported that he specifically wanted Sacramento. He went to college nearby, so he has his reasons.

[TekXX]

Deals like this are always interesting to me because we heard absolutely nothing about the Spurs being interested in Olynyk or that they were shopping Branham/Wesley and suddenly they're traded out of nowhere:lol makes me think the vast majority of rumor mill reporting is complete bullshit

Who knows if they were interested in Olynyk but someone was finally interested in taking our G-league, Wright specials, so you go for it.

[LeBowen]

They might be planning on Wemby playing PF full time or at least most of the time now. Though I can't help but notice how Kelly and Barnes are two decent-sized expiring contracts.

Wemby at PF narrative needs to stop.
Olynyk is just an insurance policy so we can have a functional rotation when Wemby doesn't play.
We'll obviously see some lineups with two bigs in specific matchups, but Kornet won't start.

[Spurs Brazil]

PaulGarciaNBA

Once the trade is completed, the Spurs will have 12 players on the roster.

3 open roster spots now plus 3 open two-way spots

The Spurs will be $8.5 mil below the tax and $16.5 mil below the 1st apron hard cap

[ismael-robert]

Diaw n splitter (kornet) 2.0

[tbdog]

Deals like this are always interesting to me because we heard absolutely nothing about the Spurs being interested in Olynyk or that they were shopping Branham/Wesley and suddenly they're traded out of nowhere:lol makes me think the vast majority of rumor mill reporting is complete bullshit

The Spurs and Magic are two teams that are pretty much had a the lid closed. Magic never leaked who they would select for number 1 in the draft. Spurs never leaked Primo issues until he was waived.

[NASpurs]

But yes, another big white dude who played with the Celtics. Seems to fit a mold.

[Davidicus]

We got our John Collins

[mystargtr34]

Olynik is a 4 imo he will share the 4 minutes with Barnes and hopefully plays next to Wemby and Kornet exclusively. Very good shooter and solid rebounder (much better rebounder than Barnes). High IQ, good passer. I like it as long as he’s playing next to Wemby and Kornet.

[Maddog]

But yes, another big white dude who played with the Celtics. Seems to fit a mold.

Hank Finkel is still living

[BatManu20]

Someone tell Jeremy he might be joining 'em if he doesn't start hitting his 3's tbh.

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[ginobilized]

This is great news in my book.

I recall watching a Pels game last season and thinking that he'd be a great fit for the Spurs. High IQ player, brings some movement to the offense, defense and 3 point shooting. He's always a chaos merchant and can't be left unaccounted for by defenses.
Olynk will really diversify our lineup options.

We are starting to look like a professional basketball team, finally. I'd be surprised if the Spurs don't sign a veteran backup point guard.

Thanks for the memories Blake and Malaki! RIP to the Power of Friendship.

[Chinook]

Wemby at PF narrative needs to stop.

The Spurs should always be willing to explore which players work best with Wemby. Duncan played with many different co-stars in his career. Olynyk may not even make it through the off-season if another trade comes along, but he's good enough to deserve minutes. I just made a post with a projected minutes distribution, but you could give Olynyk 12-18 MPG with some tweaks. I don't think the Spurs are looking at him as solely a deep-bench guy, even if Blake and Malaki asked for trades. I do appreciate that they have good center depth though, and I hope they continue that by signing a big to a two-way deal.

[Russ]

Watch Branham go ballistic now.

:lol

[CorrectCrusader]

Two busts, sad they couldn't turn into anything. Hope they can put it together on the wizards!

[Uriel]

This is great news in my book.

I recall watching a Pels game last season and thinking that he'd be a great fit for the Spurs. High IQ player, brings some movement to the offense, defense and 3 point shooting. He's always a chaos merchant and can't be left unaccounted for by defenses.
Olynk will really diversify our lineup options.

We are starting to look like a professional basketball team, finally. I'd be surprised if the Spurs don't sign a veteran backup point guard.

Thanks for the memories Blake and Malaki! RIP to the Power of Friendship.
Chris Paul? Jk :lol

[Eaglenole2002]

I remember thinking why the heck weren’t we in on the Olynyk deal when he was first sent to Washington. Glad to finally get him. Pretty good third center/depth 4.

[Spurs Brazil]

Olynyk shot a career-high 42% on 3-pointers last season and has shot 41% on catch-and-shoot 3s over the last three years, according to GeniusIQ. Olynyk also recorded shooting splits of 52% from from the field, 40% from 3 and 83% from the free throw line over the last three seasons.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45697678/sources-spurs-acquire-kelly-olynyk-deal-wizards

[BatManu20]

Olynik is a 4 imo he will share the 4 minutes with Barnes and hopefully plays next to Wemby and Kornet exclusively. Very good shooter and solid rebounder (much better rebounder than Barnes). High IQ, good passer. I like it as long as he’s playing next to Wemby and Kornet.

Agreed. He's def a stretch-4. He'll fit in nicely on this team tbh. Spurs still badly need more outside shooting and he's an elite one.

[ginobilized]

Watch Branham go ballistic now.

:lol

I could see that happening.......in China

[Spurs Brazil]

2nd unit now can be Harper/Champagnie/Sochan/Olynyk/Kornet

[ChumpDumper]

Hopefully the next step is bringing in veteran guard depth. Could they bring in Núñez? Not that he's good or ready, but may as well start developing him in Austin rather than hoping he develops overseas.Unless his recovery is in jeopardy I'm fine with his staying in Spain for now. I will miss Wesley's defense and we probably need to use at least a two-way on a point guard. Nelson Jr. has a long way to go but his improvement over the past few months has been noteworthy. I'm fine with locking him in to play in Austin all season feeding Bryant if nothing else.

[Mr. Body]

This was the trade I thought could happen once Olynyk got to Washington. Maybe were waiting around to see if anything shook loose from a Kuminga trade that won't be happening.

Not sure what else they might do. Probably need a backup point. Might see if there are any waivers or pick-ups with those free slots.

[ginobilized]

2nd unit now can be Harper/Champagnie/Sochan/Olynyk/Kornet

More talent on that unit than our SL pre-Wemby. That's decent 2nd unit if Harper is what we think he is.

[rascal]

2nd unit now can be Harper/Champagnie/Sochan/Olynyk/Kornet

Not good

[Fizziksman]

seriously how did the Wizards even allow him to wear their jersey after he skullfucked them in Game 7 in their only meaningful playoff run in the past decades.

[mystargtr34]

Looks like his defensive numbers DFG% inside 10 feet and 6 feet aren’t too bad. Better than I expected anyway. Similar to guys like Aldama, Naz Reid.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt10?CF=FGA_LT_10*GE*5:GP*GE*25&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&dir=A&sort=LT_10_PCT

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6?CF=FGA_LT_06*GE*4:GP*GE*25&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&dir=A&sort=LT_06_PCT

[poopbox]

Funny cause a friend of mine was just sayin this weekend that if everything hits right for Sochan he might could be Kelly Olynyk :lol

Definitely not here to be a 3rd string center so perhaps this hints at Wemby playing the 4 and Kornet being the starting center with Kelly and Sochan the backup 4 and 5 ?

Not so sure how I feel about that. Victor really took off when he got moved to Center. Or maybe Collins was just that bad :lol

As much as a shit on Brian I have to give him his kudos for this, he turned our two worst players into a decent backup big. Fantastic job.

[bdictjames]

Nice. Wemby gets another big. Great trade!

Hope Blake and Malaki get some success in the league, to be honest. Maybe they'll have better shooting coaches in Washington.

[Degoat]

Wizards got a better deal for Olynk than the jazz got for Collins lol

[Eaglenole2002]

Not that the team is stacked by any means, but we have some legitimate depth.

[Chinook]

PaulGarciaNBA

Once the trade is completed, the Spurs will have 12 players on the roster.

3 open roster spots now plus 3 open two-way spots

The Spurs will be $8.5 mil below the tax and $16.5 mil below the 1st apron hard cap

I don't think anyone should expect the Spurs to go into this season paying the tax. If they look good, then they can go into the tax through a later trade, but they should stay under for now. Assuming, they carry the full 15, they have to account for two minimum salaries ($2.3 Million each), meaning they have about $4 Million left to spend on a player. What's funny and sort of stupid is that the Spurs would have had a bit more space if they had taken draft picks to sign, because they are exempted from the requirement to count as at least a two-year-vet min salary. As it is, the Spurs could carry 14 and make an actual LLE offer, or they could basically sign three min guys to fill out the roster. I didn't know they were that tight against the tax already.

[spursistan]

Solid pickup. Olynyk can still play at a position (with a skillset) of need. Finally clears the backcourt logjam: Fox, Castle, and Harper will eat all the minutes.

Blake/Malaki will get more burn in Washington, but not by much. Wizards have 21 players on their roster including two-ways :lol. They are gonna have to prove themselves to stick in this league..

From a Spurs perspective, that 2022 draft is so close to being a gigantic whiff..

[td4mvp2k]

great fit. wanted him last year with wemby. traded trash for nice rotation big spurs lookin ready for playoffs.

[Eaglenole2002]

Guys like Olynyk IMO might not raise the ceiling in a playoff setting, but he’s a floor raiser in the regular season. In the West, that might mean something in terms of getting home court in the play-in round.

[BatManu20]

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[Eaglenole2002]

Solid pickup. Olynyk can still play at a position (with a skillset) of need. Finally clears the backcourt logjam: Fox, Castle, and Harper will eat all the minutes.

Blake/Malaki will get more burn in Washington, but not by much. Wizards have 21 players on their roster including two-ways :lol. They are gonna have to prove themselves to stick in this league..

From a Spurs perspective, that 2022 draft is so close to being a gigantic whiff..

Wasn’t a huge Sochan guy, but I really wanted Branham and Wesley with those picks. Welp…

[Russ]

The Spurs are definitely going for young players and beseeching placeholders.

[TimmyBuckets]

I'm loving the subtle moves they're making! Filling positions of need on the DL. Olynik is a great pick up!

[BackHome]

Solid signing and as "Chinook" stated it gives us two nice contracts that are expiring so definitely something Mitch could do for the right player. He is a good three-point shooter and he plays physical he is not going to back down.

[jjspur]

Brian Wright strikes again ! Thank you wizards Now we have a more balanced team, with a few openings to boot.

[Dex]

Branham and Wesley were basically dead-weight. They had plenty of chances to shine...and they didn't.

Olynyk may actually be able to provide some size and depth this season, and another veteran presence in the locker room. If it doesn't work out, he's expiring.

I'm just glad to see the Spurs making some moves and rolling the dice a bit this summer, instead of "oh we got Kornet, let's run it back with the same team and see how he fits"

[Mr. Body]

seriously how did the Wizards even allow him to wear their jersey after he skullfucked them in Game 7 in their only meaningful playoff run in the past decades.

They didn't. He never suited up for the Wiz.

[Spurs Homer]

Only thing the spurs should have insisted on was for olynk to

LEAVE the headgear far away from texas!

Otherwise , good move by the spurs and best of luck to branham and wesley even though i was not high on them…

[Mr. Body]

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Honestly kind of wish we got Olynyk sooner. He's really underrated, but getting old now.

Down low he lets the team experiment with what might work with Victor now, too. Both him and Kornet are a bit different in terms of how they play, so they can try some units out to see if anything works. Maybe, maybe not, but now they can try things out.

[ChumpDumper]

Only thing the spurs should have insisted on was for olynk to

LEAVE the headgear far away from texas!
Disagree. basketballreference.com lists his nickname as "Lunch Lady." :tu

[mystargtr34]

Looks like his defensive numbers DFG% inside 10 feet and 6 feet aren’t too bad. Better than I expected anyway. Similar to guys like Aldama, Naz Reid.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt10?CF=FGA_LT_10*GE*5:GP*GE*25&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&dir=A&sort=LT_10_PCT

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6?CF=FGA_LT_06*GE*4:GP*GE*25&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&dir=A&sort=LT_06_PCT

DFG% inside 10 feet

Harrison Barnes
62.2% on 4.3 DFGA

Kelly Olynik
56.4% on 5.1 DFGA

The gap is even wider in Olynika favour outside 10 feet.

At this point Olynik should be a better rebounder and defender than Barnes. Barnes has a slight edge on shooting still.

[Spurs Homer]

Disagree. basketballreference.com lists his nickname as "Lunch Lady." :tu


lolol

i hope im wrong…maybe he will come off the bench and be fun to watch…but i cringe when i see that headband and that hair tucked behind the ears…

[LeBowen]

The Spurs should always be willing to explore which players work best with Wemby. Duncan played with many different co-stars in his career. Olynyk may not even make it through the off-season if another trade comes along, but he's good enough to deserve minutes. I just made a post with a projected minutes distribution, but you could give Olynyk 12-18 MPG with some tweaks. I don't think the Spurs are looking at him as solely a deep-bench guy, even if Blake and Malaki asked for trades. I do appreciate that they have good center depth though, and I hope they continue that by signing a big to a two-way deal.

We already had too many wings that are expected to get minutes, you can't add Olynyk into the mix even if Bryant spends the season in Austin.

[Mr. Body]

Finally a white thug among all the pretty boys.

[itzsoweezee]

Hell yes! This squad is really shaping up nicely

[rankingtear]

I doubt Olynyk makes much of a difference. A lot of it is combining the 2 expiring for a bigger one to take into the trade deadline.

[T Park]

Eh.


Lmfao this fanbase

[T Park]

Perfect, but now they 110-percent had room for 38 on their roster.

Maybe that should give you a hint

[couchman]

I’d rather start Olynyk at 4 than Barnes.
Similar offensive role but better defense.

[poopbox]

Solid pickup. Olynyk can still play at a position (with a skillset) of need. Finally clears the backcourt logjam: Fox, Castle, and Harper will eat all the minutes.

Blake/Malaki will get more burn in Washington, but not by much. Wizards have 21 players on their roster including two-ways :lol. They are gonna have to prove themselves to stick in this league..

From a Spurs perspective, that 2022 draft is so close to being a gigantic whiff..

Washington currently has Smart, CJ, Tre, Whitmore, Bub, Bilal.

I don't see how either player gets any time on the floor barring at least two injuries.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

good move

[BatManu20]

The president and CEO of the San Antonio Zoo is not happy about this. Might need to rescind the trade tbh.

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[timtonymanu]

Nice knowing ya Blake, Malaki I guess. Neither had a future on this team despite Blake’s defensive skills.

Not a bad pickup all things considered. Better than getting 50 year old Kevin Love like some were wanting.

[Degoat]

I know he moved onto another summer league team I believe, but I wouldn’t mind bringing David Duke into the fold

[Degoat]

Bring back the chosen one Lonnie Walker lol

[Russ]

Parlaying the 20th and 25th pick in the draft for this is not exactly a triumph.

But they probably had to face the music at some point.

Bottom line, they have tons of great options going forward -- even if they blow a few along the way.

[ChumpDumper]

Bring back the chosen one Lonnie Walker lol

Not the worst idea ever tbh.

[mystargtr34]

Washington currently has Smart, CJ, Tre, Whitmore, Bub, Bilal.

I don't see how either player gets any time on the floor barring at least two injuries.

Bilal and Whitmore will be forwards/wings along with Middleton, George, Kispert. But even then there’s still a logjam at 1 and 2 for Wesley and Branham.

PG: Bub, Smart, AJ, Wesley
SG: CJ, Tre, Branham

They’ll probably trade or buyout Smart and get another big behind Sarr and Vukcevic. Or a bigger 4. Then Wesley and Branham will be the third stringers so they should get some time to showcase.

[CGD]

Watch Branham go ballistic now.

:lol

He’ll be their Poole replacement

[exstatic]

Watch Branham go ballistic now.

:lol

He shot 40% from 3, 80% from 0-3 feet, and has a nice middie bounce game. He’s awful defensively, but if he gets minutes in WSH, he’s gonna score.

[T Park]

2nd unit now can be Harper/Champagnie/Sochan/Olynyk/Kornet

I’m not starting Geriatric Barnes over Sochan

[CGD]

The president and CEO of the San Antonio Zoo is not happy about this. Might need to rescind the trade tbh.

1942742940666786296

But in his other post he did say it was time for Malaki to move on, so there is that

[exstatic]

Only thing the spurs should have insisted on was for olynk to

LEAVE the headgear far away from texas!

Otherwise , good move by the spurs and best of luck to branham and wesley even though i was not high on them…

His nickname on his bbref page is Lunch Lady. :rollin

[J_Paco]

I know he moved onto another summer league team I believe, but I wouldn’t mind bringing David Duke into the fold

Duke would be a good, cheap stopgap/emergency 3rd/4th PG with SG size.

Even though I think Blake and Malaki have some NBA skill, I seriously doubt either makes it the entire season on Washington. The Wizards are deep at both guard spots and could easily waive either or both guys.

[Chinook]

We already had too many wings that are expected to get minutes, you can't add Olynyk into the mix even if Bryant spends the season in Austin.

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

I don't love Barnes starting, but as I said in another post, I think he'll keep starting until he makes them bench him. There's hope that that lineup will be better than last year's opener with Fox's dynamism, Vassell knowing he won't be a lead guard, Sochan being another year removed from the PG experiment and Wemby getting more seasoning. I do like that bench, though. It has a chance to actually be good defensively, and I think Johnson is a good compliment to two young guards holding down the fort. I think ideally people would want his role replaced by Champ, but I don't see that happening. Everyone is playing too few minutes to make a 10-man rotation work, but that's kind of how the regular season works. With injuries, foul trouble and overtime, I would expect most of those guys to average a higher MPG on their stat sheets. But if this is a final transition year with vets giving way in 2026, it feels like a strong improvement over last year.

[Leetonidas]

Bring back the chosen one Lonnie Walker lol

Actually would not mind tbh. He is a high quality third stringer

[spurraider21]

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

I don't love Barnes starting, but as I said in another post, I think he'll keep starting until he makes them bench him. There's hope that that lineup will be better than last year's opener with Fox's dynamism, Vassell knowing he won't be a lead guard, Sochan being another year removed from the PG experiment and Wemby getting more seasoning. I do like that bench, though. It has a chance to actually be good defensively, and I think Johnson is a good compliment to two young guards holding down the fort. I think ideally people would want his role replaced by Champ, but I don't see that happening. Everyone is playing too few minutes to make a 10-man rotation work, but that's kind of how the regular season works. With injuries, foul trouble and overtime, I would expect most of those guys to average a higher MPG on their stat sheets. But if this is a final transition year with vets giving way in 2026, it feels like a strong improvement over last year.
now remove 18 minutes of keldon, give those to champ

[exstatic]

Actually would not mind tbh. He is a high quality third stringer

He’s worse defensively than Malaki.

[T Park]

I doubt Olynyk makes much of a difference. A lot of it is combining the 2 expiring for a bigger one to take into the trade deadline.


Yeah why would a 42% three point shooter who can defend and rebound help this team

[Dverde]

I think the Spurs were fine riding with Blake, but was added for salary reasons. Branham made it to Mitch’s doghouse quickly. I knew he wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Blake was a hard worker and I hope he puts it together.

[spurraider21]

He shot 40% from 3, 80% from 0-3 feet, and has a nice middie bounce game. He’s awful defensively, but if he gets minutes in WSH, he’s gonna score.
so many of his minutes last year were garbage time when it was a YMCA scrimmage going on out there

[J_Paco]

Yeah why would a 42% three point shooter who can defend and rebound help this team

And playmake for a guy his size. An underrated skill if a lot of the offensive philosophy remain the same (ball movement, player movement).

[BatManu20]

"Lunch Lady" is one of the harder nicknames in recent memory tbh.

[J_Paco]

I think the Spurs were fine riding with Blake, but was added for salary reasons. Branham made it to Mitch’s doghouse quickly. I knew he wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Blake was a hard worker and I hope he puts it together.

If he can somehow put it all together - needs a 'go-to' offensive skill (that is portable) and a three-point shoot - I would love to see him back in a Spurs jersey, someday. I love players with a 'dog mentality' which he finally found last season.

[Chinook]

I think the Spurs were fine riding with Blake, but was added for salary reasons. Branham made it to Mitch’s doghouse quickly. I knew he wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Blake was a hard worker and I hope he puts it together.

I think Wesley wanted to be traded. He had removed the Spurs stuff from his social media pretty soon after the lottery, if I recall.

[Mugen]

Hell ya!

[Chinook]

Is CP3 retiring? Hadn't heard what's up on that front.

He apparently wants a farewell tour and to play for a team in or near Cali. Feels like Denver would be the best fit.

[vy65]

Wait, did we trade for the White John Collins when we could have had the real thing?

[J_Paco]

I think Wesley wanted to be traded. He had removed the Spurs stuff from his social media pretty soon after the lottery, if I recall.

Well, he likely isn't seeing much time here in Washington, DC. Probably needs to be waived and latch on to a team like Milwaukee, Indiana or Orlando with questionable PG depth.

[Spurs9]

Huge fan of this, we got some nasty back.

[WaywardTexan]

Why would the Wizards do this trade? What do they gain?

[Chinook]

Why would the Wizards do this trade? What do they gain?

They save a lot of money, get a second-round pick (even though the pick sucks) and get to see Wesley and Branham in camp.

[Leetonidas]

He’s worse defensively than Malaki.

Yeah but he's a much better offensive player. As a third stringer who wouldn't play much he isn't terrible

[100%duncan]

Happy that we got rid of iceman tbh

[Spurs9]

Actually would not mind tbh. He is a high quality third stringer

I miss Lonnie, he was one of my favorite players on the team. His last games he played in Philly he put up several 30pt games on 50%+ fg.

[Chinook]

Wait, did we trade for the White John Collins when we could have had the real thing?

Actually, you bring up a good point. I wonder if A) The Spurs were trying to trade for Collins and pivoted of Olynyk once John was dealt to Los Angeles or B) The Clippers were in talks with Washington for Olynyk, and after LAC got Collins instead, the Wizards pivoted to the Spurs. It seems like the same teams would be interested in both players. I'm personally happy it worked out this way.

[vy65]

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

I don't love Barnes starting, but as I said in another post, I think he'll keep starting until he makes them bench him. There's hope that that lineup will be better than last year's opener with Fox's dynamism, Vassell knowing he won't be a lead guard, Sochan being another year removed from the PG experiment and Wemby getting more seasoning. I do like that bench, though. It has a chance to actually be good defensively, and I think Johnson is a good compliment to two young guards holding down the fort. I think ideally people would want his role replaced by Champ, but I don't see that happening. Everyone is playing too few minutes to make a 10-man rotation work, but that's kind of how the regular season works. With injuries, foul trouble and overtime, I would expect most of those guys to average a higher MPG on their stat sheets. But if this is a final transition year with vets giving way in 2026, it feels like a strong improvement over last year.

Don't really understand why you're shoe-horning Sochan into the SL. Your bench unit has dangerously little shooting and is relying on a 34 year old white dude nicknamed "lunch lady."

Fox(30), Harper (24)
Castle (28), JC (15)
Vassell (28), Johnson (15)
Barnes (18), Sochan (15), Olynyk (15)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

Looking at this, a consolidation of Vassell and Johnson for a legitimate wing with Jeremy as the backup makes a lot more sense.

[spursistan]

Nice knowing ya Blake, Malaki I guess. Neither had a future on this team despite Blake’s defensive skills.

Not a bad pickup all things considered. Better than getting 50 year old Kevin Love like some were wanting.
It is for same the reason I didn't want Brooke Lopez because he looked nearly washed-up last season. He basically chose the Clippers as a retirement home (LA-born and went to Stanford)

In Kornet/Olynyk, Spurs acquired the best backup /third string Center combo available on the market/trade block. What i like most here is the upgrade in BB IQ getting these type of players: low-usage, dirty-work, sneaky tough guys (shoot, screen and rebound)..The core is set: we just need to churn out the Danny Green and Tiago Splitter of the worlds as we go along

[NASpurs]

I like these 2 for 1, cutting-the-fat types of deals.

[Chinook]

now remove 18 minutes of keldon, give those to champ

The real tech is to want Bryant to take his minutes after the ASB.

[spurraider21]

The real tech is to want Bryant to take his minutes after the ASB.
Fair

[Degoat]

Very curious what the spurs do with those final roster spots, I’d like one reliable potential 3rd stringer like Lonnie/Shamet type and one swing for the fences type

[baseline bum]

Wow that is pretty awesome to get a quality rotation big for a second and change. Brian getting it Wright again. :toast

This team is gonna be so much better than last year's.

[Dejounte]

I think they’ll convert the two ways to Riley and Ingram to standard contracts to fill out the rest of the open slots tbh. Then they’ll sign some randos to the two ways

[vy65]

So much for the theory of wasting roster spots on trash to the detriment of upgrades. Wright gets an A for effort. I’m still dubious about the roster, but it makes more sense now than it did 2 hours ago.

[spurs1990]

I view it as a consolation for not getting Flagg

[Chinook]

Don't really understand why you're shoe-horning Sochan into the SL.

I don't think the team "shoe-horning" makes sense here seeing as Sochan has gone back and forth from starting to the bench over his career. I'm not forcing him there. I'm putting him there because it actually works for him. It's Barnes I'm forcing into the SL because he has a consecutive-starts streak going. You're putting Castle into a lineup where he doesn't fit just to have him in there even though he hasn't shot well or defended well. He drives reasonably well, and the Spurs already have that covered in their starting lineup. It's not that Castle starting can't be justified, but he needs to show up to camp significantly improved to start on a Spurs team actually trying to win games.

I also don't think you're going to see the Spurs trade $45 Million in non-expiring salary for a "legitimate wing". That superstar money, and the amount of picks that would going to to make that work would require a lot of justification. It's more likely that they'd trade Barnes and/or Olynyk to make a push while Vassell and Johnson remain on the roster.

[vy65]

I don't think the team "shoe-horning" makes sense here seeing as Sochan has gone back and forth from starting to the bench over his career. I'm not forcing him there. I'm putting him there because it actually works for him. It's Barnes I'm forcing into the SL because he has a consecutive-starts streak going. You're putting Castle into a lineup where he doesn't fit just to have him in there even though he hasn't shot well or defended well. He drives reasonably well, and the Spurs already have that covered in their starting lineup. It's not that Castle starting can't be justified, but he needs to show up to camp significantly improved to start on a Spurs team actually trying to win games.

I also don't think you're going to see the Spurs trade $45 Million in non-expiring salary for a "legitimate wing". That superstar money, and the amount of picks that would going to to make that work would require a lot of justification. It's more likely that they'd trade Barnes and/or Olynyk to make a push while Vassell and Johnson remain on the roster.

Wasn’t suggesting they would make that trade, only that it makes sense now more than ever.

The criticisms you make of Castle apply equally to Sochan. They’re both dubious shooters. The reason why I’m not shoe-horning castle in is because the team has expressed a desire to have multi-guard lineups, e.g., Castle and CP3 or CP3 and Fox. The team is obviously very high on Castle. Not to say they aren’t high on Sochan, but it’s not like Castle being a starter is some out from left field move. If you’re saying Castle isn’t a good defender based on post-Wemby injury minutes, I’d suggest you assess the quality of your data set.

[Uriel]

Actually, you bring up a good point. I wonder if A) The Spurs were trying to trade for Collins and pivoted of Olynyk once John was dealt to Los Angeles or B) The Clippers were in talks with Washington for Olynyk, and after LAC got Collins instead, the Wizards pivoted to the Spurs. It seems like the same teams would be interested in both players. I'm personally happy it worked out this way.
I’m actually almost certain this is what happened.

[spursistan]

1942744587186864481
Slowly but surely raising the basketball IQ of the team. We still have a few dumbo, tunnel-visioned, slow-processing types on the roster but probably not for long.

[SpursFan86]

Love it.

For one I’m just glad to see them cut bait with Branham/Wesley. It still wouldn’t shock me if Wesley turns into a decent role player but we’ve waited long enough and it’s hard to imagine him breaking out here now that we’ve added Fox/Harper. Other added benefit of getting rid of both of them is it opens up a roster spot that hopefully we’ll use for another useful player. Pretty much anyone we add will be more useful than Branham/Wesley tbh.

Secondly I think Olynyk is a solid fit and still has the potential to be a positive impact guy. He can play either the 4 or 5 with Wemby on the floor and then is a nice stretch 4 when Kornet is out there. Not going to pretend he’s going to transform the roster or anything but these are the sorts of small wins that add up in terms of roster improvement.

In the end, I pretty much think we gave up nothing of value in exchange for a guy who can range from “legitimately nice rotation piece” to “well at least he gives us more depth if shit hits the fan”.

[ChumpDumper]

I think they’ll convert the two ways to Riley and Ingram to standard contracts to fill out the rest of the open slots tbh. Then they’ll sign some randos to the two waysI think Minix might be penciled in for a regular spot, not Ingram unless he blows up. Wouldn't be surprised if Nelson or Jones-Garcia gets one spot then Mensah/Osifo the other.

[Joseph Kony]

Getting a serviceable role player for end of the bench garbage is always nice. Now turn those bums Vassell/Johnson into a guy that can play 3/4 and we've got a semi decent roster

[z0sa]

Too bad about Wesley, but he wasn't gonna get another minute of non-garbage time with next year's roster. Bran Ham ... words cannot express my joy at his departure.

[BackHome]

I think Minix might be penciled in for a regular spot, not Ingram unless he blows up. Wouldn't be surprised if Nelson or Jones-Garcia gets one spot then Mensah/Osifo the other.

I think your right with Minix getting the spot I like Ingram but just not his height 6'5 for a forward. We really need to be looking at tall athletic players who can either shoot or be a terror on the defensive side. One a side note do you think we can poach any other players from other Summer/G League teams for the remaining spots. Or are you good with the remaining 3 players you mentioned?

[Arguendo]

Olynyk is just an insurance policy so we can have a functional rotation when Wemby doesn't play.
We'll obviously see some lineups with two bigs in specific matchups, but Kornet won't start.

Maybe just insurance, but this is a Win-Win trade that solves at least 3 roster issues: PF/C depth, 3pt shooting, Guard logjam.
Olynyk steps in as the 2nd best 3pt shooter on the team, career avg is same as Champ shot last yr, and better than 39% over the past 3 seasons. Can now have 48 straight minutes of at least 1 legit stretch big on the court at all times.
Also consolidates 2 small expirings for one mid-sized and Olynyk could be an attractive trade asset to a contender at the deadline. Brings vet presence, consumate role player for 15-20MPG, and a decent amount of PO experience from Bos/Mia.
Very solid stretch big depth. Bonus that we sent Wes and Bran to a place where they can get a real chance to redeem their careers or at least get minutes.

Great low-key, basically no cost trade (worst of Phi/Dal/OKC means its probably Mr. Irrelevant). Its a good trade just as addition by subtraction for any expiring, but he's been legit 20-25MPG rotation guy his entire career. This dude can help with a playoff push.

Keldon is a big loser here, I wasn't sure where he'd get minutes before except maybe bench 4 minutes, but now? Barnes/Sochan/KO at big forward, Castle/Vassel/Champ/maybe Harper at small. All those guys should get minutes over Keldon.

Fox 32mpg/Castle 30/Vassel30/Harper26+/Barnes 24+/Sochan24+/KO maybe 13+ & Champ 13+. That's every minute of 1-4, and all those guys can/prolly should play more minutes. Even with lots of off nights, Keldon will really struggle to approach double digit minutes/maybe avoid DNPs barring injuries.
That's worse than breaking up the friendship crew, relegating him to a Full-time towel waiver in the prime of his career at 26y/o. Maybe he gets Champ's minutes, but that looks like a bad idea, Champ fits the roster so much better today and moving forward.
Keldon can help someone, as much as I dislike watching him on the court, he deserves better than the Branham treatment, 47 games @ 9MPG, but I don't see much of a (healthy) path for him to get more than that- barring another trade.

[Arguendo]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45697678/sources-spurs-acquire-kelly-olynyk-deal-wizards
Just heard a podcast talking about him, assuming I heard right, host said he shot 60% from the corners last yr.
Looking forward to the 2-way potential of the 5-man with Castle/Vassel/Sochan/KO/Wemby out there together, that crew could do some damage both ways.

Edit: Just found the numbers, Olynyk has shot: 50%, 44%, 45%, 60% from the corners the past 4 seasons. Hell yes. Scrappy, high IQ, good passer, solid rebounder.
Starting to think about a Fox/Vassel/Sochan/KO/Wemby SL. That's pretty well balanced, should be much, much, much better on the bounds and D compared to Castle/Barnes, 3 good+ shooters, gives Castle more a chance to shine staggering his and Foxes minutes as much as possible.

[ChumpDumper]

I think your right with Minix getting the spot I like Ingram but just not his height 6'5 for a forward. We really need to be looking at tall athletic players who can either shoot or be a terror on the defensive side. One a side note do you think we can poach any other players from other Summer/G League teams for the remaining spots. Or are you good with the remaining 3 players you mentioned?I'd have to see who actually isn't under some kind of contract with another team. I assume Jones-Garcia is available since the Capitanes aren't affiliated with any NBA team --and there are probably a bunch of G-League vets out there who haven't signed a training camp deal yet. Most of the UFAs worth looking at are spoken for. I think it's really crucial to always have one good point guard in Austin so I'd want to make sure one could be locked in with a two-way to make it worth that player's while.

OTOH they could leave a regular and a two-way open until training camp. They have a bit of luxury with the spots rn.

[scott]

Love this move. Have always wanted Lunch Lady on our team, but had given up hope because the Spurs had never shown any interest previously. Gives us solid depth at the 4 and the 5.

With that said... considering we now have 3 open roster spots... I'm fully expecting Lunch Lady to get rerouted within the next two months. Branham and Wesley weren't going to get us any real players back... but Olynyk might. We basically found the one team where Bran and Blake could possibly get us positive value back, and we got it.

Hope he stays on our team, but I'm not so sure. Olynyk + Barnes could get something significant back for the right team (when paired with FRPs), tbh... I don't think we're simply going to fill the last 3 roster spots with bums... I feel like something else is coming (but I'm very likely wrong about that)

[PhantomDashCam]

An underrated part of this deal is establishing ties with another Eastern conference team in Washington.

With Kispert on the block, and young, up and coming talent on the roster; Spurs may very well benefit more from this in future deals too.

If you listen to Kornet's presser, Derrick White sounds like he was a pretty big influence in his ultimate signing.

The Spurs cultural excellence and belief in people (not just players), is still very telling.

[Arguendo]

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

It has a chance to actually be good defensively, and I think Johnson is a good compliment to two young guards holding down the fort. I think ideally people would want his role replaced by Champ, but I don't see that happening.
God I would hate for Johnson to take Champ's minutes and take those drives that Castle and Harper should get, while providing no shooting/no defense in a lineup with 3 other likely non/bad shooter. Champ would fit so much better, on both ends, spotting up and clearing the lane for Castle/Harper to drive, who should have enough combined punch to carry the scoring with the 2nd unit without needing Keldon, especially with Champ/KO spotting up and Kornet cleaning/finishing the O-boards..

Flip side, this is about the only chance we'd have for Keldon to showcase himself. I just can't imagine Keldon and Vassel both on the roster next offseason, and Keldon's contract will be far easier to move. Keldon can still help teams, can still redeem his career, entering his prime, he's just a terrible fit with this roster. He's the 11th man, worse at everything compared to Champ except driving to the hoop, which is what Castle/Harper are best at. Seriously time to move on from the tank commander, whether trade or DNPs.
Ugh, hope this doesn't happen.

[KobesAchilles]

If we are starting Vassell, Sochan, and Barnes then we are fucked tbh. What a shitty starting line up that is

[TD 21]

Good pickup. He had to be a Spur at some point. One of the most skilled (seriously) ball skills wise C sized bigs in the league. Grew up a PG, had a late growth spurt, maintained the ability to dribble, shoot, pass.

Unfortunately, t-rex armed and lacking explosion to play much solo big minutes (though he'd pair relatively well with Sochan), but I don't think that's the primary intention here. Also lacks lateral quickness to defend PF's, but will probably do more of that here.

This clinches Sochan starting over Castle for me, as Chinook and I deduced earlier. The thinking likely being his defensive versatility is best served against primary creators and with Barnes alongside, he can comfortably cross match.

That leaves Castle and Harper to split the creation duties on the second unit and less minutes than most probably expect, with Olynyk, Johnson and Champagnie competing for backup forward minutes.

Less about positions, it's about roles though. So Sochan and Castle will probably mostly split minutes, Barnes and Olynk will probably rarely play together, Champagnie will probably mostly play non Vassell minutes, Kornet non Sochan minutes, etc.

I suspect McLaughlin is now re-signed, with the final two spots going to another C and a guard/wing shooter.

The Wizards are at 15 guarantees, with really 16 spots spoken for (Champagnie's brother), so barring further moves, Branham and Wesley will be waived.

[8FOR!3]

They might be planning on Wemby playing PF full time or at least most of the time now. Though I can't help but notice how Kelly and Barnes are two decent-sized expiring contracts.

Tbh I doubt that.

Wemby/Kornet/Olynyk makes sense at the 5.

Olynyk/Kornet
Wemby/Sochan
Barnes/Keldon
Castle/Vassell
Fox/Harper

I mean you COULD do that. Defensively can Olynyk really hang against starting centers at 34 years old though? And I think the starting lineup looks better if you replace Olynyk with Wemby and Wemby with Barnes (or Sochan) and Barnes with Vassell and Vassell with Champagne.

[Old School 44]

Probably shows how lowly they thought of Raynaud.
Unless the player is unquestionably good, I think for now the Spurs will purposely stay away from “Wemby friends” they may have to cut.
Don’t want to upset their franchise player.

[Mnky]

I like the trade possibilities this opens up to be honest. Olynyk is more salary than both outgoing players and it's easier to move one roster spot. Expiring contract. This gives the spurs a bunch of options. We all know they're likely not to use any of them unless it benefits them but it's nice to have the options now plus the extra room on the bench.

[RC_Drunkford]

Decent move. Looks like we‘ll see some double big line ups more often. Funny enough, I heard somebody say the Spurs don‘t want a big at PF and are looking for wings instead.

Olynyk and Barnes could get them somebody at the deadline with 32 million in expiring salary combined. Spurs stay flexible and added some shooting and rebounding. Wesley would‘ve been alright as a third string PG, but I doubt he‘ll ever be able to finish at the rim at a high rate.

[Arguendo]

Don't really understand why you're shoe-horning Sochan into the SL. Your bench unit has dangerously little shooting and is relying on a 34 year old white dude nicknamed "lunch lady."

Fox(30), Harper (24)
Castle (28), JC (15)
Vassell (28), Johnson (15)
Barnes (18), Sochan (15), Olynyk (15)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)

Looking at this, a consolidation of Vassell and Johnson for a legitimate wing with Jeremy as the backup makes a lot more sense.

Except for the money in an Apron league where like 1/2 the teams are already hard capped and those two haven't been very good the past couple seasons.
Vassel and Keldon combine for $44.5M next yr.
2 max guys have gotten waived/stretched in 7 days bc the new cap, biggest stretched b4 this week was like $40M, now two $100+M have been stretched. The new cap is very punitive.

Assuming we can find a taker (or 2 and work out a super complex multi-team deal), how many 1sts are we sending out to interest teams in taking on that $45M?
Who is hard-capping themselves for Vassel and Keldon and who is the $35-40-$50M/yr legit wing we're getting back? Is the juice worth the squeeze? We have 11 legitimate NBA rotation player, several expirings, like $8M under the tax, and 3 roster spots + 3 Two-ways to fill. Spurs doing a 1-for-2 consolidation feels more likely than another 2-for-1.

Right now Spurs have 8/15 guys back, doubt their looking to turn over more than 1/2 the roster. Also feels likely they view at least one of Castle/Vassell/Sochan as that "legitimate" NBA wing.

[tbdog]

You can if you remove Champ from the rotation and move everyone else to a more modest MPG.

Fox (30), Castle (28)
Vassell (28), Harper (24)
Sochan, (28) Johnson (18)
Barnes (18), Olynyk (18)
Wembanyama (30), Kornet (18)



It would be funny if Mitch doesn't play Harper and Castle together, like Pop did with Murray and White years ago.

[Chinook]

Except for the money in an Apron league where like 1/2 the teams are already hard capped and those two haven't been very good the past couple seasons.
Vassel and Keldon combine for $44.5M next yr.
2 max guys have gotten waived/stretched in 7 days bc the new cap, biggest stretched b4 this week was like $40M, now two $100+M have been stretched. The new cap is very punitive.

The only guy I think the Spurs could get for that pair who has any chance to be a legit wing is Paul George. That would be quite the gamble, one I don't think it would be worth it to take for the Spurs. But it'd have to be someone with negative money like that. Beal could work, but he's not really a wing. Markkanen's possibly a bad contract as well, but Utah will refuse to believe that for at least another year.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

PaulGarciaNBA

Once the trade is completed, the Spurs will have 12 players on the roster.

3 open roster spots now plus 3 open two-way spots

The Spurs will be $8.5 mil below the tax and $16.5 mil below the 1st apron hard cap


I don't think anyone should expect the Spurs to go into this season paying the tax. If they look good, then they can go into the tax through a later trade, but they should stay under for now. Assuming, they carry the full 15, they have to account for two minimum salaries ($2.3 Million each), meaning they have about $4 Million left to spend on a player. What's funny and sort of stupid is that the Spurs would have had a bit more space if they had taken draft picks to sign, because they are exempted from the requirement to count as at least a two-year-vet min salary. As it is, the Spurs could carry 14 and make an actual LLE offer, or they could basically sign three min guys to fill out the roster. I didn't know they were that tight against the tax already.

Spurs aren’t that tight against the tax though. Garcia is probably counting some cap holds, such as Bassey’s, etc.

As it is Spurs have 12 players and a little over $175 mil committed. They have plenty of room below the tax to work with and I fully expect some moves. The backcourt suddenly seems thin, especially if Castle gets SF minutes. I imagine they’ll look for a vet PG and a shooter to round up the roster.

[DAF86]

Excellent oportunity to add 3 string guards that can actually shoot, tbh.

[DAF86]

2nd unit now can be Harper/Champagnie/Sochan/Olynyk/Kornet

I fucking dig that so much more than still putting up Keldon in there. Not a chance in hell of happening though.

[Arguendo]

The only guy I think the Spurs could get for that pair who has any chance to be a legit wing is Paul George. That would be quite the gamble, one I don't think it would be worth it to take for the Spurs. But it'd have to be someone with negative money like that. Beal could work, but he's not really a wing. Markkanen's possibly a bad contract as well, but Utah will refuse to believe that for at least another year.

My point exactly. I'd love to take a flyer on PG for like 3/100M, not at all interested at 3/162M. Albatross and old.
Markkanen is less a wing than Barnes, made of glass, worse rebounder/passer/screen setter than Barnes, and plays Barnes level D, oh and worse shooter (career and last yr), but I'd be happy with him at Naz Reid money. 0 interest in paying him double that in an apron league- 4/200M including 102M after age 30 (where he prolly plays 30 games a yr). Albatross and glass.
Thought I read Beal's buy-out/stretch was done, but that seems set. But same drill. Phx bailed Wash out, don't bail Phx out. Albatross and small.

This new CBA punishes the hell out of bad financial decisions, don't bail another team out. Vassel's K isn't great, but not awful.
Keldon's K is absolutely fine, 2/35M is excellent trade ballast and easy to move (see Zach Collins).
But together there's just not a match for a Vassel/Keldon 2-1 consolidation trade, not for a wing we'd want to pay.

Also just funny to me that the ball-hander/wing/big is meant to replace and supplant the concept of 1-5, but when someone talks about "legitimate wing" like the first guy I responded to, they are saying we need a legit small forward. Just funny, Castle and Vassel are definitely wings, definitely legit NBA starter caliber guys. Sochan can more than handle "wing" on D, definitely a big on O, definitely a legitimate NBA rotation guy entering yr 4 whose started 80% of his games played.
The wing concept underscores the positionless bball concept, yet it was clearly being used there to mean a small forward/3 who can shoot, and D, and pass, and rebound. And really it meant, let's trade Vassel/Keldon for someone "legitimate", ie someone that's not flawed. Its just funny. Let's trade the guys I don't want, who I view as overpaid for a near/Max "legimate wing", ie an all-star talent. Classic Spurstalk.

[scott]

Decent move. Looks like we‘ll see some double big line ups more often. Funny enough, I heard somebody say the Spurs don‘t want a big at PF and are looking for wings instead.



It's funny, it's like the more people come around and say things with authority, the more likely they are to be wrong... almost like Brian Wright reads this and makes his decisions just to make posters look stupid :lol

In reality... hey, it turns out that the Spurs may have different roster construction ideas than any of us, and we're all just internet nobodies with opinions that mean jack shit!

[scott]

Except for the money in an Apron league where like 1/2 the teams are already hard capped and those two haven't been very good the past couple seasons.
Vassel and Keldon combine for $44.5M next yr.
2 max guys have gotten waived/stretched in 7 days bc the new cap, biggest stretched b4 this week was like $40M, now two $100+M have been stretched. The new cap is very punitive.

Assuming we can find a taker (or 2 and work out a super complex multi-team deal), how many 1sts are we sending out to interest teams in taking on that $45M?
Who is hard-capping themselves for Vassel and Keldon and who is the $35-40-$50M/yr legit wing we're getting back? Is the juice worth the squeeze? We have 11 legitimate NBA rotation player, several expirings, like $8M under the tax, and 3 roster spots + 3 Two-ways to fill. Spurs doing a 1-for-2 consolidation feels more likely than another 2-for-1.

Right now Spurs have 8/15 guys back, doubt their looking to turn over more than 1/2 the roster. Also feels likely they view at least one of Castle/Vassell/Sochan as that "legitimate" NBA wing.

I agree sending Vassell and Keldon out together is highly unlikely... but I'd say if pairing one of them along with Barnes and Olynyk, that might now be attractive for a team looking to get off a max contract they regret (Lauri, PG13, etc).

Not saying we should do this, but this certainly could make sense (though it opens up a serious issue with roster spots.

But, something like Keldon + Olynyk + Barnes in exchange for PG13, Jared McCain, Ricky Council IV, plus an unprotected FRP could be a way for Philly to get off long-term money.

Again... I'm not actually proposing the Spurs do this, just saying that having more expiring contracts of consequence might make moving Keldon or Devin more tradeable, if they are used to take back some bigger long term salary the other team wants to move off of. Of course, this might not be advisable for the Spurs since they should be looking to take on this long term money either, tbh.

[DAF86]

I don't think the team "shoe-horning" makes sense here seeing as Sochan has gone back and forth from starting to the bench over his career. I'm not forcing him there. I'm putting him there because it actually works for him. It's Barnes I'm forcing into the SL because he has a consecutive-starts streak going. You're putting Castle into a lineup where he doesn't fit just to have him in there even though he hasn't shot well or defended well. He drives reasonably well, and the Spurs already have that covered in their starting lineup. It's not that Castle starting can't be justified, but he needs to show up to camp significantly improved to start on a Spurs team actually trying to win games.

I also don't think you're going to see the Spurs trade $45 Million in non-expiring salary for a "legitimate wing". That superstar money, and the amount of picks that would going to to make that work would require a lot of justification. It's more likely that they'd trade Barnes and/or Olynyk to make a push while Vassell and Johnson remain on the roster.

Castle's case for starting this year is that he was the fucking RoY last year. How many rookies of the year do you know that didn't start the following season? If he doesn't start, then Harper needs to. There's no reason to have both Castle and Harper come off the bench.

[DPG21920]

Backcourt is fine IMO.

Fox
Castle or Harper
Dev
Sochan
Wemby

Backups

Castle/Harper
Castle/Harper/Dev
Keldon/Julian
Barnes/KO
Kornet/KO

Fox/Harp/Castle/Dev will take up all the 1/2 mins no problem IMO

Spurs need a 3 IMO. IF they can get a legit rotation 3, then Fox/Castle/Harp/Dev get all the 1/2 mins and it’s all good.

[scott]

Castle's case for starting this year is that he was the fucking RoY last year. How many rookies of the year do you know that didn't start the following season? If he doesn't start, then Harper needs to. There's no reason to have both Castle and Harper come off the bench.

The best I can come up with is that Malcom Brogdon won ROY as a bench player and then only started 20 of 48 games the following year.

The next recent example of a reigning ROY starting less than 50% of their games was Adrian Dantley in 1977-78... but that might be because from games started stats don't appear to have been recorded in the NBA for all teams at that time :lol https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dantlad01.html

[Arguendo]

I agree sending Vassell and Keldon out together is highly unlikely... but I'd say if pairing one of them along with Barnes and Olynyk, that might now be attractive for a team looking to get off a max contract they regret (Lauri, PG13, etc).

Not saying we should do this, but this certainly could make sense (though it opens up a serious issue with roster spots.

But, something like Keldon + Olynyk + Barnes in exchange for PG13, Jared McCain, Ricky Council IV, plus an unprotected FRP could be a way for Philly to get off long-term money.

Again... I'm not actually proposing the Spurs do this, just saying that having more expiring contracts of consequence might make moving Keldon or Devin more tradeable, if they are used to take back some bigger long term salary the other team wants to move off of. Of course, this might not be advisable for the Spurs since they should be looking to take on this long term money either, tbh.
Oh, I agree teams that have terrible contracts would be happy to take on Devin's mediocre (with potential to become good value) and Keldon's fine contract to get off of a terrible contract that the Spurs wouldn't want. Are any of those contracts "legitimate wings" today, and not 3-5 years ago? Like, I'm sure Mil would've preferred Devin + Keldon to waiving/stretch Dame's $113M and I'm sure the Spurs weren't interested.

Also agree collecting and having short-term, mid-sized, and expiring contracts is valuable. Keldon's contract has value, it's not negative. It's perfect sized to fit into tons of deals, same with Barnes and Olynyk. Having expirings is good, parlaying those into assets is good. Turning those into PG at $55M a yr for his 35, 36, and 37y/o seasons is bad. Ditto for Dame and Beal and Lauri. Cap flexibility is good, trade flexibility is good. Having cap space that allows you to acquire guys like Barnes and Olynyk is good.

And agree on mid-size expirings makes moving Keldon/Vassel more possible, but Vassel plus Olynyck is still near max money $41M. I'd wait for a star to become disgruntled and ask out then we could easily match Ks and offer valuable...I wouldn't pull the trigger on someone you'd classify as a "max contract they regret". I don't want any obvious regret contracts in Wemby's tenture unless they are short-term (2 yrs max) and a clear win for the Spurs.

[scott]

Oh, I agree teams that have terrible contracts would be happy to take on Devin's mediocre (with potential to become good value) and Keldon's fine contract to get off of a terrible contract that the Spurs wouldn't want. Are any of those contracts "legitimate wings" today, and not 3-5 years ago? Like, I'm sure Mil would've preferred Devin + Keldon to waiving/stretch Dame's $113M and I'm sure the Spurs weren't interested.

Also agree collecting and having short-term, mid-sized, and expiring contracts is valuable. Keldon's contract has value, it's not negative. It's perfect sized to fit into tons of deals, same with Barnes and Olynyk. Having expirings is good, parlaying those into assets is good. Turning those into PG at $55M a yr for his 35, 36, and 37y/o seasons is bad. Ditto for Dame and Beal and Lauri. Cap flexibility is good, trade flexibility is good. Having cap space that allows you to acquire guys like Barnes and Olynyk is good.

And agree on mid-size expirings makes moving Keldon/Vassel more possible, but Vassel plus Olynyck is still near max money $41M. I'd wait for a star to become disgruntled and ask out then we could easily match Ks and offer valuable...I wouldn't pull the trigger on someone you'd classify as a "max contract they regret". I don't want any obvious regret contracts in Wemby's tenture unless they are short-term (2 yrs max) and a clear win for the Spurs.

I'm not going to wade into the hypothetical "legitimate wing" discussion, because it's not mine.

As I said, I'm actually not advocating for trading for those maxes other teams regret... just saying the doors are opened up.

Maybe it's the disgruntled star angle. Keldon + Olynyk + Barnes + every FRP we can add plus every swap we can offer... does that get you into discussions about Giannis? Probably not... but maybe that's the road Brian Wright is thinking...

Or... maybe... just maybe... we're just going to actually have Lunch Lady and Black Falcon as parts of our rotation.

I don't claim to know what we're doing... but I'm happy at having Kelly as bench depth and I'm happy with the flexibility his provides over Branham and Wesley (who no one really wants, we were just lucky WAS liked this opportunity to save a few million).

[pookenstein]

Backcourt is fine IMO.

Fox
Castle or Harper
Dev
Sochan
Wemby

Backups

Castle/Harper
Castle/Harper/Dev
Keldon/Julian
Barnes/KO
Kornet/KO

Fox/Harp/Castle/Dev will take up all the 1/2 mins no problem IMO

Spurs need a 3 IMO. IF they can get a legit rotation 3, then Fox/Castle/Harp/Dev get all the 1/2 mins and it’s all good.

Do you think the Spurs would consider moving Dev into the second unit and start Fox, Castle and Harper together with Barnes and Wemby? This way Dev would be the primary scoring option of the second unit. You replace his shooting with Barnes and give Steph and Dylan the opportunity to play major minutes with Wemby from the getgo.

Maybe defense suffers too much in this scenario, but somehow I have a hard time not inserting a #2 pick into the starting five right away.

[DPG21920]

Do you think the Spurs would consider moving Dev into the second unit and start Fox, Castle and Harper together with Barnes and Wemby? This way Dev would be the primary scoring option of the second unit. You replace his shooting with Barnes and give Steph and Dylan the opportunity to play major minutes with Wemby from the getgo.

Maybe defense suffers too much in this scenario, but somehow I have a hard time not inserting a #2 pick into the starting five right away.

Maybe later, but I have a pretty high degree of confidence Harper or Castle will be on bench and Dev will start at the 3. Only thing that makes sense to me at moment since Barnes IMO is clearly not fit to be a 3 on defense

Now, Im not saying it’ will work but I think Spurs want to see how Dev does at 3 and that has shaped their off season

[Atl Spur]

You win with the correct mix vets & rookies…. Great move Ba

[Limguogolo]

Hopefully the next step is bringing in veteran guard depth. Could they bring in Núñez? Not that he's good or ready, but may as well start developing him in Austin rather than hoping he develops overseas.
He plays in the second club in the best league in Europe. Why would you want to send him to a depressive environment where he won't learn anything? He is in the best possible place and if he gains more playing time, his value will only go up. In Austin, he will no longer have any value and will remain useless in the current Spurs roster.

[Limguogolo]

The Spurs are starting to look like something on defense. Someone compared Olynyk to Boris Diaw, there’s that. He is pretty much good in every area of ​​the game. He is far superior to Barnes and Sochan.

Possible to see him lined up in the starting five. Barnes can be moved to position 3 and if this is not possible, there is still the possibility of improving the roster during the season if Sochan has not progressed offensively.

Is anyone left in New Orleans to trade for Keldon Johnson and Sochan? Trey Murphy?

[pookenstein]

Maybe later, but I have a pretty high degree of confidence Harper or Castle will be on bench and Dev will start at the 3. Only thing that makes sense to me at moment since Barnes IMO is clearly not fit to be a 3 on defense

Now, Im not saying it’ will work but I think Spurs want to see how Dev does at 3 and that has shaped their off season

I had a Fox/Harper/Castle/Barnes (for shooting)/Wemby lineup in mind. With Wemby and Barnes you have two (more or less) volume shooters in the starting five, Harper wouldn't have to be the number one offensive option of the second unit but ease into the team being the number three or four option alongside Fox and Wemby. Dev, in this scenario, would be the primary scoring option of the reserves.

[SayNoToDrugsTBH]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ82KSVyICRaq1BG2kyr75Ge_-wWSTpSuORIjUqkadH9Wpi_J2gQk3n0OmI&s=10

Bye Branham!

[Bruno]

It's a fine trade for Spurs. Olynyk should help more Spurs than Branham and Wesley. The pick traded is a really bad one: it would be a very late second round pick in a draft where Spurs already have 3 better second round picks.

Some random thoughts:

- Will Spurs play with two of Wembanyama/Kornet/Olynyk on the court at same time or is Olynyk a third string player?

- Spurs aren't cheap. This trade will cost them quite a lot of money. Olynyk salary is $3.8M higher than Branham+Wesley, they will need to sign one more player because it's a 2 for 1 trade ($2.3M) and the second round pick could have been sold for some cash (maybe $1M). At the end, it should cost Spurs around $7M. And Spurs went with a quite expensive backup center option with Kornet.

- With Barnes and Olynyk, Spurs have $32.4M in tradable expiring contracts for the 2025/2026 trade deadline.

- Spurs were really looking at adding a stretch big after trying to get Porzingis.

- Spurs have 12 players under contract. A profile that will complement well Spurs roster is a scoring guard who can shoot. Players like Bones Hyland or Alec Burks could work.

[Dejounte]

Decent move. Looks like we‘ll see some double big line ups more often. Funny enough, I heard somebody say the Spurs don‘t want a big at PF and are looking for wings instead.

Olynyk and Barnes could get them somebody at the deadline with 32 million in expiring salary combined. Spurs stay flexible and added some shooting and rebounding. Wesley would‘ve been alright as a third string PG, but I doubt he‘ll ever be able to finish at the rim at a high rate.


It's funny, it's like the more people come around and say things with authority, the more likely they are to be wrong... almost like Brian Wright reads this and makes his decisions just to make posters look stupid :lol

In reality... hey, it turns out that the Spurs may have different roster construction ideas than any of us, and we're all just internet nobodies with opinions that mean jack shit!

RC, you ever heard of the phrase “celebrating too early”? I mean, there are many signs that Olynyk is going to be our third string C rather than play any meaningful 4 minutes with Vic or Kornet. He only played 40ish games last season for Pete’s sake. Now if the Spurs sign Bassey or another C, I’d agree with you. But all this nonsense like this is a “win” on your part is way too premature. The Spurs could also turn around and flip him for other players before the season even starts. The Spurs were two bigs deep behind Vic last season, and by trading for Olynyk this makes them two bigs deep behind Vic this coming season. Who really is the one speaking with authority here when you guys are thinking this offseason’s finished and making assumptions like the rotation plays out the way you think it plays out - when I’ve provided a more reasonable take on why Olynyk’s the third string C instead. Now again I admit, if the Spurs sign another one - I’d be wrong. But the case is not closed.

[RC_Drunkford]

Oh, I agree teams that have terrible contracts would be happy to take on Devin's mediocre (with potential to become good value) and Keldon's fine contract to get off of a terrible contract that the Spurs wouldn't want. Are any of those contracts "legitimate wings" today, and not 3-5 years ago? Like, I'm sure Mil would've preferred Devin + Keldon to waiving/stretch Dame's $113M and I'm sure the Spurs weren't interested.

Also agree collecting and having short-term, mid-sized, and expiring contracts is valuable. Keldon's contract has value, it's not negative. It's perfect sized to fit into tons of deals, same with Barnes and Olynyk. Having expirings is good, parlaying those into assets is good. Turning those into PG at $55M a yr for his 35, 36, and 37y/o seasons is bad. Ditto for Dame and Beal and Lauri. Cap flexibility is good, trade flexibility is good. Having cap space that allows you to acquire guys like Barnes and Olynyk is good.

And agree on mid-size expirings makes moving Keldon/Vassel more possible, but Vassel plus Olynyck is still near max money $41M. I'd wait for a star to become disgruntled and ask out then we could easily match Ks and offer valuable...I wouldn't pull the trigger on someone you'd classify as a "max contract they regret". I don't want any obvious regret contracts in Wemby's tenture unless they are short-term (2 yrs max) and a clear win for the Spurs.

I think a team like Toronto would make sense. They are close to luxury tax territory with a bunch of good players who ain't good enough and have a weird roster. Spurs are definitely in a good position to make another move at the deadline.

[tbdog]

Olynyk won't be a regular rotation player. But Branham and Wesley weren't either. But he does play a position of need. And his contract is expiring and combined with another contract like Keldon or Barnes. Olynyk is also one of those skilled big men that give opponents a different look. So those nights when things aren't our way, it'll give Mitch options. He is a vet, so less mental mistake.

[RC_Drunkford]

RC, you ever heard of the phrase “celebrating too early”? I mean, there are many signs that Olynyk is going to be our third string C rather than play any meaningful 4 minutes with Vic or Kornet. He only played 40ish games last season for Pete’s sake. Now if the Spurs sign Bassey or another C, I’d agree with you. But all this nonsense like this is a “win” on your part is way too premature. The Spurs could also turn around and flip him for other players before the season even starts. The Spurs were two bigs deep behind Vic last season, and by trading for Olynyk this makes them two bigs deep behind Vic this coming season. Who really is the one speaking with authority here when you guys are thinking this offseason’s finished and making assumptions like the rotation plays out the way you think it plays out - when I’ve provided a more reasonable take on why Olynyk’s the third string C instead. Now again I admit, if the Spurs sign another one - I’d be wrong. But the case is not closed.

They don't need to sign another C. Olynyk can play 2 positions, so he can be the third C while also playing PF off the bench when everybody is healthy. It has to be seen if he will be in the regular rotation, but this doesn't look like a trade for an end of the bench guy.

It's mostly about match up versatility. A team that's in the playoffs should be able to play double big as well as smallball line ups. Going with one of these options exclusively is a recipe for being exposed at some point.

[Dejounte]

They don't need to sign another C. Olynyk can play 2 positions, so he can be the third C while also playing PF off the bench when everybody is healthy. It has to be seen if he will be in the regular rotation, but this doesn't look like a trade for an end of the bench guy.

It's mostly about match up versatility. A team that's in the playoffs should be able to play double big as well as smallball line ups. Going with one of these options exclusively is a recipe for being exposed at some point.

I don’t disagree that the Spurs will play double bigs when the matchup presents itself. What I’ve said all along is that their primary scheme will be the opposite - meaning the bulk of whoever plays minutes at PF will be a dude who can run with our guards and be agile enough to switch on 2’s. I don’t think Olynyk’s eating into either Sochan or Barnes’ minutes at all. It would be out of character for the Spurs to do so. So I think that’s what where you and I disagree and something we’ll find out months from now. To me, he’s our new Mamu (a better version)- good insurance when any of our bigs are out and nothing more. Because I see Wemby resting a lot during the season, Olynyk will see minutes for sure, just like how Mamu did this past season. Does that mean he’s part of the primary scheme that I think the Spurs are going for? No.

[Spursfanfromafar]

It's a fine trade for Spurs. Olynyk should help more Spurs than Branham and Wesley. The pick traded is a really bad one: it would be a very late second round pick in a draft where Spurs already have 3 better second round picks.

Some random thoughts:

- Will Spurs play with two of Wembanyama/Kornet/Olynyk on the court at same time or is Olynyk a third string player?

- Spurs aren't cheap. This trade will cost them quite a lot of money. Olynyk salary is $3.8M higher than Branham+Wesley, they will need to sign one more player because it's a 2 for 1 trade ($2.3M) and the second round pick could have been sold for some cash (maybe $1M). At the end, it should cost Spurs around $7M. And Spurs went with a quite expensive backup center option with Kornet.

- With Barnes and Olynyk, Spurs have $32.4M in tradable expiring contracts for the 2025/2026 trade deadline.

- Spurs were really looking at adding a stretch big after trying to get Porzingis.

- Spurs have 12 players under contract. A profile that will complement well Spurs roster is a scoring guard who can shoot. Players like Bones Hyland or Alec Burks could work.

Alec Burks would be a good fit. If he isn't available, the Spurs can possibly target Amir Coffey or Landry Shamet for the minimum. Both of them are good shooters but Branhamesque on defense.

[exstatic]

The Spurs are starting to look like something on defense. Someone compared Olynyk to Boris Diaw, there’s that. He is pretty much good in every area of ​​the game. He is far superior to Barnes and Sochan.

Possible to see him lined up in the starting five. Barnes can be moved to position 3 and if this is not possible, there is still the possibility of improving the roster during the season if Sochan has not progressed offensively.

Is anyone left in New Orleans to trade for Keldon Johnson and Sochan? Trey Murphy?

Honestly, I wouldn’t hate getting Dejounte back. He’s multi-skilled in stuff we need, shooting, rebounding, distributing, defense. If he could accept a role, he could be a good get when he returns, post ASG.

[twodeep]

I mean he is solid vet we gave up nothing for him and fills a need on the bench depth and knows his role for a young team no issues with this trade

[vy65]

Except for the money in an Apron league where like 1/2 the teams are already hard capped and those two haven't been very good the past couple seasons.
Vassel and Keldon combine for $44.5M next yr.
2 max guys have gotten waived/stretched in 7 days bc the new cap, biggest stretched b4 this week was like $40M, now two $100+M have been stretched. The new cap is very punitive.

Assuming we can find a taker (or 2 and work out a super complex multi-team deal), how many 1sts are we sending out to interest teams in taking on that $45M?
Who is hard-capping themselves for Vassel and Keldon and who is the $35-40-$50M/yr legit wing we're getting back? Is the juice worth the squeeze? We have 11 legitimate NBA rotation player, several expirings, like $8M under the tax, and 3 roster spots + 3 Two-ways to fill. Spurs doing a 1-for-2 consolidation feels more likely than another 2-for-1.

Right now Spurs have 8/15 guys back, doubt their looking to turn over more than 1/2 the roster. Also feels likely they view at least one of Castle/Vassell/Sochan as that "legitimate" NBA wing.

Again, not saying the Spurs will trade them, just that they should trade them.

[ffadicted]

I like the move because Wesley and Blake are worthless and Olynyk fits well, but damn what a rough 2022 draft we had lol
Passed up on Braun, Kessler, Jovic, Nembhard and Christie. Ended up sending both those picks + a 2nd for an aging role player.

[TimDunkem]

I like the move because Wesley and Blake are worthless and Olynyk fits well, but damn what a rough 2022 draft we had lol
Passed up on Braun, Kessler, Jovic, Nembhard and Christie. Ended up sending both those picks + a 2nd for an aging role player.
Just terrible drafting that year, but if they weren't so terrible, we wouldn't have been bad enough to get Wemby so it all worked out.

[MaNu4Tres]

Vic will be the starting 5. That's a stone cold lock. Fox will start at the 1. Stone cold lock.

9 man rotation:
Vic
Sochan
Dev
Castle
Fox

Harper ( 6th man role - 28 mpg)
Julian or Keldon
Barnes
Kornet

Keldon or Julian and Olynyk will be the fringe rotation players that will fill in when needed all year and get spot minutes.

[Chinook]

Castle's case for starting this year is that he was the fucking RoY last year. How many rookies of the year do you know that didn't start the following season? If he doesn't start, then Harper needs to. There's no reason to have both Castle and Harper come off the bench.

That's not a real argument though. Castle isn't more or less of a starter because some journalist voted for him to win an award. I shouldn't even have to say that. The Spurs should play lineups that help them win, not give status to a player who in many ways had a poor year. Sochan had a far better season, and folks still think he sucks. I'm not at all against Harper starting, and if Castle shows improvement in the areas the team needs from a starting wing, I'm not against him starting either. But people have to pick what they want. Either the Spurs try to win as many games as possible, or they prioritize developing their young guards. Those aren't the same thing, no matter how much one tries to talk down the other players on the team.

[Darkwaters]

Just terrible drafting that year, but if they weren't so terrible, we wouldn't have been bad enough to get Wemby so it all worked out.

Outside of the top couple of picks most draft picks are lottery tickets. Sometimes you like your chances and sometimes you don't. But any one of those tickets can win big or totally fail.

Unfortunately in 2022 we seem to have gotten a lot of tickets and not had any luck. But the contemporary takes on the quality of the picks was generally positive. Three years later though, not so much.

[Chinook]

He plays in the second club in the best league in Europe. Why would you want to send him to a depressive environment where he won't learn anything? He is in the best possible place and if he gains more playing time, his value will only go up. In Austin, he will no longer have any value and will remain useless in the current Spurs roster.

The league has moved away from developing players overseas. It turns out, those teams have their own priorities, and developing a player just so he can leave as soon as he's good isn't one of them. He's more likely to get to a point where the Spurs can determine his worth if he plays in Austin where the Spurs can direct his development and give him whatever role and minutes they want. Most NBA teams and overseas prospects seem to align with that thinking.

[Raven]

atrocious trade, probably bottom 3 in the spurs modern history, but i can see why they made it.

[TimDunkem]

atrocious trade, probably bottom 3 in the spurs modern history, but i can see why they made it.
Bait used to be believable.

[Darkwaters]

The league has moved away from developing players overseas. It turns out, those teams have their own priorities, and developing a player just so he can leave as soon as he's good isn't one of them. He's more likely to get to a point where the Spurs can determine his worth if he plays in Austin where the Spurs can direct his development and give him whatever role and minutes they want. Most NBA teams and overseas prospects seem to align with that thinking.

Correct. The Spurs have been moving towards this model since the days of Ian Mahinmi and Cory Joseph. Some of that has to do with the fact that after years of drafting almost exclusively international players, the team now goes with NCAA prospects much more frequently. American players are less likely to want to spend a year or two in Slovenia when they could just go to Austin, TX instead. It also prevents situations like the Scola debacle where the player is no longer willing to come over for what you're willing to pay for him. But most importantly, it gives them a lot more control. Not only can they specify things like usage and role in Austin, but those players can also play in San Antonio in the event of injuries or "Veteran rest games."

PS: Scola Thread!

[ChumpDumper]

The league has moved away from developing players overseas. It turns out, those teams have their own priorities, and developing a player just so he can leave as soon as he's good isn't one of them. He's more likely to get to a point where the Spurs can determine his worth if he plays in Austin where the Spurs can direct his development and give him whatever role and minutes they want. Most NBA teams and overseas prospects seem to align with that thinking.In Juan's particular case, I can't really see anything that was hindering his development in his situation pre-injury. He was on track to play ~50 games with a few starts at 16mpg at the highest levels short of the NBA. The G-League might help him get used to a faster pace and he could, for example, be instructed to increase his 3pt attempts no matter what but stuff like that makes the games a less meaningful -- much less meaningful than those of a top ACB/Euroleague team. From what I've seen that might make a very, ahem, confident guy like Juan lose interest.

Now if Barca moves on from him after his injury, all bets are off and a rehab/development stint in Austin may indeed be the best for him.

[DAF86]

That's not a real argument though. Castle isn't more or less of a starter because some journalist voted for him to win an award. I shouldn't even have to say that. The Spurs should play lineups that help them win, not give status to a player who in many ways had a poor year. Sochan had a far better season, and folks still think he sucks. I'm not at all against Harper starting, and if Castle shows improvement in the areas the team needs from a starting wing, I'm not against him starting either. But people have to pick what they want. Either the Spurs try to win as many games as possible, or they prioritize developing their young guards. Those aren't the same thing, no matter how much one tries to talk down the other players on the team.

If the starting lineup should be selected depending on who had the better season last year, then what the fuck is Vassell doing in your SL?

The SL isn't selected based only on individual performance, it's also about fit, roles, expected progress of the players and squad construction.

The Spurs expect one, if not both, of Castle and Harper to become primary options in the very near future. Having both come off the bench and take shots off each other isn't the best eay to maximize that development.

Also, since last year it is apparent the Spurs are leaning into 2 PGs lineups. Why start with 2 of those PGs on the bench, when you can start 2 of the 3, stager them and have 2 PGs lineups for the entirety of the game?

[DPG21920]

It's a fine trade for Spurs. Olynyk should help more Spurs than Branham and Wesley. The pick traded is a really bad one: it would be a very late second round pick in a draft where Spurs already have 3 better second round picks.

Some random thoughts:

- Will Spurs play with two of Wembanyama/Kornet/Olynyk on the court at same time or is Olynyk a third string player?

- Spurs aren't cheap. This trade will cost them quite a lot of money. Olynyk salary is $3.8M higher than Branham+Wesley, they will need to sign one more player because it's a 2 for 1 trade ($2.3M) and the second round pick could have been sold for some cash (maybe $1M). At the end, it should cost Spurs around $7M. And Spurs went with a quite expensive backup center option with Kornet.

- With Barnes and Olynyk, Spurs have $32.4M in tradable expiring contracts for the 2025/2026 trade deadline.

- Spurs were really looking at adding a stretch big after trying to get Porzingis.

- Spurs have 12 players under contract. A profile that will complement well Spurs roster is a scoring guard who can shoot. Players like Bones Hyland or Alec Burks could work.

Anfernee Simons is maybe interesting in that mold…wonder how a deal could look if BOS is good with getting off of him. Keldon + Barnes + 2 2nds for Simons + Hauser?

It’s an equal money trade this year, and both Barnes and Simons are expiring. So what Spurs take on is more years with Hauser, but 7M less than Keldon next year.

Maybe BOS feels they can move HB easier and save some money while getting a couple 2nds from SA then another 2nd(s) for moving Barnes?


1942915930385678717

[exstatic]

Anfernee Simons is maybe interesting in that mold…wonder how a deal could look if BOS is good with getting off of him. Keldon + Barnes + 2 2nds for Simons + Hauser?

It’s an equal money trade this year, and both Barnes and Simons are expiring. So what Spurs take on is more years with Hauser, but 7M less than Keldon next year.

Maybe BOS feels they can move HB easier and save some money while getting a couple 2nds from SA then another 2nd(s) for moving Barnes?

Boston doesn’t want salary back. The closest they could come to outright shedding salary is Simons ending contract. We don’t have anything better than ending contracts to send, so they won’t be interested.

Portland drafted and hyped the kid, and then he was trade bait. Take heed of that. He’s like a Lonnie class player, a show pony with few skills.

[Seventyniner]

Boston doesn’t want salary back. The closest they could come to outright shedding salary is Simons ending contract. We don’t have anything better than ending contracts to send, so they won’t be interested.

Portland drafted and hyped the kid, and then he was trade bait. Take heed of that. He’s like a Lonnie class player, a show pony with few skills.

They would be willing to take back a smaller expiring contract like WAS did with the Olynyk trade.

I bet he isn't happy because he wants an extension and the Celtics 100% won't give him one. That could affect his trade value if it's true and word gets out.

He's talented and could be good if he gets regruntled in the right situation, but that isn't San Antonio.

[DPG21920]

Boston doesn’t want salary back. The closest they could come to outright shedding salary is Simons ending contract. We don’t have anything better than ending contracts to send, so they won’t be interested.

Portland drafted and hyped the kid, and then he was trade bait. Take heed of that. He’s like a Lonnie class player, a show pony with few skills.

They break down his larger salary into two smaller ones that should have value + get picks. I can seem them being interested.

[BatManu20]

Anfernee Simons is legit one of the worst defenders in the NBA. Consistently at the bottom of the league in Defensive Rating and finished dead last in Defensive-EPM a couple years ago. I don't think the Spurs are even interested in him tbh.

[TimDunkem]

Anfernee Simons is legit one of the worst defenders in the NBA. Consistently at the bottom of the league in Defensive Rating and finished dead last in Defensive-EPM a couple years ago. I don't think the Spurs are even interested in him tbh.
I wouldn't trade for Simons myself. but isn't he on a one year deal? Also Hauser would be the positive part of that scenario, IMO. Good player on a fair contract. Spurs could do worse.

[DPG21920]

My deal would save BOS 1M immediately I believe on top of breaking down Simons into 2 smaller deals for them. Hauser has longer term money than Keldon does as well (2 extra guaranteed years of salary albeit smaller number APY than Keldon next season).

Adds a lot of shooting for SA while keeping things mostly clean for them cap wise outside of the 2 years 22M for Hauser which seems like a fair deal anyways.

[WaywardTexan]

Outside of the top couple of picks most draft picks are lottery tickets. Sometimes you like your chances and sometimes you don't. But any one of those tickets can win big or totally fail.

Unfortunately in 2022 we seem to have gotten a lot of tickets and not had any luck. But the contemporary takes on the quality of the picks was generally positive. Three years later though, not so much.

That's why they call it the draft *lottery*

[TD 21]

If the starting lineup should be selected depending on who had the better season last year, then what the fuck is Vassell doing in your SL?

The SL isn't selected based only on individual performance, it's also about fit, roles, expected progress of the players and squad construction.

The Spurs expect one, if not both, of Castle and Harper to become primary options in the very near future. Having both come off the bench and take shots off each other isn't the best eay to maximize that development.

Also, since last year it is apparent the Spurs are leaning into 2 PGs lineups. Why start with 2 of those PGs on the bench, when you can start both, stager them and have 2 PGs lineups for the entirety of the game?

I thought that initially, but the starting line would be severely undersized (no sizable POA defender) and their interest in rotational bigs (Yabusele, Olynyk) wouldn't make sense if the idea was to have them as as deep bench player.

They also might want Castle and Harper to mostly split creation duties for the time being because the former won't get much alongside Fox.

[DPG21920]

But I dont think Simons can be combined with another player in a deal right now so anything happening soon would need to be something like Keldon + Julian for him which I like less.

[taps]

hockey goon

[exstatic]

hockey goon

YPwvspC000k

Sent for a swim AND dwarf tossed.

[scott]

RC, you ever heard of the phrase “celebrating too early”? I mean, there are many signs that Olynyk is going to be our third string C rather than play any meaningful 4 minutes with Vic or Kornet. He only played 40ish games last season for Pete’s sake. Now if the Spurs sign Bassey or another C, I’d agree with you. But all this nonsense like this is a “win” on your part is way too premature. The Spurs could also turn around and flip him for other players before the season even starts. The Spurs were two bigs deep behind Vic last season, and by trading for Olynyk this makes them two bigs deep behind Vic this coming season. Who really is the one speaking with authority here when you guys are thinking this offseason’s finished and making assumptions like the rotation plays out the way you think it plays out - when I’ve provided a more reasonable take on why Olynyk’s the third string C instead. Now again I admit, if the Spurs sign another one - I’d be wrong. But the case is not closed.

I wasn't even talking about you with my comment... but you're the one who has posted multiple times "I guess the offseason is finished" while I've been saying "I bet Wright is working on some value deals on the fringes that none of us are expecting, just like he has in the past"

The fact is, none of us (and this should be obvious) know with any certainty what the Spurs are going to do or what their plan is. All we have is our opinions. But we have posters here who speak with authority when in fact, they're just another faceless internet nobody with opinions that are just opinions (yours and mine, included).

[Guru of Nothing]

I'm no expert processing salary cap implications and roster building, but what little I know would seem to suggest that the TWolves will be pretty thirsty for some salary cap relief, and soon. Wonder what the cost might be for say Jaden McDaniels and a Minnesota FRP if we come offering expiring contracts before the trade deadline.

[OldMan88]

YPwvspC000k

Sent for a swim AND dwarf tossed.

Bearded dude was really a dumbass & got his clock cleaned in dramatic fashion. :lol

[R. DeMurre]

Anfernee Simons is legit one of the worst defenders in the NBA. Consistently at the bottom of the league in Defensive Rating and finished dead last in Defensive-EPM a couple years ago. I don't think the Spurs are even interested in him tbh.


Agreed, and along those lines one guy that does interest me is Keon Ellis of Sacramento. The Kings picked up his option this year, so now if they don't extend him in February he'll become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of '26. Last year he was 4th in the league in steal percentage and 11th in Defensive BPM. He was also 22nd in the league in block percentage, which is a huge accomplishment for a 6'6" guard... he had the same block percentage as Giannis, and a better percentage than any other guard, including Shai or Derrick White, who were #2 & #3 in the category.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2025_advanced.html

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

Agreed, and along those lines one guy that does interest me is Keon Ellis of Sacramento. The Kings picked up his option this year, so now if they don't extend him in February he'll become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of '26. Last year he was 4th in the league in steal percentage and 11th in Defensive BPM. He was also 22nd in the league in block percentage, which is a huge accomplishment for a 6'6" guard... he had the same block percentage as Giannis, and a better percentage than any other guard, including Shai or Derrick White, who were #2 & #3 in the category.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2025_advanced.html

I’m a huge fan and after their dick move I’m sure he’d be open to a trade. I’d offer multiple seconds for him, he’d fit perfectly.

[Seventyniner]

Agreed, and along those lines one guy that does interest me is Keon Ellis of Sacramento. The Kings picked up his option this year, so now if they don't extend him in February he'll become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of '26. Last year he was 4th in the league in steal percentage and 11th in Defensive BPM. He was also 22nd in the league in block percentage, which is a huge accomplishment for a 6'6" guard... he had the same block percentage as Giannis, and a better percentage than any other guard, including Shai or Derrick White, who were #2 & #3 in the category.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2025_advanced.html

If I recall correctly, Ellis can only extend based off 120% of his current salary which is quite low. He stands to make a lot more in free agency next summer than $3M or so per year.

[spurraider21]

sacto is poorly run, but Ellis seems to be one of the guys they have absolutely no interest in moving

[Kevin]

I hate the second apron. Teams are constantly busting up their cores because of it. Sustained greatness is what makes sports great and the NBA is hell bent on destroying that within their own league. I get the super team problem but they need to relax the second apron to some extent.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

sacto is poorly run, but Ellis seems to be one of the guys they have absolutely no interest in moving

Maybe until this summer but they fucked him over by essentially picking his cheap option instead of declining it and paying him what he’s worth. They chose Shroeder over him. Now Ellis can’t extend even if he’s traded. Horrible move by the Sacramento FO.

[Kevin]

I love Keon Ellis and would trade Champ plus picks for him. For how young and cost controlled Ellis is it will probably cost one first round pick.

[vy65]

I hate the second apron. Teams are constantly busting up their cores because of it. Sustained greatness is what makes sports great and the NBA is hell bent on destroying that within their own league. I get the super team problem but they need to relax the second apron to some extent.

I love this suggestion from Vecenie and think we need more carveouts, exceptions, etc... to make the aprons less harsh. I think its over-corrected somewhat and the next CBA needs to strike more of a middle ground for sure.

1942359658565701815

[Kevin]

I love this suggestion from Vecenie and think we need more carveouts, exceptions, etc... to make the aprons less harsh. I think its over-corrected somewhat and the next CBA needs to strike more of a middle ground for sure.

1942359658565701815

Yes it's a harsh over correction. Hate seeing teams getting pick apart like this.

[spurraider21]

i agree with vecenie as well. its really awkward that teams benefit from their players missing out on awards. the extra 5% players are entitled to should not count for cap purposes

i dont mind the 2nd apron at all otherwise tbh. parity is good. being shrewd with contracts/picks and not just blindly overpaying/extending every decent player makes for a better league.

but the extra money from all-nba or DPOY stuff should absolutely be exempt

[Mr. Body]

The teams getting picked apart are the ones who saw this coming and still signed huge contracts. Boston gave Brown a hideous contract and acquired expensive players knowing this would happen.

We'll see if the Spurs are wise enough to not max out Fox. If they do, it's going to be a problem. The new CBA is having its impact. Teams have to be smarter.

[Mr. Body]

i agree with vecenie as well. its really awkward that teams benefit from their players missing out on awards. the extra 5% players are entitled to should not count for cap purposes

I agree with this. Missing awards benefits teams and that's not good. I also don't like the 65 minimum for awards or whatever it is, too. Do away with that.

[Bruno]

Anfernee Simons is maybe interesting in that mold…wonder how a deal could look if BOS is good with getting off of him. Keldon + Barnes + 2 2nds for Simons + Hauser?


I have the feeling that this trade is more about dumping Keldon than getting Simons...

Spurs have quite a lot of options if they want to add a scoring/shooting combo guard. This kind of players just aren't valued in today's NBA and there are even some good ones playing overseas (remember Gary Neal..).

[spurraider21]

I agree with this. Missing awards benefits teams and that's not good. I also don't like the 65 minimum for awards or whatever it is, too. Do away with that.
i always felt like voters factored in games played in those awards anyway. having a hard cutoff seems weird. i like where the NBA's head is at as far as cracking down on "load management" practices, but i dont think this particular method of enforcement is good

[spurraider21]

OKC may continue to thrive despite the apron stuff because theyve been good about finding talent on the edges and getting them locked in

aaron wiggins on 4/45, isaiah joe on 4/48, even ajay mitchell getting 3/8.75

[exstatic]

I hate the second apron. Teams are constantly busting up their cores because of it. Sustained greatness is what makes sports great and the NBA is hell bent on destroying that within their own league. I get the super team problem but they need to relax the second apron to some extent.

Second apron creates parity. Notice the teams busting up are the likes of Boston and GS. No more talent hoarding.

There hasn’t been a repeat champion since 2018, so I’m not sure the 2nd apron has anything to do with that. Outside of KC, the NFL has thrived for decades on rotating champions. The NBA can,too.

[Excessive Egotist]

It's a fine trade for Spurs. Olynyk should help more Spurs than Branham and Wesley. The pick traded is a really bad one: it would be a very late second round pick in a draft where Spurs already have 3 better second round picks.

Some random thoughts:

- Will Spurs play with two of Wembanyama/Kornet/Olynyk on the court at same time or is Olynyk a third string player?

- Spurs aren't cheap. This trade will cost them quite a lot of money. Olynyk salary is $3.8M higher than Branham+Wesley, they will need to sign one more player because it's a 2 for 1 trade ($2.3M) and the second round pick could have been sold for some cash (maybe $1M). At the end, it should cost Spurs around $7M. And Spurs went with a quite expensive backup center option with Kornet.

- With Barnes and Olynyk, Spurs have $32.4M in tradable expiring contracts for the 2025/2026 trade deadline.

- Spurs were really looking at adding a stretch big after trying to get Porzingis.

- Spurs have 12 players under contract. A profile that will complement well Spurs roster is a scoring guard who can shoot. Players like Bones Hyland or Alec Burks could work.

My spidey sense is that the Spurs would like Anfernee Simons to be that scoring guard. The Spurs could save the Celtics a lot of money, giving them a pathway to get below the first apron. We'd send Johnson, Barnes, and perhaps SRPs to a third team that receives a contract, and take back Simons along with other contracts. The Celtics would want the tax savings and enough time to reroute Barnes for additional savings. I'd assume they'd keep Keldon as a bench piece for their 2026-27 team. Wouldn't be bad for our roster if we swapped Johnson and Barnes for Simons, Hauser, and Niang.

[spurraider21]

Second apron creates parity. Notice the teams busting up are the likes of Boston and GS. No more talent hoarding.

There hasn’t been a repeat champion since 2018, so I’m not sure the 2nd apron has anything to do with that. Outside of KC, the NFL has thrived for decades on rotating champions. The NBA can,too.
NFL media space is also much better

yes, the media does focus in on the cowboys more than anybody else... but not to the degree the NBA will ignore teams in the ongoing playoff run to take a 15 minute segment about lebron and the lakers. they dont ignore teams from buffalo, kansas city, green bay, etc, just because they're in "small markets." they treat them and cover them like any other team as long as they are good and relevant.

so the NFL is better equipped to deal with smaller market teams that are thriving, whether its Indianapolis, Buffalo, Carolina, or Cincinnati depending on who happens to be good or not

i enjoy parity, but the NBA handles it very poorly.

[Excessive Egotist]

Anfernee Simons is maybe interesting in that mold…wonder how a deal could look if BOS is good with getting off of him. Keldon + Barnes + 2 2nds for Simons + Hauser?

It’s an equal money trade this year, and both Barnes and Simons are expiring. So what Spurs take on is more years with Hauser, but 7M less than Keldon next year.

Maybe BOS feels they can move HB easier and save some money while getting a couple 2nds from SA then another 2nd(s) for moving Barnes?


1942915930385678717

Just posted another reply to Bruno...didn't see this. I think the Spurs would compensate a third team with SRPs to help Boston shed as much unwanted salary as possible. But I agree that Simons makes some sense.

[exstatic]

i agree with vecenie as well. its really awkward that teams benefit from their players missing out on awards. the extra 5% players are entitled to should not count for cap purposes

i dont mind the 2nd apron at all otherwise tbh. parity is good. being shrewd with contracts/picks and not just blindly overpaying/extending every decent player makes for a better league.

but the extra money from all-nba or DPOY stuff should absolutely be exempt

So one team can continue to stack up these players like GS did? tired of that shit, one team in the Finals for half a decade.

The awards that trigger the Supermax , either 30 or 35% depending on longevity, are All NBA, MVP, & DPOY. Assuming that an MVP would never be left off of the 3 All NBA teams, we’re talking about 16 players out of ~450 in the league. Hardly something I would view as widespread, coming in around 3%.

The reality is if the NBA media are crying about this, that’s good. It means the large market teams aren’t happy, and I am happy they’re not happy. Tired of their decades of being able to overstock top talent, and steal and stack midrange talent because they had more money. This is a level playing field for small and middle market teams.

[Mr. Body]

Booting Dillingham (or not showing any interest) suggests this isn't the type of player the Spurs are interested in. Very similar players.

[spurraider21]

So one team can continue to stack up these players like GS did? tired of that shit, one team in the Finals for half a decade.

The awards that trigger the Supermax , either 30 or 35% depending on longevity, are All NBA, MVP, & DPOY. Assuming that an MVP would never be left off of the 3 All NBA teams, we’re talking about 16 players out of ~450 in the league. Hardly something I would view as widespread, coming in around 3%.

The reality is if the NBA media are crying about this, that’s good. It means the large market teams aren’t happy, and I am happy they’re not happy. Tired of their decades of being able to overstock top talent, and steal and stack midrange talent because they had more money. This is a level playing field for small and middle market teams.
nope. this is why i like the second apron

whether somebody cracks the last spot on the all-nba third team or not, the player is the player and his contractual value should be based no how good a player he is. i dont like the team being penalized because their player was recognized by the media

[scott]

sacto is poorly run, but Ellis seems to be one of the guys they have absolutely no interest in moving

That was my initial thought... and then I remember we are talking about Sacramento here... so anything is possible.

[scott]

I hate the second apron. Teams are constantly busting up their cores because of it. Sustained greatness is what makes sports great and the NBA is hell bent on destroying that within their own league. I get the super team problem but they need to relax the second apron to some extent.

One thing I saw this morning is that while teams are grappling with second apron, the CBA has an opt-out clause before any of the apron penalties go into effect. We may find that both the union and teams don't like this structure, and perhaps they opt out. A team might be willing to gamble and accept 2nd apron penalties in the hopes that there is an opt-out and renegotiation and they escape those 2nd apron penalties altogether. I believe the Opt-out is in 2029.

[exstatic]

Booting Dillingham (or not showing any interest) suggests this isn't the type of player the Spurs are interested in. Very similar players.

Simons is more of a physical specimen,but being in the clueless category with Lonnie and Jalen Green, we agree that the Spurs wouldn’t be interested, even if we don’t necessarily agree on the reasons.

[rjv]

NFL media space is also much better

yes, the media does focus in on the cowboys more than anybody else... but not to the degree the NBA will ignore teams in the ongoing playoff run to take a 15 minute segment about lebron and the lakers. they dont ignore teams from buffalo, kansas city, green bay, etc, just because they're in "small markets." they treat them and cover them like any other team as long as they are good and relevant.

so the NFL is better equipped to deal with smaller market teams that are thriving, whether its Indianapolis, Buffalo, Carolina, or Cincinnati depending on who happens to be good or not

i enjoy parity, but the NBA handles it very poorly.

i would add that green bay, the chiefs and buffalo all have very large fan bases that stretch well outside their TV markets. the same can't be said of most NBA small market teams.

[scott]

Second apron creates parity. Notice the teams busting up are the likes of Boston and GS. No more talent hoarding.

There hasn’t been a repeat champion since 2018, so I’m not sure the 2nd apron has anything to do with that. Outside of KC, the NFL has thrived for decades on rotating champions. The NBA can,too.

Before KC, all the championships in the NFL just rotated through New England and Tom Brady tho...

[exstatic]

One thing I saw this morning is that while teams are grappling with second apron, the CBA has an opt-out clause before any of the apron penalties go into effect. We may find that both the union and teams don't like this structure, and perhaps they opt out. A team might be willing to gamble and accept 2nd apron penalties in the hopes that there is an opt-out and renegotiation and they escape those 2nd apron penalties altogether. I believe the Opt-out is in 2029.

By taking a machete to their roster, it looks like Boston doesn’t see that happening. I don’t see the owners having enough small/medium market votes to overturn, and the players will still get their money, even if it’s on a different team. If you have the talent, you will get paid, somewhere.

[scott]

So one team can continue to stack up these players like GS did? tired of that shit, one team in the Finals for half a decade.

The awards that trigger the Supermax , either 30 or 35% depending on longevity, are All NBA, MVP, & DPOY. Assuming that an MVP would never be left off of the 3 All NBA teams, we’re talking about 16 players out of ~450 in the league. Hardly something I would view as widespread, coming in around 3%.

The reality is if the NBA media are crying about this, that’s good. It means the large market teams aren’t happy, and I am happy they’re not happy. Tired of their decades of being able to overstock top talent, and steal and stack midrange talent because they had more money. This is a level playing field for small and middle market teams.

If we really think the CBA and the aprons make keeping talent so difficult, then you have to question the Spurs strategy of supposedly working on "building a dynasty"

The better strategy, in that case, would be to build a team around Wemby to go on a short 1-2 year "burst", then break it apart right when it gets expensive, and then build it up again for another "burst"

If we truly believe the aprons are that restrictive, then it is counter-intuitive to try to build this long-term monster with 3-5 guys on the same timeline, since we won't be able to maintain them. With Castle and Harper on board, we should be looking to avoid extending Sochan for anything more than a sub-MLE level deal, we should be looking to move off Devin, only be willing to extend Fox to a 2+1, etc.

[spurraider21]

Before KC, all the championships in the NFL just rotated through New England and Tom Brady tho...
yeah brady was the goat, but you also had a revolving door of competing teams like denver, carolina, atlanta, philly, seattle, baltimore, san francisco. it wasnt an "oh look its warriors cavs again" situation

[scott]

By taking a machete to their roster, it looks like Boston doesn’t see that happening. I don’t see the owners having enough small/medium market votes to overturn, and the players will still get their money, even if it’s on a different team. If you have the talent, you will get paid, somewhere.

BOS is the first team to suffer the consequences of the CBA, a sacrificial lamb. And this summer is the first summer that players are feeling the unintended consequences of the CBA their union agreed to. These things might be the drivers that causes each side to rethink the monster they've created.

[scott]

yeah brady was the goat, but you also had a revolving door of competing teams like denver, carolina, atlanta, philly, seattle, baltimore, san francisco. it wasnt an "oh look its warriors cavs again" situation

But it's still a "Oh look its Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes again". Between the two of them, I think they've played in over half of the Superbowls this century? Kind of wild. I guess it is nice that some other teams make it opposing them from time to time.

[spurraider21]

But it's still a "Oh look its Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes again". Between the two of them, I think they've played in over half of the Superbowls this century? Kind of wild. I guess it is nice that some other teams make it opposing them from time to time.
thats also just the SB

i mean there are some perennially well run teams like the Eagles, Ravens, Steelers, Packeres who seem to find ways to be relevant, and some perenially awfully run teams like the Raiders, Bears, Browns who find their ways to stay out of the picture. but by and large NFL has very strong parity

[exstatic]

If we really think the CBA and the aprons make keeping talent so difficult, then you have to question the Spurs strategy of supposedly working on "building a dynasty"

The better strategy, in that case, would be to build a team around Wemby to go on a short 1-2 year "burst", then break it apart right when it gets expensive, and then build it up again for another "burst"

If we truly believe the aprons are that restrictive, then it is counter-intuitive to try to build this long-term monster with 3-5 guys on the same timeline, since we won't be able to maintain them. With Castle and Harper on board, we should be looking to avoid extending Sochan for anything more than a sub-MLE level deal, we should be looking to move off Devin, only be willing to extend Fox to a 2+1, etc.

I think 3-4 years, but yeah, no continuous dynasty, just mini dynastettes. Fox gone in four years, and ne of the young guards 4-5 after that. You might have one player go all the way along with Wemby, Castle or Harper.

[Seventyniner]

thats also just the SB

i mean there are some perennially well run teams like the Eagles, Ravens, Steelers, Packeres who seem to find ways to be relevant, and some perenially awfully run teams like the Raiders, Bears, Browns who find their ways to stay out of the picture. but by and large NFL has very strong parity

Two other big differences between NFL and NBA are that NFL playoffs are one-and-done leading to more variance of outcomes, and other than QB no single NFL player has as much impact on winning as an MVP level NBA player.

[Trueblood]

If we really think the CBA and the aprons make keeping talent so difficult, then you have to question the Spurs strategy of supposedly working on "building a dynasty"

The better strategy, in that case, would be to build a team around Wemby to go on a short 1-2 year "burst", then break it apart right when it gets expensive, and then build it up again for another "burst"

If we truly believe the aprons are that restrictive, then it is counter-intuitive to try to build this long-term monster with 3-5 guys on the same timeline, since we won't be able to maintain them. With Castle and Harper on board, we should be looking to avoid extending Sochan for anything more than a sub-MLE level deal, we should be looking to move off Devin, only be willing to extend Fox to a 2+1, etc.

This seems to be the strategy that OKC is following. They’re using trades and the draft very shrewdly to retool. It seems like most players on their roster (save three) could be replaced fairly easily by ones they have on the bench or minor trades. Of all the teams it seems they have the best handle on this new CBA and they are developing that monster squad by using 1-2 or 2-3 year contracts that they can flip as expiring for more assets to retool again and again. We should be taking notes.

[Limguogolo]

The league has moved away from developing players overseas. It turns out, those teams have their own priorities, and developing a player just so he can leave as soon as he's good isn't one of them. He's more likely to get to a point where the Spurs can determine his worth if he plays in Austin where the Spurs can direct his development and give him whatever role and minutes they want. Most NBA teams and overseas prospects seem to align with that thinking.

2025, and there are still NBA fans who think that European players have more to learn in the D-League than in a European professional league, even with low playing time...

Young players in Europe learn with short playing time in big teams or by gaining responsibilities in less prestigious clubs. Why? Because no one learns in an environment in which no one defends and where there is no game system but players who "develop".

Basketball is a team sport. Núñez is a collective player, like most Spanish players. His market value is linked to his game intelligence, his game vision. What would he “develop” in the D-League? And what for? His 3 points? Defenseless? He will learn much better in match conditions, with the intensity of ACB and Euroleague matches at a level a thousand times higher than the d-league. For a two-way? A two-way for a professionnal European player, seriously? How many drafted European players end up in the D-League? Very little. Because they develop much better, in competitive leagues and earning money. That’s what second-round drafts are for. When a good surprise arrives and a player is considered useful and efficient, he is offered to come to the NBA before he signs big contracts in Europe. No European player agrees to get lost in the d-league. We must put an end to this idea that the d-league is an incubator, it is above all a purgatory.

It is even likely that Núñez will not progress that much and that we will have to take him as he is. He is a precocious player, he played very early in the national team. If he is good, he will gain minutes. Sometimes it's just a matter of trust. Nadir Hifi also had the confidence of a coach who today is the head coach of an NBA team. He would have been drafted and his team would have sought to move him to the D-League.

Other drafted players were left in Europe to "develop" and that was the right option. As it always has been since... Manu Ginobili. "D-League" is not for "development", it's for "dead-end". And all European players know that.

[DPG21920]

I have the feeling that this trade is more about dumping Keldon than getting Simons...

Spurs have quite a lot of options if they want to add a scoring/shooting combo guard. This kind of players just aren't valued in today's NBA and there are even some good ones playing overseas (remember Gary Neal..).

It’s not really about that per se; more about adding shooting (both Simons + Hauser do this) and getting the depth right (Barnes replaced by Hauser is net equal but Keldon with the shooting guard helps balance things out some while addressing shooting in a meaningful way).

I was more looking at low cost trades that can be done without giving up firsts or true core (Keldon is more of that than Barnes, but both are on the fringe of future core than most others IMO)

[mystargtr34]

From the athletic

David Aldridge
9 July 2025 at 8:28 am GMT+8
David Aldridge
Senior Columnist, NBA


Why Wizards immediately traded Kelly Olynyk

Washington moving Kelly Olynyk to San Antonio for Blake Wesley and Malakai Branham and a 2026 second-round pick, just a couple of weeks after getting Olynyk and C.J. McCollum from New Orleans. doesn’t make sense at first blush. One, Olynyk was going to be Alex Sarr’s backup at center next season. Two, Wesley and Branham are two guards, and the Wizards just drafted their two-guard of the future in Tre Johnson two weeks ago with the sixth pick.

But the Wizards also will get a $13 million traded player exception out of the deal, as well as additional player contracts they can cobble together later this offseason if a deal manifests itself.

For now, though, this is good news for restricted free agent Tristan Vukčević, the Wizards’ second-round pick in 2023, who figures to get more minutes behind Sarr in small-ball lineups. Washington will continue to comb what little is left in the big man market in free agency, too.

And, just as Houston worked with Cam Whitmore to get him to a better situation for him in last weekend’s trade to Washington, the Wizards worked with Olynyk to get him to a more favorable and competitive spot in San Antonio.


John Hollinger
9 July 2025 at 8:23 am GMT+8
John Hollinger
Senior Writer, NBA


What's next after Kelly Olynyk trade?

Quite a numbers game developing in Washington, where the Wizards have 16 guaranteed contracts but only one of them belongs to a player who is actually tall (Alex Sarr).

The recently acquired Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley were developmental guards who hadn't developed and had no chance of playing in San Antonio once the Spurs landed Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper in consecutive drafts. However, they face a similar logjam in the backcourt in Washington unless C.J. McCollum and Marcus Smart are bought out before the season starts. As a result, they may end up landing someplace else before opening day. Either way, the Wizards need to figure out how to convert at least one or two of their guards into bigs.

San Antonio took on $4 million in salary and sent out what might be the final pick of the 2026 draft to clean up its roster and get a third big in the mix behind Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet. I'm guessing the "Jeremy Sochan at backup 5" experiment is officially toast. Washington can generate a $13.4 million trade exception for Kelly Olynyk by taking Branham's $4.96 million salary into its Johnny Davis trade exception and Wesley's $4.73 million into its biannual exception or its nontaxapyer midlevel exception. Both players have expiring contracts.

The Spurs are $12.5 million from the tax line with at least two open roster spots to fill. They also still have their $5.1 million biannual exception available.


Kelly Iko
9 July 2025 at 8:10 am GMT+8
Kelly Iko
Staff Writer


Kelly Olynyk traded to Spurs

Kelly Olynyk traded to Spurs
Imagn Images
The San Antonio Spurs are acquiring Kelly Olynyk from the Washington Wizards for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick, a team source confirmed to The Athletic.

The Spurs have quietly upgraded their center depth after shuffling last season between the likes of Charles Bassey, Bismack Biyombo and Sandro Mamukelashvili. Olynyk, 34, remains a quality stretch big who shot 41.8 percent from 3 last season, even if his game has slowed. Olynyk remains a solid playmaker at his position, finishing in the 90th percentile among centers in assist percentage (19.8), and historically, his teams perform better offensively with him on the floor. Olynyk was also a sneaky-good defender for a porous Pelicans team last season, with New Orleans performing nearly 11 points better per 100 possessions while he was on the floor.

With Olynyk and Luke Kornet under center (no pun intended), San Antonio continues to fortify its roster. The Spurs can trot out different frontcourt combinations alongside Victor Wembanyama depending on the opponent, an underrated flexibility tool for head coach Mitch Johnson.

[Seventyniner]

Looks like the Wizards absorbed Wesley and Branham into their MLE, or maybe one into the MLE and the other into the BAE, and created a $13M trade exception. That's another reason for them to make the deal for two players they likely won't use and a late 50s second.

[Ice009]

I hate the second apron. Teams are constantly busting up their cores because of it. Sustained greatness is what makes sports great and the NBA is hell bent on destroying that within their own league. I get the super team problem but they need to relax the second apron to some extent.

Yes, I agree. We need a change. I don't want to see the Spurs lose Caste or Harper, or even De'Aaron really.

So are the Spurs going to be able to keep Victor, Steph and Dylan if both Steph and Dylan become max players? If not, this is going to suck not being able to have a big three again after building the right way instead of trading/buying players like teams like the Lakers do.


Looks like the Wizards absorbed Wesley and Branham into their MLE, or maybe one into the MLE and the other into the BAE, and created a $13M trade exception. That's another reason for them to make the deal for two players they likely won't use and a late 50s second.

I asked this question the other day, so you can take a traded player into the BAE. Interesting. I didn't know you could combine the BAE and MLE to create a trade exception, though. Did Washington still have their full MLE? Can you do the same if you have partial money left on the MLE to absorb a player into that?