Should have kept Samanic, anyone disagree?

[buttsR4rebounding]

Bottom line. The Spurs should not have signed Forbes. More Pau Gasol thinking. His salary this year is roughly what Samanic's would be next year, so they wouldn't have been out any net cash. Play him in the rotation for 20 games and see what you have. There is no denying he had a positive impact in a number of games where he was given meaningful minutes. Looking for players that are "over themselves" is fine when you are filling in around 50, 21, 20 and 9; but not when you are 100 times more likely to secure the #1 pick than the LOB trophy. All of these NBA draft picks have been told they are special for the past ten years or more. Some like Vassel were fortunate to have parents that gave them a great foundation. Obviously, Luka had a much different set of inputs. The Spurs drafted him know he wasn't likely to "get over himself" like their other draft choices who had a better foundation. To cut him loose before giving him meaningful regular minutes for at least 20 games is a clear signal that Pop's ego is more important than the team. Forbes signing. Luka probably doesn't end up panning out anyway, but to not have it in the plan to give him that run before any final decision is made is unconscionable. If Luka could hit the 3 he is the perfect fit along side KJ. How can you not see what that looks like? Of course, another benefit of not signing Forbes is that Primo and Vassel likely see more minutes. It is clear that Popovich is incapable of being a positive influence on the team moving forward. He needs to get his all-time record wins and retire before the Spurs can return to respectability much less competing for number 6.

[exstatic]

Bottom line. The Spurs should not have signed Forbes. More Pau Gasol thinking. His salary this year is roughly what Samanic's would be next year, so they wouldn't have been out any net cash. Play him in the rotation for 20 games and see what you have. There is no denying he had a positive impact in a number of games where he was given meaningful minutes. Looking for players that are "over themselves" is fine when you are filling in around 50, 21, 20 and 9; but not when you are 100 times more likely to secure the #1 pick than the LOB trophy. All of these NBA draft picks have been told they are special for the past ten years or more. Some like Vassel were fortunate to have parents that gave them a great foundation. Obviously, Luka had a much different set of inputs. The Spurs drafted him know he wasn't likely to "get over himself" like their other draft choices who had a better foundation. To cut him loose before giving him meaningful regular minutes for at least 20 games is a clear signal that Pop's ego is more important than the team. Forbes signing. Luka probably doesn't end up panning out anyway, but to not have it in the plan to give him that run before any final decision is made is unconscionable. If Luka could hit the 3 he is the perfect fit along side KJ. How can you not see what that looks like? Of course, another benefit of not signing Forbes is that Primo and Vassel likely see more minutes. It is clear that Popovich is incapable of being a positive influence on the team moving forward. He needs to get his all-time record wins and retire before the Spurs can return to respectability much less competing for number 6.

Bottom line: Forbes didn’t push Samanic off the roster, KBD did.

Make up your mind. Is Forbes blocking Samanic, or is he blocking Primo, Vassell, and Samanic. There’s only like 12 minutes there.

[Kurgan]

It almost sounds like he might be getting better coaching…

Spurs coaching staff is near the bottom half of the league for sure. All of Pop's assistants are spineless yes men with little actual experience coaching a team themselves. The Spurs stopped being a playoff team when all the good assistants like Udoka and Messina jumped ship. And our training staff probably still thinks the midranger is the best shot in basketball based on the inability of all our youngsters to shoot from beyond the arc(ranking last in 3s years after year)

[Spurs Homer]

Bottom line. The Spurs should not have signed Forbes. More Pau Gasol thinking. His salary this year is roughly what Samanic's would be next year, so they wouldn't have been out any net cash. Play him in the rotation for 20 games and see what you have. There is no denying he had a positive impact in a number of games where he was given meaningful minutes. Looking for players that are "over themselves" is fine when you are filling in around 50, 21, 20 and 9; but not when you are 100 times more likely to secure the #1 pick than the LOB trophy. All of these NBA draft picks have been told they are special for the past ten years or more. Some like Vassel were fortunate to have parents that gave them a great foundation. Obviously, Luka had a much different set of inputs. The Spurs drafted him know he wasn't likely to "get over himself" like their other draft choices who had a better foundation. To cut him loose before giving him meaningful regular minutes for at least 20 games is a clear signal that Pop's ego is more important than the team. Forbes signing. Luka probably doesn't end up panning out anyway, but to not have it in the plan to give him that run before any final decision is made is unconscionable. If Luka could hit the 3 he is the perfect fit along side KJ. How can you not see what that looks like? Of course, another benefit of not signing Forbes is that Primo and Vassel likely see more minutes. It is clear that Popovich is incapable of being a positive influence on the team moving forward. He needs to get his all-time record wins and retire before the Spurs can return to respectability much less competing for number 6.

agree with a lot of this…

it isnt rocket science…

i would have started the season with

primo
murray
vassell
samanic
purtle


done.


give them the entire first half of the season to let them up and stumble a bit and then let the PLAYERS do what players do


play ing basketball just the way they played their entire lives and just the way they became top 20 picks

the tools are plainly there

just get the out of the way and let them play play play

then at the ASB - pop could have re-evaluated who rose to their potential without being pulled and benched for little mistakes-

and who flopped

then you can have a talk with RC about which players he is pegging with their valuable draft picks

not rocket science

[The Truth #6]

Bottom line. The Spurs should not have signed Forbes. More Pau Gasol thinking. His salary this year is roughly what Samanic's would be next year, so they wouldn't have been out any net cash. Play him in the rotation for 20 games and see what you have. There is no denying he had a positive impact in a number of games where he was given meaningful minutes. Looking for players that are "over themselves" is fine when you are filling in around 50, 21, 20 and 9; but not when you are 100 times more likely to secure the #1 pick than the LOB trophy. All of these NBA draft picks have been told they are special for the past ten years or more. Some like Vassel were fortunate to have parents that gave them a great foundation. Obviously, Luka had a much different set of inputs. The Spurs drafted him know he wasn't likely to "get over himself" like their other draft choices who had a better foundation. To cut him loose before giving him meaningful regular minutes for at least 20 games is a clear signal that Pop's ego is more important than the team. Forbes signing. Luka probably doesn't end up panning out anyway, but to not have it in the plan to give him that run before any final decision is made is unconscionable. If Luka could hit the 3 he is the perfect fit along side KJ. How can you not see what that looks like? Of course, another benefit of not signing Forbes is that Primo and Vassel likely see more minutes. It is clear that Popovich is incapable of being a positive influence on the team moving forward. He needs to get his all-time record wins and retire before the Spurs can return to respectability much less competing for number 6.

Solid points.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Bottom line: Forbes didn’t push Samanic off the roster, KBD did.

Make up your mind. Is Forbes blocking Samanic, or is he blocking Primo, Vassell, and Samanic. There’s only like 12 minutes there.

I am saying the only reason to jettison Samanic now is so you don't have to pay next year. If they decided to cut losses to save next year's salary, then in that sense only is Forbes blocking Samanic. Keeping both KBD and Samanic seems like the most reasonable course of action in a position of real need. KJ faded the 2nd half after expending so much effort constantly guarding guys bigger than him. If you don't sign Forbes or a 5th center you can easily do that. If you actually see the primary point is that it is incredibly bad management to have never given him a role for at least a 20 game stretch to see what he can do. I thought it should have been last year, but to never do it because he's not over himself is horrendous management that is being driven by Pop's ego. That's the point.

[exstatic]

I am saying the only reason to jettison Samanic now is so you don't have to pay next year. If they decided to cut losses to save next year's salary, then in that sense only is Forbes blocking Samanic. Keeping both KBD and Samanic seems like the most reasonable course of action in a position of real need. KJ faded the 2nd half after expending so much effort constantly guarding guys bigger than him. If you don't sign Forbes or a 5th center you can easily do that. If you actually see the primary point is that it is incredibly bad management to have never given him a role for at least a 20 game stretch to see what he can do. I thought it should have been last year, but to never do it because he's not over himself is horrendous management that is being driven by Pop's ego. That's the point.

You’re fixated on this money thing. Bryn Forbes makes $4.5M and is playing for the Spurs. Hutchinson is making $4M, minus minimum, from SA and is playing for the Suns. Aminu is making $10M from SA, and not playing for anyone.

They didn’t cut him to save $4M next year. They’ve shown they will carry short term dead money. They cut him because he’s a lazy ass who doesn’t hustle or give a lot of effort.

Here’s the pattern: Hutchison wasn’t in their plans, Aminu wasn’t in their plans, and Sammich wasn’t in their plans. That’s it, in a nuts .

[buttsR4rebounding]

You’re fixated on this money thing. Bryn Forbes makes $4.5M and is playing for the Spurs. Hutchinson is making $4M, minus minimum, from SA and is playing for the Suns. Aminu is making $10M from SA, and not playing for anyone.

They didn’t cut him to save $4M next year. They’ve shown they will carry short term dead money. They cut him because he’s a lazy ass who doesn’t hustle or give a lot of effort.

Here’s the pattern: Hutchison wasn’t in their plans, Aminu wasn’t in their plans, and Sammich wasn’t in their plans. That’s it, in a nuts .

I'm not fixated on the money. I'm saying the only reason not to keep him this year is to save his salary for next year. I am fixated on the fact that they never put him in the line up for 20 games and let him show what he can do. That especially with the unusual 2 years we have had, to not have a plan to do that as part of the decision making process is unfathomable. C'mon Exstatic. I know you are not that obtuse.

[KobesAchilles]

Spurs coaching staff is near the bottom half of the league for sure. All of Pop's assistants are spineless yes men with little actual experience coaching a team themselves. The Spurs stopped being a playoff team when all the good assistants like Udoka and Messina jumped ship. And our training staff probably still thinks the midranger is the best shot in basketball based on the inability of all our youngsters to shoot from beyond the arc(ranking last in 3s years after year)

Spurs are on the bottom in every single part of the organization

GM- we don't know tbh but is looking middling at best
Ownership- spoiled kids get their parents sports franchise. This has always worked out well
Coaching- Pop is now a bottom tier coach. At his best he might've been the best but currently he is a sad s of himself. Happens to all the greats and there's no shame in it. Even Landy sucked his final few years as the Cowboys coach
Players- zero all stars. One player who might be a second tier star and a buncha role players and players who shouldn't be on the team
Assistant coaches: besides Becky, who we have no idea if she's actually any good, does anybody really do their job well. Even Chip sucks. Can't blame this on anything else besides getting poached

[exstatic]

I'm not fixated on the money. I'm saying the only reason not to keep him this year is to save his salary for next year. I am fixated on the fact that they never put him in the line up for 20 games and let him show what he can do. That especially with the unusual 2 years we have had, to not have a plan to do that as part of the decision making process is unfathomable. C'mon Exstatic. I know you are not that obtuse.

That’s NOT the only reason, that’s YOUR take on what the reason was. He’s a lazy ass with at ude problems. That’s been the case since he was a teen in Europe. Spurs thought he might grow up. He didn’t. The end.

[Chinook]

Who cares if Samanic pans out?

Has anyone considered that it doesn't matter if the Spurs while they're tanking miss out on a potential rotational PF? Does that prevent them from tanking? Does it make them contenders? No to both. I feel like I might've said this in a different thread a couple of days ago, but there's basically no opportunity cost for cutting or retaining most of the roster. The Spurs aren't in a position where a cheap slightly above average rotation player matters to their trajectory. Just as guys don't become stars by playing g-league minutes, guys tend not to become stars after schlepping around as the 15th man for years.

I think we can critique the Spurs' FO for once again seeming to once again make a roster move without the coordination from the coaching staff to utilize the acquisition. That's doodoo. It's not a good thing at all for the Spurs to spend a 19th pick on a guy and then cut him two years later. But as far as Samanic himself? Nope doesn't matter. Sam can become a solid rotation player ala James Johnson or even a very good starter like Khris Middleton, and it wouldn't matter in the slightest that the Spurs didn't keep him way back when. This is the modern NBA. You draft a guy for four years, not for 10. Eventually developing into a guy worth a rotation spot is almost meaningless if it takes longer than a rookie contract to do.

[KingKev]

This is the modern NBA. You draft a guy for four years, not for 10. Eventually developing into a guy worth a rotation spot is almost meaningless if it takes longer than a rookie contract to do.

I sort of like this view. Walker, in many ways fits nicely in that camp also. Hopefully Primo is more like Vassell than Walker/Luka.

I never much cared for Luka but another thing to consider is some ppl need to fail to become better or get their act together and the environment can play a big part in that. He’s not the first and won’t be the last to potentially go on to a decent career after Pop has decided he wasn’t a fit. There is a big reason many NBA players probably really respect Pop but wouldn't consider playing for him.

[Maddog]

It almost sounds like he might be getting better coaching…

He got great coaching. He was cut.
Made him realize his career is on the line

[Cabrito]

The problem isn’t that the Spurs drafted and cut Luka. Making a bad pick happens every year in the NBA for much higher picks at that. The problem is they have no plan B. For example, If one of our guards doesn’t pan out, such as Lonnie, we still have Vassel and Primo to develop. Luka doesn’t pan out and what stretch four that is agile enough to defend the pick and roll do we have? Keldon and McBuckets are not big enough to be power forward types. I like KBD but he is a journeyman and is likely no better than a role player. Who are they developing in that position? We haven’t had options in years and the Spurs continue to ignore it.

We keep getting killed on the boards with no real power forward, although for some reason it seems like we are rebounding better with KBD in the starting lineup, even tho he does not get many rebounds himself. It could be cir stance or I could be completely off with that statement. I haven’t verified.

[Dejounte]

The problem isn’t that the Spurs drafted and cut Luka. Making a bad pick happens every year in the NBA for much higher picks at that. The problem is they have no plan B. For example, If one of our guards doesn’t pan out, such as Lonnie, we still have Vassel and Primo to develop. Luka doesn’t pan out and what stretch four that is agile enough to defend the pick and roll do we have? Keldon and McBuckets are not big enough to be power forward types. I like KBD but he is a journeyman and is likely no better than a role player. Who are they developing in that position? We haven’t had options in years and the Spurs continue to ignore it.

We keep getting killed on the boards with no real power forward, although for some reason it seems like we are rebounding better with KBD in the starting lineup, even tho he does not get many rebounds himself. It could be cir stance or I could be completely off with that statement. I haven’t verified.

Maybe he boxes out better than anyone else. I know Keldon does a job boxing out.

[Chinook]

The problem isn’t that the Spurs drafted and cut Luka. Making a bad pick happens every year in the NBA for much higher picks at that. The problem is they have no plan B. For example, If one of our guards doesn’t pan out, such as Lonnie, we still have Vassel and Primo to develop. Luka doesn’t pan out and what stretch four that is agile enough to defend the pick and roll do we have? Keldon and McBuckets are not big enough to be power forward types. I like KBD but he is a journeyman and is likely no better than a role player. Who are they developing in that position? We haven’t had options in years and the Spurs continue to ignore it.

We keep getting killed on the boards with no real power forward, although for some reason it seems like we are rebounding better with KBD in the starting lineup, even tho he does not get many rebounds himself. It could be cir stance or I could be completely off with that statement. I haven’t verified.

The Spurs do rebound significantly better with KBD in the game, according to on-offs. https://www.basketball-reference.com...01/on-off/2022

My guess is that's because KBD always plays as a forward, which means his 6-8 long-armed frame is never the biggest on the Spurs' side. Johnson's much smaller standing reach is usually the PF when he plays -- unless he plays with KBD, so he doesn't rebound as well against other PFs. You can scroll down to see here: http://www.82games.com/2122/21SAS7.HTM -- that Johnson is a positive rebounding when listed as "SF", though it's dubious as to how 82games makes that distinction.

It should be noted that Keldon is a great impact-rebounder, increasing the Spurs' total rebound percentage by plus 10.2. https://www.basketball-reference.com...04/on-off/2022

However, when paired with KBD, that increase jumps to 18.3, which is pretty absurd. https://www.basketball-reference.com...1/lineups/2022

KBD is playing well. He's limited, and the lack of impact players at other positions means his more subtle effect on the team doesn't lead to the obvious results compared with someone like Danny Green on the M3 Spurs. By no means did Luka do anything to deserve to keep his spot over Keita. You can argue Pop should've realized who Young was and not had five centers on the 15-man roster. But I'm not sure Sam deserved to keep his spot over AFA anyway. I don't actually think he was that close to being in the rotation.

Anyways, the team should definitely draft a PF in this upcoming draft. It's just the position that would see the most immediate return. They also should have looked into signing someone besides a sixth center as their 17th man this summer. But Luka failed on his own merits, and they shouldn't've kept him just because they didn't have another prospect. They simply didn't have the roster spots to carry two dead spots on the team.

[talkspurs]

The problem isn’t that the Spurs drafted and cut Luka. Making a bad pick happens every year in the NBA for much higher picks at that. The problem is they have no plan B. For example, If one of our guards doesn’t pan out, such as Lonnie, we still have Vassel and Primo to develop. Luka doesn’t pan out and what stretch four that is agile enough to defend the pick and roll do we have? Keldon and McBuckets are not big enough to be power forward types. I like KBD but he is a journeyman and is likely no better than a role player. Who are they developing in that position? We haven’t had options in years and the Spurs continue to ignore it.

We keep getting killed on the boards with no real power forward, although for some reason it seems like we are rebounding better with KBD in the starting lineup, even tho he does not get many rebounds himself. It could be cir stance or I could be completely off with that statement. I haven’t verified.

This and we still never got to see what he could do. He should have started and KJ should be at the 3. KJ is not a 4. He may be able to play them in spot min but not as much as he is. There were many different players the spurs could have gotten rid of/ not signed and kept Luka. By us not playing a proper lineup this can also hurt other players as they are having to compensate for it. Yes if Luka is bad this would hapen as well but you would atleast get to see what he has.

[XDT76]

The Spurs do rebound significantly better with KBD in the game, according to on-offs. https://www.basketball-reference.com...01/on-off/2022

My guess is that's because KBD always plays as a forward, which means his 6-8 long-armed frame is never the biggest on the Spurs' side. Johnson's much smaller standing reach is usually the PF when he plays -- unless he plays with KBD, so he doesn't rebound as well against other PFs. You can scroll down to see here: http://www.82games.com/2122/21SAS7.HTM -- that Johnson is a positive rebounding when listed as "SF", though it's dubious as to how 82games makes that distinction.

It should be noted that Keldon is a great impact-rebounder, increasing the Spurs' total rebound percentage by plus 10.2. https://www.basketball-reference.com...04/on-off/2022

However, when paired with KBD, that increase jumps to 18.3, which is pretty absurd. https://www.basketball-reference.com...1/lineups/2022

KBD is playing well. He's limited, and the lack of impact players at other positions means his more subtle effect on the team doesn't lead to the obvious results compared with someone like Danny Green on the M3 Spurs. By no means did Luka do anything to deserve to keep his spot over Keita. You can argue Pop should've realized who Young was and not had five centers on the 15-man roster. But I'm not sure Sam deserved to keep his spot over AFA anyway. I don't actually think he was that close to being in the rotation.

Anyways, the team should definitely draft a PF in this upcoming draft. It's just the position that would see the most immediate return. They also should have looked into signing someone besides a sixth center as their 17th man this summer. But Luka failed on his own merits, and they shouldn't've kept him just because they didn't have another prospect. They simply didn't have the roster spots to carry two dead spots on the team.

It seems like KBD is same as Poeltl, better ORB% when they are on but poorer DRB% when they are on. So they are good offensive rebounder and not so good defensive rebounder

[D-Robinson 50 fan]

Reading these comments about Luka after being cut is funny. Most of these folks didn’t care about this guy when he was on the team but now that he got cut everybody is coming out of the wood work trying to champion his potential. You can’t make like this up. LMAO

Luka Samanic is putting up numbers (and turnovers) because the team is letting him be the man. They are also getting their ass kicked in the process. He put up (inefficient) numbers with the Austin Spurs his last season there also.

His biggest issue (it seems) is he still thinks he is better than he truly is. His effort level isn’t as good if he doesn’t get a lot of touches on offense. Not many NBA teams are going to run their whole offense through him and until he realizes that in order for him to stick and actually get minutes in the NBA he will have to excel at a limited role first.

[exstatic]

ST: I can’t believe the Spurs drafted this complete unknown! He’ll probably be crap!

Also ST: how could they cut him? OMG!

[Proxy]

if Luka wasn't putting in effort, then what precedence does that set moving forward. Keeping a talent that's lazy isn't good moral. Not like he's Shaq jfc, none of the players seemed to give a either

[SpurSpike]

People are just frustrated because Luka never really got many opportunities to play as a Spur and this year seemed like the best year to give him a real shot.

[The Truth #6]

Ehh, it’s not just about what fans think and our whims, it’s what the FO and coaching staff are doing, or not doing.

The current approach of developing all players like role players needs to adjust somewhat. I understand not enabling egotistical players, but at some point the coaches have to kick the tires and see what they have. Didn’t happen with Luka, and that’s more poor asset management, especially for a team going nowhere.

The coaches seem to have some rigid flowchart/algorithm for development and it hasn’t worked for Luka, or Walker either, and he isn’t a . Walker’s lack of progress is a better way to look at our regression.

[dbestpro]

Luka is going to be fine. Lots saying he was lazy but no one here was in the gym with him. You don't build the muscle he built by being lazy. He will get his moment because in truth he is too good. It will be one more facepalm regarding Pop and his inability to make good decisions late in life. I do agree not having strong minded assistant coaches really hurts the team.

[exstatic]

Luka is going to be fine. Lots saying he was lazy but no one here was in the gym with him. You don't build the muscle he built by being lazy. He will get his moment because in truth he is too good. It will be one more facepalm regarding Pop and his inability to make good decisions late in life. I do agree not having strong minded assistant coaches really hurts the team.

Gym work can be done at your time and pace. Defense cannot, at least on the Spurs.

Let be a little more clear: he was a lazy ass ON THE COURT. He didn’t hustle. He didn’t get back on D. He acted like a star, but wasn’t.