The Good, the Bad and the Future After Joshua Primo's Rookie Season

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/joshua-pri...od-bad-future/

Primo is still a mystery but there were some good signs in his rookie season

Article #6 of 200 for the 2022-23 season. Stay tuned for more...

I've completed deep dives on a handful of draft prospects so I got some movement on the Big Board. Not sure when I'll update it but that should be coming soon, IMO.

[KingKev]

I’m a hard seller. Will willfully eat my crow if he turns into a contributing piece. I think he’ll become more Walker than DJ.

More evidence a big reason we reached was because he’s a good kid and fit the character requirement. This character BS needs to be refined till we have some talent.

There was some real hard reaching for the good, my fave being:

He averaged 3.0 assists per 36 minutes, which — to put that number into perspective — was significantly higher than the rates posted by Devin Vassell (2.5), Keldon Johnson (2.4), Bryn Forbes (2.2) and Doug McDermott (1.9).

[PhantomDashCam]

Great article. Might also contain one of my favourite quotes:

A Spurs staffer had an interesting way of describing the rookie’s confidence: “Primo acts like he has seen this movie before and he knows how it ends. He knows he will be great and that he just needs to take the steps one at a time on his way to becoming a star.”

Let’s just hope that film is more ‘Citizen Kane’ and less ‘Rise of Skywalker’…

[mo7888]

https://www.spurstalk.com/joshua-pri...od-bad-future/

Primo is still a mystery but there were some good signs in his rookie season

Article #6 of 200 for the 2022-23 season. Stay tuned for more...

I've completed deep dives on a handful of draft prospects so I got some movement on the Big Board. Not sure when I'll update it but that should be coming soon, IMO.

I think the movie will end quite well for him.... I also think he's taller than 6'4" now....

[objective]

Primo has to take the development stairs one step at a time because he's not a good enough athlete to take them 2 at a time

Anyways, despite being 6 months younger than fellow Canadian Mathurin, I think Mathurin is a much better prospect. If Mathurin is in the board by some miracle, I hope the Spurs don't hesitate to take him

[KingKev]

^ the youth argument when it comes down to 3-6 months is hilarious for so many reasons.

[Mr. Body]

I'm completely unconcerned about his rate of development. He's going to make a lot of people look like the dorks you are.

[KobesAchilles]

3 years from now when he still sucks, people will be here saying well he’s young

[baseline bum]

I think the movie will end quite well for him.... I also think he's taller than 6'4" now....

Hope his movie plays out a lot better than Vassell's has played out so far.

[KingKev]

Hope his movie plays out a lot better than Vassell's has played out so far.

Likely to be the sequel.

[SAGirl]

Thanks for the article. It was a good one, but there’s a chance he’s a marginal player long term? or there’s a chance he develops and becomes a star?

I get it. He truly is too young. I think if he were headed for s om though, the signs would have been more noticeable. We’d see some flashes.

That said, I am hopefully just a prisoner of the moment. He has youth squarely on his side. Next season we’ll get a better idea of more or less where he’s headed.

[GAustex]

3 years from now when he still sucks, people will be here saying well he’s young

^

[Uriel]

It's cool to see how high the Spurs are on Primo, thinking he's going to be a star. Then again, they were extremely high on Kyle Anderson too, and we all know how that turned out.

[The Truth #6]

Confidence and youth, those are the two main positives it looks like. But without any physical gifts. Let’s hope he’s a hard worker.

[Degoat]

People are gonna eat major crow on Primo. The kid is 19! It takes time for some guys, Dejounte couldn’t dribble the ball his first 2 seasons in the league now look at him.

[BacktoBasics]

Everyone is star or bust with this kid. I’d be thrilled with another Vassell or Keldon.

[Strategic]

Hopefully the kid puts in a ton of work this off season.

[Spursfanfromafar]

If Primo's movie plays out like Vassell's, I will consider it a success. Both him and Vassell would be viable starters in a team and that would be a good outcome. I am still hoping that the outcome goes from good to great. A la Murray. And the ingredients are there.

[XDT76]

Everyone is star or bust with this kid. I’d be thrilled with another Vassell or Keldon.

Nah I think he is a Danny Green+ don't think he will be a bust but would need a lot of growth to ba a star, at least with DjM type of growth which is not common. If everyone who Spurs draft can have that kind of growth we will be swarming with all stars.

[timvp]

If Primo's movie plays out like Vassell's, I will consider it a success. Both him and Vassell would be viable starters in a team and that would be a good outcome.

Agreed. I'd take Primo and Vassell becoming legit starters. For Primo to become a star, his talent would have to be through the roof.

I reread my initial article on Primo being drafted and ........... yeah, a lot of it holds true after his rookie season:

https://www.spurstalk.com/joshua-pri...purs-thoughts/

[SAGirl]

^ The most likely outcome for him is average roleplayer. He’s not there yet, so improvement is still required To get there, which is why bust is still a possible outcome, though hopefully he crushes that next season.

[vy65]

Elephant in the room is whether him at 12 was justifiable. Haven’t seen him at 12 defended and that’s because it was a bad pick.

[Atl Spur]

Elephant in the room is whether him at 12 was justifiable. Haven’t seen him at 12 defended and that’s because it was a bad pick.

Brother can you please the last 20 picks @ #12 and tell me taking a guy you feel with high upside was bad….. please stop embarrassing yourself.

[Sugus]

People don't give Primo his respect as a prospect because they underrate the things he's great (or projected to be great at), and overrate the things he's bad (or projected to be bad at). His confidence and poise being the main one.

His shot can and will get tweaked. He'll shoot better - his form is much better than it was at the start of the season, his FT shooting is not a problem, he's always been a shooter. I don't pay any mind to percentages, whereas I see posters falling over themselves - can a 19 year old ever possibly get better at shooting?! The answer is yes, of course... Him stagnating or never improving shooting-wise is literally the exception and not the rule. Ben Simmons-type players stagnate in shooting, not Primo's (lifelong shooter-first smaller guards, I mean).

What's tremendously underrated are his poise, his naturality playing the game, his creativity on-the-fly, and his control of the game. Those are things NOT every prospect, or most prospects really, can be relied on to improve. How many times do we see, each year, players who are mentally "too weak" for the playoffs? The big lights? Not Primo. He played a very controlled (though scoringly unremarkable) play-in game; sticked to his defensive assignment, knew he wasn't the one to be relied upon for scoring, just went out there and did his job. That's great for a rookie. Coachable, scalable, repeatable. All things you want in your prospects.

I hardly see people mentioning his passing game when talking about him - further yet, some posters insist he's a Danny-Green kind of player . When ever did Danny ing Green "wow" you with a creative pass or play? Literally never. He could not put the ball on the floor, literally, much less be an offensively flourishing force. Primo is completely different. His entire game is predicated on putting the ball on the floor to create opportunities - whether by ISO'ing his way onto a 3, or driving and kicking out (a staple of this Spurs team, sadly), or trying to get to the hoop (yes, I know he's not finishing well yet, yes he'll get blocked, etc). His passes miss the mark because he doesn't yet have the experience to make them consistently, but the skill is there (Manu, anyone?). His game, even as a rookie, paints a great picture of what player he wants to be. And that's where he'll be headed, as the scout says, one step at a time.

Can he bust? Of course. His handles might never develop enough to whitstand a great defense focused on him (the Linsanity special). His lack of explosive athleticism might prove too big a hamper in a league filled with athletic wonders. Injuries, of course, can never be ruled out either. But until then, he'll do the things that he's been doing, because he's that kind of player - he doesn't give a about the pressure and the outside noise. And that - you can't teach. And it separates "the guys" from the "JAGs", like my lil' Lonnie.

[Sugus]

Also, can we put his draft spot discussion to bed already? JFC, what a way to get hung-up on the littlest things. I was team Sengun on draft night, too... Over a year ago. Primo isn't even a rookie anymore - who cares when he was drafted? After the draft is over, you're into the league - #1 pick or #60. Equal chances for everyone to work on their games, improve, and stick around; or don't, and get Darko'd or some .

He was drafted #12, get over it, for 's sake.