Spurs needs to tank hard and target Wembanyama un 2023

[boutons_deux]

Silver warns but how does the enforce no tanking?

[offset formation]

Starting to look like a straight up fantasy at this point.

I think it's clear, barring a trade that guts our talent, we're headed for enough mediocrity that we'll be well out of contention for Wembanyama and Scoot. And Pop is too good a coach to tank. Which is ironic they brought back a coach that made a hobby out of doing it in Philly.

And I think it's both admirable and pathetic all at the same time.

There are easily 3 teams that will be out-tanking us and surprisingly, none of them are Utah. Looks like you've got the expected Orlando and Indiana going for the bottom, but also Detroit which should be playing much better. Houston is also playing below their belt for the time being and I fully expect Utah to come back to what their talent suggests.

We simply have too much talent to suck and too little to compete for anything that matters. And our bench is rather surprisingly competent and fairly deep.

That said, I still predicted a roughly 28 win season after the summer league for us, but I made a point to say that I reserve the right until I saw Sochan play because he might be enough of a difference-maker. Well, turns out he is. Dude is gonna be that guy, which is great news long term but also not great news short AND LONG term as his skills are clearly going to help us win more games than we need to win.

We are figuratively spinning our wheels until we get more talent on this roster. We have to trade away some of what we do have though, like Poeltl and Richardson. They're simply too good and too dogged to half ass it, which I respect the out of them for. Probably should start playing Branham.

Our wing play is gonna be top 5-8 in the league potentially and that alone simply won't lose you 50 plus games.

One other point on Sochan. There was a rather non-descript play in the 2nd quarter with about 4 minutes left in our 2nd game against Minnesota that spoke to what kind of player he already is and what he'll become where his athleticism and hustle ended with him making a block on Gobert. Truly an incredible play from a rookie.

[offset formation]

Silver warns but how does the enforce no tanking?

Can he do anything of significance without getting it approved by a majority vote of the owners? I'm sure he couldn't just change the rules of the draft without league approval...

[Mr. Body]

Every single team with a top pick last draft looks pretty terrible again this year. Not to say their picks are supposed to turn things around that quickly - and Holmgren is out - more saying that these teams have too many problems.

Houston, a big culture problem, I see. Porter and Green jack tons of shots. This will overwhelm on some nights, but vaguely disciplined teams will beat them.

Orlando, a collection of talent but surprisingly less than you'd think. Banchero ain't enough to drag them to wins, not yet.

Indiana, I think is better than this. They have a good coach, too.

Sacramento, always gonna suck. Keegan Murray is good, but the rest? They could beat college teams.

OKC, I think is addicted to losing. Play guys who are kinda ty too much like Pokusevski and Dort.

Detroit, some good young players in Cunningham, Bey, Duren, and Ivey, but none of them are all that great.

The Spurs won't finish below any of these teams barring some huge change.

[RC_Drunkford]

people here need to understand that we are not one of these disfunctional franchises. You dump a franchise player in this roster and we're back in the playoffs immediately. The problem is if we're not getting one, then it will be rinse and repeat. Next we gonna trade Keldon, then Vassell for future picks and then stay in NBA purgatory unless one of these future picks and swaps convey from 2025 to 2029. That would be idiotic. We need to get that guy ASAP

[Dejounte]

Starting to look like a straight up fantasy at this point.

I think it's clear, barring a trade that guts our talent, we're headed for enough mediocrity that we'll be well out of contention for Wembanyama and Scoot. And Pop is too good a coach to tank. Which is ironic they brought back a coach that made a hobby out of doing it in Philly.

And I think it's both admirable and pathetic all at the same time.

There are easily 3 teams that will be out-tanking us and surprisingly, none of them are Utah. Looks like you've got the expected Orlando and Indiana going for the bottom, but also Detroit which should be playing much better. Houston is also playing below their belt for the time being and I fully expect Utah to come back to what their talent suggests.

We simply have too much talent to suck and too little to compete for anything that matters. And our bench is rather surprisingly competent and fairly deep.

That said, I still predicted a roughly 28 win season after the summer league for us, but I made a point to say that I reserve the right until I saw Sochan play because he might be enough of a difference-maker. Well, turns out he is. Dude is gonna be that guy, which is great news long term but also not great news short AND LONG term as his skills are clearly going to help us win more games than we need to win.

We are figuratively spinning our wheels until we get more talent on this roster. We have to trade away some of what we do have though, like Poeltl and Richardson. They're simply too good and too dogged to half ass it, which I respect the out of them for. Probably should start playing Branham.

Our wing play is gonna be top 5-8 in the league potentially and that alone simply won't lose you 50 plus games.

One other point on Sochan. There was a rather non-descript play in the 2nd quarter with about 4 minutes left in our 2nd game against Minnesota that spoke to what kind of player he already is and what he'll become where his athleticism and hustle ended with him making a block on Gobert. Truly an incredible play from a rookie.

That block by Sochan reminded me of Kawhi’s block on Westbrook. It was THE moment you knew they would be special. For me, at least.

[Mal]

Good stuff that Sochan being the dude, does not hurt the tank.

[Atl Spur]

It’s funny how some of these boys are changing their tune�������� I won’t go into detail ( to long to type and not worth it ) the hypocrisy!

[BillMc]

We Spurs fans are like gamblers that hit it big once, and now can't function in the real world

We won the lottery and got the Admiral.

We tanked (once!) and got Timmy.

Now, like that addicted gambler, instead of getting a real job, we're borrowing money to let it ride again on the wheel! Or at least that's what most want on here.

Chances even if we tried to tank we'd be in the bottom 4? Maybe 50/50.

Chance then to get Wembanyama 14%

Chances he becomes a superstar - maybe 30% (which is probably a high estimate, no matter how good he looks).

Chances he stays with the spurs longterm? Who knows....

Chances he leads us to a championship....Small

When you look at the math, tanking ain't worth it. Better to acrue assets and hope you develop a mid-lottery player into a star.

[Seventyniner]

That block by Sochan reminded me of Kawhi’s block on Westbrook. It was THE moment you knew they would be special. For me, at least.

Do you have a video link? I didn't catch the first half and this highlight video doesn't show anything from the second quarter.

[Rocalcio]

Wembanyana knows that he is good, he is not humble about it. I have the feeling that he is the type of guy who might ask for a trade if he doesn’t go to a team he wants. He might pulled a Kobe on draft day.

On what basis are you asserting that ? If I understand your name here you’re French, comme moi, and if you follow his evolution you know he’s being pretty humble considering all the things said about him. It mustn’t be easy to take all this pressure and the kid is doing well. He’s not a diva like you describe him.

[The Truth #6]

Blocked Gobert right in his face. I don’t know how he did it. Definitely an athlete. Then also stripped the ball from Ant Man 1-1. That’s super impressive versatility.

[mo7888]

I think we look like a team that'll finish in the bottom 6-8th spot and hoping for a ping pong ball miracle..

[BackHome]

Obviously want to land in the top 2 of draft but 3 to 7 I think can land us a special player if coached up right. Heck even if we land in the range of 8 to 13 that player could be starting PG, SF, C. This draft is pretty special it’s very deep and a lot of SF will be available which is kinda rare.

[The Truth #6]

There are the makings of a exciting, gritty defensive team here. And yes, having superstar talent would help with more wins, and obviously they need to try to get more talent somehow, it’s stupid not to, but after the Kawhi debacle, and the just disappointing nature of the league, as a small market franchise we are pretty much destined to be in some version of this quandary: pining for big talent, but with the realization that this talent can easily just bail on us.

Teamwork and camaraderie, playing above our talent level, was always going to be needed for a small market like SA to have success, even minimal, without a superstar.

Like Offset, I’m torn about this season.

Like Chinook, I acknowledge some type of Buddhist mindfulness, so to speak, is probably needed to enjoy the moment.

For me, I’m enjoying Pop’s work on the team this year, so I’ll just ride this game to game and see where it goes.

[Mugen]

If the Spurs are somehow stupid enough to not actively try and land a top 5 pick in this upcoming draft, it'll set them back at least another 5 years tbh.

Picking in the 6-10 range again would be absolutely a death knell for this franchise

[Frenchfred]

On what basis are you asserting that ? If I understand your name here you’re French, comme moi, and if you follow his evolution you know he’s being pretty humble considering all the things said about him. It mustn’t be easy to take all this pressure and the kid is doing well. He’s not a diva like you describe him.

He had several comments saying how unique he is, which is true. Recently, he made his comment about Scoot Handerson. He is young so it is expected but I’m worried that an agent could put in his head that he shouldn’t go to a small market.

[Atl Spur]

If the Spurs are somehow stupid enough to not actively try and land a top 5 pick in this upcoming draft, it'll set them back at least another 5 years tbh.

Picking in the 6-10 range again would be absolutely a death knell for this franchise

Totally disagree……

[DAF86]

Do you have a video link? I didn't catch the first half and this highlight video doesn't show anything from the second quarter.

The block is there, aroubd the 1 minute mark.

[rascal]

He had several comments saying how unique he is, which is true. Recently, he made his comment about Scoot Handerson. He is young so it is expected but I’m worried that an agent could put in his head that he shouldn’t go to a small market.

Start spinning the narrative why the Spurs should not target one of the best players in the draft.

[K...]

Start spinning the narrative why the Spurs should not target one of the best players in the draft.

You can't target guys in the draft by tanking. If you want to do the "spurs need top 5 talent" you probably need to do a total rebuild and trade off the current positive players. At some point the odds are greater that are franchise player is already on the team or coming by trade or free agency than winning the lottery , development for three years, keeping them signed. Its a total crap shoot

[Mr. Body]

If the Spurs are somehow stupid enough to not actively try and land a top 5 pick in this upcoming draft, it'll set them back at least another 5 years tbh.

Picking in the 6-10 range again would be absolutely a death knell for this franchise

I think Sochan will be one of the best players in his class. Drafted 9.

[Rocalcio]

He had several comments saying how unique he is, which is true. Recently, he made his comment about Scoot Handerson. He is young so it is expected but I’m worried that an agent could put in his head that he shouldn’t go to a small market.

Of course he knows he’s unique, that would be hypocritical not to say so, and being falsely humble. All great players had great confidence in themselves, that’s a good thing. But that doesn’t mean he’ll make crisis for meaningless subjects, such as not wanting to play in a small market. I actually think he already said he’d love to play in SA.

[Mugen]

I think Sochan will be one of the best players in his class. Drafted 9.

I don't disagree but his ceiling will be limited if the Spurs aren't able to get All-Start talent on the roster (They currently don't have a future all-star on the team IMO). And the road to drafting an all-star is historically a lot easier when you're drafting top 5.

I'm confident that Sochan will be a really, really good player in the league but the gap between him and Banchero is MASSIVE.

[Mugen]

That block by Sochan reminded me of Kawhi’s block on Westbrook. It was THE moment you knew they would be special. For me, at least.

A series saving block to put them in the Finals vs a run of the mill block in Game 5 of the regular season