Spurs free agency targets

[John B]

Is he the second coming of Manu?

Nah man. Just because he can shoot 3’s. Manu makes them baseline passes that bends, I never see anyone does better. Manu’s hesitation moves break ankles. Nah Reaves could be a Benu maybe

[spurraider21]

I'm talking about his stats as a starter. The sample size is big enough here

As a starter he averaged 3.7 fouls in 28 minutes which is still like 5 fouls per 36

[heyheymymy]

Rather KBD is a PF but looking at it through the lens of his return with Wemby/Sochan/Mamu already stacking the 4 realistically KBD would appear to have mins at the 3 in that case.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Top centers are either too expensive (Poeltl back) or too expensive AND too old (Brook Lopez). But maybe we could take a look at someone like Mason Plumlee as a more reasonably priced big body to throw inside the paint and spare Wemby from taking the punishment, and help Zach Collins as well.

Collins was the best player on the team last year after the Poeltl trade. Spurs seem to have hit a home run with this reclamation project. Don’t worry about it this year For the few times a year that teams play heavy center. Zach has earned his spot in the starting lineup and the combo of Zollins/Wemby will give awesome rim protection.

[Mnky]

I expect the spurs to be much more aggressive in pursuits of possibilities while maintaining their well thought out plan. The team has been being built with Wemby in mind for years. Literally. They will continue building around him.

Whether fans want to come to the realization or not the spurs did not do right by Kawhi as the face of the franchise. He made business requests, as all superstars do, and they did not prioritize the players he wanted. They prioritizes their past. Wright has eluded to learning from their past a few times when given such a possibility as a franchise player and I always go back to Kawhi and how they even considered playing hard ball with the contracts. It cost Orlando Shaq and cost them Kawhi.

In the end it seems to have worked out but the reality is that your superstar has to have a say in their career if you want them to play for you. If wemby is that player and wants to be in the playoffs, I expect them to pursue it.

With that being said, I do believe he has the character to understand how patience pays off as well. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see the spurs active in the draft. They have the center piece for at least 4-6 Years. All those resources they've gathered should now be used for the center piece and nothing else. When the centerpiece leaves, those resources become a painful roll of the dice again for years.

[Mnky]

Collins was the best player on the team last year after the Poeltl trade. Spurs seem to have hit a home run with this reclamation project. Don’t worry about it this year For the few times a year that teams play heavy center. Zach has earned his spot in the starting lineup and the combo of Zollins/Wemby will give awesome rim protection.

Zack is also the bruiser punching bag that would take the heat from Wemby. He also fits perfectly as a stretch big and won't clog the lane for Wemby wanting to attack from the perimeter. A stretch/bruiser in the paint is exactly what Wemby needs.

[venitian navigator]

Imho in case we're gonna be actors in the free agent market, the obvious fa targets would be Van Vleet and Poeltl. That's because what we need is a pg that can shoot threes and defend and a bruiser big man that can ease the Wemby nba transition. Both are experienced players. Plus, Van Vleet has championship experience and Poeltl already knows the system. He with Collins, Bassey and, supposedly re_signed, Mamu and Barlow, compose a deep package of 4/5 that can play center all season long and exploit any kind of game style. It just depends on if we really want to go that way losing our cap space flexibility for next year's and if we don't want to hurt Toronto raptor's feelings (I suppose we don't if the past Poeltl trade was considered by them like a play off run and now they want to change strategy and so sell pieces and be back as a lottery team)

[NickiRasgo]

Agreed Mr Body

KBD could be additional long insulation around Victor which I view as a priority.

He can play SF and hits a pretty nice corner 3, does lots of little glue things, but you can slide KBD up to PF in select cir stances and so it's a helpful player template for sure not to mention corporate knowledge to dust off a theme from our heyday.

Without Wemby perhaps I see KBD gone and the team going in another direction as more likely.

Honestly I'm not a fan of KBD but he's like a low-maintenance type of player who doesn't complain and when he's being called, he's ready so I won't mind him back since he seems a legit nice and quiet guy.

[RC_Drunkford]

As a starter he averaged 3.7 fouls in 28 minutes which is still like 5 fouls per 36

Since Poeltl got traded and he became the starter he averaged 3.3. What’s so hard to understand about that?

[Chinook]

Since Poeltl got traded and he became the starter he averaged 3.3. What’s so hard to understand about that?

In the 19 games Collins played after Poeltl was traded, he still fouled out three times and got five fouls three more times. He did have four games where he got one or no fouls, but I wouldn't say being in foul trouble a third of the time inspires confidence that he's over those issues. To me the biggest concern is that he missed eight of the final 27 games of the season. Sure, for most players you can chalk that up to the Spurs resting guys because they were tanking. But Collins' injury history is too broad to assume that. I have strong doubts he's going to be reliable as a long-term starter. If you stretch out those numbers for a whole season, he'd miss 24 games and be in foul trouble by the end of 19 more of those. That's more than half the season of unreliability suggested by Collins during his best stretch of his career.

To me the need to invest in a center beyond Collins is obvious.

[Excessive Egotist]

In the 19 games Collins played after Poeltl was traded, he still fouled out three times and got five fouls three more times. He did have four games where he got one or no fouls, but I wouldn't say being in foul trouble a third of the time inspires confidence that he's over those issues. To me the biggest concern is that he missed eight of the final 27 games of the season. Sure, for most players you can chalk that up to the Spurs resting guys because they were tanking. But Collins' injury history is too broad to assume that. I have strong doubts he's going to be reliable as a long-term starter. If you stretch out those numbers for a whole season, he'd miss 24 games and be in foul trouble by the end of 19 more of those. That's more than half the season of unreliability suggested by Collins during his best stretch of his career.

To me the need to invest in a center beyond Collins is obvious.

I agree with all this, although the best move might be to replace Collins next summer. But if we move for a center sooner, 1) Grant Williams, 2) offer Brook Lopez a big number and see how Milwaukee responds, 3) Naz Reid, 4) Paul Reed, or 5) target 3rd pick and recoup Nurkic as part of the deal.

[Sugus]

To me the need to invest in a center beyond Collins is obvious.

What's your C wishlist looking like, Chino? Both for FA signing and trades, given that we have the (theoretical at least) assets for pretty wild trades, be it this season or next one.

I also share the skepticism on Zollins' durability and reliability if he's given more of a role than he had last year. But I don't wish to bring back Poeltl, as much as I liked him here, and there aren't too many good Cs on the market nowadays. I don't want to go for a cheap thing, either - I'm of the opinion that a good and reliable C is an absolute must for Wemby's development. The less you are forced to play him at C during his early seasons, the better.

One player I'm keeping an eye on is Bam Adebayo. Miami's obviously on a great run, but they're a Jimmy-heliocentric team, and as soon as his wheels start falling off, they could turn to a rebuilding phase faster than most would expect. I think he'd be an ideal pairing to Wemby, even better than Jak or Zollins.

[spurraider21]

Since Poeltl got traded and he became the starter he averaged 3.3. What’s so hard to understand about that?

I already said he got better at it as the season went along. It’s just you use increasingly smaller sample sizes when you add qualifiers

[PerforatedNeckline]

I think Chinook makes valid points about Collins but I don't know if you can assume much about his durability from missed games down the stretch when the Spurs were pretty clearly holding starters out for very minor bumps and bruises in order to facilitate losing.

Chinook acknowledges this in his post, but I'm just saying I think he pretty well showed he could play a whole season without being tentative or hesitant and without something catastrophic happening to his career. Which is maybe a low bar, but still.

[Chinook]

I think Chinook makes valid points about Collins but I don't know if you can assume much about his durability from missed games down the stretch when the Spurs were pretty clearly holding starters out for very minor bumps and bruises in order to facilitate losing.

Chinook acknowledges this in his post, but I'm just saying I think he pretty well showed he could play a whole season without being tentative or hesitant and without something catastrophic happening to his career. Which is maybe a low bar, but still.

Collins averaged 20mpg before the trade and still missed 11 games. That's like a 65-game season. I expect something close to that will be his career. It's not horrible, though if those are his minutes, the team is definitely going to need a starting center. I'm okay with giving Zach a legit chance to show what he can do this season (they can extend him at any time), but I would not going into the year without a legit other center on the roster. It's fine to have Collins win the job, but he shouldn't win by default.

[Chinook]

What's your C wishlist looking like, Chino? Both for FA signing and trades, given that we have the (theoretical at least) assets for pretty wild trades, be it this season or next one.

I also share the skepticism on Zollins' durability and reliability if he's given more of a role than he had last year. But I don't wish to bring back Poeltl, as much as I liked him here, and there aren't too many good Cs on the market nowadays. I don't want to go for a cheap thing, either - I'm of the opinion that a good and reliable C is an absolute must for Wemby's development. The less you are forced to play him at C during his early seasons, the better.

One player I'm keeping an eye on is Bam Adebayo. Miami's obviously on a great run, but they're a Jimmy-heliocentric team, and as soon as his wheels start falling off, they could turn to a rebuilding phase faster than most would expect. I think he'd be an ideal pairing to Wemby, even better than Jak or Zollins.

I like Lopez quite a bit and think he should be the main target on a short-term deal. Reid is a bit small for what I'd want, but him or Wagner are options for a younger guy. I think Len has grown into a rotation center, though that wouldn't be great compe ion for Collins. Meyers Leonard is actually a legit name as well. He is a big guy who can shoot. He has baggage, but I don't think it's the kind that the Spurs have to worry about staining their reputation. People know PATFO isn't bigoted.

[Vince Carter's ankle]

I would not going into the year without a legit other center on the roster.

he'll appear on june 22.

[Joseph Kony]

too bad Kyrie is a flat earther primadonna headcase. character issues aside in terms of skillset he would be the perfect PG for Wemby

[RC_Drunkford]

I'd love to pair Wemby with Myles Turner, but that will cost

[Frenchfred]

2024 is better for free agents. The Spurs will probably just go for a couple of veterans this year, continue to develop the youngsters, see of Wenby acclimate and who he needs around him before throwing money at a star

[lefty20]

Nah man. Just because he can shoot 3’s. Manu makes them baseline passes that bends, I never see anyone does better. Manu’s hesitation moves break ankles. Nah Reaves could be a Benu maybe

He's got a lot of that herky jerky drive game that Manu had mastered. His efficiency/advanced stats also reminds me of Manu. The comparison is not completely unwarranted.

I'd call him a poor man's version of Manu, not the second coming of Manu or Manu2.0.

[spurraider21]

I'd love to pair Wemby with Myles Turner, but that will cost

Yeah indy finally extended him

[ducks]

Woj: Lakers will match any offer on Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, tabled D’Angelo Russell extension talks until after season

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/...ract-extension

[td4mvp2k]

Woj: Lakers will match any offer on Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, tabled D’Angelo Russell extension talks until after season

https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/...ract-extension

good keep them paying the tax

[Mr. Body]

Lakers to D'Lo: Uh... we'll get back to you.