Slotting The Spurs

[BacktoBasics]

I mean you're literally talking about the coach and organization that invented load management

They're not old but Sochan/Collins have legit durability concerns and PATFO will be kid gloves with Victor, I almost guarantee it tbh

FWIW, I think they're better served playing "big" anyways and would rather take minutes away from McD/Champs so they can always have 2 of Sochan/Wemby/Collins/Bassey/Barlow on the court at all times.

Collins I can understand but Sochan doesn’t have durability issues.

Had we been in the playoff hunt he wouldn’t have missed nearly as many games. As much I would have liked to see him in the summer league it makes sense to lean on “health” knowing that out of all the young players he’s the one who needed the summer games the least.

No reason for Sochan to eat up Barlow minutes when the Spurs really needed to determine just how much of a leap Barlow actually made.

[K...]

i understand that if the spurs want to buy out his contract, they will be required to make that part of a regular NBA contract, and not a 2-way deal

im talking about not buying him out. let him stay under his baskonia contract. of course, possibility exists that he and his agent had long expressed his desire to come straight to the nba and were not expecting to be a stash. i know there's a mechanism for players to force their way over and sign the minimum second round tender, but that would also require him to pay for his own buyout. or he'd just ask to be traded to a team willing to give him that roster spot

we have to offer a contract or we lose his rights. He played well enough to get a rotation spot, at a position we need depth. Dont overthink these.


Does anyone remember the player who forced the spurs to offer a contract? I remember a scenario where there was a threat to leave

[Twisted_Dawg]

Don't we still have $13 million to spend? If so, somebody else is coming in and filler out.

[Kurik]

Don't we still have $13 million to spend? If so, somebody else is coming in and filler out.

I believe the Spurs have hit the floor with the Osman and Bullock trades, they have room but they don’t have to spend right now but they can make more deals or wait til the trade deadline I believe. They do need to make cuts by October.

[spurraider21]

we have to offer a contract or we lose his rights. He played well enough to get a rotation spot, at a position we need depth. Dont overthink these.


Does anyone remember the player who forced the spurs to offer a contract? I remember a scenario where there was a threat to leave

not exactly the case for players who are under contract in another league. theres a process by which the player has to pay the buyout of his existing overseas contract, and then he gives the nba team formal notice that he is available to sign an nba contract. at that point, the team has a limited period of time to tender him a second round minimum contract.

if cissoko is still under contract with baskonia, he isnt currently eligible for an nba contract. the buyout has to happen first. often times, this is negotiated, and the team gets involved and pays some money directly toward the buyout, and usually will factor in the rest of the required buyout money into the player's contract

the spurs can tell cissoko that they have no obligation to offer him a contract until he gets out of the baskonia deal. if the spurs want him stashed, they can simply say they are unwilling to participate in his buyout. that could turn into a scola situation. or maybe cissoko agrees that he's better off staying on his deal with baskonia (and potentially being rented to the gleague again) rather than forcing his way onto a back end nba roster spot and not getting playing time anyway

and no, cissoko certainly hasnt "earned a rotation spot" lol. he's played ok enough defensively against summer league compe ion, but thats a far cry from real nba games. and his lack of scoring ability has been an eye sore. he's definitely not rotation ready. and thats to be expected. he was a mid 2nd round pick. thats usually not a recipe for year 1 real rotation minutes

[rascal]

Looks more like a thread about how the current roster is formed. Individual happiness isn’t really a topic here, Debbie Downer.

It's the same roster as last year with the addition of Wemby.

I don't know why there is so much speculation or concern who starts, it isn't going to really matter who starts. The same core players as last year are going to get the minutes with Wemby added.

[scott]

It's the same roster as last year with the addition of Wemby.

I don't know why there is so much speculation or concern who starts, it isn't going to really matter who starts. The same core players as last year are going to get the minutes with Wemby added.

Since I’m sure the NBA is not going to suddenly change the rules to add extra minutes to the game, people on a Spurs message board are discussing the Spurs roster.

It’s fine that you think the Spurs have the least talented roster in the league. You remind us of it in every thread. But at some point you could consider positively contributing to a thread.

[K...]

not exactly the case for players who are under contract in another league. theres a process by which the player has to pay the buyout of his existing overseas contract, and then he gives the nba team formal notice that he is available to sign an nba contract. at that point, the team has a limited period of time to tender him a second round minimum contract.

if cissoko is still under contract with baskonia, he isnt currently eligible for an nba contract. the buyout has to happen first. often times, this is negotiated, and the team gets involved and pays some money directly toward the buyout, and usually will factor in the rest of the required buyout money into the player's contract

the spurs can tell cissoko that they have no obligation to offer him a contract until he gets out of the baskonia deal. if the spurs want him stashed, they can simply say they are unwilling to participate in his buyout. that could turn into a scola situation. or maybe cissoko agrees that he's better off staying on his deal with baskonia (and potentially being rented to the gleague again) rather than forcing his way onto a back end nba roster spot and not getting playing time anyway

and no, cissoko certainly hasnt "earned a rotation spot" lol. he's played ok enough defensively against summer league compe ion, but thats a far cry from real nba games. and his lack of scoring ability has been an eye sore. he's definitely not rotation ready. and thats to be expected. he was a mid 2nd round pick. thats usually not a recipe for year 1 real rotation minutes

so if the spurs dont give him a spot , and he pays his own buyout do the spurs have his rights? at what point can another team sign cissoko and pay his buyout? the scenario you mention is one in which the player and foreign team want to keep going. I don't think either want to. The foriegn team gets a cut of the payout. if the spurs this up, it's really bad for their future SRP picking. And they have a lot of SRP!




Who is our backup and 3rd PG?

[Dejounte]

Sochan seems best suited for PF although I do believe he can play SF, especially situationally.

But in most cases last year, Sochan seemed like a PF with only Poeltl Zollins Deing or Bassey as the next biggest player.

And the few times another approx ~6'8 ish player joined Sochan with either Poeltl/Zollins/Bassey, it was Roby or KBD clearly playing SF which seems to put Sochan at PF.

Not sure I want to pull Sochan away from the rim on either side of the court. Not sure he has the 3 ball necessary to play wing against starters (but it was improving). Not sure I want Victor and Sochan both out there simultaneously to start games since one could back up the other during foul trouble issues. It's like blowing both loads at once and not saving backup plans. Still don't see a solution yet for the starting 5 and will be interesting to see what they do. Either way you're either playing guys possibly out of natural position/strengths or benching a top 10 pick lol. Victor does not seem like a C. Sochan does not seem like a PG. Please stop proposing those lineups. I mean it's possible and Spurs always tries out experiments, but I'm wary of the success potential barring some developmental leaps from the players.

If we don't trade some wings which I believe will happen Sochan kinda stuffs into SF pretty badly. Pushing KJ to the bench with Bullock, Champagnie, Doug and Osman already there seems imbalanced barring additional trade moves.

But I believe Sochan could succeed at SF. Especially if he's been working on it this summer: foot speed, shooting, three pointers.

Going to disprove this myth through multiple posts.



i only went through a quarter of this video (first 12 minutes of this 50 min video) because I was trying to hurry, but here are the times Sochan wasn’t playing PF:

0:30 - Jalen Smith on Keldon, Tyrese on Sochan
3:52 - Aldama on Keldon, Dillon Brooks on Sochan
5:16 - Draymond on Keldon, Wiggins on Sochan
6:52 - Metu on KBD, Huerter on Sochan
7:23 - Marcus Morris on KBD, Reggie Jackson on Sochan
11:47 - Jabari Smith on KBD, Jalen Green on Sochan
12:21 - Jabari Smith on KBD, KPJ on Sochan

I’ll either find a different video or go through the rest of it later

It is tough dissecting highlight videos like this because a lot of the plays are fast breaks which clearly isnt representative of matchups. I didnt include those in my list obviously

[Dejounte]

Since I’m sure the NBA is going to suddenly change the rules to add extra minutes to the game, people on a Spurs message board are discussing the Spurs roster.

It’s fine that you think the Spurs have the least talented roster in the league. You remind us of it in every thread. But at some point you could consider positively contributing to a thread.

Did someone here once say rascal was a 60+ year old man, one who probably has had his brain fried from life experiences? He sure does act like it (forgetful, slow to understand, repeats the same thing over and over).

[cutewizard]

The Apotheosis of Basketball, the 2014 Beautiful Game

[jjspur]

Not sure Bullock or McNuggets make it to the start of the season not to mention Osman or Stevens. Include Birch on that list as well. Some of theses guys have a little bit of trade value but I can see the spurs just waiving a couple of them to make room for younger players. My guess is that whomever plays the best defense gets to stay, the others get traded (preferably) or just cut outright. Hasta la vista Birch.

[cutewizard]

i love my Spuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssss s

[buttsR4rebounding]

Keldon is maximized as a starter and fits that unit best and still think Sochan comes off the bench.

What do you base that on?

[slick'81]

Interested to see who plays more between osman and bullock

[scott]

Did someone here once say rascal was a 60+ year old man, one who probably has had his brain fried from life experiences? He sure does act like it (forgetful, slow to understand, repeats the same thing over and over).

This website is such a bizarre mix of brain dead, predictable dimwits and arrogant, argumentative assholes that it is a shock the handful of normal humans who come here tolerate it. And that’s without even diving into the cluster of the Politics forum cesspool.

man, I just wanna talk about the Spurs but some folks make it goddamn difficult without spamming the ignore feature.

[Twisted_Dawg]

Interested to see who plays more between osman and bullock

I don't want to see any of our jags play. I want to see if our young guys can play and develop. The jags weren't brought in to help us win a championship. They were not brought in to be long term fixes. I don't want them getting minutes and shots over Champ, Barlow, Bassey and Mamu. Maybe Graham as back up PG and that's it. The rest can be cut or traded.

[XenoThirteen]

One has to think that if Sochan even becomes a 33% shooter from 3 and Vassel takes more of a scoring load this year, they’d be better off with the starting 5, pushing Keldon to lead the bench unit. I can totally see McNuggets/Graham getting significant minutes as someone Wemby can reliably pass to when he inevitably gets trapped/double teamed. By the end of the season we may see something like:

Guaranteed starters: Wemby, Vassel
Likely starting: Jones, Sochan, Collins
Significant minutes: Branham, Keldon, McNugz, Champ, Graham
Fringe/Situational: Mamu, Bassey, Barlowe
Gleague: Cissoko, Wesley

Hoping the Summer league performances actually translate to real production. If it does, this team seems pretty deep.

[Obstructed_View]

What do you base that on?

Well, see, Sochan came off the bench at Baylor...

[buttsR4rebounding]

Well, see, Sochan came off the bench at Baylor...

I assume you are being facetious.

[benefactor]

Sochan isn't a starter...

The take express rides again.

[The Truth #6]

Lots of lenses to see how the roster and playing time shakes out: seniority, development, positional preference by the players, defense, offense, who is a two-way player, maximizing trade value, who best complements Victor, et cetera. I think a realistic conversation recognizes we don't know exactly what Pop is prioritizing, and maybe he doesn’t either, yet.

The most obvious and interesting logjam is PF with Victor, Sochan, and Keldon all best suited in this type of position. (I see Victor as a PF for now while he “figures it out”, Keldon as a PF because skinny Keldon basically failed last year to become a lighter better defender at SF and by the end had bulked up, and Sochan there because it plays to his versatility.)

How well Keldon or Sochan adapt to playing around Victor will likely decide their minutes and future with the team, unless Sochan has to sit out a lot for knee injuries.

Mamu could easily be on the outside looking in unless he makes a case for 3rd string center over Barlow.

Anyway, just rambling.

[Obstructed_View]

I assume you are being facetious.

You assume correctly.

[SpursFan86]

Funny that Spurs fans of all people would have such rigid/traditional takes on what it means to come off the bench. Sochan “coming off the bench” could still result in him playing some of the most minutes of anyone on the team and being in the game during crunch time. Sochan coming off the bench doesn’t mean the Spurs don’t view him as one of their best players, or that he won’t be a focal point of the team, or anything else along those lines.

I’m very high on Sochan and think he’ll be a top 3 player on the team next year. I also think he’ll come off the bench because the Spurs have made it clear they want to limit Victor’s minutes at center at this stage. I think it’ll be Tre/Vassell/Keldon/Victor/Collins…but Sochan will typically be the first guy subbed in and it won’t take long for that to happen most games. It also wouldn’t surprise me at all for Pop to experiment with lots of lineups as the season goes on…Sochan might come off the bench in the first half of the season but end up starting a lot down the stretch.

[Dejounte]

Funny that Spurs fans of all people would have such rigid/traditional takes on what it means to come off the bench. Sochan “coming off the bench” could still result in him playing some of the most minutes of anyone on the team and being in the game during crunch time. Sochan coming off the bench doesn’t mean the Spurs don’t view him as one of their best players, or that he won’t be a focal point of the team, or anything else along those lines.

I’m very high on Sochan and think he’ll be a top 3 player on the team next year. I also think he’ll come off the bench because the Spurs have made it clear they want to limit Victor’s minutes at center at this stage. I think it’ll be Tre/Vassell/Keldon/Victor/Collins…but Sochan will typically be the first guy subbed in and it won’t take long for that to happen most games. It also wouldn’t surprise me at all for Pop to experiment with lots of lineups as the season goes on…Sochan might come off the bench in the first half of the season but end up starting a lot down the stretch.

Sochan starting has nothing to do with any of those points tbh he’s the better overall fit with Wemby and the starting unit. Keldon proved last year he has a knack for scoring, why not continue that trend without being in Wemby’s shadow as far as touches go? Sochan is definitely the better defender, and we all agree that across the league, most teams have their best scorers as their starters. Why put Sochan on the bench for him to defend the opposing team’s lesser scorers? That completely ruins the point and doesn’t maximize his skills. Not only that but his ruggedness and willingness to do the dirty work is perfect alongside Wemby and Collins (who is soft and not very physical inside).

Better defense to start = set the tone for the rest of the game + less of a hole the team is dug in if opposing teams are going on a scoring blitz at the beginning of the game