Oh great we're the Lakers now.
Doesn't this team begin to run out of cap space pretty quickly after this upcoming off-season? Unless Graham can be waived and stretched.
I don't see how?
Doug is in his final year, will probably get moved before the deadline. $13.7M
Bullock got waived, also in final year. $11M
Same goes for Birch and Payne. $13.5M combined.
Osman is in his final year. $6.7M.
Mamu has $2M.
That's ~47M off the books.
Devin and Collins new deals will start, ~30M increase combined.
And apparently Graham has only $2.8M guaranteed for the next season.
Like Sengun?
I'll never stop being mad about that. He was ours but PATFO thought themselves brilliant and thought they had a replacement for nephew. And we know how that turned out.
If we had Sengun or Haliburton, we would've had worse odds for Wemby.
We got beyond extremely lucky in getting another all-time great potential and it's pointless to look back to what happened before 2023 lottery.
Wemby has already proven that he'll unquestionably be an MVP level player in a few years and Devin also looks great.
Spurs have second most assets in the league after OKC and a ton of cap space.
It's up to PATFO to build a team around those two.
knock down shooters who arent traffic cones on defense and a star offensive player who can slash and get to the rim consistently
1 and 2 offensive options are there...need to find the complementary third guy and stack role players who will execute team defensive concepts well and hit open shots as a release valve
Agree on a PG but also need to have a secondary ball handler/creator at one of the SG/SF positions. One of the jumps Vassell was supposed to take this year was to be more of a shot creator, but so far that’s been disappointing there even as awesome as other parts of his offensive game have looked.
I love Keldon’s heart and energy so much, but the best version of him is a supersub on a top flight team. That position needs to be upgraded, with Sochan or otherwise. It weird to say because he’s so young, but I think we’ll learn at the end of this season that he’s not really on the “timeline” anymore.
I think Zach at center is quite good actually, at least for the next two years after which i think we’ll see VW there full time.
Very young season, very early in Wemby's career. The only NEED is to keep Wemby happy. The wants and our current situ as I see it:
- Wemby is a legit #1, provided he brings his conditioning and effort on every play up. As a 19 year old rookie, I believe he definitely will, and hopefully sooner than later (by his 2nd season).
- Vassell I feel is more of a Parker role. IE can score in bunches and set the tone/shoulder regular season burden, but is more easily locked down in late games. Obviously very early and we've never even had a single playoff game with this group, but that's where I see his potential being - a consistent scorer who's actually more of a 3rd option late in games for big shots rather than the primary ball-handler.
- That leaves us needing some type of Manu style closer who can control the ball and get us (IE Wemby) big plays - including easy buckets and steals - when we need them. Vassell and Manu are more similar than Vassell and Parker form a player profile standpoint, I get it, just to throw that out there. but I don't see them having similar impacts on a contending team. considering Manu had ultra-elite court vision (including on defense for timely rotations/steals) and Vassell - at least at this point - absolutely doesn't compare in that regard. He's a good scorer but that's it at the moment. Manu would be threading the needle constantly to Wemby, with sometimes tragic results but still ...
So that kind of DOES push me towards us needing an elite wing or PG. We're obviously lacking in the PG department, no offense to Jeremy or Tre Jones, who can be fantastic players in their own right, so I lean that direction. But what about Keldon? Where does he fit in the picture? I think, at this moment, he's probably the most likely one to be traded (from a layman's standpoint who doesn't keep up with the financial side much). He's got value and could be a great player on a team who just wants butts in seats. He's got the crowdpleaser in him, but I'd rather Vassell since he seems the more complete and mentally locked in player. That said, KJ's steal from Durant gives me more of Manu vibes ... damn, hard to say really. I just think the "position" we need is a Manu-style player.
TLDR; I'd go with elite PG, but any wing who can control the ball and get us easy buckets/timely defensive plays.
1. Starting PG
2. New Head Coach
3. Defensive big to pair with Wemby
This is the way.
Is there any chance in this universe that mister:
"I'll retire when Duncan retires"
Would leave this contract early?
I don't mean a DUI car crash or some serious health problem, i mean a super pleasant but equally shocking "I'm just going to hand it over to a coach who would be more effective. Thank you."
Maybe, maybe not. Sengun is just starting to round into a full time stud. Haliburton wouldn't have had shooters to pass to.
We may or may not have been in the same position with either one of those guys but it is clear as day they both would have made Wemby better than he already is and will be.
Something and more likely, someone is lacking somewhere defensively year after year.
Just think, as I noted above, we secured the #1 spot for worst defensive rating in the history of the NBA last season. We're firmly entrenched near the bottom again this year at #2, just above the Wizards at 124.9. And that's WITH WEMBANYAMA actually putting up a Defensive Rating about 17 points better than our overall team when he's on the floor, which means we are actually playing WORSE defense, maybe far worse defense, than last year's all time worst team when Wemby isn't on the floor.
And we again lead the NBA in point differential at nearly -12.
So again I say, something is broken in our coaching, scouting, or development ranks. And I am not as sure as you one of those other players would have kept us out of the Wemby sweepstakes.
three all stars
Team isn’t good enough to pass on the best player available but there’s no doubt that we need an offensive initiator, preferably a PG but they could be a SG or SF.
We also need to consider defensive ability
Yeah, the other thing I would like is someone who can rebound who likes to play defense just as much as they like to shoot the ball. When looking at building team you only got so many touches and Wemby and Vassell are going to want their fair share.
1. new coach
2. All-Star level PG
3. C who‘s a real rim protector
I’m done with the past because if we got sengun or kept white or dj, etc we wouldn’t have Wemby. Just a bunch of coulda, shoulda, eastwooda. I think Bill Simmons said Donovan Mitc was unhappy on cavs. Someone like that or someone like a jaden hardy or even a Zach Levine. The thing is even if we trade for someone like that we still need to check the draft for solid PGs and Centers. This team isn’t making playoffs unless a miracle happens so drafting is the way to go.
They need a down-hill iso scorer from the perimeter who is willing to move the ball. They don't have to be the point-guard of the team, but they need someone who can break down a defense and add vertical spacing while not letting the ball stick. For an example, think Dinwiddie.
They need a perimeter defender who can hold up at the point of attack so Wemby isn't put into position to overhelp from bad position. It would be great if this defender was also a good offensive player. Think OG.
A stretch goal would be a junk-drawer forward off the bench who can do a little bit of everything (defend, shoot, rebound, get their own), even if they aren't elite at any of it. I think of the Morris twins when I think of that, thought there are usually a generous handful of them in the league at any given time. Sochan himself may wind up being one of those players, and it'd be a nice path for Cissoko to take as well.
He’s already told you what the plan for the year is, yet you insist on throwing yourself on the ground, and throwing a tantrum like a 2 year old. He’s not going to change course this season, so if it’s this upsetting to you,you should probably just checkout, and check back in at draft time,
A Time Machine to go back so we can redo everything the way basketball geniuses on spurs talk say we should’ve done it
1. New coach. Pop is an outdated dinosaur. His strategies and rotations don't work for modern basketball. We are winning nothing with him as the primary coach standing on the sideline.
2. Anybody but Sochan at the point guard. Doesn't need to be a star. Doesn't need to be great. He just needs to not be Sochan. Like just somebody who is a little better than tre jones.
3. Wemby at the 5 so Sochan can play at the 4. Wemby, Sochan, and Devin are the future of this team. For as bad as Sochan is at point he has been really good as a short roller power forward who keeps teams off balance with his shot selection and passing. It also helps tremendously that on those situations his passing options are a giant man who can dunk from outside the restricted zone and a dead eye shooter guard. When we actually start playing Wemby at the 5 with Sochan at the 4 and Devin at the 2 this team is going to take a tremendously leap. But we can't do this, number 3, until we do number 1, cause Pop isn't the coach to figure this simple concept out.
I'd value positional size and 3-point shooting above all else and I believe the Spurs will too (look no further than what they were trying to do with Primo). The former at least gives one a chance to avoid being a physical liability defensively and the latter helps open up driving lanes to make it easier to get to the rim.
Proctor and Risacher look like the central casting Spurs.
Collins and Sochan (once this PG nonsense is over with) will probably be the primary front court partners for Wembanyama for the foreseeable future, with the hope being that Collins eventually becomes what so many centers were post Robinson next to Duncan: 20ish mpg placeholders, who rarely closed.
Not sure at whom this is directed but me and a bunch of others called Sengun on this board based upon our draft position. It was clear. I was higher on Vassell than Haliburton and the judge will stay out on that one for a while longer.
PATFO took a different approach and it cost us. It's not meant as anything other than to demonstrate that the highly regarded draft gurus in PATFO central aren't infallible either.
They need to fix that defense. I don’t think this cast of characters- minus Wemby - will ever play anything close to passable defense. Size, quickness and IQ on the perimeter needed.
Certain players are getting targeted by opposing teams frequently on defense. It’s a lot to ask Wemby to cover for them. NBA offenses are just too good these days - there is nowhere to hide bad defenders anymore.
They also might want to address their 3pt shooting. It’s 2023 like wtf already.
Either Alexandre Sarr or one of the point guards.
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