Spurs Select F Jeremy Sochan with the 9th Pick in the 2022 NBA Draft

[BacktoBasics]

Sometimes (most of the time), fans are wrong about FOs' decisions but for the sake of it, a whole bunch of people here saw/knew that team needed a couple vets who know how to win, and at least a vet PG. I don't know what they were thinking, and I'm pretty sure they were serious about focusing on winning, but this is the godam NBA, an elite league... Were they really believing giving the reins to a sop re PF with zero PG experience would help this team win more?

Really feels like a team of young guys in an adult league. And you could see it hurt their confidence and development.

I imagine for what was available they were unwilling to unload significant assets.

If you look at the state of teams that have leveraged their draft capital you’d see more losers than winners.

It’s seems the prudent approach is the smart move despite how impatient we all are. But I think this offseason we’ll see the first leg in a long game of maneuvering etc.

[JPB]

I imagine for what was available they were unwilling to unload significant assets.

If you look at the state of teams that have leveraged their draft capital you’d see more losers than winners.

It’s seems the prudent approach is the smart move despite how impatient we all are. But I think this offseason we’ll see the first leg in a long game of maneuvering etc.

Maybe, but you hurt your players value and confidence doing so. as well as your franchise appeal and pedigree in a small market that suddenly generated a lot of attention all around the world...

It's already hard to attract marquee players, and it feels like you're wasting Wemby whose amazing season is also impacted by the bad record... You don't wanna piss too much your potential franchise player in a small market, spurs better upgrade the team this summer. With the way (super)stars ask to move nowadays, feels like teams are more and more going towards rebuilding by the middle than full on, long term tanking/rebuilding which doesn't bring you more guarantees. I'll give them this year, since spurs wanted to know if Wemby was the real deal (I personnally wanted them to move this summer already). Now they know he's GOAT category, make all the moves you can to give him a real compe ive team by next year... Enough with the experimentations, reclamation projects or long shot prospects.

[Atl Spur]

I was worried that the PG experiment would destroy sochan’s confidence when he was playing like ass but he seems to be hitting his strides again once he moved back to PF.

I have to admit, I was for the PG experiment at first because I thought if it worked it would be phenomenal, obviously it didn’t and I don’t know what sochan got out of it. Still thought the pathway to go would’ve been having Tre start and sochan being the secondary.

It worked for its purpose…..exposure. His game will be better for it in the future This was a calculated move with the future in mind, not the here and now. Sochan will be ok.

[Pauleta14]

Spurs should trade Wemby and make Sochan the center of their project!!!

Pop can't choose between those 2 generational players ......that ARE NOT compatible

[Sugus]

Maybe, but you hurt your players value and confidence doing so. as well as your franchise appeal and pedigree in a small market that suddenly generated a lot of attention all around the world...

It's already hard to attract marquee players, and it feels like you're wasting Wemby whose amazing season is also impacted by the bad record... You don't wanna piss too much your potential franchise player in a small market, spurs better upgrade the team this summer. With the way (super)stars ask to move nowadays, feels like teams are more and more going towards rebuilding by the middle than full on, long term tanking/rebuilding which doesn't bring you more guarantees. I'll give them this year, since spurs wanted to know if Wemby was the real deal (I personnally wanted them to move this summer already). Now they know he's GOAT category, make all the moves you can to give him a real compe ive team by next year... Enough with the experimentations, reclamation projects or long shot prospects.

This point gets repeated often here nowadays, but nobody wants to look at the other side of this coin, which is the Luka Doncic and Mavs situation right now. Yes, focusing on winning early is good for development and "star morale" or whatever, but can you really say that it won't piss off your star even more to be mediocre early on, and get a failure of a team surrounding you for the foreseeable future?

I'd say Doncic looks more pissed off at his situation than Wemby is, though I don't keep up with the Mavs beyond general news. He's notoriously frustrated with the team on the court at times, and the Mavs have little assets to improve moving forward and no young talent to pair with Luka, as he was too good, too early. Wemby is, too, so it's a good parallel to keep an eye on.

At the end of the day, a #1 pick that gets truly frustrated or angry because their rookie team is not good, is not a player worth building around. Wemby shows exactly the opposite signs and tremendous poise, which is a big green flag in my book. Patience is rewarded.

[z0sa]

Spurs should trade Wemby and make Sochan the center of their project!!!

Pop can't choose between those 2 generational players ......that ARE NOT compatible

Disagree, if Sochan lives up to his potential (big IF, granted, as it always is in a League at this level of compe ion and involving extremely young, raw players) then he will be a great running mate for Wemby.

A lot of people talk KL (a bit crazy IMHO) or Dennis Rodman, but I see a James Worthy type of player. Usually a great finisher, wants to run, can play defense and rebound the ball. He doesn't quite have Worthy's size or athleticism but he could possibly make up for it in outside shooting and hustle. Obviously I'm talking archetype here, not making a super direct comparison.

[Pauleta14]

Look, I'm very far from a hater, I like a lot of things in Sochan, he has a rare versatility and grit, he's young and can progress etc

But to me Wemby has to be the center of the rebuild and be surrounded by players who understand he is the Franchise and should be number 1 option

Not only Sochan averages about 1 assist every TWO games to Victor but the eye test shows he rarely if never looks for him! Unless it's obvious

I'm not implying he doesn't like him, they seems to be good mates, but he's just unable to help Victor on the offensive end and it's a big issue to me

I'm aware Pop has a man crush on him so I'm not even hoping Spurs get rid of him, but every games he drives me crazy calling his own number all the time and ignoring Victor

[CGD]

^ Sochan is absolutely part of the future. Wemby is not the only player struggling to find their footing because of all the “experimenting.” You need an asshole on your team who is also smart and moldable. That’s Jeremy. He suffers no fools and a great piece for the future.

[Pauleta14]

^ I'm not denying that, I'm just pointing an OBVIOUS fact/issue that ppl refuse to talk about on this board or are being labbeled haters if they dare mention it...

Sochan never looks to pass for Wemby, numbers and eye test confirms it and I haven't seen any amelioration neither the will from Sochan to do so.

It seems he can't think on the floor, he just reacts all the time and has only a plan A which is his number most of the time.

I just don't see this issue as an easy one to solve, it's part of his personality

[BacktoBasics]

Maybe, but you hurt your players value and confidence doing so. as well as your franchise appeal and pedigree in a small market that suddenly generated a lot of attention all around the world...

It's already hard to attract marquee players, and it feels like you're wasting Wemby whose amazing season is also impacted by the bad record... You don't wanna piss too much your potential franchise player in a small market, spurs better upgrade the team this summer. With the way (super)stars ask to move nowadays, feels like teams are more and more going towards rebuilding by the middle than full on, long term tanking/rebuilding which doesn't bring you more guarantees. I'll give them this year, since spurs wanted to know if Wemby was the real deal (I personnally wanted them to move this summer already). Now they know he's GOAT category, make all the moves you can to give him a real compe ive team by next year... Enough with the experimentations, reclamation projects or long shot prospects.

There’s a bunch of teams that leveraged their assets and can’t move forward. How’s that for morale? I’m not opposed to moving draft stock for the right trade but we still have to build a team.

We can’t toss around or we’re gonna look like the Suns or Mavs.

[MannyIsGod]

This point gets repeated often here nowadays, but nobody wants to look at the other side of this coin, which is the Luka Doncic and Mavs situation right now. Yes, focusing on winning early is good for development and "star morale" or whatever, but can you really say that it won't piss off your star even more to be mediocre early on, and get a failure of a team surrounding you for the foreseeable future?

I'd say Doncic looks more pissed off at his situation than Wemby is, though I don't keep up with the Mavs beyond general news. He's notoriously frustrated with the team on the court at times, and the Mavs have little assets to improve moving forward and no young talent to pair with Luka, as he was too good, too early. Wemby is, too, so it's a good parallel to keep an eye on.

At the end of the day, a #1 pick that gets truly frustrated or angry because their rookie team is not good, is not a player worth building around. Wemby shows exactly the opposite signs and tremendous poise, which is a big green flag in my book. Patience is rewarded.

I definitely agree with the last sentence here which is why people need to chill with how Wemby feels. Its just that people have Kawhi baggage. But if Wemby is going to leave over that happens in first, second, or even third years then he's probably never going to be the one here. Thankfully doesn't seem like thats the case.

[TD 21]

There’s a bunch of teams that leveraged their assets and can’t move forward. How’s that for morale? I’m not opposed to moving draft stock for the right trade but we still have to build a team.

We can’t toss around or we’re gonna look like the Suns or Mavs.

Of course, but they can't be too precious with the assets or picky with the star player either.

This is not some run of the mill centerpiece, it's one of the GOAT prospects, who already looks on or ahead of schedule, seems frustrated and has a unique body/skillet set, in an era where marquee players have less patience than ever.

They can't afford to spend X amount of seasons being uncompe ive, hoping to luck into the significant pieces they need via the draft and for those players to be at the level they need sooner than later.

Prime example of what I'm talking about: Spurs' Jeremy Sochan reveals 'reasons' behind Rising Star Game snub (clutchpoints.com)

[JPB]

There’s a bunch of teams that leveraged their assets and can’t move forward. How’s that for morale? I’m not opposed to moving draft stock for the right trade but we still have to build a team.

We can’t toss around or we’re gonna look like the Suns or Mavs.

I'm not calling for them to empty the war chest already (unless Luka is available) but a couple proven vets on reasonable contracts, notably a solid PG, would be a good start... Can't enter next season with the same roster. Losing is demoralizing and frustrating for eveveryone when you have Wemby doing so well... At some point you gotta realize this kid deserves to reconsider your modus operandi and accelarate things...The kid is ready, no need to wait, winning should be part of the process for Wemby and the rest of the youngsters, it validates everything. That's what Pop litterally said in presesason, he had the right diagnosis but the wrong method.

[BacktoBasics]

I'm not calling for them to empty the war chest already (unless Luka is available) but a couple proven vets on reasonable contracts, notably a solid PG, would be a good start... Can't enter next season with the same roster. Losing is demoralizing and frustrating for eveveryone when you have Wemby doing so well... At some point you gotta realize this kid deserves to reconsider your modus operandi and accelarate things...The kid is ready, no need to wait, winning should be part of the process for Wemby and the rest of the youngsters, it validates everything. That's what Pop litterally said in presesason, he had the right diagnosis but the wrong method.

I get you. Let me bridge the gap here.

Even if we did as you suggested we still aren’t gonna ring this year. We’d likely be sniffing the outer edges of the play in but not close enough to get in.

So punting to this coming offseason makes the most sense. It sucks watching it but there wasn’t anything available that was going to move the needle enough right away.

I do think this offseason is where you’ll start to see the beginning framework for some of the moves you’re suggesting and we’ll have been able to fully analyze the upcoming draft and maintain our assets.

If we look the same going into the preseason next year I’ll absolutely be on the miserable train.

[Ariel]

I'm not calling for them to empty the war chest already (unless Luka is available) but a couple proven vets on reasonable contracts, notably a solid PG, would be a good start... Can't enter next season with the same roster. Losing is demoralizing and frustrating for eveveryone when you have Wemby doing so well... At some point you gotta realize this kid deserves to reconsider your modus operandi and accelarate things...The kid is ready, no need to wait, winning should be part of the process for Wemby and the rest of the youngsters, it validates everything. That's what Pop litterally said in presesason, he had the right diagnosis but the wrong method.

Though I thought the Spurs needed another high pick this year, I was in the camp of signing a vet PG (suggested Monte Morris) and backup C (suggested Plumlee) in the past offseason to avoid a scenario such as this one. The Spurs' FO decided to take it even more slowly doing basically nothing, and while I think it defintely caused the young guys unnecessary struggles (yes Wemby but Sochan even more so), had they not done so I believe the Spurs own pick would probably be around 8/9 right now, with the Raptors' pick at 5 with a very low chance of conveying this year.

So in retrospect they made their choices with a goal in mind (prioritize another high pick over winning right now) and their strategy proved successful in that regard. With that said, I don't think for a second the Spurs will follow the same path this summer, I don't expect all in moves (those will likely come in the '25 free agency with several high profile targets such as Donovan Mitc and Lauri Markkanen), I would be shocked if the Spurs don't get 2/3 vets (PG, wing, center) to help turn the team around and get to, say, pushing for a play in spot. That would IMO be a healthier goal than a 3rd straight tank, which seems to me will do more harm than good at this point.

[toki9]

Not only Sochan averages about 1 assist every TWO games to Victor but the eye test shows he rarely if never looks for him! Unless it's obvious

I'm curious about the metric you're using. Is it the 27 total assists that Sochan has on Wembanyama?

[Atl Spur]

Though I thought the Spurs needed another high pick this year, I was in the camp of signing a vet PG (suggested Monte Morris) and backup C (suggested Plumlee) in the past offseason to avoid a scenario such as this one. The Spurs' FO decided to take it even more slowly doing basically nothing, and while I think it defintely caused the young guys unnecessary struggles (yes Wemby but Sochan even more so), had they not done so I believe the Spurs own pick would probably be around 8/9 right now, with the Raptors' pick at 5 with a very low chance of conveying this year.

So in retrospect they made their choices with a goal in mind (prioritize another high pick over winning right now) and their strategy proved successful in that regard. With that said, I don't think for a second the Spurs will follow the same path this summer, I don't expect all in moves (those will likely come in the '25 free agency with several high profile targets such as Donovan Mitc and Lauri Markkanen), I would be shocked if the Spurs don't get 2/3 vets (PG, wing, center) to help turn the team around and get to, say, pushing for a play in spot. That would IMO be a healthier goal than a 3rd straight tank, which seems to me will do more harm than good at this point.

^this

[CGD]

Though I thought the Spurs needed another high pick this year, I was in the camp of signing a vet PG (suggested Monte Morris) and backup C (suggested Plumlee) in the past offseason to avoid a scenario such as this one. The Spurs' FO decided to take it even more slowly doing basically nothing, and while I think it defintely caused the young guys unnecessary struggles (yes Wemby but Sochan even more so), had they not done so I believe the Spurs own pick would probably be around 8/9 right now, with the Raptors' pick at 5 with a very low chance of conveying this year.

So in retrospect they made their choices with a goal in mind (prioritize another high pick over winning right now) and their strategy proved successful in that regard. With that said, I don't think for a second the Spurs will follow the same path this summer, I don't expect all in moves (those will likely come in the '25 free agency with several high profile targets such as Donovan Mitc and Lauri Markkanen), I would be shocked if the Spurs don't get 2/3 vets (PG, wing, center) to help turn the team around and get to, say, pushing for a play in spot. That would IMO be a healthier goal than a 3rd straight tank, which seems to me will do more harm than good at this point.

From your keyboard to God’s eyeballs. I will be very frustrated if they tank again next year, Cooper Flagg and all.

[ambchang]

Spurs should trade Wemby and make Sochan the center of their project!!!

Pop can't choose between those 2 generational players ......that ARE NOT compatible

When’s the last time you watched the spurs play?

[ace3g]

[Pauleta14]

I'm curious about the metric you're using. Is it the 27 total assists that Sochan has on Wembanyama?

Yes (bare in mind he had 3-4 just in the Bucks game)

but eye test is enough to see his inability to pass to Victor, body language shows he’s not even trying…

I know he’s young and learning etc but I haven’t seen any improvement at least in the intentions whereas the rest of the roster at least try (Vassel isn’t a great passer as well but he clearly tries for ex)

It seems to be a taboo subject on ST where you’re either a believer or a hater …

[Pauleta14]

When’s the last time you watched the spurs play?

great argumentation…

so we answer with questions?

when was the last time you saw an assist from Sochan to Wemby?

[Ariel]

Yes (bare in mind he had 3-4 just in the Bucks game)

but eye test is enough to see his inability to pass to Victor, body language shows he’s not even trying…

I know he’s young and learning etc but I haven’t seen any improvement at least in the intentions whereas the rest of the roster at least try (Vassel isn’t a great passer as well but he clearly tries for ex)

It seems to be a taboo subject on ST where you’re either a believer or a hater …

The problem with that argument isn't whether or not he needs to be able to find Wemby more often, because we all agree he does, the problem is that you're ascribing ill-will to it, and that's what seems difficult to agree with. But in any case, I don't think the issue warrants all that fuss: no one (on the Spurs, here, anywhere) doubts this is Wemby's team going forward.

So once other factors are taken out of the equation (proper PG rotation, proper spacing, an offense that flows somewhat, another year under their belt, etc) it becomes clear a given player (Sochan or whomever) takes decisions based on anything other than the team's best interest, they'll be flipped so fast their heads would be left spinning.

So if there's any truth to your accusations (there isn't, but I'm indulging your argument) you need not worry, it will be taken care of in the short term.

[Pauleta14]

The problem with that argument isn't whether or not he needs to be able to find Wemby more often, because we all agree he does, the problem is that you're ascribing ill-will to it, and that's what seems difficult to agree with. But in any case, I don't think the issue warrants all that fuss: no one (on the Spurs, here, anywhere) doubts this is Wemby's team going forward.

So once other factors are taken out of the equation (proper PG rotation, proper spacing, an offense that flows somewhat, another year under their belt, etc) it becomes clear a given player (Sochan or whomever) takes decisions based on anything other than the team's best interest, they'll be flipped so fast their heads would be left spinning.

So if there's any truth to your accusations (there isn't, but I'm indulging your argument) you need not worry, it will be taken care of in the short term.

I don’t think there’s any ill-will to it at all. I said in a previous post that they seem to be good mates…

I just think Sochan is doing his best but his main skills and imo the main reason for Pop’s crush on him is his defensive intensity and versatility.
On the offensive end he has one gear and one plan. Stops dribbling before knowing what to do ALL THE TIME (like Zero progress is crazy …) and seems to have difficulties finding Wemby.

probably bc it’s not as easy as it seems and he sees the risks of TO too much

ultimately he almost never looks for Wemby, it’s not an opinion it’s a fact and I think it’s an issue when they both are projected to be the future.

[Dejounte]

Oh Pauleta14 But It Isn’t Actually Fact That Youre Presenting Because If It Was Fact You’d Present Something Like This:

---

https://www.nba.com/stats/player/163...ir=D&sort=PASS
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/163...ir=D&sort=PASS
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630170/passes-dash

Jeremy Is Third On The Team In Passing To Wemby
1. Tre - 7.0
2. Devin - 5.7
3. Sochan - 5.3

So Sochan Passes To Wemby Five Times On Average In A Single Game And Not “Never” Which Is Based On Emotion And Lies