2024 Spurs Free Agency Primer

[Knoxxx]

Normally I'd agree with you... but the bet on existing players improving + adding one of the greatest rookies of all time led us to the exact same record last year.

Call it a soft tank, or an incidental tank, or an Abrams Tank it's clear that it's not a prioritization on adding talent to the roster in a meaningful way. That's what I call a soft tank (as opposed to a hard tank, where the FO strips assets off the team to be worse).But I'm fine with whatever tank-related nomenclature we decide upon

Normally I'd agree with you...but while I'm not one to argue trivial semantics in this case I don't think soft tank quite captures the situation. Are we going to win 50 games next year? Of course nobody thinks that, which is around where we'd be thought of an actual contender at all. It is unprovable otherwise that adding Castle + retaining the core does not result in 30 wins or perhaps on the high side about 40. The potential to improve at a satisfactory rate is therefore in the realm of possibilities for our current roster. Spurs went 11 wins 12 losses over their last 23 games. 7 of the losses were by single digits and of those, 3 were by only 2 points. And no, the other teams weren't tanking as was the case the prior year.

I want my X-mas gifts early but the ability to take on bad salaries and overpaid vets is high and there is evidence that the team is on the appropriate track. Going from 30 wins to 40 wins to 50 is doable while being patient is possible without doing much, and their remains a possibility we skip the first step there and come in near .500 in 2024-5 with current roster. 30 wins is better from a team building perspective (25 draft), but I think we have too much momentum going to be that bad. I also think it is Wemby, more than anyone, that charts the course and determines were we land in that 30-40 win range next season.

We also saw that our 2nd tier roster players fit will with Wemby, so continuity as a path towards improvement is not something to dismiss as improbable.

[CGD]

Cam Johnson seems like a no-brainer target, tbh.

Could you imagine the freak out here if the Spurs pay Marks’ 2 FRP price for him though? That’s what it would take (at least).

[timvp]

Chris Paul, come on down?

[Mr. Body]

Could you imagine the freak out here if the Spurs pay Marks’ 2 FRP price for him though? That’s what it would take (at least).

Yep. Cam Johnson is going to be expensive. I don't think people here are prepared for the cost. They just want something to happen.

[TD 21]

Stein continuing to claim the Spurs have "strong interest in Paul" . . . down to possibly his final season and with his family in L.A., I can't imagine he doesn't end up either in L.A. or with the Suns.

The more interesting part to me is, does this signal they do in fact prefer more of a true PG or is this just an exception because of his pedigree?

[Chinook]

Chris Paul, come on down?

He's a good candidate. But we'll have to see if the Spurs waive Graham first.

[Dejounte]

He's a good candidate. But we'll have to see if the Spurs waive Graham first.

Why exactly do they need to waive Graham first? If Graham doesn’t get waived today and in the coming days, does that mean a trade is likely?

[DPG21920]

Chris Paul, come on down?

You’d think he would just go to Lakers or Clippers no?

[scott]

Gotta sign Chris Paul so that Castle can spend more time in Austin?

[jjspur]

Stein continuing to claim the Spurs have "strong interest in Paul" . . . down to possibly his final season and with his family in L.A., I can't imagine he doesn't end up either in L.A. or with the Suns.

The more interesting part to me is, does this signal they do in fact prefer more of a true PG or is this just an exception because of his pedigree?

Yeah, Paul seemed very comfy in Phoenix before they decided he wasn't worth 30 million any more, but I'm sure he'd be just as comfy playing with his old pal Lebron. Instead of the Lakers being known as the purple and gold, they'll be known as the whiney and old.

[RC_Drunkford]

Chris Paul

[Mr. Body]

I wonder if they were trying to trade for CP with Graham and it didn't work out.

[Chinook]

Why exactly do they need to waive Graham first? If Graham doesn’t get waived today and in the coming days, does that mean a trade is likely?

If the Spurs were holding Graham to facilitate a Paul trade (as GS was holding Paul to facilitate a George trade), then Paul being waived and the Spurs intend to sign him outright, it means Graham's contract is no longer useful. If they're smart, they'll still trade him for the extra salary. But depending on how much Paul gets from a potential SA deal, they might not care enough about the $2.8 Million to give up whatever assets it takes to discharge it.

[scott]

I guess Paul brings mentor value... but is he even better than Tre Jones at this point?

[RC_Drunkford]

OKC is tryin to sign Hartenstein

[Pauleta14]

I guess Paul brings mentor value... but is he even better than Tre Jones at this point?

Definitely not in terms of defensive intensity, but his game management IQ, decent shooting and elite passing makes him a lot more valuable than Tre, but with much less PT

[DAF86]

I'm not talking about Curry and George -- that's impossible. I'm talking about Curry and a bunch of win-now vets (think KCP, Bruce Brown) or George and either add one of the younger vets people think would be a good second banana to Wemby like Garland or someone like Vassell takes the next step to being a stable 20-plus ppg scorer who makes his teammates better. Unless Curry becomes available this summer, I don't see any reason to focus on this window until the trade deadline when they can see if where Wemby is.

In "2 or 3 years" you don't have to replace George. You add to him. PG moves over to be the third banana, someone new is the second banana and Wemby is the undisputed first banana. Think of the relationship between Duncan, Parker and Kawhi circa 2015. Hopefully that second guy is someone the Spurs already have on their roster who's organically improved ala Leonard. But because the team has so many assets and because we're talking about Wemby on either a rookie contract or in the first year of a tier-1 max, there should be room to add that guy through other means.

And no, before you jump in, that's not evidence for why the Spurs should tank. Yes, it would be great if they could guarantee themselves a young stud. But they can't guarantee that they'll be in position to draft a great prospect nor that that prospect will pan out. That's why making both picks this year and hoping at least one of them developed to hit that groove was so important. Even if he remained flawed, a Dillingham who's blossomed into a Young-lite would've been huge for an old PG who could get it done sometimes but needed to take a step back and a Wemby in his early prime who just needed somebody to punish defenses that tried to focus too much on him.

In 3 years Geoege has a bigger chance of being out of the league, than being a third banana, tbh.

[MultiTroll]

elite passing

Huh?

Elite ballhog. Yet another dipstick from the Kobme Bryant mold that disaffected an entire generation.
Turns to assist ratio is not good.

Bigger the game bigger the choke generally speaking.

[The Truth #6]

I'm sort of expecting whatever they do will be either disappointing or surprising. If I had to guess, probably some guard or Wing from Europe who is great at shooting and horrible at defense and comes very cheaply.

[Pauleta14]

Huh?

Elite ballhog. Yet another dipstick from the Kobme Bryant mold that disaffected an entire generation.
Turns to assist ratio is not good.

Bigger the game bigger the choke generally speaking.

elite pick and roll passing, yes

Look I hate the dude too but it'd be fo a bench/mentor role, not ball in hands to finish games

[jeebus]

Chris Paul, come on down?

[BackHome]

I am going to laugh so hard if all this maneuvering was to get some old has been

[DPG21920]

Ugh…I mean I guess lol

Hope its a tiny one year deal (I mean it can be 2 years, but want 2nd year non-guaranteed or team option)

Better than nothing I guess, but not exactly what I was hoping for. He’s really bad on defense, cant be relied upon for much else other than accurate lobs/passes and obviously didnt show he had much left in the tank on GS.

I dont *hate* (unless it’s a crappy contract) but I also just kind of feel meh about it and its not enough of a justification to punt the 8th pick so hoping theres some more to this off season

But he definitely pushes one or both of Branham/Blake down the rotation that’s for sure with now Castle/CP on the roster.

[timvp]

Chris Paul, come on down?

Tbh. He was the Spurs 5:01 call. Not sure that's a great thing but I can't complain about the contract. CP3 is annoying but he's a vet the youngins will listen to.

[Brazil]

I'm against Spurs signing a good PG. Minutes at that spot should be given to Tre and Castle. Castle will need minutes playing PG to develop. It will likely cost some games to Spurs but it will be worth it in the long run (unlike Sochan playing PG...).

Caleb Martin is my #1 target for Spurs. Heat likely won't be able to keep him:

well...