If you waste a season with Victor Wembanyama as your centerpiece...

[Atl Spur]

Broke this into 2 posts for easier replying.

I personally liked their pivot into the post-Kawhi era. The Spurs weren't willing to tank, which is as much a team as it is a business decision, and on that paradigm made the best of a terrible, terrible situation. I didn't like the Ingram package which was the only real offer besides DDR, which lands us here, really. And to your tanking point - the Spurs actively delayed the tank while waiting for Wemby to be eligible (there's a Timvp article on the Spurs' preparation for this if you haven't read it), and got the GOAT candidate. Again, something I think they should get credit for, rather than bashed, considering that having followed your "tank in 2018" idea (not yours only ofc, most of ST was on it), they wouldn't have Wemby today. They waited for it.

I haven't seen any mentions of wanting to tank from PATFO this season, so do loop me on that if I've missed it. From the looks of it, they want to field a compe ive team while retaining flexibility, which is a path I like, though I wouldn't mind Markkannen for the right price.



That's neither truth nor a fact, it's a supposition lmao. And it's not even a right one because different events necessitate different choices - had the Spurs not gotten Wemby and instead Amen Thompson or w/e, they would not have made the moves they have, and might've pushed harder for a trade or bigger shakeup. You can't just assume it all plays out the same.

And in any case, as teams like the Hornets and Pistons you mention show, it's not about how bad you are but how good you're building yourself up to be. Otherwise, being bad has no end. And on this point, I didn't see the Spurs being rudderless at any point post-Nephew - just going in directions that I might disagree with. But clueless? Only once, when the Primo stuff blew up in their faces, tbh.

True… nice post

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

How did this thread about our ty front office devolve into a pissing match between two posters for multiple pages?

Come on guys, if you're going to beat someone up, go stuff that dip Brian Wrong in a trash can.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

A lot of what makes the FO discourse/criticism so asinine to me is just how much of it is built off narratives and entirely unproven prerrogatives that establish the "worldview" that the critics attack. An example from your own post: how the do you know that it was a Pop alone, Pop's ego decision, to give Sochan run at PG, and not a decision discussed with the coaching staff beforehand? That maybe an assistant coach saw value in Sochan's handling and Pop valued that and green-lit the experiment? You simply do not know, tbh, but one narrative gives you a clear enemy, and the other doesn't.

Anyway, on to your question: while yes, I "believe" (lol?) in the Spurs' youth, I'm not so interested in Lauri because 1) I don't think the Spurs have a roster that is one trade away from true contention, instead having numerous holes to fill first, and 2) given point 1, I don't believe the Spurs can maximize Lauri's talents to match the very high price that getting him would take. Then you have to re-sign him to a near-max or max deal at the end of next season, and the problems begin. I've been drumming the Porzingis to Dallas trade as a parallel and an example of why I dislike this move, this early, consistently.

But I'm not "hard passing" on Lauri. If he can be had for just Keldon and a pick? it, of course. I just don't think that'll be the case. I'm only engaging in this trade if I'm winning it because I don't see the Spurs being rushed to push for this specific "star" at all, when again, more are sure to become available in the near future, just like Kawhi once became.

You really think anyone in that building forced Pop to run Sochan at point? God, you're dumb.

Pop's demonstrated repeatedly that he can't think forward. He's stuck on what worked for the Tim Duncan prime years. Stuck on trying to find the next Horry to shoehorn into a point forward. Stuck on finding the next athlete to build into Kawhi. And both are stupid. The game has changed.

[Fireball]

Wasting a year of a 20 year old player?

The moves the Spurs made are totally fine.

[Obstructed_View]

Wasting a year of a 20 year old player?

The moves the Spurs made are totally fine.

Thanks, hindsight.

[Sugus]

You really think anyone in that building forced Pop to run Sochan at point? God, you're dumb.

I neither said nor implied that, and my point was to the contrary of that; unsurprisingly it went over your head.

Pop's demonstrated repeatedly that he can't think forward. He's stuck on what worked for the Tim Duncan prime years. Stuck on trying to find the next Horry to shoehorn into a point forward. Stuck on finding the next athlete to build into Kawhi. And both are stupid. The game has changed.

Pop developed a playbook and blueprint for a legendary championship run after Duncan's prime years, that is still being used by the league today, what the are you talking about?

I'd like for him to retire from coaching and hand the seat over to a young new blood coach, but you don't gotta be idiotic with criticism of him, he's done plenty wrong for real.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I neither said nor implied that, and my point was to the contrary of that; unsurprisingly it went over your head.



Pop developed a playbook and blueprint for a legendary championship run after Duncan's prime years, that is still being used by the league today, what the are you talking about?

I'd like for him to retire from coaching and hand the seat over to a young new blood coach, but you don't gotta be idiotic with criticism of him, he's done plenty wrong for real.

Nothing went over my head. Pop's stuck in 2017. It's 2024. try to keep up.

You need three point shooters, not mid-range "athletes". And we don't even have enough of those either.

[Sugus]

Pop is head coach. The head coach gets the blame. It comes with the job. The assistant coaches don’t have a win loss record and they aren’t making 16 million a year. I don’t care if an intern came up with the idea, it was Pop who implemented it and therefore he gets the blame for not being able to do it.

Sure, I'm not talking about blame here. I'm talking about the re ed delusion that Pop runs some diabolical, egocentric clown show with the team, as if he doesn't have plenty of team advisors and staff overseeing the Spurs' decisions and moves. Again, just an example there from a rhethoric often seen around here.

What about KJ and 4 picks? 3 our own and the CHI pick. We keep all our youth. Lauri will still be in his prime as the youth gets to learn how to play. So you either have faith that they can become championship pieces or you don’t. If you do have faith then we don’t need major pieces for when we are le contenders. Just small trades and the right vet signings. And yeah the Spurs have a great history of signing star players who want out. We’ve done it once in our entire history

For that price? I'd be in. The more the market has developed, and teams like the Warriors appear to have stopped their chase, the more I've grown to like a trade for Lauri. He would fit the current, projected team extremely well, and Wemby is just MVP-level at this moment. You can't go against that.

I honestly think he could have a '03 Timmy run in him by next season if the chips around him are good enough, tbh.

[Sugus]

Nothing went over my head. Pop's stuck in 2017. It's 2024. try to keep up.

You need three point shooters, not mid-range "athletes". And we don't even have enough of those either.

Hey, I'm not the one saying the '14 run was during Timmy's prime, how about you keep up with your own mouth, tbh?

I don't disagree about the rest.

[Obstructed_View]

The Spurs 2014 plan: have a full roster of veterans who understand how to play basketball and let them pick and roll the rest of the league to death.

Paul and Victor is hopefully a good start to that.