9 Thoughts After the Harrison Barnes Trade

[SpursBills]

I have a bit of a theory about this, but I don't want to start any up. I remember reading a few years ago that he changed to a vegan diet (I don't know if he's changed back since then, hopefully he has). I had some arguments here with people that said I don't know what I'm talking about (I never said I'm an expert or anything, but due to my own health, I've learned a lot about nutrition the past few years), but I was pretty much saying he'd fade and fall apart if he continued on with that. He started off that season great, but then sure enough, towards the end of that season and in the playoffs, he fell apart. Not sure who was giving him nutritional advice, I feel they did him a massive disservice.

Also, like you said, I'm very interested to know what the agreement was like you've mentioned. Is he here to mentor for the whole season, or is it possible that he's traded to a contender if there is someone he likes and they want him. It's very interesting what the pitch to him was. I like the signing and feel it was a great move.

My personal guess is that he plays <1000 minutes this season and either gets traded to a contender or waived at the deadline to join a contender of his choice. I think this is exclusively a 3/4 season rental to kickstart Castle's career and bring some structure to the rotation - but who knows, it's just wild conjecture on my part, we'll have to see how this season plays out.

[Mr. Body]

Body-to-PATFO

I mean, if you want things explained to you and just want to be a whiny dope, go ahead. It gets old, though.

[Dex]

The fact that we have discourse on SpursTalk again is fun, tbh

Better than the days when we were all just resolved to the fact that the Spurs suck

[slick'81]

The fact that we have discourse on SpursTalk again is fun, tbh

Better than the days when we were all just resolved to the fact that the Spurs suck

Wemby definitely helps

[Arguendo]

No. We're here to witness and criticize what is happening and trading a front-lottery pick for peanuts is, and continue to be, bull

Please explain how a back-half of the lottery pick is “front lottery” & how a swap & unprotected first from a historically bad franchise coming after Ant expires is peanuts.
Also maybe consider this is a consensus (very) weak draft & that Spurs have many rostered “prospects” in the mix (Castle, Sochan, Bran—Blake, Champ, Bassey—w/Wemby & Vassel still developing). Maybe they just didn’t want another developmental player & preferred vet presence + assets + cap flexibility.

[T Park]

People thinking that the value of a pick in this year’s draft is equal to the value of a draft next year or in 26 shows how little they understand the value of this draft

[Pauleta14]

Not cool to bench him for a rookie, then.

True. I'd put Barnes

Cp3 won't be playing much imo, Pop will be ultra conservative to keep him injury free as long as possible, maybe 20-25min/game

I can see Castle going from PG to SG with a smart rotation, I don't like him at the 3 yet, maybe with time when he bulks up a little

[Bruno]

I also like more and more the trade Spurs did with #8. A big reason why is because there wasn't really good options left at that stage of the draft for Spurs.

At #4, Spurs picked Castle, a PG who isn't a good shooter. Spurs also have Sochan as a projected core member who isn't a good shooter. At #8, a lot of the prospects were bad shooter like Buzelis or "so-so" like Carter and Williams. Dilligham could have been an option but he is really undersized and drafting 2 PGs with lottery pick in the same draft is perilous.

At the end, with this trade Spurs decided to go with an unprotected 2031 pick and a 2030 swap instead of picking a player like McCain, Knecht or Da Silva. I can understand it.

[slick'81]

I also like more and more the trade Spurs did with #8. A big reason why is because there wasn't really good options left at that stage of the draft for Spurs.

At #4, Spurs picked Castle, a PG who isn't a good shooter. Spurs also have Sochan as a projected core member who isn't a good shooter. At #8, a lot of the prospects were bad shooter like Buzelis or "so-so" like Carter and Williams. Dilligham could have been an option but he is really undersized and drafting 2 PGs with lottery pick in the same draft is perilous.

At the end, with this trade Spurs decided to go with an unprotected 2031 pick and a 2030 swap instead of picking a player like McCain, Knecht or Da Silva. I can understand it.

spurs target was definitely gone and they didnt like what was left. Pretty easy to understand

[Mr. Body]

spurs target was definitely gone and they didnt like what was left. Pretty easy to understand

This has been pretty much proven incorrect.

[TD 21]

I'm not necessarily advocating for Dillingham, but the notion that he didn't make sense because Castle is also a "PG" is absurd.

They couldn't be better theoretical compliments to one another.

People really need to get past these archaic designations and start thinking about how players complement one another on both sides of the ball.

[LeBowen]

I'm not necessarily advocating for Dillingham, but the notion that he didn't make sense because Castle is also a "PG" is absurd.

They couldn't be better theoretical compliments to one another.

People really need to get past these archaic designations and start thinking about how players complement one another on both sides of the ball.

I don't think Dillingham complements anyone on the defensive side of the ball.
The only notion against him is his size.
Soon enough we'll see if PATFO made the right choice.

[jeebus]

The fact that we have discourse on SpursTalk again is fun, tbh

Better than the days when we were all just resolved to the fact that the Spurs suck

I love reading the bad takes too. "Ugh, why don't the spurs just send the Jazz KJ and 5 unprotected FRPs?"

[lefty20]

How many players do we have which are top-8 in any draft? 1, and he looks ing awesome. The #8 in this draft should have gotten much more than some middle schooler. It's not that tough to wrap your small brain around.

Multiple sources have confirmed that those kids will, in fact, grow up between now and 20131. So when the draft actually arrives, they will no longer be middle schoolers.

That's assuming the pick is not used as a part of a win-now trade.

[KobesAchilles]

People thinking we will use that pick in 2031

[scott]

Multiple sources have confirmed that those kids will, in fact, grow up between now and 20131. So when the draft actually arrives, they will no longer be middle schoolers.

That's assuming the pick is not used as a part of a win-now trade.

If the Spurs get eliminated early, they should ask the NBA to allow an exception and let them sign some actual middle schoolers to 10-day contracts and hold "Advanced Scouting Nights"

[Russ]

I ain't shipping Keldon out just to move him though, as that closes the door on a Markannen trade. Really hope they can just pawn Branham off on someone without giving up assets.

That would be a mistake that would become very apparent over time.

[baseline bum]

That would be a mistake that would become very apparent over time.

What are you seeing from Branham that has you excited? I saw a guy who let his man shoot 58% against him when he was in the starting lineup like he was guarding 99-00 Shaq every night. He has never recreated the success he had shooting the three at Ohio State. He was even worse than Sochan running point. I don't see what his redeeming quality is. He has a long way to go to even be replacement level. You could say the same about Sochan too, but at least Jeremy shows flashes of being an elite defender every few games so is worth continuing to invest in with significant rotation minutes. I think Branham was number 577 out of 578 in VORP last year, slightly ahead of Scoot Henderson.

[tbdog]

I like this deal. I think this has been a successful off season. We upgraded our starting roster with two fringe starters in CP3 and Bridges. As I explained in another thread, we didn't trade role players with an asset attached to upgrade those positions. We simply added them. Which means Jones and Julian go down the pecking order. The only player we lost in our rotation was Osman, which was under 20mins a night. Julian numbers are similar and probably better, and he was doing that against starters for most of the way.

The biggest issue I have is the lack of shooting. We do need one more shooter unless Branham improves a lot, Johnson gets year 2 shooting touch back, and Collins also finds his range again. If those things don't happen, our offense is still bottom 5.

[playblair]

spurraider21 preseason cardio comment aging like milk

[timtonymanu]

Looks like Boris Diaw out there sometimes.

[100%duncan]

Feels good to have CP3 and Barnes as your vets as opposed to Keldon Johnson lmao

[jeebus]

Some of these fools forgot what it's like for vets to do preseason; they don't give a about it. Spurs haven't even sucked that long and people still forgot how it used to be with the Three.

[Mr. Body]

We got this guy for free. With a draft swap attached to him. He and Paul saw the team needed to make plays and they went in and made them.

[scott]

What a difference a competent vet or two makes. Imagine having two more of them on this team.