Spurs Select G Malaki Branham with the 20th Pick in the 2022 NBA Draft

[LeBowen]

One of?

Bronny played some minutes.

[timtonymanu]

It’s unfortunate cause he actually seems like a good person and he looked like he was gonna be solid after his good showing in college and after having a pretty good rookie season. just read all the takes on him when we first drafted him. He just wasn’t able to take his game to the next level.

At this point, Branham is in year 3. If there was any semblance of an nba level player in him, he would have shown it already. Even Blake Wesley with his limitations has shown improvement and he was picked lower than Branham. Its almost like Luka Samanic all over again minus the bad work ethic. I want the guy to do well, I really do. But he’s really been bad.

[CGD]

Gotta make room for 2 rookies too.

[Spursfanfromafar]

Gotta make room for 2 rookies too.

Cissoko, Calamity Branham, and maybe Ingram will all be gone next season, pretty much.

[jjspur]

Branhim ranks in the 1st Percentile in CraftedDPM and the 9th Percentile in CraftedOPM. He's quite literally one of the worst players in the league. But hey, maybe he'll turn it around. Anything is possible I guess.

https://craftednba.com/players/malaki-branham

By comparison... Blake is 8th Percentile in CraftedOPM, so even worse than Branham offensively, but he's 58th Percentile in CraftedDPM (so an above-median defender). So at least Wesley has that. Along the same lines, Keldon is 3rd percentile in CraftedDPM, so just about as bad as Branham, but is 59th in CraftedOPM (so an above-median offensive player). Being a bottom 10 percent player on BOTH sides of the ball is pretty bad.

Probably what it comes down to, is what do the spurs need or value more, a so so player who can play defense a bit or a really bad to so so player who has slightly more talent than a G-Leaguer but not much else. Time will tell. Frankly I'm surprised that the spurs picked up their contracts for next year. Unless they are trade filler, they don't have much value even on our team and will probably replaced by a draft pick next year, if not sooner.

[slick'81]

,wesley is showing more upside

[scott]

Probably what it comes down to, is what do the spurs need or value more, a so so player who can play defense a bit or a really bad to so so player who has slightly more talent than a G-Leaguer but not much else. Time will tell. Frankly I'm surprised that the spurs picked up their contracts for next year. Unless they are trade filler, they don't have much value even on our team and will probably replaced by a draft pick next year, if not sooner.

Not even sure what you are trying to say here... it will come down to if the Spurs value the worst player in the league over someone who is not the worst player in the league?

[spurraider21]

Cissoko, Calamity Branham, and maybe Ingram will all be gone next season, pretty much.

We exercised the guarantee on branhams contract for next season. And Ingram is on a two-way, not holding a roster spot

[Spursfanfromafar]

We exercised the guarantee on branhams contract for next season. And Ingram is on a two-way, not holding a roster spot

They can all be traded. Including Ingram. Wright got a creative trade exchanging a two way player in the offseason too.

[CGD]

We exercised the guarantee on branhams contract for next season. And Ingram is on a two-way, not holding a roster spot

Maliki’s is a very movable/cuttable 4M expiring contract next year. Provides flexibility actually: can trade for a slightly bigger contract or combine with Collins to bring back a 25M player.

[exstatic]

They can all be traded. Including Ingram. Wright got a creative trade exchanging a two way player in the offseason too.

They found a loop hole that I fully expect the league to close. You cannot trade anNBA player, the team cuts them, and you get them back right away,but this was never applied to two ways. I expect that to change.

[jjspur]

Not even sure what you are trying to say here... it will come down to if the Spurs value the worst player in the league over someone who is not the worst player in the league?

What I'm saying is that the spurs really value development and in the case of Branham and Wesley, a little too much. Sure give rookies a few years to show what they have, but if they don't show anything let them go - don't give them the 3rd or 4th year. The spurs front office likes to give players a little more rope than most teams, but sometimes it just doesn't pan out. The spurs are just trying to make the best of a bad situation which they caused themselves by drafting 2 players that needed a lot of development, probably more than most NBA teams would willing to give after two years.

You said it yourself , we have the worst player in the league and another really bad player. So basically, we signed them, might as well use them especially when the team doesn't have many immediate options . Hopefully they don't screw things up too much. Possibly we can find better options in next years draft.

[MannyIsGod]

Yeah, if he hits. Everyone here, I think including you, wrote Sochan off last year. You were all wrong. Branham's defense is not a turn style at this point, it's improved. The decisions are the decisions and problems Sochan was having and other developing players were having.

Don't put me in the position of saying he's going to be a success, but you're just being unjust, short-sighted, and just bitter about something that shouldn't be bitter about. Like I said, he costs little. If you want to believe there's no chance, that's fine, but you believed there was no chance for other players.

Oh I'd love for you to find the place where I wrote off Sochan. Sochan has always had the tools to succeed that Branham doesn't. For one, he plays defense and is far more athletic. Branham is a chucker - the most common unsuccessful player type in the NBA.

We're not in his first year anymore. This is many years of the same thing. Branham is done and there's a reason he's burried on the bench and rarely sees time anymore. With so many draft picks coming in there's absolutely no reason to waste anymore minutes on Branham and while I don't want to see him waived for no reason I do not think he holds any positive value to this team at this time. Comparing him to players who have vastly more upside is nonsense. The more apt comparison is Blake Wesley, a player who is in a similar position but shows vastly more upside in the long term and he doesn't even compare favorably there.

[MannyIsGod]

As I wrote a handful of times, Branham's biggest issue is that he's the most common archetype in the league.
PATFO drafted him because they though he also has defensive upside with his wingspan, but he doesn't.

He's a scoring guard with very little playmaking skills if we're talking running the offense. He's also an average athlete and a pretty bad defender. Whether it be defensive athleticism or situational awareness.
He's a negative on both ends if he doesn't get hot and shoots at a high percentage.
You can find a handful of Branhams at the end of every team's bench. Especially nowdays when the league is moving away from guards being just scorers.

Wesley on the other hand is a worse player right now, but a way less common archetype because point of attack defenders are really hard to find these days.

I get why they picked up his option and it's honestly not a huge deal but he basically has to reinvent who he is completely to have to a future. People just want to point to him being young, but whats his pathway to becoming a player you want on a championsihp team? He is not a greater scorer, he doesn't create for others well, and he's awful at defense so what exactly is it that we're supposed to believe he's going to develop? Wesley on the other hand, is a good defender, and has improved his playmaking every single year and is a solid jumper away from being a contributor. I can see his pathway even if its not all that likely to be successful. I just don't see what people are expecting Branham to become with more time.

[MannyIsGod]

Branhim ranks in the 1st Percentile in CraftedDPM and the 9th Percentile in CraftedOPM. He's quite literally one of the worst players in the league. But hey, maybe he'll turn it around. Anything is possible I guess.

https://craftednba.com/players/malaki-branham

By comparison... Blake is 8th Percentile in CraftedOPM, so even worse than Branham offensively, but he's 58th Percentile in CraftedDPM (so an above-median defender). So at least Wesley has that. Along the same lines, Keldon is 3rd percentile in CraftedDPM, so just about as bad as Branham, but is 59th in CraftedOPM (so an above-median offensive player). Being a bottom 10 percent player on BOTH sides of the ball is pretty bad.

Exactly!!

[BatManu20]

Branham demoted to the G-League. Better than rotting away on the bench I guess.

The @spurs have sent Malaki Branham to the @austin_spurs, where he’ll be available for tomorrow’s showdown vs. the Valley Suns at 3 PM CT at the H-E-B Center. More playing time ahead.

[stephen jackson]

Branham demoted to the G-League. Better than rotting away on the bench I guess.

Damn he’s done . Must suck but he hasn’t improved

[John B]

Branham demoted to the G-League. Better than rotting away on the bench I guess.

3rd year player in the G-League is not good.

[jjspur]

This year has been a totally wasted year for Branham. No improvement, didn't play much, nothing. Would be shocked if he was still on the roster next year after this move. Unfortunately his salary is guaranteed for next next season. Adios Malakai, Europe or China awaits.

[timtonymanu]

“Branham will be fine. You guys just need to kill yourselves.”

[spursparker9]

Trade him for a bag of chips

[rjv]

Branham being Branham with some bone headed plays down the stretch tonight.

[PhantomDashCam]

I'm not overly familiar with the G-League but I would assume that with Branham wearing #8, as the #22 was assigned to Malachi Flynn already,
suggests Spurs never intended for him to be there this year. This likely came from Branham himself to get some reps.

Reading the pre-draft scuttlebutt, supposedly Cleveland really liked him at the time but he injured his ankle before his scheduled workout.
They had pick #14 that year (and chose Agbaji).

Edit: Hadn't seen this but looks like he indeed did request the assignment...

[itzsoweezee]

Branham demoted to the G-League. Better than rotting away on the bench I guess.

Going to the g league at the exact time the spurs need him the most (commanding the tank) is beyond stupid

[cd98]

Our team is tanking and Malaki Branham is still not good enough to be on the regular roster? Whoa has that guy fallen. Looks like he may not be in the NBA much longer, sadly. Hope he gets another shot somewhere.