Two point guards on the court at the same time

[spurraider21]

I’m seriously doubting that. They just can’t defend anyone, regularly giving up high 120s and 130s. The worst thing they could do to us is trade a Trae away. He’s the sea anchor, dragging them down. They played better when he was out.

The East is ty, but they’re the tiest of the ty, or nearly so. Even teams like Detroit that I had penciled in as tankers are ahead of them in the standings.

he missed one game

for the season, the team's net rating is -2.6 with him on the floor, -9 with him off

[exstatic]

he missed one game

for the season, the team's net rating is -2.6 with him on the floor, -9 with him off

…and 1-0 without him playing. That was the huge game by Dyson Daniels.

[Mr. Body]

I am actually souring more and more on Vassell, I liked his ability to score in isolation, but he doesn't seem to fit where the team is headed. He can be that change of pace guy for sure, but I had bigger hopes for him. I think he has the skills to be that creator on the team, not just for himself but for his teammates as well, and I definitely thinks he can play D a bit harder.

Still think he's a good pick, just not sure if he is the type of player the Spurs is trying to build on.

On that train of thought, not sure what Branham is on the team for. I can see the outline with Wesley with the defence and the passing, but Branham with his no d-playing trigger finger is just not what the team is headed towards. Perhaps the team wanted someone who can score in a hurry, but there are way better options on the market for that.

Wesley and Branham were picked late 1st round in a draft that was nearly depleted at that point, before we had Wembanyama. I don't blame the team for continuing to develop them. It costs nothing to work with them right now.

- Branham has improved on defense. Never be a stopper, but to me he's more passing the eye test, working harder, staying engaged. My big swing is whether he can be aggressive and confident. It still seems like he's playing apologetically. There's still a good bench scorer in there.

- Wesley has improved his decision making especially when to attack the rim. He's too small to be a true stopper, but can be disruptive off the bench. He's also very fast. Unfortunately his outside threat is non-existent.

As for Devin, if he can't play, that's a completely different thing. But when he's on the court, I worry about his lack of separation. That's a serious problem. He's able to make tough shots, but he may not be the one-on-one playmaker the team badly needs.

[spurraider21]

…and 1-0 without him playing. That was the huge game by Dyson Daniels.

holy sample size batman

[exstatic]

holy sample size batman

Not a requirement on this forum.

[scott]

Spurs have at least gone to a "one of PG3, Tre, or Castle on the court at all times the last 3 games:

[Seventyniner]

It's a lot easier to have two PGs on the floor when one of them is Castle who plays well off the ball too.

[ambchang]

Wesley and Branham were picked late 1st round in a draft that was nearly depleted at that point, before we had Wembanyama. I don't blame the team for continuing to develop them. It costs nothing to work with them right now.

- Branham has improved on defense. Never be a stopper, but to me he's more passing the eye test, working harder, staying engaged. My big swing is whether he can be aggressive and confident. It still seems like he's playing apologetically. There's still a good bench scorer in there.

- Wesley has improved his decision making especially when to attack the rim. He's too small to be a true stopper, but can be disruptive off the bench. He's also very fast. Unfortunately his outside threat is non-existent.

As for Devin, if he can't play, that's a completely different thing. But when he's on the court, I worry about his lack of separation. That's a serious problem. He's able to make tough shots, but he may not be the one-on-one playmaker the team badly needs.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m ok with those picks at those positions. I actually liked Blake especially at 25. He’s gotten better the last few games so hope he is trending up. I always liked his defence and tenacity. I felt he has decent passing and passable vision. The issue as everybody knows is his scoring, and more precisely finishing. He has no problems getting to the rim or getting a decent shot off, he just can’t finish and sometimes just refuse to even take the shot because he knows he can’t finish. So if he just works on that I think he’d be a really good backup guard.

Branham, I don’t know. He can score and that’s it. Good pick at 20. But not sure if that’s what the spurs need.

Vassell I agree, will have to wait and see. I started disliking some of what he does starting last year, where he just keep shooting (and making) these tough shots. His defence is also getting lazy. If he gets his defence back on track and be more discriminant on his shots then he’d be awesome.

[Obstructed_View]

We hoped Branham would develop into what Jared McCain, Rob Dillingham and Dalton Knecht already are after 20 games.

[cutewizard]

Egor Demin would be ideal for this train of thought the Spurs seem to follow of having an entire lineup of tall guy with PG skills.

Too bad the Spurs seem to be playing their way out of Denmin's range.

---------------------------------------------

Good Sir, at what point do you project him to be? And what are the odds/chances we can get him?

Thanks

[John B]

We hoped Branham would develop into what Jared McCain, Rob Dillingham and Dalton Knecht already are after 20 games.

Dilly is averaging 3.8 pts. Branham was averaging 10.2 pts in his rookie year, and have had several 20+ pts.

[quentin_compson]

Branham was getting 23.5 MPG on a bad team in his rookie season, whereas Dillingham so far has been getting 8.4 MPG on a playoff team. Both per 36 minutes and per 100 possessions, Dillingham would actually outscore Branham in their respective rookie seasons as of now.

[exstatic]

Branham was getting 23.5 MPG on a bad team in his rookie season, whereas Dillingham so far has been getting 8.4 MPG on a playoff team. Both per 36 minutes and per 100 possessions, Dillingham would actually outscore Branham in their respective rookie seasons as of now.

Per36 is only really useful above a certain level. No one comes in and burns it up for 30 or36 minutes, but you will for 8.4.

[Mr. Body]

Malaki Branham is now and probably always will be a far, far better defender than Rob Dillingham ever will be.

[DAF86]

---------------------------------------------

Good Sir, at what point do you project him to be? And what are the odds/chances we can get him?

Thanks

Probably top 5. I don't see us getting that high without extreme luck, tbh.

[quentin_compson]

Per36 is only really useful above a certain level. No one comes in and burns it up for 30 or36 minutes, but you will for 8.4.

I agree with that. I was just replying to the nonsensical argument that rookie Branham put up 10 PPG, ergo he must be better than rookie Dillingham with 4 PPG.

[Obstructed_View]

Dilly is averaging 3.8 pts. Branham was averaging 10.2 pts in his rookie year, and have had several 20+ pts.

Lol. You go with that. Good luck.

[spurraider21]

Malaki Branham is now and probably always will be a far, far better defender than Rob Dillingham ever will be.

0 is not greater than 0

[LeBowen]

Dejounte

Seems like a relevant topic again.

Without going into detail, I think we could be onto something by inversing the traditional basketball principles.
Assuming we get Fox and keep Castle, two of them in combination with Wemby and two great shooters could be unstoppable.

Fox is one of the best in the league at getting to the rim and finishing, Castle is projected to be a guard that's all about bullying inferior matchups and scoring in the paint.
With Wemby's obvious wishes of being a 7'4 KD, on paper it looks like a potentially unstoppable system if everything develops according to plan.

How do you even defend a team with such structure?

[Seventyniner]

If the Spurs do trade for Fox while keeping both Castle and CP3, they would be all but forced to run a ton of two-PG lineups. And that's without Tre Jones, though I assume he would be included in the Fox deal if CP3 wants to stay.

[spurraider21]

Dejounte

Seems like a relevant topic again.

Without going into detail, I think we could be onto something by inversing the traditional basketball principles.
Assuming we get Fox and keep Castle, two of them in combination with Wemby and two great shooters could be unstoppable.

Fox is one of the best in the league at getting to the rim and finishing, Castle is projected to be a guard that's all about bullying inferior matchups and scoring in the paint.
With Wemby's obvious wishes of being a 7'4 KD, on paper it looks like a potentially unstoppable system if everything develops according to plan.

How do you even defend a team with such structure?

fox has at least developed into a capable and willing shooter. not a good one, but good enough. castle absolutely would have to get there. and then sochan becomes even more of a problem

[scott]

fox has at least developed into a capable and willing shooter. not a good one, but good enough. castle absolutely would have to get there. and then sochan becomes even more of a problem

Yeah, I think people overstate Fox's shooting limitations. He's not a knockdown sniper, but he's not a guy who teams are going to leave wide open and dare to shoot like Sochan. So long as Fox develops into a decent 3P shooter, that pairing would be fine.

A Barnes/Aldama wing pairing in 2025 would be my dream.

[LeBowen]

Yeah, I think people overstate Fox's shooting limitations. He's not a knockdown sniper, but he's not a guy who teams are going to leave wide open and dare to shoot like Sochan. So long as Fox develops into a decent 3P shooter, that pairing would be fine.

As I wrote earlier, Booker is just 1% better from 3pt than Fox over the past 2.5 seasons, identical volume.

A Barnes/Aldama wing pairing in 2025 would be my dream.

I'd be happy with any of Aldama, Naz or John Collins.
I'd maybe even prefer Collins since he'd probably accept a lower extension than what those two will ask for.

[scott]

As I wrote earlier, Booker is just 1% better from 3pt than Fox over the past 2.5 seasons, identical volume.



I'd be happy with any of Aldama, Naz or John Collins.
I'd maybe even prefer Collins since he'd probably accept a lower extension than what those two will ask for.

I'd be happy with either of the other two as well, but I really like Santi. John Collins I'm probably the least excited about, but I wouldn't hate it. We won't need any of them when we get Flagg though

Also still hope we take a good look at LaRavia.

[LeBowen]

Dejounte

Seems like a relevant topic again.

Without going into detail, I think we could be onto something by inversing the traditional basketball principles.
Assuming we get Fox and keep Castle, two of them in combination with Wemby and two great shooters could be unstoppable.

Fox is one of the best in the league at getting to the rim and finishing, Castle is projected to be a guard that's all about bullying inferior matchups and scoring in the paint.
With Wemby's obvious wishes of being a 7'4 KD, on paper it looks like a potentially unstoppable system if everything develops according to plan.

How do you even defend a team with such structure?

Relevant bump, let's call it inverse basketball!
This probably means Spurs fully bought into the Wemby is a wing on offense idea.