Summer League Grades: Spurs vs. Hornets - July 3, 2023

[MannyIsGod]

I think the Spurs will pick up the third year option because it's only $2.6M. The year 4 option is $4.7M, and if Wesley doesn't improve then he certainly isn't worth that.

The Spurs have invested a lot of player development into Wesley, but the fact that they let Samanic go shows that they don't always fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy. There is only so much time and attention to go around with the player development staff.

Even if Wesley continues on his current trajectory and ends up being a straight up bust, that's an acceptable outcome for the lowest of three first round picks in the same year at #25. He was a home run swing and so far looks like a whiff.

Yeah the higher boom or bust possibility picks are fine - especially with the other two from that draft are doing well. I think its more likely than not they pick up the option but I do think there are only so many players you can develop and if they foresee making more draft picks at that position in the next draft then it may just be better give yourself an out. Its not like they can't resign him if he looks good towards the end of the year.

[spurraider21]

, if this is Barlow going forward he's starting tbh.

It’s summer league scrah

i think in the general summer league thread i said i expected Barlow to crush summer league and ultimately he’s gonna have to prove it in the big league. Kai Jones is on his way out but he’s an nba talent and Barlow literally made him his

what i didn’t see coming at all was how smooth that midrange J was. Over and over again

[Atl Spur]

Cissoko is going to be useful and sorry Miss Cleo not as a point guard.
He gave Miller fits and is the right size to guard LeBron and Leonard. Useful

Someone please handle this fool; I ignore his dumb ass but he still popping! After one summer league game clown boy is a coach…

[PhantomDashCam]

Surprised so many are down on Wesley after one Summer League game.

Last season finished in April, he went back to work in May, so there’s been two whole months to implement proposed
skill and Cognitive evolvements.

Patience y’all…

[GAustex]

Someone please handle this fool; I ignore his dumb ass but he still popping! After one summer league game clown boy is a coach…

Fool

[spurraider21]

Surprised so many are down on Wesley after one Summer League game.

Last season finished in April, he went back to work in May, so there’s been two whole months to implement proposed
skill and Cognitive evolvements.

Patience y’all…

Not giving up on him or anything obviously. Just expected to see more of a leap. Year 2 nba players usually have it pretty easy in summer league. We a red flag when primo struggled last year too

[RC_Drunkford]

I think the Spurs will pick up the third year option because it's only $2.6M. The year 4 option is $4.7M, and if Wesley doesn't improve then he certainly isn't worth that.

The Spurs have invested a lot of player development into Wesley, but the fact that they let Samanic go shows that they don't always fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy. There is only so much time and attention to go around with the player development staff.

Even if Wesley continues on his current trajectory and ends up being a straight up bust, that's an acceptable outcome for the lowest of three first round picks in the same year at #25. He was a home run swing and so far looks like a whiff.

Samanic was a different case. Apparently they knew he was a bust 2 months in. He showed up late to practice, had his little croatian crew with him everywhere and Pop gave him the Tony treatment. When Pop told him "get the off the floor" the guy went straight to the locker room and quit practice. Wesley ain't soft like that.

[Seventyniner]

Samanic was a different case. Apparently they knew he was a bust 2 months in. He showed up late to practice, had his little croatian crew with him everywhere and Pop gave him the Tony treatment. When Pop told him "get the off the floor" the guy went straight to the locker room and quit practice. Wesley ain't soft like that.

I wasn't trying to compare the players, but instead the situations as to the sunk cost of player development time/effort. The Spurs had already put a lot of time and effort into developing Samanic as a player and that didn't prevent them from cutting him when it became clear that he wasn't going to pan out. I think that means the Spurs will do the same with Wesley if he doesn't improve enough. Wesley's at ude is far better than Samanic's for sure. But Wesley just plain isn't good right now and that 4th year option is pretty rich for such a net negative player.

[Extra Stout]

It’s summer league scrah

i think in the general summer league thread i said i expected Barlow to crush summer league and ultimately he’s gonna have to prove it in the big league. Kai Jones is on his way out but he’s an nba talent and Barlow literally made him his

what i didn’t see coming at all was how smooth that midrange J was. Over and over again

Yeah when the dominance is based upon skill I think it’s likelier to translate.

[RC_Drunkford]

I wasn't trying to compare the players, but instead the situations as to the sunk cost of player development time/effort. The Spurs had already put a lot of time and effort into developing Samanic as a player and that didn't prevent them from cutting him when it became clear that he wasn't going to pan out. I think that means the Spurs will do the same with Wesley if he doesn't improve enough. Wesley's at ude is far better than Samanic's for sure. But Wesley just plain isn't good right now and that 4th year option is pretty rich for such a net negative player.

yeah I agree. With all the picks we got, whoever ain't making significant leaps is gone sooner rather than later

[Ariel]

If Julian continues this trajectory, there’s less pressure for Branham to excel at the 2,3 positions and more experimentation at PG is probably welcome (since it is a dire need). IF Julian continues, this has a major impact on the roster and it allows so much more flexibility on what the Spurs can do asset-wise. Letting Vassell go wouldn’t hurt as much, for example. I saw flashes tonight of a damn good player.

Honestly he may not get that long. Its possible if he doens't show enough by the end of October that the Spurs could decline his 3rd year option. Especially if we might have 3 picks next draft.

For Branham??? That's crazy. He already showed more than enough, both on and off the court, to warrant a 3rd year. There's ZERO chance his option is not picked.

[Extra Stout]

For Branham??? That's crazy. He already showed more than enough, both on and off the court, to warrant a 3rd year. There's ZERO chance his option is not picked.

I think he meant Wesley, though out of context. Branham had a promising end to the year. He just needs to show up on defense.

[Ariel]

I think the Spurs will pick up the third year option because it's only $2.6M. The year 4 option is $4.7M, and if Wesley doesn't improve then he certainly isn't worth that.

The Spurs have invested a lot of player development into Wesley, but the fact that they let Samanic go shows that they don't always fall victim to the sunk cost fallacy. There is only so much time and attention to go around with the player development staff.

Even if Wesley continues on his current trajectory and ends up being a straight up bust, that's an acceptable outcome for the lowest of three first round picks in the same year at #25. He was a home run swing and so far looks like a whiff.

Different cir stances, Samanic was let go because he had horrible work ethic, which seems nothing like Blake's case. Now he is extremely raw and we always knew that, we just hoped he'd come along. It's still early, he has a chance to turn it around, but I do agree his progress will be evaluated and he isn't a lock to finish his rookie scale deal with the Spurs if he doesn't show progress. But I'd be shocked if they don't pick up his third year at least... given him one more year, and if by this time next year he doesn't show progress and you need the roster spot (more so than the money), then you can move him. But he deserves a full year at least before making that decision.

[Ariel]

I think he meant Wesley, though out of context. Branham had a promising end to the year. He just needs to show up on defense.

I quoted the post he quoted specifically to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding his target, there's no mention of Wesley there. But yes, that would make more sense.

[Extra Stout]

Different cir stances, Samanic was let go because he had horrible work ethic, which seems nothing like Blake's case. Now he is extremely raw and we always knew that, we just hoped he'd come along. It's still early, he has a chance to turn it around, but I do agree his progress will be evaluated and he isn't a lock to finish his rookie scale deal with the Spurs if he doesn't show progress. But I'd be shocked if they don't pick up his third year at least... given him one more year, and if by this time next year he doesn't show progress and you need the roster spot (more so than the money), then you can move him. But he deserves a full year at least before making that decision.

I don’t agree. In 2024 the Spurs need to shift out of evaluation mode and earnestly work on building a playoff roster. I don’t think they’ll have the luxury of saving a roster spot waiting for Wesley to learn how to play basketball. I think he has until October 25th to figure it out.

But hey, the Spurs may disagree and take the option. It is only $2.6 million after all and it will take some work to reach the salary floor next year too.

[Ariel]

I don’t agree. In 2024 the Spurs need to shift out of evaluation mode and earnestly work on building a playoff roster. I don’t think they’ll have the luxury of saving a roster spot waiting for Wesley to learn how to play basketball. I think he has until October 25th to figure it out.

But hey, the Spurs may disagree and take the option. It is only $2.6 million after all and it will take some work to reach the salary floor next year too.

If they don't pick up his 3rd year option and he performs well this season, you're f*cked. If you pick up his option, you can always cut him for peanuts (in NBA terms) and have a little dead cap (which won't hurt) or send him somewhere in a larger package. Better to err on the side of caution and pick up his 3rd year at the risk he won't produce, than being cheap and maybe regretting it later.

[Uriel]

Too many people on this thread casting judgment on Wesley after a single summer league game. I remember this time last year, people were saying he was the steal of the draft because he had played so well in this exact same tournament. Let’s give the kid a few more games before we start declaring he’s not NBA material.

[donaldsonian]

I think it’s easy to commit turnovers playing with guys that you haven’t practiced as much, in a Summer League where players tend to try to showcase themselves more than the team. I will give Wesley a flyer for this game. I think he was able to break defenses and distributed as much. I’ll give Wesley a B.

JC and DB, both A+. Surely the best players in the court. JC playing PG on occassions was a pleasant surprise, and is another ballhandler for the team. Spurs need to bag Barlow with the same contract as JC or Bassey. Barlow will be more than a serviceable big.

Sidy I was a bit disappointed. He’s been playing with the Ignite so the same format. I expect him to produce more next game.

Agree on this. People seem to forget how sloppy and unrefined Dejounte‘s game was in his first few seasons. Not saying that’s who Wesley will turn into, just that it’s still way too early to write him off.

Cissoko almost looked like he needs to play his way into shape a little bit, hopefully more reps will help him.

[Uriel]

Samanic was a different case. Apparently they knew he was a bust 2 months in. He showed up late to practice, had his little croatian crew with him everywhere and Pop gave him the Tony treatment. When Pop told him "get the off the floor" the guy went straight to the locker room and quit practice. Wesley ain't soft like that.

How do you know all this by the way? Not saying I don’t believe you, just wondering where you got this info.

[Seventyniner]

I think picking up Wesley's third year option is a no brainer. It gives him another year to improve at the cost of just $2.6M in cap space next summer that the Spurs most likely won't use anyway.

The decision on the 4th year option next October will be much dicier if he hasn't made massive strides by then.

[Mr. Body]

I think people missed it, but right after that thunderdunk Barlow threw down in transition, Blake stole the inbound pass. The camera guy completely missed it but you see it right at the edge and I think the color lady might have said something about it.

But he blew the layup, lol.

He just does too many interesting things. He had, what 6 rebounds, 8 assists? He looks gangly and all over the place like a baby deer but he has good defensive instincts, plays hard, doesn't give up. Parker wasn't a natural point, either. Once Blake gets a better sense of the floor and the game slows down more, he'll get better. Need to improve his hands, though.

[MannyIsGod]

If they don't pick up his 3rd year option and he performs well this season, you're f*cked. If you pick up his option, you can always cut him for peanuts (in NBA terms) and have a little dead cap (which won't hurt) or send him somewhere in a larger package. Better to err on the side of caution and pick up his 3rd year at the risk he won't produce, than being cheap and maybe regretting it later.

Definitely Wesley. Sorry about confusion I believe I quoted the wrong post I wanted to reply to.

[MannyIsGod]

Too many people on this thread casting judgment on Wesley after a single summer league game. I remember this time last year, people were saying he was the steal of the draft because he had played so well in this exact same tournament. Let’s give the kid a few more games before we start declaring he’s not NBA material.

No one is making any Judgement based off one game. We've seen the kid for over a year now. Also no one is saying cut him but the clock is ticking.

[TD 21]

I’d really like Blake Wesley to succeed. However, he doesn’t look like an NBA player. You’d think by the second year he’d at least look like one even if his game still had a lot of flaws. You really have to dig deep into homerdom to find something good about his performances. I don’t think he’s going to make it in the league.

Yeah, my comments aren't based off of one random Summer League game. I'm just not a fan of his archetype and suffice it to say, he hasn't done anything to assuage my concerns since being drafted.

Contrary to popular belief, most prospects show immediate flashes that'll usually be supported by some type of catch-all metric(s).

[MannyIsGod]

For the record I'm not advocating to decline the option but if Wesley shows little to no progress in the next few months I won't be surprised if they do that. With so much in the developmental pipeline and so many draft picks coming I wouldn't expect them to give players as much runway.