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Poeltl will likely be traded before the season starts. JRich will be gone at some point, depending on the market.
Pop will never sit healthy guys like Portland did last year down the stretch, so if that’s what you consider tanking, we aren’t.
Imho it's in three easy ponts:
1) tank for early lottery pick;
2) maximize the value of our tradeble pieces till the tradeline;
3) after the tradeline developing our young guys extending their minutes.
So, probably, our starting line up at the beginning of the season wil need a point guard like Tre Jones, alas a pass first point guard, able to maximize the skills of our veterans (shooters like Richardson and Mc D, or rolling big man like Poeltl)...possibly something like Jones, J.Rich., KJ, Mc D/ KBD, Poeltl...then, after the trade deadline, depending of the outcome of the trade period, all rookies and young guys will take the best of the minutes...
Poeltl will likely be traded before the season starts. JRich will be gone at some point, depending on the market.
Pop will never sit healthy guys like Portland did last year down the stretch, so if that’s what you consider tanking, we aren’t.
Portland should have been fined. Didn't net them much anyway. I don't know where our dribble penetration will come from. So I think we'll play this weird horns hybrid, and create cutters and movement off curls. But the offense can't be like last season.
I can’t predict the nuances of their approach, except I doubt they do any egregious tanking. I’m curious how they see Primo vs Jones, for example. And how aggressively they want to trade vets.
I'm picturing an entire season of debate centered around the semantics of "tanking" vs "not losing on purpose but not trying their best to win" vs "giving the young core minutes to lay the groundwork for growth."
Their goal will be to answer the following questions...
1. Can Tre Jones can be anything more than a spot backup as a lead guard?
2. Can Primo be a primary creator on offense?
3. Can Vassell make the Keldon jump in Year 3?
4. Has Keldon reached his ceiling on offense?
5. Will Sochan cement a spot as the starting 4?
IMO none of that can be known with Richardson, McDermott or Poeltl on the roster. Hope to see them moved sooner rather than later.
I don't see Poeltl being a log-jam there, and I'm actually not so sure he will be moved. The only other center we have on the roster right now is Dieng and maybe Zach...so unless he plays 48 or the Spurs want to try Sochan or Zollins at C, I don't see Jakob going anywhere.
McD I could do without. Get a pick for him if you can but he is deadweight at this point.
I like Richardson as a good locker room vet but he could also take times from all the young SGs we have, so....either with him. If the right offer comes along, nab it.
There’s no “trying” Zollins at C. That’s where they used him at all season long last year.
As for Primo vs Jones, if this is even a thing, I could see them using Jones’ minutes to motivate Primo to play better. Primo screws up, in goes Jones, for example. And then Jones actually plays better than Primo, which causes hand wringing and accusations against Pop’s declining cognitive abilities, et cetera. Or not, and they both play together. But the important thing is we find something to get upset about. Just throwing out possible options.
I remember Jock and Zollins playing together some, so either they both were playing center, somehow, or Jock, the less mobile of the two, was playing the 4. Or the Spurs don’t adhere to strict definitions. They could be “position fluid”.
They probably end up splitting the time evenly. Tre Jones is better than Josh Primo currently but PATFO obviously sees something in Primo. They also saw something in guys like Bryn Forbes and Trey Lyles in recent years.
Zollins camped inside on offense and was the interior defender when Jock was on the floor.
Just lose baby
They saw them as a necessary shooter for the team and a cheaper analogue of Morris.
If the forum had been heeded, the Murray-White duo would have been in the starting five, Lonnie would have gotten a lot of playing time and it wouldn't have worked in both cases, as we now know.
Is this english?
Zollins can impact the game on the defensive end as a rim protector at the 5. Landale couldn’t and can’t guard any position regardless.
On the offensive end Chris Paul might help turn him into a pretty serviceable big.
I really think this is the season more about Tre Jones than Primo. Primo still seems a couple years away. Tre needs to show something positive with an uptick of minutes. I’ve been very happy with Tre so far. Guy has a real feel for the game, but so many good guards in the league right now including his brother.
You can expect the Spurs to try hard playing young to give them experience. Winning or losing will come second to development.
Tre Jones is going to be a solid rotational player regardless; he actually might be the best guard on this team if we move JRich. Josh Primo is a PATFO pet project with hopes he becomes something special. DJ was something similar. Smart money should be on Wesley right now as our next All-Star.
If Vassell has his breakout year (and he showed a glimpse of it in the play in game) and the Spurs hold on to Jacob , we are not going to be apart of the bottom teams that are tanking crowd. Sorry to say but I'm seeing more treadmill, and they will probably be hovering around about where they were last season more or less.
Two full-time centers (Collins and Dieng) is plenty for today's game. Sochan or KBD could play it in a pinch if needed as well.
A breakout year for Vassell isn't enough to get the Spurs decent. He's an effective shooter and defender at his peak, but I don't see a high level playmaker that's going to elevate those around him. Same for Keldon. Without someone to consistently initiate the offense or a player that can create for himself, the ceiling for this team is still really low.
The Spurs' next all star probably isn't on this roster.
Same thing people said when Murray was on the team. And they said that not even too long ago.. just a year ago. Yet those same people (maybe not all) envision him making the All Star again in the future.
maybe folks just need to admit they don’t have the best gauge for talent. And that’s not directed at just you, but everyone including myself. And sometimes they do have a good eye, but that’s not all it takes— unpredictable things happen and nobody has a crystal ball in front of them even though people like to pretend they do.
In the Pop system,you shouldn’t do any player evaluation until the third season. People knob slobbering over Keldon were ready to dump trade him last summer.
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