MASTERCLASS: THE SPURS REBUILD

[G R E Y]

Year 1 of our rebuild is complete, and it was nothing short of a Masterclass in terms of player development - just about everyone had a career year - while securing top tier talent in the 2023 draft, and laying the foundations off court to support the team long-term.

In this thread, I want to go over how our players developed individually, what we need to work on per player and as a team, and put these within the context of our expanding ambitions.

Starting with the latter, in a recent appeal to Bexar County commissioners to allow three 'home' games to continue to be played outside our arena, RC emphasized a San Antonio home base with an expanded fanbase "... as we build the next generation of championship teams."

OH YEAH

Looking back, this has been in the works for a while. Maintaining flexibility while continuously evaluating put us in prime position to make moves that were optimal for the team, ones we could be proactive in making, even if they were difficult to do on a personal level.

For a while fans have wanted a DJ/DW back court. When we got it and featured a confident PG as the main go-to player, and when the results were another tough uphill battle, we were well positioned to make a hard pivot. After parting with our vets and getting assets for some (like the Thad trade and the S&T for DD), we later dealt fan and PATFO favourite DW in a surprise (to us) move that garnered some ship-steadying 3&D vet presence with JRich and some coveted long-term multiple picks.

The off-season came with the venticelli rumour mill-come-true of trading the player that was so heavily featured, around whom it became apparent we couldn't build to reach the stated heights. But we got our best boat load of picks yet.

JRich was always going to be a tradeable asset even as he was a fun and reliable presence for our now very young team, the youngest Pop's ever coached in the NBA. And when the situation was right, off he went for another potential asset reaping player plus more valuable multiple picks.

How savvy was signing Collins? We could afford to take the risk financially and be patient with his recovery, all the while having the long-term goal of positioning ourselves for an optimal potential return for Jakob. With some signals from his agent that he was seeking around $20M/yr on his next contract, the younger, cheaper, two-way playing, floor-spreading, FT-making Collins allowed us to be patient and get yet another great return.

And so we currently have 14 first round picks (including some unprotected and some with only light protections) and 18 second round picks in the next seven upcoming drafts. That's a ton of draft capital to work with.

We're also going to be one of the top cap space teams this off-season.

Behind the scenes, the Spurs brain trust has been working hard to ensure that that draft capital and the current ongoing development have more fans cheering.

Drafting international players has already reaped rewards of on-court talent leading to championships as well as securing generations of international fans. And the trend continues with, so far, drafting Sochan, his jersey being the #1 seller in Poland, and his drawing a bigger British following as well.

Of course the initiative to bring the team to different areas is a boon. Austin is the Texas capital without a pro team, has a young sports-hungry college base (a lot of it is international students, too, more on this later), and a lot of big tech companies and tech transplants from other regions with money to spend. Austin has a new multi-purpose arena, The Moody Center, right in the heart of the college area, too, where we just broke sell out records.

Even if our international game is in Mexico again during the regular season, we need to push the league as eager to participate in those European games. I don't much care if it's in the pre-season, a friendly game with a team in another league, whatever. Tap those markets.

And another off-court long-term 'if you build it, they will come' project is our state-of-the-art, multi-use complex up at La Cantera. It will be finished in stages, but our practice facility will be ready for the 2023-2024 season.

Just some initial thoughts laying the broad foundations for where we are and how we are doing, with some later speculations about where we go from here in terms of fan base expansion and who we go forward with in terms of players we want to keep.

Considering all the changes this season, that we laid some fundamentals foundations, that players improved throughout the season, and that we secured a coveted chance at top tier talent all the while stocking up on further capital on and off the court, this was a Masterclass of a first year rebuild effort.

[will]

Scoot or Victor.

[imagump1313]

Scoot or Victor.

Please no Scoot......

[G R E Y]

This is way later than I had intended but off-board life has kept pressing. Much of what I cover here we already know – a new training facility is being built, ownership consolidation is ongoing, home games are being played outside AT&T Center, and there’s a concerted effort in a San Antonio-Austin meld.

What I was curious to look at were some reasons for these trends, for these trends now, and what they may indicate about our team’s future.

Austin. I like San Antonio better I love history and as the oldest city in Texas, San Antonio offers a myriad of sites, museums, and deep cultural roots to explore that continue today. These influences permeate the team’s homage and connection to its city, from Fiesta unis (which most fans love) to the Cultura clothing series to the Loteria Card schedule, but three of many that first come to mind.

History, culture, architecture, food, festivals, nature. San Antonio is a city which knows itself and that resonates. Despite challenges, there’s tremendous pride of place.

There are some patterns and initiatives working for San Antonio, some lagging behind in doing so, some against it. The following are broad brush strokes from an outside fan’s perspective, not meant as a comprehensive examination but an offering of some thoughts on what they may portend.

San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the US (1.49+M) and is growing in number of people and employment. These links show the number and types of companies and construction that are moving or expanding to the area:

- Robust growth projected for San Antonio region after pandemic, planners say - Projections show southern Bexar and eastern Comal Counties will see most job growth

- LIST: 34 Companies Expanding or Relocating to Texas

- San Antonio Crane Watch - A look at commercial real estate projects in the San Antonio area

- 30 Top Companies in San Antonio Shaping Texas' Business Landscape

- 15 developments and restaurants coming to San Antonio in 2023 - Last year was all about groundwork. This year, we’re gearing up for grand openings

The flip side is San Antonio’s poverty rate, which at 17.6% is above the state average and is one of the highest in the nation. This is but one issue of many that newly re-elected mayor Nirenberg and councilors continue to tackle.

Other factors in San Antonio are education and average earnings; by age 25 the largest group have finished high school, and the second highest number of people have finished some college. The average household income is at just over $55K.

There’s also a demographic breakdown that correlates, but I don’t pretend to have my finger on the pulse of the complexities that contribute to all of the above. Again, this is just presenting some trends of growth and challenges the city faces.

That’s the broad city context; now for that of the Spurs.

The team contributes to bettering many city issues. They participate in various charities and community outreach initiatives such as the SA Food Bank, the building of courts, Shoes That Fit which provides sneakers for students, summer camps for kids via Spurs Sports Academy, in addition to the individual efforts of Spurs players throughout its 50 year history.

Since the team was brought to San Antonio, it has played in three arenas: HemisFair Arena, The Alamodome, and SBC/AT&T Center. From the records I’ve found for The HemisFair years, Spurs had a highest attendance rank of eighth, with most of the recorded range in the middle and latter third in the league. Throughout The Alamodome seasons the Spurs enjoyed top attendance, ranking in the top two in the league in six of nine years, and in the top eight in eight of nine years. Our most successful years attendance-wise at the AT&T Center (going back to SBC Center years) were eighth through fourteenth until the last several play-in, Covid, and rebuild seasons in which we ranked in the latter third to bottom five.

It stands out that even in the championship seasons, the best that the Spurs ranked at the AT&T Center was ninth (2004-05, 2006-07 and 2013-14); in 2002-03, eleventh. Through four of our championships our highest attendance at AT&T Center was close to our lowest at The Alamodome (11th in 1996-97 when we went 20-62). Note: these rankings are season totals. In terms of attendance per game,

Between 2002 and 2018, the Spurs filled 99 percent of the seats at AT&T Center. That number fell to 81.8 percent this [2021-2022] season.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/spurs-nba-home-games-austin/

Even though The Alamodome was not a basketball purpose-built arena, location’s a big plus. It’s downtown so closer to other things to do and places to eat, accessible by bus, close to Amtrak and a highway, and has plenty of parking because it’s size and multi-purpose usage means it can accommodate more fans.

The AT&T Center opened in 2002 (known as SBC Center until late 2005). It is about 6km north east of the Alamodome in a more industrial area with some residential sections in the city’s East Side. AT&T Center was to have brought more business to and diversify and expand the area economically but in the twenty-one years since the team moved in, that development has not been realized. It’s accessible by public transit and car, and is well organized in getting fans in and out of the arena but located where there isn’t anything close by to do so there’s nothing that keeps fans there before or after games.

Just as building The Alamodome was intended, in part, to lure an NFL team but failed, so too did building the AT&T Center fail with the intended improvements to the surrounding area.

The Alamodome’s multi-purpose functionality works for it despite the lack of NFL draw. It continues to host concerts, college basketball and football, wrestling, and soccer. It will be home to an XFL team this season. The AT&T Center hosts the Spurs and the annual Rodeo Show as well as concerts, wrestling, UFC, and until recently, hockey. The AHL’s Rampage, since moved to Nevada along with WNBA’s Stars, used to play in AT&T. The Stars’ attendance averages surpassed 10K only one season of twelve. The Rampage attendance ranged from 4100 to 7100 through 18 years. Rampage played 80 games a season; Stars, 34. So that’s 57 booked home games combined. Regardless of where both of these teams ranked in attendance in their respective leagues, both left over 10K empty seats. Selling less than half capacity at lower ticket costs than other events took up a lot unfulfilled business for a long time.

That the Spurs (2002), Rampage (2002), and Stars (2003) all started around the same time at the AT&T Center showed an initiative intended to draw diverse interests and business. That the latter two have since been sold is a pivot away from that strategy in trying to do so.

The AT&T Center underwent $100+M renovations in 2015 to modernize the arena and improve the fan experience. Its 20-year naming rights lease expired after last season and was extended for another year (were there financial negotiation issues or that of enticing a new partner?). The land lease with Bexar County ends in nine years at which point the Spurs become a free agent and can choose to either renew with the existing arena, come to an agreement to have another one built elsewhere in the city, or find a new one.

To whatever extent the East Side redevelopment plan has been understood as a symbiotic enterprise between the team and the city, it feels like the Spurs have done their part in efforts to be an attractive element.

In 2022, Bexar County commissioned $250K

...for consultants to formulate a redevelopment plan.

https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/bexar-county-san-antonio-att-center-calvert-spurs-development/273-1d1e4de6-c303-4860-9a1e-a2295c5f30d5

So it seems the city reps are feeling pressure to broaden investment into the area and the clock is indeed ticking.

The Spurs are not waiting for it to happen and are taking a pro-active approach with what they can control, their own fan base expansion efforts. If the AT&T Center hasn’t brought the intended development – and really, if five championships, four in this space, hasn’t spurred it, one has to wonder what else it must do that could? - the Spurs can bring the team to other prospective fan bases.

Enter the initiatives to Austin and abroad.

After assuring Bexar County councilors that San Antonio is home, the team will be allowed to continue playing four home games away from the AT&T Center, two in Austin and two abroad in each of the next two seasons, making it three in a row. What the team representatives didn’t say is that the AT&T Center will continue to be its arena.

The Spurs establishing roots at La Cantera, Austin, and Mexico strengthens its financials, broadens its options, and should it come to that, improves leverage with the town council to, for example, build a new arena, potentially in a different neighbourhood.

From the little time I spent there, my sense of Austin is that it’s a more expensive college town but I can see its appeal to younger generations like our players who’ve spent time there. It’s clearly full of transplanted Californians, full of people in Hoka runners, and full of a large variation of Craftsman houses. Austin also has a lot of international students:

5. University of Texas at Austin: 9.8%
6,190 students from 131 countries 
Top countries: China, India, South Korea, Mexico, Taiwan

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/Texas-colleges-international-students-17694896.php

By age 25, the top two highest levels of education reached in Austin are a Bachelor’s degree followed by a Graduate degree ) and the average household income is $79K as of 2022, while the poverty rate is at 12.5%, below the state average.

Austin has the tenth highest population in the US (966+K) and it is also one of the fastest growing cities as it’s a magnet for big tech; META, Google, Apple, Oracle, Tesla, and in the Texas Hills, Amazon, Cisco, Intel, and PayPal are in the process of moving to or expanding in the area. That’s an eye-popping amount of potential corporate investment.

The majority of migration is domestic so the transition is easier, there’s more disposable income, and increased gentrification. The existing draws of careers, weather, outdoor activities, food, music, and sports are unifying agents and ripe for growth.

Austinites love their college sports (the attendance for Texas Longhorns football and basketball teams rank first and third, respectively), and their soccer (Austin FC ranks second), but it’s a state capital without a pro sports team in any of the four major leagues.

So the Spurs thinking ahead and galvanizing a clear sports interest is smart on two fronts – getting a first foothold in major league pro sports interest and expanding the Spurs fan base. The two games at the Moody Center broke sell out numbers despite our record this season. Maybe part of the appeal was the novelty, still, the planting of roots into the consciousness of collective Austin interest is an important first step, as is that it was so successful.

Fun fact: the Dallas Chaparrals originally played in the Moody Coliseum; the Spurs now playing at the Moody Center is a full circle moment.

The Moody Center is located on the University of Texas campus and is easily accessible via car and bus. It’s a beautiful new arena built with basketball and concerts foremost in mind. It has comfortable riser slopes and great sight lines, an intimate feel, and built in such a way that the sound sort of curls and falls on itself, increasing the cheering volume without echo. In some other arenas, the sound bounces off of concrete surfaces and multiplies into an overlapping cacophonous mess.

Long term, strengthening the I35 corridor connection is important to the Spurs even as (perhaps because) the differences between the two cities are pronounced:

San Antonio is the twenty-sixth-largest television market in the thirty-team NBA, with the nineteenth-largest metropolitan population.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/spurs-nba-home-games-austin/

San Antonio is indeed a small market in ways that make a market competitive and attractive and profitable. But it is also uniquely positioned to expand all three.

Deepening its roots with the $500M investment into the multi-use training facility, The Rock at La Cantera, is a strong sign of the team’s commitment to remain in San Antonio.

Construction is also underway on a 45-acre campus on the Northwest Side that will include a training facility for the Spurs, a park, an outdoor event plaza, and office and medical space. The team’s facility would be nearly double the size of its current 37,800-square-foot space near the South Texas Medical Center.

https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/aramark-spurs-stake-18091007.php?cmpid=gsa-mysa-result

But that it is in La Cantera, a lucrative area of the city, also signals a shift of where and what the team ownership and management are leaning into. As a contrasting reference point to the East Side, growth here has been steady over the last two decades. Close to the University of Texas and containing Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in its boundaries, the area now boasts the La Cantera Resort and Spa, The Shops at La Cantera, golf courses, trails, and an ongoing project, Town Center, a mixed-use business and residential development. Commerce and livability. Of course, not every area has the same issues and will foster the same type of development, nor does it need to. But there does need to be some movement in the right direction.

And to be frank, impressions count, not only in visuals and interest, but in effort. The AT&T Center's surrounding area is a bit of an eyesore. Sure, don’t judge a book by its cover, and shiny and new are sometimes themselves a cover. But the Spurs have a long-established culture, need spaces befitting that, and have to keep up to stay competitive with other teams. In attracting prospective talent and investment, the Spurs already have team culture foundations and will now also have an edge with the practice facility in a beautiful area. A small market team needs every advantage it can muster.

You build up an area and it attracts more interest and development such as that of the Spurs. Couple that investment with tapping into other strong, growing markets that have money, interest, and space and you have the foundations of an expanding fan base. Ten, twenty years from now, young fans will have grown up with the Spurs in their consciousness and experience. The Spurs are positioning themselves to establish these relationships now to benefit from them for years to come.

I mentioned leverage earlier but didn’t mean it in an adversarial way as it can sometimes be, but in the sense of building a strong, attractive position that fosters confidence in collaboration with city council for future investment. Brass has been busy laying the groundwork for not only new bricks and mortar and new fan bases, but also with bringing new ownership into the fold:

News of the sale comes as the Spurs organization has been working to remake its ownership group — streamlining decision-making, bringing in new capital and diversifying from the team’s traditional base of mostly local investors.

https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/aramark-spurs-stake-18091007.php?cmpid=gsa-mysa-result

I take brass at their word when they say that San Antonio is home and they want it to continue to be because the deep roots that the Spurs have are being strengthened there and by outreach to Austin and Mexico.

We believe San Antonio is uniquely positioned from a cultural, geographic, and economic standpoint to serve as the anchor for this region. San Antonio has been home for five decades, and the organization will continue to innovate, positioning the Spurs to thrive in San Antonio for the next 50 years.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/spurs-nba-home-games-austin/

There’s also an increasingly noticeable effort in San Antonio-Austin social media crossover messaging so that whatever happens with the Spurs, the Austin team retweets it and vice versa, as if it were one large, unified enterprise.

With another growing international contingent of players, Spurs could also exploit various international markets. By April, 2023, Sochan’s jersey and Spurs’ merchandise were top sellers in Poland.

In a rookie diary, Jeremy wrote,

I always carry my heritage with me. Wherever I go, I try to find little reminders of my culture, I keep in contact with people from home and I represent where I’m from with pride wherever I am.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/jeremy-sochan-diary-spurs-rookie-year-polish/j7ckvqtkbhvgas33wpomztnh

Can the Spurs arrange for friendly games with a Polish or English team? A pre-season game in either country? Set up team-specific initiatives in either country? Possibilities abound.

The rebuild is not just about high picks and cap space. It is also about long-term planning to position a small market team for sustainable success. That the Spurs are expanding their fan base beyond San Antonio can only benefit the team. That ownership continues to be consolidated should also strengthen the team’s foundations. That new foundations are being laid in other parts of the city should get the right kind of attention, both from investors and city council.

The team is in proactive mode that is large and comprehensive in scope, with surely other moves still to come. The next week, season, and decade are being planned for and contingencies anticipated so that our long-established, deep-rooted culture continues to flourish. Onward.

[G R E Y]

Updated addendum.

The Wemby effect is in full force:

By late Thursday — less than two days after the Spurs drew the magic pingpong ball during the NBA draft lottery, entitling them to draft the 19-year-old Wembanyama — the team had collected deposits for about 3,000 season tickets from fans thankful to have something to cheer about again.

Corporations and wealthy supporters are showing up at the box office in force. This week, the Spurs sold every pricey season ticket for the first three rows of courtside seats at the AT&T Center, their home venue. They also leased out all available Terrace Suites on the arena’s upper level. Rent for the luxury boxes is as high as $230,000 per year for “full ownership,” according the team’s website.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/wembanyama-boosts-spurs-sales-profits-18107676.php?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com&fbclid=IwAR0S-sny_G2h3dR3hRkw3UpT0y7TSqdi-5CVnNdMNb18l1ny5K-uohDWFgM

The effect on the team's value is immediate as well:

Two years ago, Forbes magazine ranked the Spurs as the 14th most valuable team of the 30 playing in the NBA. Since then, the Spurs have dropped to No. 20.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/wembanyama-boosts-spurs-sales-profits-18107676.php?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com&fbclid=IwAR0S-sny_G2h3dR3hRkw3UpT0y7TSqdi-5CVnNdMNb18l1ny5K-uohDWFgM

Some pundits have already started throwing our numbers in the vicinity of a $500M boost in value with just landing the #1 pick this year and that number increasing to up to $2B once we get rolling.

I mentioned in the previous post about us being the 26th largest TV market and how it looked like we had a hard time attracting arena name sponsorship with AT&T renewing for just the extra year after their rights expired.

Who wants to guess the number of national TV games we get from this season onward? And given the response to the sold season tickets and sold out boxes, naming rights should come swiftly and on favourable terms for the Spurs as well.

Wemby is an entire industry and economy unto himself. The secondary peripheral markets will get a huge boost from tourism to restaurants to small businesses which are already making clothing and merchandise.

In the previous post I mentioned how because Sochan's jersey and Spurs merchandise are top sellers in Poland that it's a market to tap into. Well we just gained an entire other country with France. Imagine those European visits and friendly games. We just expanded the I35 and Mexico fan and market plan across the pond. So while the fandom of 29M people of Texas is split among three teams, with the Spurs' outreach in a global market there's limitless potential with Mexico's almost 130M, France 68.5M, and Poland's 38M waiting to be served.

As to the city itself,

San Antonio is the 3rd fastest growing city in the U.S.

San Antonio continues to grow with no end in sight. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Alamo City continues to attract thousands of people. From July 2021 to July 2022 nearly 20,000 people moved to San Antonio. The Census Bureau said it's the third most of any city in the United States.

Development in the Alamo City isn't far behind.

“From one year to the next, you can see entire neighborhoods popping up. That's a tough, a tough thing to do to maintain growth and the pace of growth at the same time balancing with what's already here and taking care of our neighbors and businesses that have been here for generations,” Cabello Havrda said.

It's a balance San Antonio's city council members tell us they want to prioritize, especially when determining zoning cases.

“We want people to be able to live here in San Antonio and have an affordable home here in San Antonio. We've seen what happens when development comes and doesn't take into consideration a neighborhood,” Cabello Havrda said.

“Our city is growing so fast. We have to grow with it. If we don't, housing prices are going to go up too much,” District One Councilman Mario Bravo said.

https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/san-antonio-among-the-fastest-growing-cities-according-to-us-census-bureau

The article also mentions other areas along the I35 corridor that are also expanding which coincides with the Spurs' projections of where to target expansion.

But that the development comes into some areas more than others is also an issue.

With the near completion of the multi-purpose practice facility at La Cantera, the construction and the location are all the starker a contrast to the AT&T Center (less of an issue since the 2015 reno) and where it is (the proverbial elephant).

Reading through the comments of San Antonio residents in this thread reinforces it:

Read on Twitter

I mean, a picture paints the point. But here are some that stand out:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Oof.

The challenge is to stay appealing to the grassroots support while courting sponsorship from deep investment pockets. It's either an expedited redevelopment of the area or a new arena elsewhere in the city, the latter surely a stronger point of leverage now.

Nice problems to have, but the shift in timelines and bargaining strength is palpable. What butterfly effect ping pong balls have. Maktub. And as ever, we control what we can. Onward.

EDIT to add:

More development to the city with respect to an already planned airport expansion:

Read on Twitter

And with respect to the arena, an interesting POV:

Read on Twitter

[will]

Welp, we will wait to see who the Spurs draft.

Going to be the biggest surprise since 1997 when the Spurs last held the first overall pick.

[G R E Y]

The way the city and county and the Spurs now handle the progress of arena/ neighbourhood redevelopment/ fan expansion will be an ongoing overlap to keep track of.

Before moving onto the players, I first wanted to look at coaching.

There was a recent RealGM Wiretap article stating that Pop was widely expected to return even though he's yet to sign a contract. After the season, Pop was asked in a presser what he's looking forward to, and he gave a nod to a return in saying that taking some time off then getting back into the draft and a couple of other aspects of preparing for the upcoming season.

It's fair to say that it's also a strong positive sign that he was on a plane to France the day after we won the #1 pick :

Read on Twitter

-------

EDIT to add:

Read on Twitter

For the sake of clarity and truth, this context for the Paris tweet above is important.

-------

After last season, I had hoped Pop would return for the 50th Anniversary season and for the rebuild because he's such a central part of the former and there's no one better for the latter. And as much patience as Pop showed, and as much as he relished in teaching the young guys, instilling the fundamentals that go into our foundations, for a man who prided himself on defense as a player, who insisted on top D as a coach, this season's abysmal D (for various reasons I'll touch on later) must have caused some angst. Also, for a super competitive guy, 22 wins couldn't have been all that easy, even if he came into this season quipping that no one should bet on us winning it all this year lol

I reiterate that there's no one better for Wemby, and the mutual enthusiasm of Wemby wanting to be here and Pop hopping on a flight is palpable. It's wonderful that after everything Pop and the team have gone through, privately, individually, and as a group, that there's a huge resurgence upon them and for fans.

Pop made a point of emphasis at the season's end presser that defense would be better this year. And with Wemby and a healthy young group, we will surely be more competitive. Both important points.

At the same time, it's important that there's a balance in the sense that Pop's not overtaxed with just being taken from, if you know what I mean. A script could not have been written better for Pop to be imprinting on the third iteration of a dynasty, a trilogy in the making. It's a sweet time of joy and opportunity and that needs strong support.

I want Pop to stay as long as he loves it and feels healthy and up to doing it, and I'd love for it to overlap with us being super competitive and win it all within Wemby's rookie contract. Wemby said he wants to win rings ASAP. But he also needs development and Brian Wright stated we'd be deliberate with our growth. Still, we're sitting on a stack of great picks, tons of cap space, great current contracts, and there's every reason to be advantageous when opportunities present themselves. We won't skip steps, but we can get through them faster if our collective growth shows we're ready for it.

So with Pop at the helm, we move onto the supporting cast. When we were playing in Philly I'd read an article about BB and his still close ties to the city. He stayed after the game talking to fans and apparently he said that this was going to be a one-year assignment, that his family was still even residing in Philly. That was a surprise, and I wonder whether getting to work with Wemby will change his mind. So that's something to keep track of.

I assume that the rest of our coaching staff stays - Mitch Johnson was said to be interviewing for some HC openings but I assume he stays unless he gets one (in other words, it would surprise me that he moved to another team to be an assistant like a couple of previous assistants had done). He's been wit us the longest now, coming up through the ranks. Great with the players. Important to keep him.

Matt Nielsen was brought over from coaching our G-League team as an assistant.

Darius Songaila came up through the video and player development stages before becoming an assistant.

Candice Dupree returns as Player Development Coach.

Will Sevening, long time trainer, is surely returning.

It's not a secret we've gone through some significant brain-drain. Every year we get news of at least one talent being interviewed for various positions on other teams. Can't help but think we'll be the ones having our pick with Wemby on the team in addition to the no-skipping steps development programs we have in place on and off the court.

There's a report that we've hired a new shooting coach:

MAY 2 SPURS HIRE NEW SHOOTING COACH

The San Antonio Spurs are adding a new assistant to Gregg Popovich's staff in shooting coach Jimmy Baron.

https://www.si.com/nba/spurs/news/san-antonio-spurs-rookie-jeremy-sochan-los-angeles-la-lakers-king-lebron-james-nba-tracker

None of our main Spurs reporters have said anything about it and the Spurs have not confirmed it, so take that quote for what it is for now.

Keeping an eye on who is available and who I would want to add, I've long thought that Patty would make an amazing addition to our coaching staff. I don't know if coaching is something he wants to do, but he's a natural at it and served as an extension for Pop on the court when he played for us. Alas, he has one more year left on his player contract. Maybe next year...

But it's interesting that Tiago Splitter announced earlier this month that he would not be returning to the Nets as a part of their staff. He was with them for five years going up through the ranks in scouting and player development. It's not a case of us getting back all former Spurs players, but getting the best talent available. If they hapen to know our system and culture already, all the better.

One guy I've kept looking in on throughout the season has been Chase Buford. He was part of the Bucks program, coaching their G-League team to first place before being named HC of the Sydney Kings and winning two championships in a row. The Kings decided not to pick up the third year option of his contract as he looks for NBA opportunities. I wonder...

I'll update the thread as we get news but reports that Timmy, Manu, and Tony will be helping with Wemby's development isn't really news:

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Helmed by the GOAT, we have a solid young coaching core with some strong bench vets, and supported by the Big 3, so it'll be interesting to see who we add to them.

EDIT to add: A couple of former Spurs assistants have recently become available:

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It's not that we have to go collecting former personnel, just an update on who is available that we're familiar with which may or may not work in favour of a reconnection.

EDIT to add (18-6-2023): Looks both of the above coaches have accepted positions elsewhere: Bucks (Prunty) and Jazz (Forcier).

I wonder whether we will bring aboard a trainer or some other pro in a certain #1 prospect's trusted professional circle...

EDIT: We did indeed hire Wemby's personal trainer. Good!

[G R E Y]

And here we go. Lots to say about the rest of the team (I'm behind but will get through it), but this coincides with thoughts and articles in the first post here.

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Hopefully this gets done and done soon.

[G R E Y]

This thread got detailed by massive brain fog since mid-August which is to say it's far from laying out what I intended but in its inception wasn't intended to be complete but an ongoing look at how we got here and where we're going based on plans laid out and hints of roster and cap and off court decisions.

So to link with the latter, and as stated previously here, talks about a new arena look like they have more momentum:

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What I find a bit irritating is that should the Spurs leave their agreement early (there's still 10 years left) they would not only pay the required penalty but also would have to work with the city to help bring up the east side. I'll post quotes from the article later that articulate that better, but hopefully it makes sense.

It's irritating because the Spurs have been in that location for 20 years already. Part of the thrust of putting an arena there was to develop the surrounding area. And considering the Spurs ranked well in attendance despite (not because of) the location, and have brought multiple championships, and have started and participated in a great many social initiatives, it's fair to say they have more than done their fair share to bring attention and draw to the area.

And yet the area remains largely an undesirable, underdeveloped place for fans - no restaurants or shops or entertainment near by, walkability factor is nill unless you happen to live in a neighborhood closer to the arena.

That's not the fault of the team. It was a mistake to put ithe arena there in the first place even though the intentions were right and good. But 20 years on and somehow now the area will get developed, or rather the development is in part on the team as a contingency of allowing it to move earlier?

Seems like the city is piggybacking the team's success and trying to get more than it should, putting more on the team that the city should have and should do. Spurs have more leverage now with Wemby and will still play nice to be a good partner, but this comes across as an imbalanced proposal.

[G R E Y]

I’d considered doing an update here about every 10 games or so, but that was before the point-Sochan experiment commenced. Then he was moved back to PF about a quarter of the season in, and I thought, well let’s see how this works. With more data now available, I want to look back and forward about everything from drafting to roster to lineups to starters, etc.

Before the season started, there was lots of talk in Spurs fandom about who would be moved to the bench with Wemby’s arrival, an obvious starter. I thought it would be between Sochan or Keldon, the former because he plays Wemby’s position and was only 50 games into his pro career having missed around 30 games to injury and rest. And Keldon because his D overall is poor. But he has become a better scorer each season, and is our longest tenured Spur, so perhaps not. He did signal that he was willing to do anything that was best for the team. Great.

Now 27 games in, Sochan and Keldon have two* bench games between them. Interesting, that. They, along with Tre, started the most games for us last season. *More on it later.

Even though Tre started last season, regardless of who we’ve started this season, it hasn’t been him. We know what we have in him, especially with his 3s efficiency remaining low. Clearly we’ve designated him as the backup PG, and in this role he’s averaging about six fewer minutes per game, four fewer shots per game, almost the same efficiency, but slightly worse from the 3 (and it was already poor) on the same number of attempts, with 1.5 assists fewer per game. But both he and Wemby average under 28% from 3, a huge hindrance at crucial 1 and 5 positions.


ROSTER AND VETS - Our current starting five comprises of all our own draftees with various levels of experience: Devin and Malaki in the back court, Keldon, Sochan, and Wemby, with another draftee, Tre, as first off the bench. On paper, the starting group has shooters around Wemby who can score at three levels.

Here are our top eight players in minutes per game this season: Keldon, Wemby, Devin, Sochan, Zach, Tre, Branham, and Cedi.

The majority of the roster (9 of 16 players) now comprises of our own draftees or undrafted signings (ie/ Dom). The returning non-Spurs drafted players from last season are Zach, Doug, Graham, Mamu, Julian, and Charles, and from the various trades we made, we only kept Cedi, a terrific vet.

After acquiring them in trades, we released vets Lamar Stevens (F) and Cameron Payne (PG).

Last season, our top eight in minutes were played by, in order: Keldon, Devin (38 games), Tre, Graham (20 games after we acquired him), Jakob, Sochan, JRich, and Branham, and if Graham’s number of games aren’t enough to be included, then the Zach slots in just after Branham.

Even though our slotted starting five played only eighteen games together last season, we had several vets that contributed: Jakob played and started 46 games before we traded him; JRich played 42 games (started 6) before we traded him; Diop played 67 games (started 42) and left in UFA; Langford played 43 games (started 21) and left in UFA; Isaiah Roby played 42 games (started 2) before we waived him in March; Gorgui Dieng played 31 games (started 1) and is now part of our FO as Basketball Operations Representative; Stanley Johnson played 30 games before we waived him in February.

Say what you will about all of them, but collectively they did provide solid vet presence (Jakob, Jrich and Dieng in particular), some scoring punch (Jrich) and two-way stability (Jakob, JRich, Diop). Collectively, Jakob (12.1) Jrich (11.5), Diop (9.7), and Langford (6.9) (top four vets in MPG who departed) were contributing over 40PPG. I know it’s not the case for every game, but the point is that we had steady, seasoned, reliable contributions and more choices 1 through 5, players who were more knowledgeable about their positions rather than growing into them.

We clearly chose to streamline and do so with mostly our own draftees supported by selected players returning from last season, and only one brand new addition. So far, only Branham and Julian have been slotted in as starters most consistently (sometimes due to starter injuries, but the point stands. To emphasize it, Cedi has so far filled in but one game as starter).

Graham has played far more sparingly compared to last season, as have Blake and Dom, the latter two getting steady minutes in Austin. Graham is widely regarded as a positive vet influence and Doug is a steady pro’s pro (drama free). Mamu and Bassey were waiver pick ups we chose to retain (again, all effort and no drama). And Zach is coming off his first real stretch as starter (26 games last season; 22 this season) after we traded Jakob so it’s a lot to get used to for him as well.

We do have some vets, but I suspect we expected some of our younger up and coming players to step up and fill the leadership void of the departed ones. That’s one area we are still feeling the dearth of and working on filling in its space. I can’t say it has been a steady show of resilience, but Keldon, Devin, and Tre have come up with great vets before them, and it’s a necessary step for them to take on and grow into. Whether or not they do and to what extent is part of what this season is for.

Part of it is modelling by action, and to that extent, Tre has been our best example of what to bring every game; he is ultimate floor stabilizer and team mate aligner. Keldon has probably been our most consistent energy and example setter from the starters. To be honest, I’d expected more of it from Devin, if not through being vocal then through consistent energy shifting level of play. Considering he’s our second best player, a two-way, three-level scorer, he’s had passive games, whether it’s settling for too many outside shots rather than initiating downhill play or making impactful defensive plays when the shot’s not falling. Work in progress. Yes we have to figure things out together, but we will also see who will step up as leaders, not just with their games, but with sacrifice and selflessness for the best for the team which is huge for a young team figuring out how to play together to maximize strengths.

DRAFTING - We’ve been drafting a ‘type’ of player that Tre doesn’t fit physically, but given his overall package, we couldn’t help but select him. It was a good choice.

I want to look at our drafting since Brian Wright became the GM, going back to 2019 when, even though RC was I think still the official GM, Wright did the bulk of the work in the DD made. We got Jakob, DD, and the 29th pick which we used to draft Keldon. Given the late first round slot, he’s been a terrific selection, even if the D is still wanting.

We also had picks 19 which we used on Luka Samanic and 49 for Quinndary Weatherspoon. Mopey Samanic, a prototypical modern PF mold on paper, didn’t pan out because of emo/lack of hustle issues. Whether that was RC’s or Wright’s ultimate decision, we were right to cut him, but not to draft him. By 2021 Quinn was elsewhere. He is currently on the LAL G-League team. 1/3

2020 – we selected Devin at 11 and Tre at 41. Excellent. At the time of our 11 selection, we had a choice between Devin or Haliburton. The latter has obviously exploded on O. But at the time of the draft he/his camp were signalling that he wanted to be drafted by the Kings at 12 (in other words, he didn’t want other teams to draft him, an early manoeuvring that was a bit off putting, but who wants a malcontent to start off his career) and considering we had Murray and White, we obliged, thrilled with Devin. I was a huge Patrick Williams fan but he went at 4! I love Devin. And I love Tre. 2/2

2021 – 12 - Primo and 41 – Wieskamp. Again, you can see the prototype, but uuugh huge misses, both. The former **** up, the latter we waived by 2022. He just couldn’t put together in the pros what he was doing in college. He continues on various G-League teams. 0/2

2022 – at 9 we picked Sochan, at 20 – Branham, at 25 – Wesley. At the time, I recall liking Dyson Daniels (went 8th), one of the Williams players that went to OKC, and I was intrigued by Tari Eason. When we draft Sochan, I felt kind of meh about it, going to the Draft Forum here wanting some insight into a raw player with potential, a jack of all trades, master of none, good build and strength and **** disturber with solid D. He eventually won me over with that solid D, all out hustle, and great looks on passes to cutters and to the weak side. Some D and some heart and some good vision went a long way. TBD

2023 – 1- Wemby; 44 – Sidy. 2/2

So the type is big, thick, guards and forwards; leaning more towards a base of strong versatile defenders who grow into well-rounded potential; modern forwards who are switchable and less position dependant. We seldom choose older players and seldom with one dominant skill already emerging.

We have previously acquired players to that type as well (Carroll, Morris, Thad Young, Langford). None have worked out yet we continue the trend in the draft (Keldon, Quinn, Primo, Sochan, Sidy).

We are bigger in terms of length, we do have some guys with wiry strength, and we have more talent (some through growth, but mostly with Wemby and Sidy – I have high hopes for him) but we are still getting tossed around a lot by bigger teams. Some of it is our young players needing to mature physically, some of it is experience in using more speed and better positioning as counters to bigger opponents.


THE 2023-2024 EXPERIMENT - I was surprised to hear we were going with point-Sochan and my first thought at the time was Brett Brown who coached the more skilled but still poor shooting Simmons. Pop has said that lots of discussions have been going into decisions for this and other roster looks. In an interview with Tony, Manu confirmed that when he was at a Spurs coaching retreat this summer, Pop was strong in his stances but that he was also amenable to other paths if others made good arguments for them. Regardless of who suggested it, the discussions for and against point-Sochan were had and the final decision rests with Pop. After 20% of the season, he rightly moved on from ‘the 2023-2024 experiment’.

This season Sochan came with an improving FTs percentage (started last season), and better percentage from 3. Ok. We we fortunate to draft a generational talent at his previous position and so it presented a Sochan conundrum. I can see why we tried point-Sochan given our poor D last season but even this experiment did not improve it. Ironically what did help the last couple of weeks or so was moving Sochan back to PF.:

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But even at PF Sochan continues to make maddeningly poor decisions with the ball, and being with the ball too much is also bad.

Sochan provides good D, is switchable and strong, has better instincts on that end, but when he so consistently looks off Wemby, there’s a price to pay. Right now it’s the team that is paying it because he stubbornly keeps repeating the same moves – over dribbling to the point that players ahead out on wings get covered rather than get the pass in transition. To the point that he dribbles all the way to a player and makes a DHO (Why?!). To the point that he goes into post-up positioning against defenders regardless of where he is on the O court because he can’t face up with his dribble. To the point that he looks off anyone else in end of Q situations regardless of whether they are more open. To the point that he drives into the paint with multiple defenders waiting. To the point that he picks up his dribble too early waiting for team mates to bail him out. To the point where he keeps going up against much bigger Cs down low to the same bad results.

On ball, he can drive and kick and he can DHO. That’s it. His overall efficiency is somehow worse despite better efficiency from 3s and FTs, takes the same number of FGAs, has a slightly lower PPG, same rebounds, 1.5 more assists per game, very similar blocks, steals, and PFs, with more TOs in three more minutes per game. Simply put, he can have these same numbers, even with more on ball action and asserting himself with more 3s. But the shutting out of Wemby is a big problem.

Last season, Sochan was getting points the workmanlike way, giving way to more experienced team mates. I think there’s some carry-over mentality to this. Wemby is the rookie and the sense is that he isn’t going to get his reps ahead of others who came before him. There is a sense of guys using their PT to manoeuvre their way into re-establishing a pecking order to the detriment of the team in the way it is being done.
Wemby is 14th in usage in the league at 28.1% (basketball-reference.com lists it at 29.3 which leads our team by a good margin) among players who have played at least 25 games.

He leads us in FGAs per game at 15.9, leads us with overall FGAs attempted at 398, and leads us with 173 made FGs. He leads the team in PPG, RPG, BPG, SPG. Ridiculous contributions on O already, this with incredible D presence:

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Sochan ranks second with 4.1 assists per game after Tre’s 5 assists per game and they are also in the same order in total assists made at 114 and 111.

And based on data so far, our top three players – Wemby, Devin, Keldon - do indeed rank in the top three in the major O categories we want them to.

So what’s the problem? Well we rank second last on O based on that Goldsberry link above. And while the overall stats have the right players in the right rankings, we don’t have enough games of the three of them being top three, particularly with Wemby leading the way. And by leading the way, it’s not just about just the numbers per game, but maximizing optimal opportunities.

Regardless of whether it’s point-Sochan or at PF, look up Sochan on social media after ANY game this season and you get samples of him missing Wemby in favour plays like this below. I thought it would curb when he went back to PF but nope, here we are. From the 27th game game:

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So he missed Wemby twice on one play in favour of a contested J in the paint versus multiple defenders. Brilliant.

This one has also been making the rounds:

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A SKIP pass OVER Wemby. **** hell.


But it’s not just Sochan. Here’s Keldon doing it:

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And here’s Julian with another terrible read in a previous game:

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It’s gotten to the point where Wemby jumps for they would-be play as if to emphasize the OBVIOUS right play.

And it’s not just bad passes to Wemby that get missed. Here’s the tail end of a play in which Sochan dribbles down the middle in transition, Branham ahead to the left already, and the result is Branham doesn’t get the pass because Sochan keeps dribbling instead:

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Any one play can get magnified. And these are getting more attention because this keeps happening over and over and over again.

So even if Wemby has the same amount of FGAs per game, it’s HOW we are setting him up and how we are not that is a huge issue.

WEMBY IS OPTION #1

But this is how it’s coming across more and more. These away commentators picked up on it two games in while we’ve had a whole season to witness it:

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Again, it’s about making the RIGHT play, not just passing it to Wemby and Wemby only. And that’s how we have to sell it to players who think there’s some other pecking order, which is how it appears to more eyes.

Devin and Keldon before him had more experienced players ahead of them and they got to ease their way through mistakes while earning their way to more playing time. Sochan happened to have come onto our team while we were in Year 1 of a deep rebuild and he got to start. We simply didn’t have anyone else there. We’d previously started Keldon and Doug at the 4. So Sochan got used to the PF role and a starting one at that. There is no real earning minutes like others previously have had to.

Put another way, had we drafted Wemby first and then drafted Sochan and the latter was putting up the exact same defensive results but making the exact same O mistakes or choices that result in Wemby getting looked off, would Sochan still be starting next to Wemby? Does the way he plays on O this season offset his D enough to justify the starting role? Would he at least be getting subbed out in repeating these mistakes?

Even Chuckasaurus Rex Branham has settled in within himself since being slotted into the starting role, a three-level scorer who drives more, cuts off ball well, doesn’t take nearly as many early clock one-and-done 3s. He plays within himself, plays better with the team and within the team concept. Good adjustments so far.

I keep hearing that Sochan is super chill and confident, even if the whole point-experiment chipped away at it. Last season Sochan started in 53 of the 56 games he played but said he didn’t care whether he started or came off the bench, just wanted to do what Pop told him to and play hard. This season Sochan plays ONE game off the bench and articles were written about his looking ‘glum’. What?!

https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/3-takeaways-spurs-102-94-loss-minnesota-18538292.php

https://www.expressnews.com/sports/spurs/article/sochan-benched-popovich-changes-lineup-18538921.php

It’s fine if he was confused about his role as this was a change-up while Sochan was still in the midst of the point-experiment. But looking glum after the game during which he came off the bench reminded me of Murray sulking during his eight game bench stint after struggling with the starters when he returned from injury. Sure it must be difficult, but it’s not working in a coal mine to feed your family difficult.

This season is also about how players take to certain roles and respond to them. A change of position is part of it. We put Keldon through the ringer with the PF role during the Bubble. And we put him through the ringer getting him to bring up the ball to initiate the O (it was also brutal but not at Sochan levels). I don’t recall people being so concerned about how he was handling various positions. Keldon came in and he was his energetic self regardless of where he played.

Tre went from bench to starter to now bench again. Not a peep.

Devin came off the bench for six games this season. Not a peep.

Branham has actually steadied himself better as a starter but again whether he was in that role or off the bench, he just played.

Even Zach who at the end of last season Pop said deserved to start this season, took the bench role with professionalism and continues to contribute broadly.

Rest assured, how guys handle not only different positions but also different roles be it starter or bench player is being examined. It’s a test of mettle, a test of how guys take on big challenges and the adversity that comes with it, how they handle failure and growing pains. Can a guy put his ego aside if it’s best for the team? Do they still want to be a part of things here through it? It’s about seeing who we continue forward with.

When we don’t make the right plays to Wemby, it also comes across as some guys looking to make sure their stats are well and truly padded so that each year looks better than the previous one, what is best for the team be damned. Hey if we’re not winning anyway, might as well make myself look good for that upcoming contract rather than be here to set someone else up.

But that’s backwards.

When guys play well around and with Wemby, it makes their O easier because on the whole Wemby is a willing passer, and as he’s the focal point of defenses, including him makes us better.

So. Even if Wemby takes the same number of shots the rest of the year, ANY Spur doing any of the above types of plays, regardless of reason or intent, has to sit in favour of any other Spur who will make THE RIGHT PLAY. THIS is the crux – these my turn your turn crumbs while missing the marrow plays need to be righted. And any guy who doesn’t should get subbed out, and if it continues, should get a bench role.

If DeMar can be subbed out by Pop for defensive purposes on the Spurs, and Dame can be subbed out by Pop for defensive purposes on the Olympic team, then any player, including Sochan, can get subbed out for O purposes.

Ultimate bench flex: Manu. That takes self awareness, ego in check, focusing on the team which will make the individual all the more valuable – see White, Derrick for a more recent example. Or even Herro, for that matter, another lottery pick with a bench role and a huge reward for a specific skill set.

At 4-23, things have not gone as planned. Time for blending growing pains of patience and consequences for not making right team-first plays.

We have to translate a 4th best in the league 28.7 assists per game (only .2 from third) into better results than 27th ranked 110.3PPG. Part of it is limiting turnovers (we are 28th with 15.8 per game); part of it is better efficiency than our 27th ranked 45.4% FG even though we are 5th in FGAs at 91.2 and 11th 3s attempted at 37 per game but convert only 34.4% of them, good for 26th; part of it is shot selection so that we get to the FT line more – we are 30th with 19.1 attempts per game and we are 17th making 77.9% of them.

On D, it is getting better but we still have instances of too many Spurs in the paint as drive and kicks or switches happen. Fundamentals like fighting through screens, running out hard, and having hands up on contests are important. Fundamentals like boxing out on rebounds will help improve our 20th ranked total rebounds, and 24th ranked O boards. Fundamentals like ball protection is an individual responsibility and we have to hold one another accountable better. And fundamentals like mindset of putting the team first and having a fighting and competitive spirit through opponent runs has to get stronger. Some of these are learned through going through it. But they are also choices, decisions to a man to be more resilient.

We’ll see how we fare in the next quarter or so of the season through what surely will see more roster and lineup changes. Onward.

It's up to us:

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Team-first. Together:

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[G R E Y]

So it’s interesting that now we’ve had three of last season’s starters being moved to the bench, first Tre, then Zach, and now Keldon, with Pop saying it’s just something we wanted to do (same reason he gave for trying Sochan from the bench before). Again, not a peep of complaint from Keldon. Good. It’ll be interesting to see whether we continue to see how things go with Keldon off the bench. But I do like the bigger, less ball-dominant 3&D look here.

I can eventually see something like Branham, Devin, Sidy, Sochan, and Wemby as a starting unit to try, and even Devin, Sidy, Sochan, new draftee, Wemby...

Sochan looked like a totally different player last game with one less on-ball team mate getting reps. He was confident, passed ahead quickly again, made those cross court and cutter passes again, and lo and behold, even found Zach well. He DOES see it. So he CAN do it. It’s both damning and encouraging.

In the post-game interview, Sochan was asked directly about including Wemby more and he basically hemmed and hawed his way through the answer, acknowledging that we need to do it better. The glaring obvious reason why we’re not doing it he got ahead of – “we’re not intentionally ignoring him”. Huh. We’ll need more making of obvious right passes for those words to be convincing, put it that way.

[G R E Y]

Time for more stick, less carrot. Good. Now Cedi and Doug don't play as much as Branham, nor do they start. They also have a noticeably higher 3s efficiency compared to Malaki's. So if we play the in the spot minutes we do their D can not only be hidden for less time but more often than not their O offsets the D.

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Given Branham's inefficiency and poor D, he's one of the prime candidates for some changes. I liked that he's reined in the chucking tendencies since starting, but the body language after bad passes and not running back on D and general D performance is going to need a wakeup call.

Sidy is a terrific defender and has great passing vision. Just saying.... Can't wait for him to show out all the more and force our hand to play him more with the big club.

To be frank, Devin has not been setting the game on fire with his D, his initial primary calling card coming into the league. I do like the growing synergy between him and Wemby, their give-and-go plays, high-low passes, etc., and hopefully some more P&Rs are incorporated.

But Devin also takes too contested shots and it comes across like he's practicing his reps rather than reading the floor and making the right play. Or course that also depends on what team mates around him are or are not doing. Sometimes it's a last resort. But when it isn't, the other options should get better looks. It makes for broken or incompletely run reps of sets and inefficiency.

More glaringly, as our second best overall two way player, the D hasn't stood out consistently well. He has to lead by example on that end and demand it of his team mates, call them out, communicate what he expects of them, but has to model it more first.

Wemby is obviously our most impactful defender, and that alone keeps him on the court. The tantalizing O has shown some freakish alien never-before-seen flashes, but we need a frank dose discussion about his shot selection and on ball choices. He's a terrific passer actually, but too often the ball gets stuck with heaves from the arc. Again, we have to do a better job moving around him, to say nothing of doing better to get the ball to him. But it goes both ways, and he has to know and run sets better and take better shots within them.

I have no problem with his leading us in FGAs and the quality of chances depends on finding him sooner and setting him up better, but he does hold responsibility for better shot selection and efficiency:

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Here's an insightful suggestion from LMA:

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You can tell Wemby is trying out some shots to become his go-to, these KD-like face-up daggers, but they are not falling. LMA is 100% right about simplifying or simply going from a central go-to unstoppable shot or two in key situations and work his way out from there.

Like imagine Wemby turning into defenders with the ball up high (minding the elbows, of course) and getting into a shooting stance with a high release more quickly and compactly. Or imagine Wemby with a hook shot. And with better glass angle discipline like Timmy and LMA.

He is absolutely Option #1 and we should continue to work on that, but he has to shoulder the responsibility of adjusting his game to work what's better for him and the team given his tremendous skill set.

Yes there's a dearth of overall talent and yes we are working on reps with various guys to see who and how works best with Wemby. But we have a lot of things we can do throughout to improve in the meantime.

[GQ Hot Dog]

Hello Spurs fan(s?)!

I'm wondering what kind of return Spurs fans are looking for in a Keldon Johnson trade?

[G R E Y]

Hello Spurs fan(s?)!

I'm wondering what kind of return Spurs fans are looking for in a Keldon Johnson trade?

Podz, Kuminga, and a 1st (throw in some salary to match).

[GQ Hot Dog]

Hello Spurs fan(s?)!

I'm wondering what kind of return Spurs fans are looking for in a Keldon Johnson trade?

Podz, Kuminga, and a 1st (throw in some salary to match).

I was more wondering more generally. What kind of players and/or picks in return? Guards/wings/bigs/1sts/2nds? I assume young players.

[G R E Y]

Hello Spurs fan(s?)!

I'm wondering what kind of return Spurs fans are looking for in a Keldon Johnson trade?

Podz, Kuminga, and a 1st (throw in some salary to match).

I was more wondering more generally. What kind of players and/or picks in return? Guards/wings/bigs/1sts/2nds? I assume young players.

Well there you have a general and specific answer. Young prospects who can shoot (G Podz) and have size (F Kuminga) who aren't total D liabilities. And since Keldon has a great - reasonable and descending - contract, a 1st round pick and whatever salary filler is necessary is pretty much fine (don't think you have any albatross, long ones, but haven't checked closely). Anyone who can run either end of a P&R and understands spacing and fundamentals. We need BBIQ and talent.