Are The San Antonio Spurs Already Playoff Contenders?

Are The San Antonio Spurs Already Playoff Contenders?

what have you made of the Spurs offseason they’ve had it’s been fascinating so they trade number eight becomes Rob Dillingham that goes to Minnesota they get the 2030 pick Swap and a 2031 pick they take on Harrison Barnes who kind of helps their team or works for their team they also get another um pick swap as part of that equation and in 2031 I believe and then like they signed CP3 we still don’t know the official deal because the math is being worked out with Harrison Barnes trade I’ve seen it frame two ways that the Spurs got better and now they’re set up to make upgrades kind of on the Fly mid-season or before the season or that they’re stealthily tanking again because they can go to Victor wanyama and say look we got some veterans in here like we’re building slowly gradually but that they’re still G to be bad where do you sort of land on like what this team’s immediate angle is first off they can’t stealthily tank and it’s not because they can’t it’s just they can’t because wemi is going to win them more games than he should right like the idea that we’re GNA tank and W is gonna on the floor playing the same allotment of minutes like you’re you’re just not going to you’re not going to lose enough because so many teams are going to be trying to T you’re not beating Brooklyn to the bottom you’re not beating Washington to the bottom like you’re not I mean Portland Utah you’re not beating these teams to the bottom in in that sense and I think that’s kind of the the idea that they’re trying to stealth F tank if they are and and you know I obviously having been in that organization which feels like I mean it was forever ago so it’s massively changed since I was there but the the idea that they would stealthily tank would be like okay are you guys stupid you you can’t unless you don’t play wemi at all you know or maybe go back to point soan but like I don’t I don’t see that being a uh I don’t see that being a thing um so like everybody that goes like they’re stealth F tanking like not happening for all for all of that and I think the um I like what they did one they got a point guard that can actually pass the freaking ball which I I I love at Trey Jones over here man well no I mean Trey I like Trey Jones as a backup I don’t know if he’s a starting level point guard um and and to be honest I don’t know if Chris Paul is a starting level point guard anymore but I do know that Chris understands the assignment right that big seven foot alien dude he needs the ball and I will make sure he gets the ball and I will get him post passes I will get him on pick and Pops I’ll find him on lobs I’ll find like you know like Chris’s shooting days and stuff is not going to be good it’s not like they did a great job ex uh stretching the floor with his shooting or anything like that but he’s just gonna get him the ball I I I just that alone is worth a couple more wins um and so you have competent point guard play for really 48 minutes between him and Trey Jones for the most part I like the Barnes pickup just solid you know not like crazy high or anything like that I think a lot of it’s gonna kind of depend on Devon vel’s development in terms of what this team does I think they’re gonna end up flipping Kellin Johnson at some point but I also just love the picks that they’re getting yeah like everybody was mad about the Dillingham thing when they traded eight I was like yo like they’re actually thinking several steps ahead in the sense of like hey when we’re good Minnesota might be pretty bad and that 2031 pick that we’re going to get from them might really help might be like a lottery pick when we’re good and I think that’s kind of like almost a smart little thinking there with all of that stuff I like Castle I think Castle is going to be a really good fit for them I don’t know if he helps right I he he was interesting to me when they didn’t use their other pick because I thought they needed someone that probably had more of a proven jumper Andor profiled as more of a I’m ready to set up others quote unquote WBY um and I just didn’t and again I get like knee deep into the draft a few weeks before the draft I don’t know enough about him and there are some people that are very high on him and I know defensively he might end up being a menace I was just I found that pick fascinating when they ended up not keeping their other one if that makes any sense yeah no I understand what you’re saying like hey they went this way with that so they’ll get more offense with the eighth pick for that stuff but I just think defensively they’re going to be in a good position I think offensively it will his game will develop to what they need it to be they’re always going to need more shooting they’re always going to need to find ways to stretch the floor and whatnot and Castle might not be that guy but in the long run I I trust that they will find those guys and this is their last run in the lottery most likely with their own pick um or at least probably so high in the lottery I should say they might they might end up in the lottery again next year but I don’t think they’re going to be one of the worst teams in the NBA and I think they’re just in a good position I like what they’ve done and it’s funny to me that some people seem to be criticizing it you know this is the same probably the same group of people that were saying that hey man like wem’s upset man Midway through the season and then they they better be careful they might lose him that that that whole thing and I was like are you guys drunk like what are we doing here at that point like it’s just so silly that that that was such a a topic of conversation but I like what they’ve done I just I I like they brought in veteran guys they I like what they’ve done the Stephan the Stefan Castle thing is the only one I have question about but I think that that’s just like okay you haven’t seen him play in the NBA yet like you’re going to have questions regardless I loved their offseason provided that just because they were linked to Larry Markin it’s like it does seem like they might be ready to cash in some chips oh if they get Markin in trouble and the thing that I keep coming back to and you hit on this when you said even if they wanted to short of shutting down Victor wanyama they can’t tank when wemy played with Trey Jones last year we both agree that Chris Paul not what he was but he’s an upgrade over Trey Jones the Spurs were a plus five points per 100 possessions with wemy and Tre Jones on the court it was better than that but it was around plus five the offense was barely League average so they’re killing it on defense when you add Devon Vel into that assortment they were plus 10 points per 100 possessions and that’s over like a 1700 plus possession sample size so that’s not nothing and now you’ve gotten I would say two NBA well Chris Paul certainly NBA caliber I know Kings fans anyone who has Harrison Barnes on their team for like more than three years for like their they’re done with Harrison Barnes but like you have another NBA level rotation player who should be able to hit a three I think they’re going to be better I think they’re planning on being better on purpose and they didn’t make a home run swing but like you don’t need to rush like we used to remember how many people killed the Pelicans for trying to reorient around ad too quickly back in the day making so many just short circuit or shortsighted moves so I do think look if they get Larry Markin in I don’t I’ll say it’s well it’s it’s a it’s going to be a problem for everybody like inflammatory things but I by and large I think I like the work they’ve done this offseason I think it’s smart to set themselves up with those stabs at the draft in the future because they’re going to be too good to have high draft picks so you either get to replenish your rotation with cheaper players or you have these trade assets that just have this before they turn they’re gonna have this Mystique like these swaps and these picks so I’ve loved their offseason I would have would I like to have seen them get Larry marketing or take kind of a bigger swing yeah sure but like I think they’ve done enough to say no I’m not prepared I don’t think they’re going to be a playoff team I’m with you they probably end up in the lottery just not high but like they were a 20-some win team I think that just wem’s progression of growth coupled with if they get good health from their new additions like this is a team that like could contend in like the mid-30s and to have like a 12 13 14 win jump isn’t nothing and you mentioned Deon Vel I’ll wrap up my point here before I throw it to you I’m a huge Deon Vel guy and like we saw a little dip in his pull-up three-pointer last year still shot 46% on pull-up twos move well without the ball shot about 40% on catch and shoot threes his job gets a little easier with CP3 there to me as well even with Harrison Barnes opening the floor instead of Jeremy seen or or even Kellin Johnson who kind of fell off last year for them so I love their their top two guys to me and Devon Vel and Victor like having those two just like that’s the future of your team and I just think they’re so well set up not just for the future but to maybe make like kind of a mini Mega leap now yeah and I think everybody’s so they have to make a leap now they have to make a leap now like why why like it’s it’s like they want them to take because the thing is if they take a home run swing and Miss like that sets you back let me just be honest with you I’d be killing them if they traded for Trey Young when that was a a possibility where people were talking about Trey young and this oh he’d be a great fit for the Spurs said no the Spurs would be a great fit for Trey young he wouldn’t fit with them he wouldn’t give he wouldn’t take them to another that’s the type of swing that you would give up assets for and it wouldn’t work in the long run and I think that’s the kind of stuff that like I think everybody’s trying to rush and force them into this stuff I really just like them being a little bit methodically slow and and there will be a time where they will have to take a swing and it might be next summer might be the summer after I don’t I don’t know um but they will take a swing and then we’ll decide then if it’s a good swing or a bad swing but I think it’s it’s one of those situations where they just didn’t need to rush it the dude was was won the Rookie of the Year and you know what finished second a defensive player of the year he could have been the defense if like there wasn’t just this generational defender in front like he could have won Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie that’s F wild but like but so then everybody immediately okay the Spurs have to make all these moves to contend for next year none of the moves they could make now would make them a contender this year short of like getting Paul George and LeBron clay in the same offseason right like something why didn’t they just do that then yeah exactly they just because they don’t want to Dan that was why nothing else had nothing to do with the possibilities of things I do agree that they didn’t need to rush I love watching wemy so much that like I would have maybe done something a little bit Reckless but I’m perfectly fine with they didn’t the only thing I actually disagree with you with is it would have come down to cost for me but I actually like the idea of Trey Young on this team not my top choice but I thought yeah I would have but I wouldn’t have killed them for trading for Trey young I probably would have applauded them for rolling the dice not that they had to or that they should have but I don’t think it would have been a bad move well I’ll just I’ll I’ll tell you why I was against the Trey young thing okay one you need a guy that’s going to pass the ball to wemi and understand it is wem’s team and not his team and young at his point in his career is would go to the Spurs and would think it’s his team and I don’t I wouldn’t blame him I would think the same thing really even going from like I feel like it’s one thing in Atlanta where you’ve been there the whole time and they’ve rebuilt around you but going to a different team wouldn’t shift his mindset at all you don’t think it depends on the team he goes to if he goes to a young team at say if he went to Orlando same situation right because he’s like I’m the veteran here I’m the guy here I’m the one that has the experience I made it to the Conference Finals two years ago was it two years ago or three years ago I’m old now I don’t remember that was 2021 that was the last yeah I think that was 202 three years ago okay so three years ago and like I’m you know all like understand the NBA now at this point follow me and you know like and everybody’s response was like well he wemi will be able to cover for him defensively sure but like I don’t want a guy that’s gonna take touches away from wemy I don’t want that and I think that’s the important thing there and the ball’s gonna be predominantly In Trey Young’s hands and he has proven when they had de jante Murray in Atlanta he doesn’t do well off ball so like when it goes to wemi he ain’t gonna be doing anything and I think you know so for me the Trey young thing was a mistake but that’s the kind of move they needed to stay away from it looks like they’re staying away from and so I don’t have to say much more about it and just accept the fact that you were probably wrong Dan [Music] [Music]

Dan is joined by Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) to discuss how the San Antonio Spurs are effectively loading up for two separate timelines around Victor Wembanyama. Check out the full episode here 👇https://youtu.be/SyBbX_Vj6Mo?si=PMmzJv0BMxruVpVL

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