San Antonio Spurs | Game Theory Offseason Preview

San Antonio Spurs | Game Theory Offseason Preview

hello and welcome to the Game Theory podcast offseason preview series where Bryce Simon and I break down all of the big decisions that every NBA team has to make this upcoming summer today we’re talking about the San Antonio Spurs a much requested video that we kind of wanted to waited wait on a little bit because they have all of these draft picks they have potential to get involved in any star trade that they want to get involved in i wanted to see where some of that smoke and dust kind of fell but before we talk about the Spurs thank you all for subscribing to the Game Theory podcast YouTube channel and the podcast feed itself we are up over 45,000 subscribers we appreciate you guys immensely for coming to hang out with us and enjoying the show in the way that you have thank you all for subscribing to this feed and to all of the many feeds and all the places you can get this show keep doing it hit the like button hit a fivestar rating review these things go up every day at 12 we are really closing in on the end i think this might be number 27 26 that goes up with the Spurs so we’re really excited to break in and dive into the San Antonio Spurs bryce the Spurs have an interesting summer and to me it’s more about like directionally what is your plan here with Victor right do you think Victor is just ready to go all in around you have all of the pick capital to be able to build like a long-term sustainable thing if you want to or do you think that he’s ready to just go out and win a title now uh that that’s a real interesting question in winning the lottery well at least finishing second in the lottery but moving up in the way that they did in the lottery certainly uh has created even more optionality because they are poised to end up with Dylan Harper here too yeah i mean my answer to that is yes i mean before he was injured Victor was gonna like I think he was it would have ended up first team all NBA Sam i think he would ended up number five um if he would have stayed healthy and so I I do think the the window is open for me one of the continuous conversations throughout this series has been windows and is it open is it not when do you open do you keep the longer window do you shorten it whatever victor’s window is open right now and I think if you’re San Antonio you go ahead and start to m maximize that not recklessly you don’t do stuff crazy and part of that is you want to keep the window open so you don’t do things that are going to compromise your future but I am comfortable with this team saying “Let’s go ahead and if there is a move to be made to move us forward as soon as next year let’s make that.” So things worth breaking down here real quick they’re going to end up being an overthe cap team this summer after they draft Dylan Harper and you know seemingly draft Dylan Harper and you know have all of their minations at 14 and everything like that they have 155.5 million guaranteed for 11 players including the number two overall pick they are 40.4 million away from the first apron they are 52 million away from the second apron 32 million away from the tax line i think the main thing I would avoid this year is the tax more than anything i just don’t think they should be a tax team yet uh they have enough you know young players and young talent to where they can avoid that if they so choose sure yeah no that makes a lot of sense right trying to stay under that until you absolutely can’t stay under it anymore totally they have their mid-level exception the full non- taxpayer um they have a 5.1 million bianual if they want to use that uh free agents the three big ones I guess would be Chris Paul who’s a non-bird chris Paul’s already kind of talking about going to move closer to his family in LA so you know might be gone at this point it feels like sandro Mamu Kellish Villi you know a guy that you know steps in and I think plays like reasonably well when he comes in and plays uh and then Charles Bassie as well is a free agent here too they need to fix the backup center position that that is like a real need for them this summer we’ll talk about a few names there at some point but this summer is all about like directionality and what your choice is here so they acquired De’Aran Fox at the deadline right and it’s an interesting situation now because you have De’Arren Fox but when that happened you couldn’t have expected to get the number two overall pick and likely end up with Dylan Harper plus Steph Castle is also pretty effective at playing with the ball right i think more than anything like their first choice and it might just be done like it might just be the simplest choice for them right and they’re just going to extend Dear Fox right but their first decision here to me by far is we have a de’ar and Fox extension do we just lock it in like is that what we’re doing even though that now we have multiple you know on ball players potentially in Harper and Castle or do we like maybe look to like cash in on dear Fox a different direction my guess is that they don’t do that i would explore it if I’m being honest like it makes a a lot more sense for them to build around Dylan Harper and Steph Castle to me than it does to build around all three of them and look the one that’s on the two that are on Vick’s timeline are Castle and Harper not necessarily De’Aran it’s a It’s a really weird situation I think in San Antonio now it is and because it that would go completely against what I just said right in terms of understanding if they went all in i think if you trade De’arren Fox you’re actually not opening up the title window next season and I would I would I would understand them taking that i was just saying that like I would definitely think that Victor is ready to open it up but if if you’re trading Fox that means you’re handing the the keys to Dylan Harper and I understand if they believe in Dylan Harper in that way but rookie Dylan Harper isn’t leading them to a conference finals and an NBA finals and NBA championship as good as Victor is right and so you you’re you’re slowing that window down a year or two maybe that’s okay because you’re really extending it if Harper is what a lot of us scouts and NBA scouts and whatever think he is that that’s a really fun pairing and it does you still have plenty of ball handlers victor runs a lot of usage through him so you’re okay there and I think the real thing with Fox Castle and Harper is it’s not so much that you have too many guys that handle the ball like that is a thing but none of those guys are great off the ball right like Steph is a great cutter and mover and offensive rebounder like he can do all of those things but he’s not a floor spacer and I don’t think it’s naturally what Fox or Harper does well and so you’re not really putting all of them in the best situation to be their ultimate you know ceilings or whatever so I it sounds so weird to even consider it i think it’s a tough decision though Sam because again if you move Fox you’re you’re not opening the window at for definitely this season you know maybe maybe a year from now but definitely not this season so two two things stand out here moving Fox to me does feel like one of those things that like we can talk about but is probably not all that realistic in like NBA terms almost just because like De’Arren is represented by an incredibly powerful agency with Clutch and if you traded for him after you know you know they there was a big fuss of getting him to San Antonio and then you decide oh no we’re just going to turn around and move him again i think that would probably be a bad uh bad for the relationship potentially with an exceedingly powerful organization uh that does have real sway in the NBA and clutch like I’m not saying it’s the beall end all and you know you still have Victor and there are still going to be players that want to play with Victor long term especially if you have Harper and Castle and these guys work out as well as we think that they could it does feel like one of those like fantasy basketball kind of moves almost it it’s it’s a it’s a 2K25 or whatever move right where it’s like oh I just So Yep the second piece of it is though that I think that if I am trading for Fox right and I’m keeping him I would want this move to be done in conjunction like with whatever you’re going to decide to do directionally right if I’m keeping De’Arren Fox I think I kind of would want to like push in a little bit this year if I’m not keeping De’Arren Fox I’m okay slow playing this and like taking the you know Oklahoma City route where look maybe we’re not going to be very good next year with Steph Castle and Dylan Harper starting and you know it’s Devin Vel and Jeremy Sohan and Harrison Barnes and Victor and Kell right and that’s the group we we have like seven guys and we feel great about it but like that team probably ends up with a high lottery pick again next season and next year’s draft looks pretty strong and then you can push in the next summer if you want to especially if you see some real growth from Castle and Harper you know that’s that team’s probably going to win 35 to 40 games anyway because Victor’s so good and you know we saw it this year obviously right it’s not like Fox played a ton so I think the moves have to be almost like done in conjunction with one another you want to do like the slower rebuild I do really look at seeing what’s out there for Fox if I want to go in and like try and make this happen something along those lines so okay so let’s play in the world where Fox stays and gets extended right because I was going to say is there a world where Fox maybe sees Dylan Harper coming in and is like you know what actually I’m okay if you wanted to move me like I don’t want to have to battle this back court and play more off the ball and whatever but I I I just don’t know that I believe that cuz you’re playing with Victor Wimyama like I just I can’t imagine that would be the truth so let’s say he stay let’s say he stays let’s live in that world and let’s live in the world where Giannis stays in Milwaukee or goes somewhere else would you be looking to make some other move like what what is where where are you trying to upgrade are you trying to upgrade or are you just like rolling it with the group of seven you said and seeing what Steph and Dylan become it’s a hard question ju just to like kind of you know close the loop on this like maybe Darren doesn’t want to do an extension either by the way like this is another thing that like we have to talk about real quick like he definitely I think wants to be there long term but he is currently eligible for like a three-year $140 million extension right having said that if he was to like go and make all NBA this year or you know if he wanted to wait until next summer like next summer he can do like a 4226 right so like it it might not be as simple as like you have to extend De’Arren Fox right now right it could be that you see how this goes de’arren says like no I’m not going to do an extension now or maybe you think 3140 on De’arren given the way the salary cap is going to rise maybe you think that is like a pretty decent deal because what it’s like $47 million a year going forward into what would that be 20 29 I think it would be when the cap is going to be 205 million so you’re basically paying like a a sub 25% max for De’arren Fox at that point if you think he’s that good that’s a pretty good number for him he he can’t I’m not trying to say this like the way it’s gonna say he can’t turn that down right that like you risk he’s made a lot he’s made a lot of money as it is so like you know you could take that one of two ways that’s true it’s it’s just it’s so hard with with these guys you know with with the decisions that and I know it’s a ridiculous amount of money so people are like you know it’s a ridiculous it’s it’s life it’s generational money either way yeah like D’Ang will have made $186 million so like he he’s made his money but maybe you know if he locks in those three years it’s $320 million versus if he waits it’s $400 million that he could like have really locked in i don’t know like to me I’m probably just good with the extension if I’m De’Aran and if I’m the Spurs like I definitely prefer if I’m keep like if my plan’s to keep him right like I want him to sign the You want him to 100% i agree with that right i mean even though you even though you have him for a year less on the that I’m okay with that at at such a lower number totally and the other thing is that if he doesn’t sign the extension it kind of gives you some wiggle room here now too right like you kind of have some Harper comes in as a freaking stud and he’s ready to go yeah I think if I’m De’Arren I’m signing that deal i’m going to be honest with you like if I want to stay in San Antonio which has been like the point of all this seemingly was to get him to a place where he can be like a winner i mean I’m probably signing that deal i I wouldn’t want to like play the game of you know hey we’ve got these two other dudes that can play on the ball and really set things up so uh yeah cuz San Anton not even on purpose like you your market value could go down if Harper is a stud because like you’re just naturally not going to have the ball as much and maybe play as many minutes and whatever and like if you have I don’t think it ever goes down from 340 no yeah i’m just saying like you end up risking injury or something like that to get the same deal right like the because you bringing in this rookie and I don’t know what the likelihood chances stuff plays out but there there’s a little bit more risk right to betting on yourself because he doesn’t control all of the factors in that situation with San Antonio maybe wanting to use some of these other guys and again maybe not playing in the perfect context for himself and his game because of these guys playing on the ball and all of that i I find it utterly fascinating now like it’s genuinely one of the more interesting decisions because like we’ve seen the reports that like oh Philly reached out to San Antonio about you know trading for their pick yeah no [ __ ] guys like of course Philly reached out to San Antonio about number two of course they want to trade up everything we know about Daryl my is that he would love to trade up and get Dylan Harper right he’s a guy that you know tries to star hunt above all else there’s it i just don’t know what he could offer to make that work it doesn’t just take one firstrounder it takes two first rounders for me to do that and then you’re completely limiting all of your flexibility you know wise in terms of Philly if I’m San Antonio I’m either trading out and getting like Giannis or I’m taking Dylan Harper it’s one of the two yeah yes i agree like it’s it’s simple like you’re you’re not trading number two for Kevin Durant it it’s number two is drastically valuable drastically more valuable than one year of Kevin Durant you have nine years of a guy on like a cheap deal four years on a cheap deal then five more years potentially on a 25% max versus Durant who’s on a 35% max for you know potentially one maybe three years now moving forward cuz I’m sure Kevin’s going to want an extension of some in some regard giannis tracks for me giannis is a little bit younger than KD and a little bit better than KD if you really want to go in Giannis makes sense and if Giannis is available and as of right now he’s not like I am going in for Giannis like I’m the Spurs this is the exact guy I’m trying to get i become unstoppable on defense i become a real dude like I It’s a perfect fit on offense to have Giannis and Vic together like those two are weaponized to their fullest extent if Giannis comes available I’m doing I’m moving heaven and earth to get Giannis and I have the assets to do it like I have potentially the best offer on the market i personally would probably move both number two and Steph Castle for Giannis i know that’s like not a popular opinion but I think the fit between Giannis and Victor is so good that it would make them the title favorite next year yeah like genuinely I think if it’s De’Arren Fox Giannis and Vic that is the title favorite for next year assuming Victor stays healthy like that that that is a ridiculous duo on the interior that’s two top five players next year potentially on the interior i’m doing that and if I’m the Spurs I’m doing that and to your point that fit really well on both ends of the floor and and like we know those like we know Vic is you know DPI candidate every year he you know makes the games played and Giannis is still very impactful defensively especially off the ball like now you have Victor playing on the ball and Giannis roaming around off the ball behind it like he needs that anyway and De’Aran or the other way yeah but we we’ve we’ve broke that down with Victor in terms of we like him at the point of attack better than the offball ROR defensive but it’s not like he can’t do it right like certain matchups switch things up and De’Arren’s defense becomes even less of an issue now because of that but offensively like Victor doesn’t need to occupy the space that Giannis occupies right i mean Giannis has played with the floor spacing big and Brook Lopez a lot of his career and you have a guy that can do that in Victor and so along with everything else Victor does offensively right like the different monster entirely it’s just and to your point it’s not just a one-year thing like Durant could be and even if you say well Durant’s two years or potentially three years I’m I might disagree with you because I assume Durant’s on the trail end of his career with all due respect to Kevin Durant one of the greatest players our game has seen giannis is what 30 31 like if you resign him you’re probably opening a five-year window is that fair Sam if if you’re able to resign him I think that’s fair i think that’s fair i think you are opening year window it’s a higher ceiling because Giannis is a top three player in the league right now and Kevin Durant simply is not and that’s okay and it’s a longer window with said player yeah no I it it’s to me it’s a home run like this is if I was Giannis this is where I’d want to end up yeah like I I would love this um but no indication Giannis is available right now um we’ll see where this goes let’s talk about the Spurs and the center position because you and I have long talked that Victor needs to play the five like we think that’s just where he’s most effective it’s where you get the most marginal value out of him i think that they need a backup big who can play like 18 minutes a night and play occasionally with Victor like we’re not saying that Victor can’t play the four he definitely can but I think that your best closing lineups are probably Victor at the five i like the idea like the the name that like just really tracks for me is Clink Capella for them sure like I would imagine that it’s probably not more than like six or seven million could even be like the bannual if you want to do it that way but like it just really really makes sense for me for it to be Clint or like somebody like a Clint Capella type right like Brook Lopez would make sense to me if they wanted to try and do Brookke um can I throw a name at you like cuz he this player is a different archetype what about like Al Horford if he goes ahead and leaves Boston sure do do you like that is that I mean again a different type of player but I think you could play him with Victor absolutely stretches the floor gives you something a little bit different i assume you know this is a role he’d be willing to sign up for is like when I bring him up for Detroit fans they like freak out they think that Horford is completely done and I’m like I don’t think he’s completely done he’s not nearly what he used to be i I think that’s crazy like I he played like 30 minutes a game in the playoffs cuz Pzingis wasn’t able to um I I think we’re Horford is nowhere near done i Well I was going to say I think he at least has one more year like we haven’t seen the cliff we haven’t seen him fall off the cliff yet maybe it’s coming and it’s going to eventually cuz father time but we haven’t seen it yet like I So he’s an interesting name for me in these discussions as well yeah like I didn’t think Al was like amazing this year but like he’s definitely a backup big yes he or like you know I think there’s a case you can say that like he can start games for you but like he is definitely a backup level big if you want him for that role like he can be a really valuable player I was just making sure I wasn’t crazy like I I feel like he’s still a quality NBA big especially whenever you figure he can space the floor and so all right um yeah in 11 playoff games he averaged 86 and two shooting 47 40 86 and was like not not as good defensively from him previously but like was not like killing them on defense either he’s a little bit slower than he was like he’s not quite as not as he used to be correct yeah he’s still pretty solid um Horford makes a ton of sense it’s it’s a name like that but like they should be able to go get somebody like that to me if also if I’m them like what about shooting like Sam Merrill is this a like with the non-ax right love it let let’s lock it in sam Merrill I’m for it i will say like when you have bigger guards like Dylan Harper and Steph Castle you have the ability to go get Sam Merryill who’s not small and Sam is way better defensively than what I think people give him credit for but like yeah Sam Merrill great name they should be playing basically at the top of the non-t taxpayer mid-level market this summer I think yeah like be it like the last guy they need is Ty Jerome right just like they have enough on ball already but yeah Merryill makes a ton of sense um like Nas Reed is interesting to me so I was going to ask about this i didn’t know what’s the mechanism to get it just in a signin trade yeah it would have to be via signin trade in some respect um like maybe the Timberwolves like with like the depth of Kelvin Johnson and Julian Champeni or something like that doesn’t even get you there financially I don’t think cuz Kell Johnson and Champenni only gets you to like 20 i think Nasreed probably gets more than 20 right yeah he he’s an interest I don’t know um I would guess but um speaking of for Spurs fans real quick over on the substack I actually have video breakdowns on the guys we are talking about right here sam Merrill Nause Reed so you guys can go check it out for yourself and see what you think he’s worth on the motor city hoops also uh another name is Naw Nil Alexander Walker is on there as well but makes a ton of sense for them makes a ton of sense too like the defensive infrastructure there you can really guard with some of these guys nas Nas is an interesting Sam especially if it’s not a Giannis thing um I I think that’s an interesting fit with Victor like you can play real five outs and his skill level offensively again like I have the the defense but Victor protects some of that the Steph Castle defense protects some of that yeah depending on what the mechanism is to get him there yep no so like those those are the names like you’re you’re playing at the top end of the mid-level market to me if I’m the Spurs um you know we’ll see what they end up doing uh like honestly like the name the like I guess Bruce Brown doesn’t make a ton of sense but like defensive infrastructure again you know sure uh yeah look like you’re you’re trying to get like a Sam Merrill you’re trying to get a Nause Reed you’re trying to get a and then like you probably want a big right you need some sort of big man in some respect so okay we kind of talked about the draft like let’s just talk about why Dylan Harper is the very obvious number two okay here um what what do you like about Dylan Harper um I I like his size and his physicality for a guard that can play on the ball the way that he can um and I think along with that he has great body control contact balance those type of things he has a ability like I I always mention this his in-n-out hesitation dribble is just absolutely sick um it it’s really really impressive and so I I think this is a guy I have him as like he’s the type of guy that can just run your team for for 10 plus years in the league like as a primary creator he’s going to be able to do that and I think defensively there’s real upside for him to be a two-way player as well and so I think that’s intriguing where I think he can end up being a positive defender in the NBA it probably doesn’t happen right away cuz primary creators take time and it’s a lot on their plate anyway but I think he can guard i think he’ll be able to guard so constant like mix of aggression but like poised aggression you know what I mean like he is constantly trying to like probe defenses and find the opening uh to be able to get into the paint to be able to get to the rim right uh very polished great footwork for a teenager very creative mindset with his handle like you’ll see him go like hang dribbles and hesitations like into crossovers like into behind the backs and then like we’ll throw a spin move on top of it and like fascinating ability to like be able to play with the ball in his hands great in ball screens like really effective with his pace there he’s a big kid like he’s 6’5″ 213 pounds has long arms 610 and a half wingspan you know able to keep guys on his hip and like maintain those advantages at a super high level great with his gathers like has a nice mix of euroeps and spins and you know just has the ability to navigate bodies on the interior he seems to have like really strong like ankles to be able to plant and then be able to go where he wants to great in extending and finishing as well uh made shots consistently off the catch this season uh was an awesome finisher this year at Ruckers at the very least i will note like the passing too right i think he actually does show like real advanced vision for his age it’s a little bit more hit or miss than somebody like Cade right like it’s not quite that level when Cade was at Oklahoma State that’s a name I hear with Dylan a decent amount uh but like he definitely can pass off of a live dribble you know great understanding of backline defenders throws cross corner kickass with zip and touch um can find different angles as well just like he’s a generally creative mind as an onball player is what I like about him most yeah I mean that’s what I I always start with like the physicality and his build and his and all of that i think he’s a guy like I watch for these type of players can they can they play with the bump can they play through that physicality give the defender a bump to create separation but the more I watched and this is why I I grew to like his game more Sam because I’m sure we’ll talk about the jump shot eventually was the nuance of his game the finesse aspects of his game it’s not just the physicality and the body control and this is important because he’s not an elite athlete right he’s not a wow you explosive vertical athlete and so but he does he plays with suddenness and change of direction i’m glad you brought up using the ball screens because I think he sets him up he has patience he’ll snake ball screens he’ll jail ball screens and so he has all of those little nuances of being a primary on ball guy and I think that’s really really important for him yeah and the shooting look the pull-up shooting is the issue here like um 27 and a half% of his pull-up mid-range jumpers 29.6% of his pull-up jumpers from three um was much better in high school for what it’s worth like the numbers aren’t catastrophic in that respect and he made all of his c like he made a bunch of catch and shoot shots this year was like a 75% foul shooter i think the shooting will be fine i I don’t know if he’s ever going to be like a monster pull-up shooter but I think it’ll be fine given what else he does and brings to the table yeah no I I have I have some hope with it that it’ll get there um we’ll see it’s going to be important right it’s going to be huge for him especially off the dribble like being able to do that um and even off the catch to an extent because he’s going to have to play you know no matter what the roster looks like he’s going to the the ball is going to be in Victor Wimbeyama’s hands at times as well right so he’s going to have to be able to move off the ball cut relocate and knock down some catch and shoot stuff at times also um but that that is kind of the the factor here that’s important um but I’m I’m interested to see how it plays out for him number 14 let’s talk about that and you you and I are in agreement like we’re not really entertaining offers unless it’s like a egregious overpay for Dylan Harour correct or unless we’re going out and getting basically Giannis correct okay number 14 so I think there’s a chance that this like ends up being a pick that they kind of move out somewhere so if I was them I would probably try to call New Orleans who has both of Milwaukee’s 2026 and 2027 first and see what the price point would be to get both of those like could I do 14 in something else to get both of those picks and basically just like corner the Yiannis market sure that’s fun i think that’s like a really smart move for them because 14 like you’re if you told me that you’re getting the number 14 overall pick basically for like the num the 2027 first for the Milwaukee Bucks where we don’t know what that’s going to look like it might look great it might be that Giannis and Dame are back and that’s like not super valuable right and like you’re getting 2026 maybe you have to add something else if you’re the Spurs there to get both of those things given that if the Bucks are taking a gap year this doesn’t look great for Milwaukee right i’m basically trying to corner the market on Giannis if I’m them while also saying like “Oh those picks might be valuable maybe we don’t corner the market maybe they just end up being valuable picks for us.” But if I’m New Orleans I’m like “Okay new front office i probably want more than 14 for both of those picks if I’m being honest but I am getting like a I’m getting a guaranteed lottery pick here like that’s a real value ad yeah so you would do this even if you didn’t even if a Giannis trade wasn’t imminent like you’re just like we’re going to we’re going to do this ahead of time we’re going to make sure we have the we position oursel in the best situation if it were to materialize in some capacity and there’s a little bit of upside here if like I talked about earlier the Bucks take a gap year or not earlier I guess on Milwaukee’s offseason preview um Bucks take a gap year Giannis unfortunate injury happens something like that and it goes really bad i think because of that if I’m New Orleans I want something legit with it with 14 what’s What’s the cost i want another first i I I’m I’m I will trade you two first for two first what about the Minnesota first that we got the in 20 31 or something or like what if we gave what if instead of the 2014 what if it’s like a pick and a swap for a pick and a swap what if it’s like 14 and the Celtic swap in 2028 for the 2026 and 2027 Bucks capital cuz one of those is only a swap so right um see see I I think if I’m Norland’s I have no idea what they’re thinking actually but I almost would rather just take the swing you know what I mean like I I I understand your point with like I know I get 14 this year i may just say like maybe somebody else comes to me with a better offer because the Bucks told the Rockets “We’re only doing business with you if you go get our two picks or our pick and our pick swap or I’ll just set on it and play the game and see if Milwaukee just isn’t good in 2020 in one of those years.” And Houston’s another contender just to do this and corner the market yeah I think too um Yeah I think that’s completely reasonable uh I would look at a number of different tradeout options if I was San Antonio i would also look at a number of different options available who are the guys that you like for San Antonio at 14 yeah so I mean always the bigs that we talked you know Thomas Sorber is in this range i mean the I guess mentioned Match is going to be off cmbb is going to be off derek probably yeah probably derek Queen what do we think about Derek Queen in San Antonio i don’t love it i don’t love it my initial instinct um Baron I see like again this gets to the point of if I want if I’m using this kind of asset I want it to be a player that I think can close games with Giannis and like I just don’t want to play two bigs or play close with Victor I’m sorry um I just don’t want the center to be to have somebody else to guard other than Victor so yeah the whole like marginal advantage of Victor to me is like making a center guard him because you have four other perimeter players on the court and then Victor is the one closing down the paint and then you are just like a monster defense still so Carter Bryant Cedric Coward are the I think would be the two names that Spurs fans should be hoping are still on the board when they come up then yes so here’s my question to you say that you love Carter Bryant if you’re the Spurs are you willing to trade Toronto or something like that number 14 in a future first for number nine in order to get Carter Bryant the the the cupboard is still pretty loaded right with other cuz here’s what I don’t like pretty loaded but like Oh no no they Yeah so my hesitation is I don’t want to deplete it too much that it does cost me if I decide I want to make a move on somebody um so I’m a little I’m a little hesitant there i think it would be how I feel the board’s going to play out Sam because if if I can stay at 14 and land coward um I I’m I’m okay uh I I even like Nate Clifford and so I I may just sit as opposed to having to give up a future first and especially knowing that my my covered first round picks might be really important to me moving forward for what it’s worth I agree with you i I would not give up a future first to move up and get Carter Bryant um I I would hope that Cedric Coward falls to 14 I might give up like you know if if Carter Bryant’s there at 13 and like I can make it so that like I’m just jumping one pick or he’s there at 14 I’m just jumping like two picks and it’s not a future first like it’s something else right i might try and do that to get Carter Bryant but I’m not giving up a future first and 14 to get Carter Bryant I think would be my answer um Carter Bryant Cedric Coward uh look like I I understand the idea of like a Sorber but again like I think you can just fill your backup center spot at the end of the day like the flexibility that you have still um SNG is like a little bit too much of a project for me for where they are right now like I get it but it’s just not quite for me um I see like I kind of think their board is like somewhat limited like if it’s it’s it’s funny Sam because that’s what this isn’t a wingheavy portion of the draft and so if if if they’re not let’s just say they don’t want to fill it with a big that takes out quite a few of these names and then you’re not looking for a you know you’re not a Jeremiah Fears team you’re not a Nolan Treyor team like the names we’ve thrown out on the wing are kind of it that’s why I mean I went to my next tier of players and was like do you like just this is early compared to where like is Liam McNeely all of a sudden a name like or like do you trade back like if you’re San Antonio and you miss out on Coward and um and Carter Bryant do you see if somebody else wants to move up for Yan Baron Jay or Noah Essenay or something like that can you go back to 18 and then take Nick Clifford or Liam McNeely or somebody like that like you actually trade back and accumulate a few seconds down the road or something yeah I don’t mind that either i think that 14 part of the reason I want to talk about this is like because of the fact that I think they do have like somewhat limited options at 14 i think this is like a real trade candidate you know either out or down or you maybe they do try to trade up like a couple spots to get the guy they want but I think this is a real trade candidate that’s Yeah so okay i don’t think we have anything else on the Spurs like it’s weird in so far as like it’s an important it’s an important summer for them to be clear like they need to like pick a direction in terms of how you want to like do you want to go slower or do you want to go and like ramp up the speed of this thing with Victor i think either direction is like totally reasonable and totally rational rational i do think that you want to take this summer to pick that direction though maybe honestly though like maybe if De’aran doesn’t agree to the extension and he wants to like play it for next year and be like “No like I’m going to I’m going to try and bet on myself and like really get crazy money next year.” Maybe it’s just you know what screw it we’re going for this and you know we’re going to keep playing this out kicking the can down the road one more and bringing in Dylan Harper and seeing where things settle i would understand that to some extent too if Giannis comes available I’m all in um maybe more than some people would be but I am and then if otherwise like I’m taking Dylan Harper and I’m using my non-T taxpayer midlevel and I’m you know kind of rolling along here can I throw a name at you that I just thought of as we’re closing out if Trey Murphy is actually available I’m skeptical is but like as well is that’s the kind of guy I’m going for yeah okay i just I just wanted to make sure like I’ve realized how high on 14 Vel and like another first is probably what the deal would have to be would you go up three for him would you go three first so I find myself like having a like I’ve had Pistons fans throw three first at me and I find myself as much as I love Trey Murphy all of a sudden bing at that yeah i I I think he can be a number two option though and he doesn’t even have to be that in San Antonio he’s not going to be the best number three option in the league in in San Antonio if you think he’s the number two option you give up two f you give up three first yeah but he’s not going to be my number three option so now I’m I’m I’m overpaying for a guy that’s going to be my number three because I don’t know i kind of think even if he’s if he’s your number three on like a title contender you think you’re building a title contender yeah for sure and I don’t have to give up or castle any or Fox honestly if I was them I might do Velc 14 in two futures like at least at least a first and a swap I would do yeah um the the the one thing I always like hold up a little bit is like I don’t know what medicals are like I know as a labroom there like I actually saw the game where he tore his labum like that was just like one of those things but it seems like he has missed games throughout his career and so like I would I would just want to know that stuff right like I know that I know they do know that stuff they find it out but like I think that’s part of the equation in terms of what his value is so Yep agree okay um that’s kind of where this is right now i think that we can kind of call there like it’s it’s weirdly it’s an important summer but like mechanically there aren’t as many things here as you would think weirdly we didn’t talk as much cap and under and over and aprons and stuff like that we’ve done with some other teams totally like Brooklyn their roster is so open that like there’s 45 options you know what I mean we had to talk about every player we had to mention every player every free agent every draft pick yeah are we trading for a star are we trading for you know and that’s the other thing they’re at number two available like even their high-end draft pick we didn’t have to talk multiple names because we know who it’s I mean I feel like we know who it’s going to be so okay Bryce tell the people where they can find your work tell the people what’s going on yeah Motor City Hoops on Twitter on Blue Sky got the Motorcity Hoops Substack the Pistons Pulse podcast Game Theory Podcast with Sam Vini right here thank you so much for watching listening supporting everything you guys do uh help us grow with ratings reviews subscriptions all of that and especially the feedback on these offseason previews i I think at the end of this recording we only have three left um which in and of itself is exciting because it’s been a lot of work but is also a little bit sad because it has been so much fun and that means we’re almost through it all but again if you like this tell a friend and guys we did this for every team so if you’re an NBA fan in general or maybe the other teams in the division or whatever go check those ones out and and you will have all of the same detail and information on them oh Bryce we’re going into NBA draft prospect things too oh yeah it’s not going to slow down okay go to the athletic keep me employed over there go hit the subscribe button over on the YouTube channel hit the subscribe button over on the podcast feed uh five stars likes anything you guys show uh some love on we would be immensely appreciative of uh we will be back in a few hours realistically uh we will talk to you guys soon bye

In this Game Theory offseason preview, Sam Vecenie is joined by Bryce Simon discuss the future of the San Antonio Spurs.

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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.