Who needs to level up next season for the San Antonio Spurs?

Who needs to level up next season for the San Antonio Spurs?

So, we have to pick a player on the roster who needs takes the next step into next season. You are Locked on Spurs, your daily San Antonio Spurs podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome back to Locked On Spurs and the Locked in NBA Network. I’m your host, Jeff Garcia, Spurs writer for Ken 5 San Antonio. Glad to have you all back. Hope you’re having a great day. And as always, we thank you for making Lockdown Spurs your first listen each and every single day. You guys are there every day. Keep on coming here to Lockdown Spurs. Subscribe at YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Ken Spy Plus app. You know what to do. Hit that subscribe button right now. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. You want to go check out FanDuel right now because new customers can get themselves 150 bucks in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Go do that ASAP. What are we talking about today? We’re going to be looking at the roster as of this recording. All right, keep that in mind. and uh looked up and down their roster be you know what if I had to pick a guy on that roster I I need this guy needs to take the next step this guy needs to take the next step this rookie I mean a secondyear guy or maybe a veteran yeah we’re going to be discussing that and then getting to some Spurs news and then look at what y’all talking about over at the lockdown Spurs fan section at the Ydown Spurs YouTube page you guys are talking a lot about the silver and black yeah I guess summer league ain’t enough to quench your thirst for Spurs basketball. But yeah, we’ll get to that in a few minutes. We’re going to bring in our guest who comes back from vacation, everybody. It’s Mr. Rudy Kapos. He is with Sweep the League. Follow him on X at Sweep the League. Rudy, I did my best to not bother you during your vacation. I said, I’m not going to do that to him. I know you were open to it, but I said no. That’s the last thing I want to do. But welcome back, man. Yeah, I appreciate you having me back. It was uh it was at the Grand Canyon and that was probably not a great space to get service on. So uh first time there pretty uh pretty amazing I would say in person it’s pretty amazing. Well yeah I mean I I never been to the Grand Canyon uh you know but you know you read in like history books stuff like that apparently like you created the Grand Canyon just for your Greek strength. Like you just like plowed that whole thing with the rocks and mountains and that’s how strong you are. Yeah. I uh me and Paul Bunan had a little thing. Had a Hulk and Thanos, you know, shout out to the nerd guys out there type of matchup and we kind of made a big old crater and all that in there. We made a big messy type thing. Yeah. Yeah. All right, Rudy. Well, welcome back from vacation. We missed you here. Uh but we got a lot to talk about today here at Loftton Spurs. And as of right now, Rudy, it feels like, you know, the ro I want to say the roster is set. you know, you expect them to tinker a bit, especially come training camp. Uh, you know, they’ll pick up a guy here and there. Uh, we know they got to address three-point shooting, so they’ll probably do that down the road. But as it stands right now, this seems to be like the bulk of what the roster will look like come training camp. With that being said, we got to start asking, “All right, guys, you know, we got to shed this. We’re too young. We’re just kids. We’re just learning.” You know, that label’s got to go. And I think that what we’re going to go into next season with is that no more of this we’re babies anymore. You know, they these are there’s a lot more veterans if you really think about on the roster than they are first year or second year guys. Den Johnson, Deon Vel, Sohan, just to name a few. So, with that being said, and look, let’s just be honest. I think everybody on the roster needs to take the next level, need to take that next step, you know, from Champany to Sohan to Castle, all of them across the board need to do that. But we got to pick out two, you know. So, that’s really our challenge is right now. I’ll start us off. And if I look at this roster and I’m saying, you know, this guy, he needs to step up. He needs to take the next level because it is time. I’m looking at Victor Wimanyama. Yes, the Spurs franchise guy. It’s time. He’s heading into his third season. It’s time for him to show why he was given that label of generational. That’s Rudy’s favorite word, by the way. Uh from it. He was labeled with that coming into the draft. He was labeled like that. And uh when he was drafted by the Spurs on draft night way in a couple years ago, so far we’ve seen glimpses of it, but we haven’t seen it. Now, sure, you know, the blood of class last year shut him down after 40 something games, you know, then there was his rookie season where he played about a little 70 71 games right there. Nevertheless, we still haven’t seen him get to that form. I need him to take the next step. Now, you might be asking, okay, well, how’s he going to take that next step? You know, he does it all already, right? He defense check, offense check, intimidation check, athleticism check. Yes, I get that. But the first thing I need him do to take the next step is try to stay healthy. That’s the first thing for him. Try to stay healthy for as close as you can get to 82 games. And I think he’ll do that. Second thing is, and I think he’s doing it right now in the offseason, is get a thicker body. We’ve seen him look a little bit more leaner, little bit thicker, just a little bit considering his frame. So check that needs to translate ASAP into next season. Now, we all know he loves to take the three shot. And I know that tears Spurs fans apart, you know, like what you doing? You’re 74, 75. What are you doing floating out there with the three shot? Fine. If you’re going to do that with me, fine, you know, but at least be effective. And we know he can’t hit the three, Rudy, but I need him to start showing a little bit of a mid-range game. And I think that’s where he can take the next step in his uh offensive development. If he can develop a consistent pullup jumper, fade away just a counter defenses that maybe push him off the three line or keep him away from the paint. I think that is something that’s really going to take his game to the next level offensively. Offensively, I love to see him create some more post moves. How about that, Rudy? How would you like to see your center get some post moves? And I thought he was supposed to train with Dream. Wasn’t he supposed to train with Dream this off seasonason? You and Hopes. I don’t know if that fell through, but hook shots up and unders bodying people in the paint. Look, he’s scratching the surface of what he can do, and the numbers prove it. I am not discounting what he can do on the court on both sides, but we’re looking at offensive first. That’s how I’m looking at it right now. This just two examples where I need to see him take the next step offensively. What do you think, Rudy? I think you’re you’re hitting it right on the the nail on the head there with the offensives. I I think, you know, he going to rely on his three-point shooting, which again, he’s shooting about 35% in the second year in the league. So, he did improve on three-point shooting off of 32% his rookie season. So, he can shoot the ball. But the mid-range is where we want to see him improve at. I mean, he’s shooting right around 46% for his two years as a Spur. And if you think about it, if you knock out those three-point attempts that he constantly takes throughout the games and throughout the season, he’s probably shooting well above 50. I would say darn near 60% from the field from about 15 feet on in. So improving that, not improving it, just continuing adding that mid-range, doing a lot more in the post, being more effective there. That’s where you want to see Wimi improve. But and all in all, I’ve always said I don’t consider him generational. I don’t It’s very hard for me to use a generational word. But his numbers have improved in only 46 games where it was 71 his rookie season, 46 second year, but yet in those 46 games, he improved all categories. And I mean, even his turnovers were down by 0.5. But I mean, 0.5 is good uh when you’re a center and you’re still a rookie and you’re developing. But overall, Jeff, I mean, yeah, the improvement for Wimi, I would say the offensive side is probably the number one thing, but for me with Wimi on the improvement side where he needs to kind of get better at, I think it’s the pick and roll game for him. And it’s more of the roll than it is the actual pick because he does more of a pick and pop. I would like to see him get into a, you know, an old school pick and roll type move where he’s rolling to the basket. No one’s going to be able to block his shot. He’s going to get more points in the paint. That’s the improvement I want to see when it comes to Wimi is basically go back to the old school pick and roll. Now, defensively, you’re probably wondering, okay, where else can he get better? You know, he’s a defensive monster from the shot blocking to the intimidation factor, etc., etc. You know, first of all, foul issues. You know, we’ve seen him get into foul trouble sometime. Now, he’s only averaging about 2.3 uh last season, 46 game. I think he’s about 2.2. I put that up real fast here. He’s Yeah, 2.3 for his career. But I think trying to settle down those foul situations should help him overall. Another area that I see him improve on defensively is uh well kind of being able to switch and just on that perimeter defense a little bit more efficiently. You know, we know he’s quick, we know he’s nimble, but I think he can leverage his length and his size and his quickness not just to the bigs, but also to uh maybe those swingmen. I think that will help too. just basically refining the footwork defensively. I think that’ll help him there, but there’s really not much to say as far as the defensive side unless you could think of something really rethink like, “Yeah, no, Jeff, he needs to tweak this defensively.” What do you think? I think my initial thought was that he was going to be pushed around in the NBA by bigger centers and power forwards. You kind of see that. So, I think the stance is the biggest thing. Getting a better defensive stance. But I mean, at that point, you’re kind of nitpicking on a lot of stuff. I would say maybe steals. He did kind of drop a smidge on steals for the season, but again, we’re kind of nitpicking on a on a guy that should have easily been backto back defensive player of the year. Oh, yeah. Um, so I think on the defensive end, he’s really fine. Kind of just fine-tuning a little bit. If we’re talking any type of defensive role for me, I I still think him averaging, you know, right around 11 rebounds, it’s kind of crazy. I’m gonna say this, but at 11 rebounds, it’s kind of low. Uh I think on the defensive side, he’s averaging like nine defensive rebounds or just under nine for his career. So, I’d like to see him crash the boards a little bit more instead of getting more giddy and excited to get out in the open court and not worry about the rebounding. I think that’s more on the defensive side of the ball. Crash the boards a little bit. Improve your rebounding side. On the defensive side, I’d like to see him right around that 13 13 and a half rebounds game where he’s actually averaging about 10 rebounds on the defensive side and maybe a cobble on the offensive side. But that’s my biggest thing when it comes to Victor. It’s very hard to nitpick on the defensive side of the ball. Yeah, exactly. And and again, you know, you you give him I want to say a complete mulligan, but you know, 46 games last year due to blood clots, you know, you throw in the factor maybe some of the numbers are skewed here a bit. Uh but overall, no, I just need Wim to be that franchise guy that he’s labeled. Not to say he hasn’t been, but there’s levels to this. You know, there’s, you know, your upper crust of the NBA when it comes to players, your LeBron, Steph Curry, Giannis, and then there’s your Hallebertton, you know, your Jaylen Brunsons. good, but are they at that next level? And I need women to get to that upper crust, that 1% of when it goes to franchise players in the NBA. But nevertheless, yeah, I’m expecting a big season from him. He’s coming back healthy. He stopped the world tour. He’s now back in San Antonio, quarter courts, uh, in the gym already practicing. So, yay. No more wild kicks on the pitch soccer and risking injury and going with Shaolin Monks in training. So they look that seemingly is over, but we’ll see. We’ll see. All right. So I’m picking Victor Wyama to take the next step, level up next season. What does Rudy have to say? And who is he going to pick as the player he needs to see take the next step? Uh we’re going to do that and more with Rudy Campos right here on Lockdown Spurs. Make sure to follow him on X at Sweep the League. Hey, I want to talk about FanDuel. Some of sports are in full swing. 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We’re right here in Lockdown Spurs joined by Rudy Compos of Sweep the League. Also, also did you know this? True true story. Did you know that Rudy? Yeah, I’m not kidding. He had to turn away Selma Hayek because she is coming off to him too strong. And he said, “You know what, Selma, I’m good. I’m good. Just, you know, go do your movies. I’m fine.” Rudy, you’re a strong man. Any man would have crumbled in that situation. Yeah. I uh me and Sama have a history. Uh but it’s a history of just being friends. That that’s it. What? Yeah. It’s just nothing more. I I like Sahai. Very beautiful lady, very beautiful woman. But uh it’s just a friendship thing. I I don’t I don’t want anything more. I don’t want to ruin your friend zoned. Did you get friend-zoned? No, I actually um I actually friend-zoned her to be honest. So that yeah I you know there’s there’s just sometimes you just have to uh you have to look in the mirror and say you know you just you need to stay out of that limelight. So that’s what I do. Fair enough. Fair enough. Hey now now this is a true story though. So during the recent uh big Texas terror con. There you go. Uh one of the guest panels I did was Danny Pjo. I swear to God all he talked about was Selma to start the show. I’m not kidding. I go back and if somehow you can see footage of that panel, I mean he just goes on and on about Sama, but totally understand. I totally understand. Uh we are talking about the Spurs roster, who we like to see take the next level, take the next step in their development next season. Now I would have Victor Wayama to start and Rudy, who do you got on your hot seat? So I I mean the easy ones to pick that a lot of Spurs fans may look at are the obvious ones. you know, Deon Vel and Kell Johnson, but th those guys have already peaked and I think we’ve been saying that for a while. They they’ve kind of already you’re going to see what you’re going to get out of them. Uh my honorable mention was going to be Stefan Castle and people are like, “Wait a minute, he’s rookie.” Well, he’s rook of the year. The biggest thing with Stefan Castle was I want to see him continue to improve and not hit that sophomore slump or because Dylan Harper’s coming in with Darren Fox, don’t, you know, don’t take a backseat and think, well, I don’t have to put up the numbers that I get better. That was my honorable mention. But the biggest one that I’ve got, the one that I’m really looking at, uh, is Jeremy Sohan. Now, now the good thing about Jeremy is that he’s again putting up great videos in the summer uh with jump shots and working out, but those videos I I you know, I I tend to say, Jeff, I I need to do videos of me actually working at my real job and showing that I’m putting the work in, too, because that’s what you’re supposed to. You get paid the big bucks to do that. So, but nonetheless, I mean, the guy’s improved every year. I mean, he’s averaged 11 points all three years of the Spurs. His three-point shooting has improved from his rookie season. He’s up to about 30% for the last couple of years. Free throw percentage has been about h it’s been about the same. But what I want to see with Jeremy is not that you’re putting in the work out here. I want to see that next step that 11 points becomes, you know, 13 points. So that’s not a huge jump. What I want to see is those assist numbers because when remember when he was drafted a lot of guys had him as a Boris Dia type of player, a guy that’s going to come in, he can facilitate. We know the point guard, you know, per project just really didn’t work out. But nonetheless, I want to see that 2.4 assists that he was averaging last year. I need to get that up to about four or five. He’s got shooters around him. He’s got players that are going to slash to the basket. He’s got a 7 foot4 guy that can make life so much easier for him. The biggest upgrade I need for Jeremy is to take the next step on the assist side. I want to see four, five assists a game. A lot of teams are not going to, you know, they’re not going to care about his shooting. So, knock down a couple of mid-range jump shots. Don’t worry about the three-point shot. I’d be more excited, Jeff, if he’s working on his mid-range game more than that three-point shot. I don’t I don’t expect him to be, you know, a Shawn Marian type three-point shooter. I expect him to be a mid-range guy, you know, you know, a pick and pop type of guy, but more importantly, a facilitator. I think that was the vision that Pop had for him when he had him at a point guard position. I think it was just a little too much to have him run the point. But the idea of a facilitator makes a whole bunch of sense. He’s got a really good basketball IQ. really good basketball. So, I give him that much. But that’s my improvement for Jeremy is on the offensive side. Get those assist numbers up. Maybe add a couple more points per game. 13 points, six, seven boards a game, four or five assists. That that would be a massive leap for him. And on the defensive side, I think he’s actually pretty good on the defensive side. He’s not a lockdown defender, but he can be disruptive. I’d like to see him add those those steel totals up to where he’s averaging about a steel steel and a half a game, maybe a block a game or so. Uh just be a menace is what I want to see. But on the offensive side, the facilitator without being a point guard, that’s what I got for Jeremy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean it’s almost like there’s a I want to say a lot more room for improvement for Sohan but you know there is a sizable gap for him to take the next step and uh you know on both ends of the court but you know for me I I think what’s going to help him is the addition of Luke Cornet. I think that’s going to help him tremendously because now he can play his natural position which is that small forward power forward spot not necessarily have to play the five because the Spurs have been small for the last couple years. So, first of all, I think that’s going to help him a year where you should see some increased production uh statistically next season. But with that being said, I think he could develop some synergy with Wimby and to a certain degree Cornet. Uh you look at last season, I got the numbers here. So, uh 2425, 483 minutes alongside Wimby. All right. So, that got them a 110.6 offensive rating and a 107.1 defensive rating. So, there’s some strong synergies there. I think you can build on that. I think you can do that by setting better screens for Wimi. You can do that by rolling to the basket. Something you brought up, you know, facilitating something you brought up. I think in that situation with that that pick and roll synergy with Wimi and also again develop that with Cornet as well that’s going to free him up for easy baskets at the rim or even other, you know, pass kick out. Oh, roll kick out to Barnes, kick out to a shooter, you know. So, I think that’s going to help him there. So, I would like to see him get better in that department. But, do you feel like if you now if you had to look at the roster entirely as a whole, why does it feel like he’s probably on the biggest hot seat than anybody on the roster? Well, I I mean, because he’s in he’s technically in a contract season. Think about he’s in a contract season. And that’s when you get the best out of players is normally is when they’re in a contract season. I mean, you saw Kell put up good numbers when he was up on for his contract extension. They gave Devin his contract extension. Well, knowing that Jeremy’s next, it’s kind of a make or break type of year for Jeremy. So, I I really fully expect him to to come out and just, you know, basically just put up numbers, you know, godly numbers here for him. And that that’s kind of why I’m I I picked him as well because I want him to improve, but I don’t want him to just improve just for the contract. I want to see this, you know, the entire season. Get paid if he’s going to get paid or, you know, if anything, up your trade value just in case for anything like that. Uh, but that that’s the other reason why was the contract. I mean, he’s in a contract year. This is going to make or break for him. And who knows? I mean, they they’ve kind of paid Kell. I don’t know if Kell would get another huge payday. They’ve paid Devin again, another person. I don’t know if he’ll get another huge payday with the team. This is Jeremy’s time to shine. It’s his contract season. Is he going to get that extension? You’ll find out at the end of the year, but he’s got it improved. And I think if he becomes a facilitator more on the post and, you know, like I said, the pick and pop stuff, those little things, I can fully expect him to see possibly getting into that that power forward starting role right now if he kind of does that. But if anything, a great reserve off the bench. Um, and that that’s that’s what it is. It’s it’s a contract year. So, it’s kind of like, well, he’s got to be able to upgrade everything that he can do right now in order to get paid. I think that’s what he’s going to do. Absolutely. All right. So, there you have it. Uh, who we think needs to take the next step next season. I got Victor Rudy. He has Soand, but what do you think? Uh, need somebody else on the roster. You really think that Kell has another gear in hand? Think it’s Devin? You think it’s somebody else? You think it’s Barnes the veteran? You know, you let us know. You can let Rudy know on X at sweep the league. Let me know on X as well at Jeff GS Spurs on over to the Lockdown Spurs YouTube page. Leave a comment reading the future episode of Lock on Spurs. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Coming up, we’re going to catch up with some quick Spurs news and then get into uh we’ll pick out one one today. One lockdown Spurs fan comment to react to just a few seconds with Rudy Compost of Sweep the League. Once again, follow him on next at sweep the league. And we’re back right here at Loft Sports joined by Rudy Copos of Sweep the League. He is on X at Sweep the League. Now during the break, uh Rudy told me that he’s not quite done as far as focusing on Sohan, but you’re you’re looking at somebody else on the bench, not necessarily a player, but a coach. You think that’s going to be instrumental in Sohan’s development? Yeah, you know, the one point I forgot to make that bring up Timmy real quick here was the reason why I’ve got Sohan, uh, you know, trying to be that next trying to get to the next level. The, and again, I’m going to just put it out there. The reason why I’ve got the Spurs as actually, you know, one of the top teams, not top four, but one of the top tier teams in the West is because of the coaching uh, additions they’ve added. Sean Sweeney, Sweeny’s a fantastic hire for Mitch Johnson. He’s going to be an assistant, you know, a main assistant head coach basically. And he’s a fantastic hireer. He’s going to make a huge difference for these guys. Corus Williamson is another guy that they hired. You’re talking about a guy from Arkansas, played in the NBA, you know, big nasty type of player, and that’s his nickname actually for you guys, the young kids that don’t know. These hires that they’re making for the coaching staff for Mitch Johnson, phenomenal. Th this is the the coaching staff that if you really look at basketball and you kind of study the game, which a lot of people do, this is the staff that you start to see make changes to the roster for the better. And I think Sohan when he gets a lot when he gets, you know, with Corus Williams and Sweeney and I, correct me if I’m if I’m wrong here, but Rashad Lewis is actually on the bench for the Spurs summer league if I’m not mistaken. He’s a coach. Yeah. So, I mean, he’s a guest coach, but permanent roster. He’s he’s gonna add a little bit, you know, if he comes onto the Spurs staff in some kind of way. Another great player that fits that Sohan role. Rashad Lewis was a, you know, power forward. He can shoot the ball. He was very creative. Again, these hires for the coaching staff, they’re magnificent hires. They actually get an A++ for me on the coaching staff hires. Yeah, I’m right there with you. Yeah, those were two really good uh coaching picks. And you know, apparently the Mavericks, they did everything they can to keep uh Sweeney on the roster, but they just fell apart. And hey, whatever, you know, bad for the Mavs, good for the Spurs. So Johnson as well. All right, some quick Spurs news that you may have missed, you probably didn’t. It is official. Luke Cornet is a member of the San Antonio Spurs. you all know uh starting from Monday or Sunday just a few days ago. I’ll put it that way. It was the teams kind of announced, you know, deals already made officially. So, it’s official. Uh little uh funny moment uh during the introduction chat with Cornet. He chose seven because he’s hoping to be onethird as good as Tim Duncan. So, he already has that sense of humor already on him. But, he’ll be wearing number seven. So, did anybody ask uh Fabricio if he was okay with that? I was just about to say that. Yeah. So, he’s I have his jersey. Great. Alberto and Carl Herrera. Remember Carl Herrera was Carl Herrera? Yeah. I I’ve I’ve got the Alberto jersey. Uh you’ve seen it before. I’ve worn it on one of locks a while back. So, now I got to wonder, do I do I need to put the tape on the back of it and put Cornet on there because I’ve got the number already in seven. You know, I think you leave. I would leave it as Alberto. I just want to make sure if Fabricio is okay and signed off on number seven being if I run into a fab. I’m gonna ask him that. You okay with Cornet wearing your seven? You know, see what he says. Who were numbers for the Spurs? It’s Carl. Uh Noo Cornette. Uh Alberto. Was it did was it David Winggate? No. No. Wingay was 25. Yeah, he was 25. That’s right. He was 25. Who lost for number seven? Felix tip of my tongue. J.R. Reed. Yes. Or Carolina’s own J.R. Reed. I think it was J.R. Reed. Yeah, I think it was. But that’s probably the more locked on Spurs fans will let us know. Yeah. Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, I think J.R. Reed. Yeah. Yeah, J.R. Reed. I would say I’d just look them up if I had to. I was like, “Let me look it up.” JR Reed. Yeah, definitely was one of them. Was Miguel Knight seven? Uh, I think it was 11. He was 11. 11 or 12? It was 11 or 12. People are crazy. They’re thinking, “Why are these guys talking about guys we don’t even know?” Like, that’ll do. I know. Yeah. Good. They didn’t know. That’s how old we are. All right, let’s get into a Spurs fan comment left on the Lockdown Spurs YouTube page. And woo, you guys are leaving tons of them. Tons of them. Which one to pick? Which one to pick? All right, I’ll pick this one. This is from Brian Harper, 9137. I wonder in relation to Dylan Harper. We’ll see. Uh, but anyway, he says, quote, “Guys, if a great three-point shooter is any good at defense and ball handling, no one is going to let them go. Do you want to replace Castle with a guy who shoots 40% to see from three but can’t guard? You’re not able to just get a three-point shooter. you be getting a player who has to be evaluated at defense, turnovers, locker room, someone sitting the bench to put someone else in. So, I guess Brian Harper here is reacting to whether or not the Spurs are complete roster right now. Um, so yeah, I guess that’s I guess he’s trying to get at here is like, do the Spurs need just a three-point specialist or do they need to have a 3 and D guy uh if they want to feel that lack of a sniper on the roster? What do you think about that? If they go get a sniper, does that sniper have to play defense or just, hey, you’re this is what your role is. Knock down the threes and we’re okay with that, man. I would That’s a tough one. That’s a great comment, by the way. Carter, isn’t that what Carter Bryant supposedly supposed to? So, yeah. So, Carter Bryant is supposed to be your your prototypical modernized 3 and D type of player. Um, you’re gonna you’re gonna get a great feel for Carter Bryant. Uh, the kid can play and I think I don’t think you need to go get anybody right now. Uh, you’ve already got, it’s crazy. You’ve got three and D guys already. The Aaron Fox is a great defender. He can shoot the three ball. Stefan Castle has improved his jump shot. We know he’s a defender. Carter Bryant’s going to develop into that type of player. And off the, you know, another reserve, Devin Vel can defend and he can shoot the three. So, I really don’t think you need to concentrate on just getting a three and D guy or specifically a defensive, you know, minded person. Back in the day, the Spurs best defender is Bruce Bowen, a 3 and D type of guy. You know, Kawhi Leonard was, you know, 3 and for a while. He became an all-around scorer, but for a while there, he was shooting the three ball really well. Danny Green, defensive guy, but also a three-point shooter. So, it it falls within the uh the parameters of the Spurs history. These days, title contending teams or NBA final appearance teams, it’s about the depth. And if you look at the Spurs right now, the people are going to call me crazy and that’s fine. Leave it on YouTube, Jeff. We’ll read the comment. But the way the Spurs are built right now, they added a lot more debt. And you’re talking about a team that can technically go eight deep right now, eight or maybe even nine if they’re playing their cards correct. Something they haven’t had in a long time. The Cornet signing was huge for them. Uh again, Harper, Carter Bryant, I think they got another move or two they’re still going to make. So I think right now you don’t need to go get a certain player. I think they’ve got a good amount of 3 and D type of guys on the team. They’re fine right now. I wouldn’t make any adjustments at all. Yeah, I I think far as the three-point shooting is, that’s still a concern just because of today’s modern NBA. You live with the three and you die by the three. You win titles with the three or you go deep playoff runs with three or you don’t. Uh we saw that constantly whether it be the Spurs regular season or just in the playoffs. Um, and that’s still a little concern for me. I don’t know if a guy like Champeni can be I’m not saying I’m not expecting him to hit 45% or 40% every single minute. I know ups and downs, but I rather have more ups than downs, you know, from Champenny. You know, will Barnes still be hot? I mean, you would think that he had a pretty good threeshot shooting season last year. You know, you maybe that comes down a bit. I don’t know. Is Wimi gonna be a primary threat? I don’t know. See, I And then that’s still a concern for me. So, man, come on, Carter Bryant. I mean, you got to show out, man. I mean, that if he could be that 3 and D guy, my goodness, that’d be awesome. Well, I’ll keep away from Austin for a while and keep on that Spurs bench. Uh, but nevertheless, yeah, that was a great question there from our player on the lock on Spurs YouTube. Do you think Carter Bryan goes to Austin? Yes. Are they not like a Harrison Ingram or a Riley Min like 90% of their season there? I think does he start the season in Austin? That’s the big question. No, just because of technicalities because the GL season doesn’t start till the NBA season’s underway. So, well, yeah, I think I think he’ll be on the bench to start the season in San Antonio, but once the GB season starts, he’ll go to Austin. And I’m not saying he’s going to be there for months on end or you know us having a report. All right, the Spurs sent him up there. Oh, they recalled him. Oh, they sent him up there. Oh, they recalled him. Oh, then Spurs fans going crazy because they use the word recall. And that’s like, oh my god, he’s going to show out now. Now, I would temper expectations if because he’s going to probably bust up the G-League. I can see that already coming. You know, everyone be like, “Bring him, bring him to San Antonio. What are you doing, Spurs? Bring him to the bench.” Uh, but we’ve seen that before. We just hope it translates to the NBA and is yet to get minutes and he’s playing behind Devin and Kel and Barnes and Well, I’ll tell you this. If they don’t if they don’t make another move, which I think they still going to make a move or two, but if they don’t make a move, I question is he going to give you the same production as Malachi Brian? Probably. probably plays better defense than Malachi. Yeah. Is he gonna bring minutes over? Yeah. Is he gonna be a bigger spark than Blake Wesley? I think so. He plays a better role than Blake Wesley. Now, you may think, well, Blake Wesley, you know, he’s, you know, point guard. You got three point guards damn near on the team already. I mean, something’s got to give. Yeah. So, I I’m gonna say I think Carter is on the roster even for the first part of the year. I just don’t I think it’s going to be one remember when they would uh I can’t remember who it was off hand where they’d bring him to the roster, send him to the G-League when they were on vac on like a two-day layoff. They would send him to Austin to get some time and then bring him right back up the very next game. Was that Kell I think or somebody at the time they kept kind of going back and forth. Sure. I think about Drew Eubanks. Yeah, I haven’t Drew Eubanks a lot. Uh, but look, I’m not going to be surprised he’s in Austin and actually I expect that to happen, but I don’t expect him to be there for months and months and months. I I think that if he proves that he is that defensive guy and can hit the occasional three, that’s going to be enough for the Spurs coaching staff to keep him uh in San Antonio. But Johnson and coaching staff, they have they got some decisions to make because technically Carter Bryan is a lottery pick. A lottery pick should contribute. He’s a 14th overall. That’s a lottery pick. So, we shall see. It just my god, he just goes back to what you’re talking about the depth that the Spurs have. Yeah. At this at that wing swing man spot that Bryant plays. It’s like I said, it’s Vel, it’s Kellen, it’s Barnes. Uh, who else am I missing? Possibly Harper, you know. So, there’s that. And then, you know, he’s not a he’s not a point guard, so he could check that off. He’s not a two guard, so he can check that off. He’s not a five. He can check that off. So that leaves, you know, the three and the four. And there you see the log jam right there where he can possibly win. But if he’s going to get any minutes, it’s going to have to be three and D. That’s where he’s going to have to make his bread and butter. The three and the It’s crazy to think. It’s crazy to think. I say it’s crazy thing because he’s 6’8, but his outlook and I’m going to probably make a lot of people mad, but his outlook is probably better than Jeremy Sohance coming into the coming into the league. So, man, somebody’s going to clip this portion of Well, no. that that’s that’s fine, but I mean I I think you’re I mean cuz when Jeremy came in, Jeremy wasn’t like he wasn’t a lottery lock coming into the draft and it was a very surprising move to see the Spurs draft him where they did. So coming into the league, I think Carter Bryant probably has the a bigger ceiling than what Jeremy has. He did that. Yeah. Yeah. I I I think the uh the impact will be than what Jeremy provided in his first season. Now he’s too That’s what with those two guys, both bench players, one at Baylor and one at Arizona, they weren’t scorers. Yeah. I I mean that’s you kind of almost drafted Jeremy again, but I think with Carter Bryant, it’s it’s so hard to say because you you see who you get as Jeremy. Can you envision this happening during the season, maybe even preeason? Carter Bryant out playing Sohan. Yes. I can’t. Yeah. I I I can’t. It’s not a knock on Jeremy. I just No, it’s not. I I think Carter personally from what I’ve seen on develop like on film because I watch a ton of film on players. I I think Carter is more polished coming into the league than where Jeremy was coming into the league. This this would be a great lock on Spurs for his future episode, you know, as Well, we got to tease it for other times, I’m sure. Yeah. Yeah. I think we’re gonna we got to table this one. That is a good one, man. Don’t be surprised if I burn it sometime this week, man. It’s a good one. Yeah, that’s a good question. Does Carter Brand have more upside than Sohan? That’s that’s a great one. We’re going to table that. That’s going to be a future episode of Lockdown Spurs. That has to be a round table discussion on that one. I can see people like, are you kidding me? flipping tables in there, I think. Uh, but all right, thank you for that comment there. Uh, Harper Techly. Hey, Techley. A Harper did leave a comment on lockdowns for Brad that is. So, we appreciate that. Rudy, you’re back from vacation. What’s going on with Sweep, man. Yeah, so Sweep’s going to It’s going to be on and off uh the coming week right here. I’m a week I’m back from vacation after a whole week off. Uh, so we’ll get episodes in. We’ve got a lot of other great shows that are coming on. I’m going to announce it on this show because I like doing my special breaking news announcements on Locked On Spurs. So, uh, we are probably going to end up launching another network, a sister network for Sweep the League. Uh, we got more shows coming in. Uh, but it’s kind of time to separate um, you know, this side and that side. So, uh, we may be launching another YouTube channel, so be on the lookout for that. If you subscribe to Super League TV, subscribe to the other YouTube channel as well because there’s just so many shows that we’re coming out with. A lot of people have, you know, a lot of great podcasts. So, that’s announcement here. We’re we’re looking to uh add a second network. Probably the only the only uh shows in town right now, the only networks in town getting two networks here. Just be sure to go to Sweet League TV on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button. See, you gotta follow Rudy on X at Sweep the League for all the latest announcements that he’s going on with his network. So much fun is his show. You got Gio on there, Derek Urban, the Sith. That’s a new show on the network. Creating the Market or Jacob Eric. Great. Thank you. Yeah, Jacob Eric there. So, yeah, there’s a lot going on at Rudy’s neck of the woods there. Rudy, uh, welcome back from vacation again. Glad you’re back in one piece. Uh, coming back here at Lockdown Spurs again. And I I did my best to not bother you on vacations. I’m not I mean you’re it was going to be you don’t have to be like somebody cancelled at the last second and somebody else could not come in. That was going to be like desperate time. By the way everybody that reminds me I did announce yesterday that we’re going to have a special guest today. That guest had to reschedule. So it’ll be later on this week. So but it should be a good one. I think y’all will enjoy it. And I get to get a little sneak peek what goes on behind the scenes at the Spurs. So, I think you all enjoy that soon. Uh, but Rudy, again, we appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to join us here on Lockdown Spurs. And everybody else, we thank you for making Lock on Spurs your first listen each and every day. Free and available wherever you get podcast, iTunes, Spotify, Ken 5 Plus F, YouTube, you guys are the everydayers. Keep coming here every single day to Lock Sports. Hey, appreciate it everybody. 8,000 subscribers. We did it. Let’s keep those numbers going up and up and up. We’ll be back tomorrow talking all things silver black and Matt Guzman’s on deck. We’re going to be talking about the roster as a whole. So, tune in for that uh tomorrow on Locked on Spurs. So, for Rudy Compos, I am Jeff Garcia. We’re going to put a lock on this episode of Locked on Spurs.

Who needs to step up on the San Antonio Spurs roster?

Host Jeff Garcia and guest Sweep The League’s Rudy Campos dissect the San Antonio Spurs’ key players poised for improvement. The duo analyzes Victor Wembanyama’s offensive evolution, Jeremy Sochan’s contract year pressures, and the team’s surprising depth.

Will Carter Bryant might outshine Jeremy Sochan? The conversation shifts to lineup strategies, three-point shooting concerns, and how Luke Kornet’s addition reshapes the Spurs’ rotations.

0:00 Intro: Discussing Spurs player development
5:02 Wembanyama’s offensive improvements needed
11:14 Sochan’s development and contract year
18:48 Coaching staff additions to help development
25:23 Luke Kornet officially joins Spurs
31:33 Three-point shooting concerns for Spurs
37:21 Carter Bryant’s potential impact as rookie

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