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A God Builds a Castle With Barnes and a Vassell While An Alien Looks For His Ship - The Official 2024-2025 San Antonio Spurs Season Thread
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Few people care about others like that.
Pop is special.
Taking the sports out of it, I would love to have a mentor or friend like him. That's way bigger than coaching basketball.
My brother in law is interviewing with the Spurs today. They're bringing in a new head of player development and he wants him to join his staff.
Spurs drafting for Wemby's timeline, Rockets' perfect prospect and more: Draft mailbag
Kelly Iko answers your draft questions for the Spurs, Rockets and Grizzlies.
www.nytimes.com
2024 NBA Draft mailbag: Spurs drafting for Wemby’s timeline, Rockets’ perfect prospect and more
(I'm only pasting the section pertaining to the Spurs because this article is about an 11-12 minute read and quite long)
What’s your “perfect” Spurs draft? — “.”
San Antonio is in a position of strength heading into the draft, a situation you wouldn’t typically associate with a team coming off a 22-win season. Victor Wembanyama’s ascension to stardom — and more importantly, his defensive floor and ceiling — has arguably shifted the Spurs’ thinking. With two picks in the top 10, there’s a chance to grab two young players on a similar timeline to Wembanyama and, if development goes according to plan, a pair of contributors moving forward.
In Sam Vecenie’s latest mock draft, he has the Spurs selecting Stephon Castle and Nikola Topić with the No. 4 and 8 picks. The recent news of Topić’s knee scares me, in addition to his reported wingspan (6-foot-5.5 compared to his 6-6 height), but any scenario that has them getting Castle and another bigger wing is perfect to me. The Spurs historically bring high-IQ players that can contribute on both ends of the floor and while this draft class is less heralded than its predecessors, some names in here should pan out.
Imagine a world where San Antonio walks away with Castle and Matas Buzelis, two competitors who can operate with the ball in their hands, have connective traits and can defend. Castle is further along on defense than Buzelis, but the former G League forward is no slouch. I would also be thrilled as a Spurs fan if Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard was still on the board at No. 8. But for me, Castle is the bar. There’s another world where maybe the Spurs draft Castle at No. 4 and trade No. 8 and 35 for a veteran guard (Dejounte Murray?) that would qualify as a perfect draft night, for me.
Without high-level talent in the 2024 draft, should the Spurs drafting philosophy be: 1. Take safer role players in 2024 and wait for the 2025 draft; or 2. Take home run swings in 2024, knowing they always have the more talented 2025 draft to fall back on? — Anonymous
Going back to an earlier point about Wembanyama’s timeline, I don’t think the Spurs should fall into this habit of hoping to draft high for the next three years or so. That can get dicey — and there’s no inherent advantage to doing so.
The simple answer is to go at Wembanyama’s pace. If next season he shows that he’s an All-NBA player, San Antonio’s brass has to start thinking in phases like Houston’s front office divided their rebuild. Right now, the Spurs are in Phase 1. Be aggressive when it comes to drafting, take the players who have the highest upside and also can fit around Wembanyama defensively and continue to build that way. The 2025 draft is loaded with talent, but the Spurs don’t want to wait another year to start to turn things around.
So many options for the Spurs at (picks) four and eight. I know they need shooting, but I love the upside and switchability of Castle and Holland. Any way the Spurs pass on shooters altogether for defensive upside? — Lucas M.
Absolutely.
I would be terrified of the spacing with Ron Holland and Jeremy Sochan, but San Antonio needs to lean into a defensive identity, similar to their heyday. Wembanyama was just named to an All-Defense team and runner-up to DPOY as a rookie. That doesn’t happen, ever.
The Rockets are a clear example of what can happen when your defense rises from the worst to the top 10 — and they didn’t have a Wemby in the middle swatting away everything. If versatile, multi-faceted defenders are available, you take those guys and figure out the rest later. Cody Williams is another name I would have my eye on for this reason.
Going back to an earlier point about Wembanyama’s timeline, I don’t think the Spurs should fall into this habit of hoping to draft high for the next three years or so. That can get dicey — and there’s no inherent advantage to doing so.
The simple answer is to go at Wembanyama’s pace. If next season he shows that he’s an All-NBA player, San Antonio’s brass has to start thinking in phases like Houston’s front office divided their rebuild. Right now, the Spurs are in Phase 1. Be aggressive when it comes to drafting, take the players who have the highest upside and also can fit around Wembanyama defensively and continue to build that way. The 2025 draft is loaded with talent, but the Spurs don’t want to wait another year to start to turn things around.
So many options for the Spurs at (picks) four and eight. I know they need shooting, but I love the upside and switchability of Castle and Holland. Any way the Spurs pass on shooters altogether for defensive upside? — Lucas M.
Absolutely.
I would be terrified of the spacing with Ron Holland and Jeremy Sochan, but San Antonio needs to lean into a defensive identity, similar to their heyday. Wembanyama was just named to an All-Defense team and runner-up to DPOY as a rookie. That doesn’t happen, ever.
The Rockets are a clear example of what can happen when your defense rises from the worst to the top 10 — and they didn’t have a Wemby in the middle swatting away everything. If versatile, multi-faceted defenders are available, you take those guys and figure out the rest later. Cody Williams is another name I would have my eye on for this reason.
duckbutta
eienaar van mans
Castle might be fine as a long term player if he can just be a respectable shooter...but coming into the league his shot is so awful that the spurs are not going to get anything out of a castle wemby pick and roll other than Castle shooting 23% on wide open 3's.
Drafting Topic would be hilarious because aint no way the Spurs would have him play next year which means we might as well fast forward to the 2025 draft and see if we got a top 5 pick again.
Drafting Topic would be hilarious because aint no way the Spurs would have him play next year which means we might as well fast forward to the 2025 draft and see if we got a top 5 pick again.
Great point about Topic.
LOL @ Castle/Wemby pick and roll
I mean it's funny, but depressing.
duckbutta
eienaar van mans
Meh. The Spurs have two picks in this draft and two picks in the next. Statistics show that if they use all 4 picks at least one is going to bust out.Great point about Topic.
LOL @ Castle/Wemby pick and roll
I mean it's funny, but depressing.
I like Castle defense. If you told me he would become a respectable enough shooter that from year 3 onward nobody would leave him wide open he would be the pick for me. None of our other guards other than Devin have learned to shoot worth a shyt though
.I prefer Dilli with one of the picks, but luckily for us Branhim and Wesley have been so bad that literally anyone they draft at 4 and 8 will walk into the league better than both. Castle at point his rookie year would be bad since he can't shoot...but he won't be Sochan at point bad
I went back to look at mock draft comments about Dejounte Murray coming into the league.Meh. The Spurs have two picks in this draft and two picks in the next. Statistics show that if they use all 4 picks at least one is going to bust out.
I like Castle defense. If you told me he would become a respectable enough shooter that from year 3 onward nobody would leave him wide open he would be the pick for me. None of our other guards other than Devin have learned to shoot worth a shyt though
I prefer Dilli with one of the picks, but luckily for us Branhim and Wesley have been so bad that literally anyone they draft at 4 and 8 will walk into the league better than both. Castle at point his rookie year would be bad since he can't shoot...but he won't be Sochan at point bad
They wrote about his athletic ability and getting to the rim. But not a great shooter. He turned out to be a pretty good shooter after a lot of work.
Might Castle follow a similar trajectory? Sure.
But I'm also not reading anything that suggests Castle has that kind of athleticism or dynamic playmaking...and that's concerning to some degree. It kinda sounds like people WISH Castle can be a home run pick. But I think his most realistic ceiling is backup PG.
Don't the Spurs already have a bunch of "meh" type players on this roster?
Isn't reed Sheppard like an advanced metrics god? IDK, hopefully spurs can find a way to get him at 4
but i'm not sure the spurs wanna draft another non-shooter. Spurs have been behind the 3-point shooting trend for a long time. Tre Jones made less than 1 three pointer a game. Vassell and Wemby are prolly the best shooters the spurs have, which really isn't a good thing. Sochan is abysmal offensively (49% on 2 pointers and 30% on three pointers)
if there is a way to make sure they leave with Sheppard, they should take it. I don't see why they shouldn't trade 4 and 8
but i'm not sure the spurs wanna draft another non-shooter. Spurs have been behind the 3-point shooting trend for a long time. Tre Jones made less than 1 three pointer a game. Vassell and Wemby are prolly the best shooters the spurs have, which really isn't a good thing. Sochan is abysmal offensively (49% on 2 pointers and 30% on three pointers)
if there is a way to make sure they leave with Sheppard, they should take it. I don't see why they shouldn't trade 4 and 8
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duckbutta
eienaar van mans
The problem for us drafting Sheppard is that none of our perimeter players outside of Devin shoot worth a shyt so teams are going to sell out to stop Sheppard from getting good looks. On our roster even he might shoot bad until we get some other shooters around him.
But he would also be better than Wesley and Branhim when he walks through the door so I wouldn't be mad at it.
Between Wesley, Branhim, and Luka, we really just wasted 3 picks. You might could throw Sochan in that group to, depending on if you think he is going to get better or not
Forgot about Primo. That's 5 1 round picks either not on the team or doing a bunch of nothing in the last 4 years
Yeah but if Sheppard would shoot bad on the Spurs then what the fukk is Castle or Dillingham gonna doThe problem for us drafting Sheppard is that none of our perimeter players outside of Devin shoot worth a shyt so teams are going to sell out to stop Sheppard from getting good looks. On our roster even he might shoot bad until we get some other shooters around him.
But he would also be better than Wesley and Branhim when he walks through the door so I wouldn't be mad at it.
Between Wesley, Branhim, and Luka, we really just wasted 3 picks. You might could throw Sochan in that group to, depending on if you think he is going to get better or not
Forgot about Primo. That's 5 1 round picks either not on the team or doing a bunch of nothing in the last 4 years
Good, having someone on the perimeter that teams have to guard is great. Once Ime realized the rockets can just pack the paint and smother Wemby, he cruised to 3 straight wins against the spurs because the spurs have next to no shootingThe problem for us drafting Sheppard is that none of our perimeter players outside of Devin shoot worth a shyt so teams are going to sell out to stop Sheppard from getting good looks. On our roster even he might shoot bad until we get some other shooters around him.
But he would also be better than Wesley and Branhim when he walks through the door so I wouldn't be mad at it.
Between Wesley, Branhim, and Luka, we really just wasted 3 picks. You might could throw Sochan in that group to, depending on if you think he is going to get better or not
Forgot about Primo. That's 5 1 round picks either not on the team or doing a bunch of nothing in the last 4 years
Shooting the ball well is at an all time premium, so it would be 1st priority in my eyes.
I’m also not 100% sold on Castle’s defense translating. Tre Jones, Sochan, and Vassell were all projected to be good on the defensive end in the NBA, but none are all that great
I agree that the Spurs need a PG.
And they need wings that can score.
But I also think it's a good point to say that the Spurs probably shouldn't wait until the 2025 draft to build a winner.
I don't think they can waste another year hoping to make the leap in 2025. They have to find a way to get good now.
Not 50 wins.
But they gotta go from 22 wins to somewhere in the mid 30s, approaching 40.
what is happening?