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
- Thread starter VBM
- Start date
News broke while I was driving from Houston to Dallas. All I kept hearing on the radio was Spurs land Fox for trash and 3 first rounders, but they never said what the picks were (and I was driving with my kids so wasn't about to start searching up details while driving). When I saw that we held onto all of the ATL draft capital and ditched the Charlotte and Chicago picks (along with what should be a worthless SA pick), I felt like one of my bullshyt ESPN trade machine trades actually happened in real life.
We landed a star PG for pennies, brehs. I thought at minimum Keldon would be gone for salary purposes, but even he's still here. We're a 2nd big away from making the playoffs this year. Someone is gonna get bought out. We're locking down someone. Or, BW really goes evil genius and trades Keldon
, Barnes, and CP3 to Phoenix for KD.
We landed a star PG for pennies, brehs. I thought at minimum Keldon would be gone for salary purposes, but even he's still here. We're a 2nd big away from making the playoffs this year. Someone is gonna get bought out. We're locking down someone. Or, BW really goes evil genius and trades Keldon
, Barnes, and CP3 to Phoenix for KD.
It'll be interesting to see how Fox gels with this roster.
Off the top, I think Fox gives the Spurs a credible finisher near the basket. It's good for the Spurs to have a guard who can do consistent damage there but it also benefits any trailing teammates -- in theory opening up even more opportunities for Wemby, or for open shooters at the corners.
Devin Vassell can shoot fairly well from midrange and 3 but he's allergic to contact at the rim.
Forward and possibly backup Center looks like a bit of a priority now.
I think Champagnie has been good offensively. Keldon, not so much.
Off the top, I think Fox gives the Spurs a credible finisher near the basket. It's good for the Spurs to have a guard who can do consistent damage there but it also benefits any trailing teammates -- in theory opening up even more opportunities for Wemby, or for open shooters at the corners.
Devin Vassell can shoot fairly well from midrange and 3 but he's allergic to contact at the rim.
Forward and possibly backup Center looks like a bit of a priority now.
I think Champagnie has been good offensively. Keldon, not so much.
Open shooters are great. They just need to be able to make those shots. Keldon runs hot and cold, which is to be expected for a bench guy (everybody can't be Manu). His salary drops to $17.5 mil a year the next two years (Zach Collins money), so it doesn't bother me as much.
I love what this Luka trade does for potential negotiations with Sochan this summer. Remy, you can be this fun-loving guy who trolls other teams and defends well, but you have no jumper and got no problem letting you walk. Convincing Sochan to take Keldon money or less would be Wright's next accomplishment
I don't know.
I think the market will be hot for Sochan. In the past, Popovich has seemingly always encouraged his players to get the best deal available. Pop might not have quite as prominent a role now, but I would imagine he wouldn't play hardball with Sochan if he's got any say in the matter.
The Spurs probably have to pay Sochan, or start making plans in the background for how to replace him.
Fox opting to sport the “2” numbered jersey.
The levels.
The levels.
AlbertPullhoez
The Takeover
Spurs are really a backup C from being a solid playoff team
Fox is the 2nd star, late game closer they needed
Vassell moves over into a 3rd option/scorer. He was probably never gonna be that #2 option
Keldon stays in a 6th man role
Sochan can just defend, catch lobs, be the glue do everything guy and his lack of a 3 point shot won't hurt as much with Fox on the floor
Fox is the 2nd star, late game closer they needed
Vassell moves over into a 3rd option/scorer. He was probably never gonna be that #2 option
Keldon stays in a 6th man role
Sochan can just defend, catch lobs, be the glue do everything guy and his lack of a 3 point shot won't hurt as much with Fox on the floor
AlbertPullhoez
The Takeover
To be fair, I did see on Twitter some Bulls fans complaining they didn't get Sochan, so you might be right.
The pressure turns to Castle to become a more reliable shooter. Even with Fox on board, it's still tough running with two players (Castle/Sochan) who are iffy from 3.
AlbertPullhoez
The Takeover
Fox
Vassell
Barnes
Sochan
Wemby
That should be our starting 5 imo
Vassell
Barnes
Sochan
Wemby
That should be our starting 5 imo
I feel like that will be the endgame when Mitch is done experimenting with the lineups
And then cp3/castle/champaigne/johnson/*big man off the bench
Nevermind. Fox switched up and he’s gonna wear his wife’s old college number from Tech — 4.Fox opting to sport the “2” numbered jersey.
The levels.
fukkkit. Let McLaughlin have “2.”
Breaking down a blockbuster between Spurs, Kings, Bulls
With the basketball world still reeling from one of the most shocking trades in NBA history, the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, and Chicago Bulls came together to complete another star-studded deal that would typically be the headliner.Here's how each club made out in this three-team...
thescore.com
With Victor Wembanyama making the kind of second-year leap that only someone with his stride length could manifest, San Antonio's rebuild is ahead of schedule. The Spurs are playing nearly .500 ball and butting into the Western Conference play-in conversation after going 22-60 last season. It makes sense for them to hit the gas.
Fox is one of the fastest and most dynamic point guards in the game, and he's squarely in his prime at 27. He instantly becomes by far the best teammate Wembanyama has had. The fact that San Antonio was able to acquire him while sending out just one of its own picks and without dipping into its cache of young talent (Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan are all still there) feels like a coup. The 2031 Timberwolves pick is the one asset it might eventually hurt to have spent, but it's not too difficult to stomach considering the caliber and age of the player coming back.
The only risk for the Spurs in this deal is its potential opportunity cost: not because they could've gotten someone better with the package they traded, but because extending Fox (or re-signing him in 2026) on a max or near-max deal will likely close off certain avenues to acquire a star who moves the needle more. As good as he is, Fox's limitations - he's an inconsistent shooter and a so-so playmaker by point guard standards - make it less than ideal for him to remain Wemby's best co-star through the big man's rookie-extension years.
Fortunately, because the acquisition cost was so reasonable, the Spurs still have plenty of good assets to trade in the future. And in the meantime, Fox is going to help a ton. It's scary to consider how productive Wembanyama has been offensively despite the roster's extreme limitations. The Spurs just haven't really had anyone capable of peeling defensive attention away from him; they're light on supplemental scoring threats of any kind, but they're especially light on dribble-drive threats.
Although Chris Paul has been a godsend in many ways, it's been a problem that defenses feel so comfortable switching Paul-Wembanyama pick-and-rolls, and that Paul can no longer do much damage against the front end of those switches. It should be much less of an issue with Fox handling the ball in those situations. His burst will open up all kinds of new possibilities for Wemby in both the open floor and the half court, and it's going to be extremely fun to watch their two-man game evolve this season and further into the future.
One way or another, this trade signals that San Antonio is ready to get serious, and that's an exciting prospect for all of us. - Joe Wolfond