Rebuilding the Spurs

[Rustyman]

So on to free agency and the Spurs have a gaping need for bigs as they only have one big man on the roster.

The signing of Kornet immediately addresses the Spurs need for a defensive back-up big man to play 10-15 minutes per game off the bench. He is also paid appropriately at around $10m for that role and he fills the immediate need as someone who can hold up defensively while Wemby sits. Now I don't know if the Spurs had some indication that Kornet was going to sign at the time of the draft but it immediately plugs the backup big gap now better than any rookie would. Some could argue that the Spurs overpaid for Kornet but I am not amongst that group. They needed to get him away from Boston at a price that the Celtics could not and would not match and they did that.

Next was the signing of Olynyk for Branham and Wesley. Also a good signing. He is only contracted for the coming season, he is a stretch big and he will be playable immediately. I can see Olynyk playing more minutes than Kornet as he can fulfill multiple roles but now the Spurs have two different kind of bigs which is what they were looking at with Collins and Bassey but of significantly better quality.

They also signed McLaughlin as a third PG which was needed with the trading of Wesley who I still believe will be a decent NBA rotation player in the future.

So my rating for free agency is an A-.

[Rustyman]

So looking back at the draft after free agency, I am more inclined to rate it as a solid B as the Spurs seemingly had a plan to address their big man deficiency in free agency rather than the draft.

On Carter Bryant, I see what the Spurs saw in him. A highly talented SF prospect who played little in college and in HS but who has the potential to be a starter somewhere down the line. They obviously rated Bryant's talent as being significantly higher than any other big prospect at that point in the draft which I agree with, but which I think does not address an immediate need.

What free agency also told me about the Spurs is that they want to compete NOW. No big man drafted this year would have addressed the immediate need around Wemby. The Spurs obviously feel that they should be a playoff team this coming season and I agree with that assessment. Even without this past off-season, I would have expected the Spurs to achieve 50 wins and a second round playoff appearance. People seem to forget that Fox only played 15 games for the Spurs last year and only 5 with Wemby. The Spurs were on track for 40 wins last year before Wemby went down. I expect them to add 10 to that total with a health Wemby/Fox and the free agents additions.

[Rustyman]

So with all the moves today, lets look at the Spurs guard rotation going into season 25/26:

1. De'Aaron Fox. Will be the starting PG and there should be no discussion about this. He is a proven All Star, coming off a season where injury hampered his performance. It was a hand injury not a lower body injury so he should be good going forward. He also is a score in clutch situations where the Spurs had problems if Wemby had an off night. Plug him in for 32-34 minutes a night and 20 points 7 assists per game. He will also get his extension which hopefully is something like $50m per year for 4 years rather than the full max.

2. Devin Vassell. Yes, I am plugging him in as the starter as SG because he is better than the alternatives for a cohesive starting 5. Harper is unproven, Castle's shooting is unproven and we need shooting in the starting 5. Does not mean Vassell is not tradeable if a better alternative becomes available but for now, he is the best option to start. Also, he started to take defending more seriously last year after finally being disabused of the notion that he was "the man" going forward. He should be getting 30 minutes a night putting up 17-18 points per game with good efficiency numbers and decent defense.

3. Dylan Harper. Yes, I am putting Harper ahead of Castle in the guard rotation as he should be the primary backup at both PG and SG. Yes he will make mistakes, yes he will hopefully be a net neutral rather than a net negative player but I believe he should get time at both guard spots from the get go. I would be looking for him to average 24 minutes a game with 12-14 points, 5 assists on poor efficiency.

4. Stephon Castle. Castle will spend some time at both guard positions but his primary role should be starting SF. I assume he will get around 8 minutes in a guard role and around 20 in the SF role. Currently Castle has the body and game to play SF while his efficiency improves. He will primarily be a defensive stopper but I also expect him to score around 15-17 points per game on much improved efficiency.

5. Jordan McLaughlin. He is in that box labelled, "Break Open in the event of emergency". He shouldn't be playing any significant minutes if the Spurs are doing well.

[imagump1313]

So with all the moves today, lets look at the Spurs guard rotation going into season 25/26:

1. De'Aaron Fox. Will be the starting PG and there should be no discussion about this. He is a proven All Star, coming off a season where injury hampered his performance. It was a hand injury not a lower body injury so he should be good going forward. He also is a score in clutch situations where the Spurs had problems if Wemby had an off night. Plug him in for 32-34 minutes a night and 20 points 7 assists per game. He will also get his extension which hopefully is something like $50m per year for 4 years rather than the full max.

2. Devin Vassell. Yes, I am plugging him in as the starter as SG because he is better than the alternatives for a cohesive starting 5. Harper is unproven, Castle's shooting is unproven and we need shooting in the starting 5. Does not mean Vassell is not tradeable if a better alternative becomes available but for now, he is the best option to start. Also, he started to take defending more seriously last year after finally being disabused of the notion that he was "the man" going forward. He should be getting 30 minutes a night putting up 17-18 points per game with good efficiency numbers and decent defense.

3. Dylan Harper. Yes, I am putting Harper ahead of Castle in the guard rotation as he should be the primary backup at both PG and SG. Yes he will make mistakes, yes he will hopefully be a net neutral rather than a net negative player but I believe he should get time at both guard spots from the get go. I would be looking for him to average 24 minutes a game with 12-14 points, 5 assists on poor efficiency.

4. Stephon Castle. Castle will spend some time at both guard positions but his primary role should be starting SF. I assume he will get around 8 minutes in a guard role and around 20 in the SF role. Currently Castle has the body and game to play SF while his efficiency improves. He will primarily be a defensive stopper but I also expect him to score around 15-17 points per game on much improved efficiency.

5. Jordan McLaughlin. He is in that box labelled, "Break Open in the event of emergency". He shouldn't be playing any significant minutes if the Spurs are doing well.

I like the idea of Castle at SF. As I have said on here before, I dont think he is a PG. He is more of a scorer.

As far as Vassell, I'm not so sure he should be starting. He should be quick points off the bench when needed then get him off the floor before he screws everything up. Too much Vassell sucks the life out of everyone else's offense (And I used to be one of his biggest fans) but he can score in bunches at times.

[Rustyman]

I like the idea of Castle at SF. As I have said on here before, I dont think he is a PG. He is more of a scorer.

As far as Vassell, I'm not so sure he should be starting. He should be quick points off the bench when needed then get him off the floor before he screws everything up. Too much Vassell sucks the life out of everyone else's offense (And I used to be one of his biggest fans) but he can score in bunches at times.

I am not in love with the idea of Vassell as the starting SG but what is the alternative. I want proven scoring from one of the wing positions.

I know, a great alternative would be to start Castle at SG and Champagnie at SF. That would solve the problem.

[imagump1313]

I like the idea of Castle at SF. As I have said on here before, I dont think he is a PG. He is more of a scorer.

As far as Vassell, I'm not so sure he should be starting. He should be quick points off the bench when needed then get him off the floor before he screws everything up. Too much Vassell sucks the life out of everyone else's offense (And I used to be one of his biggest fans) but he can score in bunches at times.

I am not in love with the idea of Vassell as the starting SG but what is the alternative. I want proven scoring from one of the wing positions.

I know, a great alternative would be to start Castle at SG and Champagnie at SF. That would solve the problem.

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

[Rustyman]

So the forwards for season 25/26. We have Castle, Sochan, Barnes, Champagnie, Minix, Bryant, Keldon. Fitting that all into 96 minutes is not possible so it means that a couple of players are going to miss out. This is my starting lineup in order of preference:

1. Castle should be the starting SF playing around 20 mins per game in that role. The reason for this rationale is that Castle, despite his abysmal efficiency last year, is looking like he will be a scorer. He just has a multitude of moves around the rim, in mid-range and at times even from 3 that indicates to me that with any level of improved efficiency (47% from the field, 34% from 3), he will be a competent 15+ points per game scorer. This is assuming that his defense improves to the point where he can be the primary backcourt/wing defender. As Castle should also be getting around 8 minutes at the guard spots, this should be enough time for him. I should note that the idea that Castle is a PG should now disappear with Fox/Harper being the foreseeable PG's for the next decade.

2. Barnes. As much as I would like to put Sochan in this role, the outside shooting of Barnes is essential if you play either Castle or Sochan. In fact, I was annoyed last year by Barnes not shooting more than he did. At times the Spurs desperately needed more scoring and Barnes would defer to other players who were much less capable than him. While Barnes will mainly play the 4, he can at occasion shift to the 3 in big lineups, however, his role would not change at all. At this stage of his career, Barnes there to provide a calm presence, knockdown 3 point shooting and being a connective piece in the 24 minutes per game he should be playing.

3. Sochan. It was really whether the starting paring would be Castle/Barnes or Sochan/Barnes. In the end I went with Castle instead of Sochan as the starter as I believe it will help Castle to develop quicker by being a starter. I still believe Sochan is the better player. Also, when talking about efficiency, just remember that Sochan has better numbers than Castle both from the field in general and from 3 point range. Sochan is also a better defender than Castle at this stage of his career and a more versatile one being able to defend both guards and forwards. Essentially, in the end, I believe that Sochan will not drop off in efficiency by being played off the bench and he should be getting around 30 minutes per night.

4. Keldon. He is in a difficult position currently. Not good enough to be a starter but not efficient enough to be a microwave scorer off the bench. Unless there is an injury elsewhere, I think his minutes drop off and he gets between 18-20 minutes per night. If he could only recapture his 3rd year 3 point shooting, he would solve a lot of problems for the Spurs.

5. Champagnie. He goes from being a starter for the majority of last year to being 3rd string off the bench. He goes to being a 10-15minute bench player when his ideal role would be a 18-20 minute 3&D player. His efficiency is decent enough but if he could lift that by a couple of percentage points in both overall and 3 point shooting, he might be in line for a decent MLE type contract next season, if not from the Spurs, someone else will give him that.

6. Minix, Bryant, will continue to remain largely in the G-League to refine their games, only being called up if there are injuries to the main squad.