It's Time to Put Some Respect on Brian Wright's Name (Spurs GM)

[Bornstellar]

Ever since the Spurs traded Kawhi to the Raptors when Wright became the Spurs GM in the 2018/2019 season, a lot of people have criticized his outlook for the Spurs.

Many questioned his direction. Many (Spurs fans included) questioned his competency. Many thought he had no clue wtf he was doing after wasting picks on Samanic and Primo.

However...

In that time, he turned the Spurs from a middling treadmill team with no real direction to the winners of the Wemby sweepstakes. He took a flier on Zach Collins, who is looking like what Portland envisioned he could be when they drafted him. He executed a masterclass trade with the Hawks, fleecing them for multiple unprotected picks, which directly led to our bottoming out this season. He nabbed a 1st and an unprotected swap for White from Boston. He turned the corpse of Thad Young into a late 1st. He turned an expiring Poeltl into a top-6 protected 1st. And he turned Demar, who some people thought would be signing for the MLE, into another top-10 protected first from Chicago. He did all of this without ever panicking, without handing out bad contracts/extensions, without trying to overpay for middling all-star level players to stay relevant and maintaining tons of cap space.

Now the Spurs have a core of Wemby/Sochan/Johnson/Vassell/Branham, tons of cap space, and a boatload of draft capital over the next 5 seasons.

Brian Wright is ushering the next era of Great Spurs Basketball. Put some respect on this man's name.

[duppyy]

Give respect to the owners for allowing the GM to tank.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

So if say the Spurs received the 5th pick would we still have to respect Wright?

[Bornstellar]

So if say the Spurs received the 5th pick would we still have to respect Wright?

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved but it's not just landing Wemby. I outlined all of the other things he's done which directly led to us being in this position

[Sofia]

Anyone else see the title and think who the **** is Brian Wright?

Sounds like he plays for Calgary Flames

[Bornstellar]

Anyone else see the title and think who the **** is Brian Wright?

Sounds like he plays for Calgary Flames

I kinda thought many wouldnt even know who he was I'm sure most think RC Buford is still the Spurs GM

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

So if say the Spurs received the 5th pick would we still have to respect Wright?

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved but it's not just landing Wemby. I outlined all of the other things he's done which directly led to us being in this position

Spurs have not had a winning record since 2019 and they were awful last year. If they didn't land Wemby who knows how many more years of losing basketball they would have.

I mean if the plan was the process 2.0 then yeah good for the Spurs but lets not pretend that luck didn't play an enormous role in all of this.

[-Luke-]

I have to admit, I have put so little respect on his name that I didn't even know his name until today.

But you make a compelling case for him.

[Mr. Perfect]

Wasn't even aware he was GM, I thought it was still RC Buford and Pop running the show over there.

Wish we had your guy instead of this bum Bobby Webster. He keeps trading you guys our 1st rounders, probably still owe you under the table from the Kawhi deal.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Isn't he the guy who knew about Primo's dangling habit and did nothing?

[Castle Black]

He’s been incredible the past 2 seasons honestly. The amount of draft capital we’ve acquired from the DeMar, Dejounte, Jakob, Derrick White, and Josh Richardson trades is amazing. Outside of the Primo debacle, which no one could’ve foreseen coming, he’s hit it out of the park with these trades, as well as the decision to stop living in NBA purgatory with the continual Play-In madness and trade our best player (Dejounte) for future draft picks and tank for Wemby. Obviously a ton of luck involved in winning the #1 pick this year, but it was still a tactfully manipulated tank. Amazing job by Brian and the Spurs’ Front Office. I’m just really glad it paid off.

[Bornstellar]

So if say the Spurs received the 5th pick would we still have to respect Wright?

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved but it's not just landing Wemby. I outlined all of the other things he's done which directly led to us being in this position

Spurs have not had a winning record since 2019 and they were awful last year. If they didn't land Wemby who knows how many more years of losing basketball they would have.

I mean if the plan was the process 2.0 then yeah good for the Spurs but lets not pretend that luck didn't plan an enormous part in all of this.

Did you miss the part where I said "obviously there's a lot of luck involved?"

The Spurs were not trying to be good...they are rebuilding. Even if they ended up with a different pick, they would still have (likely) a top 5 pick in this draft, a solid young core, tons of capspace and draft capital. But regardless, you have to give this man props for his gamble. He traded the Spurs only recent all-star after a really good season for a great haul which allowed us to bottom out and let the other young guys grow. That takes some cajones, especially in such a small market

[80HD]

OK. He has my respect for what it’s worth (probably nothing).

Does this meet your satisfaction?

[Bornstellar]

Isn't he the guy who knew about Primo's dangling habit and did nothing?

Where did you get that from? We have extremely limited details on that situation because the Spurs swiftly took care of business there, so most of the info people repeat online is pure speculation

[Karmaloop]

Give him credit for breaking down a team and having some ping pong balls bounce his way? Sure.

[Arsenal]

I respect how lucky he is to get the #1 overall pick in a year with a generational prospect. Great job!

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Obviously there is a lot of luck involved but it's not just landing Wemby. I outlined all of the other things he's done which directly led to us being in this position

Spurs have not had a winning record since 2019 and they were awful last year. If they didn't land Wemby who knows how many more years of losing basketball they would have.

I mean if the plan was the process 2.0 then yeah good for the Spurs but lets not pretend that luck didn't plan an enormous part in all of this.

Did you miss the part where I said "obviously there's a lot of luck involved?"

The Spurs were not trying to be good...they are rebuilding. Even if they ended up with a different pick, they would still have (likely) a top 5 pick in this draft, a solid young core, tons of capspace and draft capital. But regardless, you have to give this man props for his gamble. He traded the Spurs only recent all-star after a really good season for a great haul which allowed us to bottom out and let the other young guys grow. That takes some cajones, especially in such a small market

If part of the process is "a lot of luck being involved." then I have a hard time giving him a ton of credit. Regardless good for the spurs, always respected them and I look forward to watching them play next season.

[chilluminati]

I respect how lucky he is to get the #1 overall pick in a year with a generational prospect. Great job!

This, otherwise all they've done is one failed rebuild around Demar that crashed and burned. They traded away their first rebuild to start this new one. Yawn, I've been watching my team do this for years, there is nothing impressive about getting lucky.

If anyone can't tell, I'm a salty Detroit fan. SAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. I actually respect SA, just not right now, screw that.

[Bornstellar]

Lot of salt in this thread lol. It's okay y'all, I know mad everyone is that SA will be relevant again

[makubesu]

If the job is to lose as many games as possible, I’ll do it for half price