Will Spurs Make Moves Around Wembanyama This Offseason Or NOT? | San Antonio Spurs Podcast
What’s going on everybody today is March 18th and we’re recording this around noon and we’re going to talk Spurs basketball we’re going to talk a lot about what’s going on with the team what are the trending kind of topics out there want know what I’m seeing on the
Floor and what we think’s going to happen in the future for the San Antonio Spurs so thank you guys for watching thank you guys for tuning in make sure to subscribe to this channel hit that like button share this video go Spurs go with all of that good stuff um first off
Just wiim wiim Bama we’re gonna have to talk about him a lot in this episode and you know there’s a lot of narrative out there on what the Spurs should do should they be you know still sticking with their culture of how they approach certain different um opportunities
Throughout the season to improve or not making trades free agents things like that how does wiim Ben Yama actually affect the decision- making you know of the organization going forward we’re going to talk about that too what what are the assets right now for the Spurs
Um maneuvering wise in the future uh in the near future um and what type of territory they’re in right now and how volatile is it or how um prosperous it can be moving forward um and each step that they take has to be you know very CR very thoroughly thought out on on
What they want to do now if you’re going to ask me kind of is this you know Spurs wisdom you know the the fact that they have you know across the league the respect of how to do things the right way and they have all these coaches that
Go to other teams that have Executives that that spend time here and then go be GMS or or whoever uh with other squads you know that type of Spurs wisdom is it going to you know continue throughout this you know era of in bama we we’ve
Did get a little hiccup with the Kawai situation and you know we are still kind of barely coming out of the the weeds of of that you know type of decision making that happened with the Spurs so you know the Spurs are not a clean record by all
Means you know the Spurs have not drafted perfectly they have not handled everything perfectly since the Tim Duncan era and you can also maybe even go through the Tim Duncan era and and pull out a few things along the way as well but for the most part you know when
They stuck to their core values you know they had success and they had success on and off the court in a small Market you know no small Market is really you know supposed to be doing you know the the type of numbers and championships and
And all that that the Spurs have done um so they are an anomaly and they are also the gold standard right you know in the rest of the league at the top of the league you have Spurs execs and coaches is everywhere so the the question
Becomes you know what do the Spurs do with wiim Bama now um do they follow that normal kind of Trail breadcrumbs that lead to success that they are very positive and and sure about and how to operate or is the fact that you know Victor wanyama is the like anomaly
Himself and you know there’s been a lot of discourse out there of should the Spurs move you know strongly in free agency this year or or in the trade market and you hear a lot of names like Trey Jones come up and you hear a lot of
Um you know kind of talk about the draft this year and and this year being you know kind of a weaker draft um we are hearing that the 2025 draft you know two years not this upcoming draft but the the one following is actually a pretty heavy um star studded draft with a
Couple very high prospects in there which which is very true um you know so the Spurs how are they going to position themselves to be successful and if you’re going to ask me we just look at history and history usually provides that kind of road map of what we’re
Going to do and I would say hey they’re going to look in the draft you know and everyone talks about you know the the Tim Duncan comparison or Dave Robinson comparison these number one picks and and the the the landscape is just I’ve talked about this before it’s just very
Different from when those two players entered the league entered the San Antonio Spurs organization um the organization was at a different point right now we’re we’re in this kind of really like you know fetal stage of trying to create you know the genetic code of what we’re going to be in the
Future and it’s like there’s nothing developed on the other end of that you know you can argue that Devon vasel is the most developed piece you know moving forward for wiim Bama I do believe sometimes that he be the number two guy to Victor definitely scoring wise but
More often than not this season I’ve been a little um underwhelmed by Devon basel’s play on the court I think he’s taken a huge step forward scoring the ball obviously he’s aaked from the mid-range he’s been taking a lot of steps forward with the ball putting the
Ball on the floor his and when Bama’s Twan game has taken steps forward it seems like game to game they’re understanding each other more and more and that type of combo can be very dangerous in the future but what what kind of hesitates me and leaves me
Underwhelmed is the fact that he’s still unable to kind of do it on a two-way kind of you know dynamic where he can turn defense into offense and he’s kind of causing these these things to happen on the defensive side of the floor turning them into opportunities the
Other way and you know we used to see guys do that all the time Manu would be able to do it Kawai uh two-way Superstar right and and I think we need Devon vasel to take a leap in that two-way kind of conversation and it’s hard for
Him to do that when he’s not guarding the best guys every night you know they they’re trusting soan with those responsibilities and then it’s also kind of different to do on this team versus a normal team because you have Victor wanyama who’s going to be the defensive
Player of the year you know for many years moving forward but that doesn’t mean that you know Devon vasel can’t take his strides on that end as well and I’ve you know he’s had all the tools since his rookie year I’ve always been really high on on vel’s IQ on the
Defensive end but I need to see him create on that end you know what I mean like that’s one thing two is that I need to see him with the ball more and we’re seeing it we started seeing it in small doses I feel like as the season
Progressed but you know I need him to be a killer you know I need him to be a killer with the ball in his hands and and know exactly how to pick people off not just off ball because if you want to put him in that three spot like it’s you
Know Victor wanyama is going to be our best player two we don’t know who it is and then three is Vel I mean that’s that’s awesome I mean he’s there now he’s there now I just believe that vasel can take that stride forward and other than that though you know like he’s
Really the only confident piece we can say is going to be on this team long term um you know Jeremy soan we’ll talk about in a bit we’ll talk about U Malachi and and Blake and Wesley and Trey Jones and some of these other guys moving forward forward but I still
Believe in in Devon and and his role mainly because of this one principle that I’ve always followed and has kind of been true through the Spurs organization is that whoever gets paid the most usually gets the most opportunity and we can go back into the deari years where you know we had guys
Like Devon vasel on the on the team and um you know Derek white Al also you know what I mean but those guys were you know they were really good back then too but who was getting most of the minutes you had guys like Patty Mills Rudy Gay um
You had the veterans you know getting all these minutes bton and Marco banelli right you had all these guys that were able to take most of the shots and they got most of the minutes guys like Lonnie Walker just kind of fell off to the Wayside you know guys like well dejonte
Got got the opportunity but you know the the trend has been doesn’t really matter how these young guys are you know we’re going to we’re going to groom them for a few years and then their opportunity will come and then they need to be ready for that opportunity and usually that
Syncs up with money and salary uh the Spurs have been relying heavy on Veterans for a long time because they got honestly they were getting paid the most and they had the shorter window at the end of their career so they they do need the minutes
Those veterans so my point is is that next year Devon Vel is going to become the highest paid player on the San Antonio Spurs roster it’s not until Victor W banama gets his rookie extension will he start getting that Max money um so you know next year when when
Vel’s contract goes into the 20 some million dollar per year you best believe that the Spurs are going to ask 20 some million dollars worth of production out of Devon Basel and that’s why I think that you know next year is going to be very telling on on what this team will
Look like in terms of them too I think everything else doesn’t matter by next year doesn’t matter how we’re developing Trey Jones or how we’re developing Malachi Brum or if we’re gonna experiment with Jeremy Sohan or not you know like like at the point or you know
What his role is going to be like all that stuff is not going to matter and I’m talking I’m telling you it’s because of business you know it’s because of because of the salary and so you know I think that next year we’re in for something special in terms of Devon and
Wimy you know year two and I think that is where we stop running all this motion offense style you know of play and we’re sharing the ball we’re just driving and kicking and driving and kicking I think you know naturally wiim Ben Yama year two you know we take that year one
Sample size we create a game plan for year two but other than that aside from that uh basel’s contract is going to put the ball on his hands and the responsibility on his back next year excuse me and for the next few years now all that being said you know can the
Spurs still make moves and and and try to do things a little bit um a little bit against the grain of of how we usually do things and and there are players out there you know like let’s talk about Trey young uh Trey young I think that conversation happens
All the time and I think it’s because to the eye test it’s it’s it’s like a match made in these two guys yeah if you put a guy who can throw a lob without looking at it and wimy you know putting it right where wimy needs it every single time oh
Yeah that’s the perfect player with with wimy sure and a guy who can shoot and Trey Trey young can can shoot you know by half court he can be pulling up three so those two things make you think oh wow man that would be great you know and
He doesn’t even have to be a great defender because you know he’s got wimy there to back him up even though Trey young has Tak steps forward year defensively he’s taking a lot of charges he’s getting after it and you know I think he’s injured right now and
Obviously the the idea of having like a a a pick and roll Trey young wimy combination is very enticing it’s very exciting to think about at the same time that’s just not something I don’t believe that as much as I would like to see that I would like to see that just
As much as anyone else if the Spurs came out you know the first day of the off season and said hey we’ve traded this year’s first round pick one of Atlanta’s one of one of T Chicago’s picks you know back you know that way for Trey young
Yeah sure I I’d be excited I’d be excited to see the the Brain Trust and the and the organization kind of take that that move because I trust they believe it’s a good move but you know if I were to look into my heart of hearts
And make a bet on next year I I don’t believe the Spurs are doing anything of of that nature you know I don’t I don’t believe they are going to trade for for anybody I think they roll into next year um maybe trying to put a couple of of
Seventh eighth ninth guys you know on the roster try to improve those guys um for at least one more year uh and then we’ll see we’ll see what happens in that 2025 draft class now the Spurs Dynasty right Tim Duncan number one Tony Parker we know second
Rounder Manu second rounder you know we look at Oklahoma City a lot of people like to you know dub them as the the the new process right like everyone used to look at the Spurs on how they did things I think now when ter in terming of building in a small Market building
Through the draft everyone looks towards the Oklahoma City Thunder and they traded for Shay gilis Alexander that was their first you know big swing and and they traded Paul George for him and and let Shay take a few years to get to this Superstar you know status he was wasn’t
He didn’t come in to OKC this way but during those few years you know they built through the draft niic same thing found him in the second round and then spent the next four or five years I talked about this before too putting all the right pieces and drafting all the
Right pieces around him now it took it wasn’t every it wasn’t like every single pick they had turned into a fundamental piece building block around Nicole yic either neither has the thunder right and thunder have have made three or four or five picks over the past two three years
That haven’t worked out or they’re not even on the team anymore but then you have the picks like Chad you have the picks like jayd duub right and those two guys are for sure going to be long-term pieces around uh Shay gilis Alexander and then everything else kind of we’ll
See and so you know it’s it’s a new territory in the terms of like hey man your rookie is not just awesome but he’s legendary and he’s new and he’s playing like no one has ever seen before and he’s putting up stats that haven’t been done until you hear names like Will
Chamberlain or Kareem Abdul Jabar or something you know what I mean like he’s is it’s just unbelievable that’s one uh two he’s like this different person he’s not Tim Duncan he’s not David Robinson two military guys right Navy Wake Forest this is a guy from France this is a more
Tony Parker esque type you know character and I think you know we we see that he has a lot of self-confidence self uh efficacy he understands what he’s capable of and I think we also see that he doesn’t like you know there was that quote that he
Has been told all his life can’t skip steps but that doesn’t stop him from running up the stairs or I don’t know what and it’s very accurate uh to his personality and the way he speaks about everything and something that I talked about in the beginning of the year is
That first thing he said was you know winning is the thing he loves most in life and that’s not a bad thing that that speaks to competitive nature that speaks to to his his willingness to to to do whatever it takes to win games um
But in the terms of a long NBA career you know um it just doesn’t happen overnight and like let’s look at our record right now it’s 15 and 53 we’re 15 wins and 53 losses if we want to get into the playin territory we’re going to
Have to have 40 wins or more right talking about next year can we go from 15 wins to 40 wins in one off season even if we get Trey young let’s just say we get that one guy Trey young it’s not like we could put all five great pieces around
Him in one year no and it’s not and and when you’re dealing through trades and free agency you’re not locking these pieces up for long term and we need long-term pieces we understand that in San Antonio will take a year or two or three to develop that’s part of the
Process and it takes these guys that much time to get there imagine if we still had Derek white or if we still still had deante some of these guys that developed very well through our system right still on the team now they just get better and better we understand that
Is a process now the question becomes can Victor Wim andama accept that process and can he get on the same page of the organization I’m not saying that he’s not I don’t know I’m not in the locker room I think everything he says to the media is accurate in terms of
Like hey I understand this is a process but I want to win right but he always has that but eye part to his perspective and he’s just so unique he’s Transcendent uh he knows his his potential not just on the court but um pop culture-wise and like leg Legacy
Wise and and he’s very self-aware of that and I think he he thinks about that when he thinks about everything else not like Timmy or or David who were just like hey I’m going to come in I’m going to be great at basketball everything else was just kind of fall into place I
Just don’t believe wimy is that type of guy so that question you know kind of becomes you know are they all on the same page and can you know and usually it’s you know your owner your organization your GM your Executives your coaching staff and your star player
All four of those guys need to be synced up with what the plan is what the goals are what the projections are how long it’s going to take how what are my what are my responsibilities along the way because the Spurs aren’t going to ever just say oh we’re okay we’re just GNA
Take a slow we’ll see how it goes no the the RO the the end destination is always championships right and we know we know that with with throughout the the big three era we didn’t win it every year five five championships though not bad you know so along you know the career
You’re gonna have the ups and downs and and for any young any Superstar today you know uh Joel embiid yic Giannis a lot of these guys it took them a few years not only for them to develop but for the organization to put the team around him you know around them to make
Them most most successful and that’s what it’s going to take for the Spurs in my opinion it’s going to take two or three years and it’s not like oh wm’s not ready now he’s he’s goingon to be ready in two three years no that’s not it but how many moves can you actually
Make in an off season how many moves um can you make how you know like you can you only have so many roster spots you only have so many guys that are still under contract you have you know you got to work all that stuff through time and most
Successful you know approach to that has been through the draft and especially through the Spurs and small Market teams for long-term success and that’s another thing too is that the Spurs are smart they don’t want to they don’t want to I I wouldn’t think that they would want to
Risk any type of short-term satisfaction to win Bama you know okay let’s satisfy him this this season let’s get Trey young but but then that might affect the long-term plan and long-term ability you know of this team and and so you know if we look at the draft this
Year maybe there’s no Superstar to put around him but the Spurs find that Superstar that’s another thing too it’s like no one thought Kawai was gonna be a superstar you know what I mean like no one thought a lot of our guys were going to be any good Derek white you know like
Like like no Deon is awesome right like none of these guys thought no one thought they were going to be good when they came into the draft but the Spurs they see the qualities they see the traits that that lead to that type of recipe and I think that we can’t just
Rule out oh the Spurs aren’t going to pick the right guy at three the right guy at four if we end up getting a top five pick like you don’t think the Spurs are going to pick the right guy I maybe they trade from three to seven to nine
They trade down because they know that that guy isn’t going to go that high maybe they try to maneuver that way you know I I wouldn’t even be surprised to see that but I do expect them to in the conversation in 2025 um just because that draft is more star studded
Potentially and that’s what Victor needs Victor needs a clear number two guy now it could be Trey young like like I said that would be awesome I I wouldn’t hate seeing that but is that going to get us to 40 plus wins is that the goal or are we
Trying to get to you know are we trying to get rid of all of our assets and just trade to be all right to be playing no it’s not it’s it’s we’re trying to build long-term succcess long-term continuity and long-term investment from the players that we bring into the
Organization so you know there’s there’s a lot to think about when talking about trying to build this plan for wiim Bama um real quick let’s talk about some of these other guys on the team um talked about wimy talked about Devin soan has had a lot of great games as of late I
Still I still want to see some some more out of out of him and it’s just com Comfort I want to see him more comfortable out there on the floor um Blake Wesley has been awesome uh ever since he started getting more minutes um after the trade deadline he’s been
Coming in year one doing the Dirty Work picking up full court dunking on people being aggressive and honestly his playmaking is awesome like he’s he’s able to find guys he’s he knows when to score he is not shy at all and I think the passiveness of like oh I’m on I’m on
The Spurs now instead of Austin I got to come in here and just kind of fit in I don’t think he’s trying to fit in at all I think he’s trying to cause havoc and he’s trying to create out there which is awesome um Malachi has had more of an up
And down season uh still like what I see out of him when he when he’s on when he’s on it when he’s when he’s kind of off he needs to find some more ways to impact the game than just scoring and and and kind of being a good facilitator
Like he needs to you know rebound more create a little bit more um something something like that you know Ma but Malachi has been great uh Trey Jones has been uh sometimes extremely impressive man sometimes I see him doing point guard things out there that I’m like
Whoa man that’s that’s F like he’s running breaks and picking apart reads or drawing defenses one way and then making the kick out to the wide open guy on the other side like like he’s just doing he’s so heady he’s he’s awesome I really I really hope that Trey Jones can
Be around for a long time I know this is this is probably ridiculous but I would I wouldn’t mind I know I know what I’m about to say I wouldn’t mind having Trey Jones and Trey young and tyus Jones I’m if if that makes any sense I would love
All three of those guys and that makes all of our point guards like small I understand that too but maybe it’s not such a bad thing when you have the big fella back there um and you get like three different dynamics of of point guard you get like a scoring point guard
High output super star Trey young you get two of the best probably backup point guard you know players to put to put in for him you know so anyways both Jones Brothers Trey young I’ve been thinking about that that’s been keeping me up at night and
Um if we can get them out of Washington and keep Trey Jones as well I think that would just be an awesome situation for for the organization um so let’s kind of wrap it up here with with a few more thoughts I got about another minute or two here
With you guys um um can wimy wake I think that you know he’s he’s he’s doing the vocal press stuff I mean he drops little philosophy Bombs all the time like you know he’s already getting getting a quote that’s running up the stairs stuff that’s like
Okay you’re going to see that on a poster and stuff like that but ultimately I think he understands what the organization is about and I know that he wants to be here for a reason and so he’s just got to trust the process and I hope that
Next year uh is a little bit more of him being the guy because with the whole minute restriction for most of this season he wouldn’t come in until like three minutes left two minutes left or the fourth quarter no matter what the game was all that hopefully gets thrown
Out the window and next year we actually let to see him compete for a full 48 minutes and see what type of results those kind of get get us but I don’t expect the Spurs to try to improve the roster all that much around him this year um
Kellin I love Kellin I hope we never get rid of Kellin either I hope he’s okay coming off the bench the rest of his career and like maybe being a spot starter here and there um because he’s he is a true embodiment of what the culture represents and he’s we don’t
Have many of those guys around anymore you know that can kind of preach the culture and how we do things here and all that so he’s very important he’s very important so that’s that’s all I got time to talk about with you guys today I’m about to have another class
Walk in here but thank you guys for watching goh Spurs go hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already uh and make sure to like this video we’ll catch you on the next one adios
In this episode I talk about what the future might look like for the San Antonio Spurs when building around Victor Wembanyama. I discuss my thoughts on Tre Young, Devin Vassell, and an approach to the NBA draft. I also discuss why the Spurs stick to their culture of building a contender or if its time to change the way for Wembanyama. All that and more.
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13 Comments
I hope the spurs can draft Ron Holland or Zacharie Richaser or Nikola topic does my choices for the next season.
Every time I hear someone say “trade down” I always want to know who they think wants to trade up in this draft 😂
Trade target low risk high reward
Herb jones the pelicans dont like pay him
Jalen green they he can be traded due cam Whitmore
I worry about Pops successor. Who is going to come in here and add to what they're doing and not disrupt things? That is just as big a decision as draft or trades?
Tony 28th
I think the spurs put a little pep in their step and make this a 2-3 year process instead of a 4-5 year process. Wemby was better than advertised. Very few people thought he was a top 20 player in year 1 but he did it.
Whether they do the big move at the beginning of this 2-3 years or at the end is the question. What they do with the (hopefully) 2 FRP is going to be telling.
I dont think that Wemby expect to have every dreamed piece around him by next year. But I do think that he expect some big moove (either by trading or by drafting) And that if he sees no improvments next year from the team it will become harder and harder to sell him the "wait a bit its a process" narative. As you just said he could be traded in a playoff team team right now and he would maje them contenders. So the Spurs better be a solid team by the end of is rookie contract because if he doesnt see himself winning with SA he will probably leave
Great pod Rob! Love the analysis and what you said about Keldon at the end! 🫡
Vassel seems like a solid 3rd option
The dream is adding cade Cunningham to the team
Not 5 different moves on the same offseason, but one or two big ones why not? also, the Trae Young thing can be cheaper than everyone think for us, if Hawks want to rebuild we got their '25 and '27 picks, and 2 picks they can actually control are as valuable as 4 first rounds from someone else
I did a search on the Bing AI chatbot, asking it to list all of the current NBA players who have been all-stars in the past and whose contract expires this year. The list surprised me! A majority of the top players are on it. And that isn't even considering foreign star-level players. I'm not saying that they would all be open to leave their teams, or that they would all be a good fit age-wise, salary-wise, or culture-wise, but it shows that there are a LOT of variables in play. You're right, Victor's situation is different than Dave's and Tim's. Even if Wemby CAN wait, it would be a disservice to him and the fanbase to expect him to play on a below average team for another two or three seasons. It could take even longer than that to go through another 2 or 3 drafts and sort out the keepers. Victor is ready, willing, and able to win now if the Spurs can just acquire a couple of top-level vets who are young enough to grow with the team another 5 to 7 years. The rest can come from the draft.
Amazing podcast and nice analysis. Glad I stumbled here.