WEMBY DIME TO KELDON JOHNSON

AND-1 RAHHHHH pic.twitter.com/FqBfVWTWp9

— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) January 4, 2025

That was a great 4th Q. Great passing by both teams. Some dumb turnovers by Julian and Wemby, but we pulled out the great win.

Is Devin Vassell too good to be a #2 option?

Enzo The Baker said:

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Is Devin Vassell too good to be a #2 option?

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He balled out tonight and really put pressure on them by getting into the paint and making smart passes. I still want him as our 2nd team engine like Manu.

Same.

Now let's find a sweet shooting forward and a nice combo to start over him or sub for him early.

Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Liam McNeeley, Kon Knueppel, Karaban, or Fleming

then

Dylan Harper, Egon Demin, Tre Johnson, Ben Saraf, or Kam Jones

Guitarsoup said:

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Now let's find a sweet shooting forward and a nice combo to start over him or sub for him early.

Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Liam McNeeley, Kon Knueppel, Karaban, or Fleming

then

Dylan Harper, Egon Demin, Tre Johnson, Ben Saraf, or Kam Jones

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Where do you think this lottery pick is coming from?

Enzo The Baker said:

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Is Devin Vassell too good to be a #2 option?

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No. He's wildly inconsistent. He's a very good three but spurs need to find a legit two for Wemby.

LawHall88 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Now let's find a sweet shooting forward and a nice combo to start over him or sub for him early.

Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Liam McNeeley, Kon Knueppel, Karaban, or Fleming

then

Dylan Harper, Egon Demin, Tre Johnson, Ben Saraf, or Kam Jones

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Where do you think this lottery pick is coming from?

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Not all those players are projected to the lottery

Vassell is very good and can easily be a reliable number 2. And don't look now but Champanie is top 5 in the league for catch and shoot 3 balls.

Is it possible that the current guys can just get better and be a good team?

Ag Natural said:

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Vassell is very good and can easily be a reliable number 2. And don't look now but Champanie is top 5 in the league for catch and shoot 3 balls.

Is it possible that the current guys can just get better and be a good team?

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I don't think Devin will be a #2 on a championship team. I think he is a #3. I think it might be possible that we end up with Vic and like 3 different guys that are #3 levels.

Celtics: Brown averaged 24/6/3 on their playoff run.
Nuggets: Murray put up 26/7/6 in the playoffs during their run
Warriors: Klay
Bucks: Khris put up 24/6/5 in the playoffs
Lakers: Anthony Davis
Raptors: Spicy P with 19/7/4
Warriors: Steph/Klay after Durant
Cavs: Kyrie


Historic data says to win, with few exceptions like the 14 Spurs, you need an MVP Candidate, a top 20 player, a top 40-50 player, and solid role players in the top 100.

Vic is already in that top 5 MVP candidate level. But I don't think Devin gets to that top 20 level. While Murray and Khris weren't top 20 players, they played like it in the playoffs when they won.

I think Devin's ceiling is probably as a top 40-50ish player. He's not going to challenge for all star bids.

Maybe this line of thinking will change in the era of parity. Maybe we can build more like the Raptors in 19 with a MVP guy and a bunch of 3rd level guys, but they also had the benefit of injuries to Durant and Klay.

No matter what, we need 1-2 more players that can put pressure on the defense and hit threes. I think we need a #2 scorer that is a higher level scorer than Devin but I really like Devin in the role of Manu where he puts pressure on the second team with his driving and passing. We need a better forward to go with Sochan and better shooting all around. I like Julian a lot, but I the is probably better as a backup D&3 than a starter.

We also need Castle to really take the leap with his shot. I think he can be a really great player all around and has the BBIQ for it. But he is still a long way away from that now.

FTAG 2000 said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Is Devin Vassell too good to be a #2 option?

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No. He's wildly inconsistent. He's a very good three but spurs need to find a legit two for Wemby.

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I said this in response to my original overreaction to him a few days ago. I still think he can't be a number two. But it's nice to know that there is a chance for his defense, like last night.

Through 100 games:

• 2,273 PTS (22.7 PPG)
• 1,053 REB (10.5 RPG)
• 366 BLK (3.7 BPG)
• 386 AST (3.9 APG)
• 118 STL (1.2 SPG)
• 225 3PM (2.3 3PMPG)

Comparing to other players across their first 100 games:

• 2nd most PTS/REB/BLK totals in history (David Robinson being 1st)
• Factoring in 3PM, no other player has those totals
• More points than Lebron James and Kevin Durant
• More blocks than Dikembe Mutumbo and Hakeem Olajuwon
• More three-pointers than Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson

Other records he's accomplished through 100 games:

• 1st player to average 20+ PTS, 10+ REB, 3+ BLK in less than 30min per game
• 1st player to record 1,500+ PTS, 250+ BLK, 100+ 3PM in a season
• 1st player to record 30+ PTS, 15+ REB, 5+ AST, 5+ BLK, 5+ 3PM in a game
• 1st rookie to record 300+ combined blocks and steals since 1992-93
• 2nd player to record 25+ PTS, 10+ REB, 5+ AST, 5+ BLK, 5+ STL in a game
• 2nd rookie to record a 5x5 game

Tonight was Victor Wembanyama’s 100th career game.

He’s totaled 2,273 PTS, 1,053 REB and 366 BLK through his first 100 games.

The only other player to reach those totals across their first 100 games played? Fellow Spur, David Robinson. pic.twitter.com/qMqAjysijb

— NBA (@NBA) January 4, 2025

The more threes than Curry is the craziest of those crazy stats.

This is a nice screen grab.

favorite screenshot of 2025 pic.twitter.com/khLCWjOlWI

— dylan (@dylangonzalez21) January 4, 2025

Don't really buy this. But who knows.

The San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans could also have an interest in Jimmy Butler, per @AmicoHoops pic.twitter.com/PqU0hUe4yB

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 5, 2025

Gross. Do not want. 50 million a year for a 34 year old who quits on his team.

Enzo The Baker said:

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Don't really buy this. But who knows.

The San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans could also have an interest in Jimmy Butler, per @AmicoHoops pic.twitter.com/PqU0hUe4yB

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 5, 2025

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Siri, photoshop Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins in a Heat uniform.

Solid first half from the boys, was afraid of a letdown but we're looking good. Love seeing Dev take it to the rack.

Wemby just gassed tonight.

Guitarsoup said:

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Wemby just gassed tonight.

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Whole team looked gassed in OT. Started with Barnes missing a bunny and just went downhill from there.

LawHall88 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Wemby just gassed tonight.

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Whole team looked gassed in OT. Started with Barnes missing a bunny and just went downhill from there.

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I'll take the blame. I turned it on for OT after the Ags BTHOtu and we looked completely awful. Had one possession with 3 great looks and couldn't get any of them to fall.

I honestly think the Spurs need a back up big right now more than anything. The non-Wemby minutes are just brutal. Zach Collins shouldn't be in the league, much less on this team. Our double digit lead dwindled hard when he came in. You could feel the tide change and knew we were going to lose.

Paul had a horrendous shooting performance. But he's a guard who's almost 40 on an ugly back to back so don't fault him too much. Would have liked to see more mins for Castle on defense. I thought he did some good things on Murray who hurt us down the stretch.

I don't know what Mitch was running for us in the last 6 minutes of regulation. That was some really bad stuff on offense.

My wife and daughter went to the game- the wife knows nothing about basketball and the only thing she said about the game is she watched that Collins guy and they pay him to just run up and down the court and never touch the ball

Collins is awful. He's an ok rebounder sometimes. And he's big and athletic enough to throw at Joker or other bigs and chew up fouls, But he's a sieve defensively. Not physical whatsoever. Offensively, he shows the occasional flash rolling to the basket, but then misses easy layups and put backs. To say nothing of his continuing to brick 3s. Would much rather Bassey get his minutes.

And short of him being thrown in to help match salaries, I don't think there's anyway to move him. His contract sucks for his level of production

If the front office can move him to get Butler or a bag of churros, that's a win

Enzo The Baker said:

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I honestly think the Spurs need a back up big right now more than anything. The non-Wemby minutes are just brutal. Zach Collins shouldn't be in the league, much less on this team. Our double digit lead dwindled hard when he came in. You could feel the tide change and knew we were going to lose.

Paul had a horrendous shooting performance. But he's a guard who's almost 40 on an ugly back to back so don't fault him too much. Would have liked to see more mins for Castle on defense. I thought he did some good things on Murray who hurt us down the stretch.

I don't know what Mitch was running for us in the last 6 minutes of regulation. That was some really bad stuff on offense.

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Brook Lopez, Luke Kornet, Clint Capela, and Kevon Looney are all free agents this year and all their teams have massive cap problems.

The guy I think would be the best fit would be Robert Williams, but worried about his health. If Wemby is playing 32 minutes, we really only need him to play the other 16. I would trade them Tre Jones and a 2nd. They wouldn't want Collins. Financially you could just barely do Mamu+Branham+Wesley for Williams + Rupert. Would save them a ton of money and end the center log jam.

Would love to trade Branham and a second for DayRon Sharpe. Even better would be Sharpe+Cam Johnson for Collins+Wesley or Branham or Mamu+ Chicago Pick + Charlotte pick +unlimited 2nds.

Could also do Branham+Wesley+Picks for Jonas+Justin Champagnie

Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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I honestly think the Spurs need a back up big right now more than anything. The non-Wemby minutes are just brutal. Zach Collins shouldn't be in the league, much less on this team. Our double digit lead dwindled hard when he came in. You could feel the tide change and knew we were going to lose.

Paul had a horrendous shooting performance. But he's a guard who's almost 40 on an ugly back to back so don't fault him too much. Would have liked to see more mins for Castle on defense. I thought he did some good things on Murray who hurt us down the stretch.

I don't know what Mitch was running for us in the last 6 minutes of regulation. That was some really bad stuff on offense.

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Brook Lopez, Luke Kornet, Clint Capela, and Kevon Looney are all free agents this year and all their teams have massive cap problems.

The guy I think would be the best fit would be Robert Williams, but worried about his health. If Wemby is playing 32 minutes, we really only need him to play the other 16. I would trade them Tre Jones and a 2nd. They wouldn't want Collins. Financially you could just barely do Mamu+Branham+Wesley for Williams + Rupert. Would save them a ton of money and end the center log jam.

Would love to trade Branham and a second for DayRon Sharpe. Even better would be Sharpe+Cam Johnson for Collins+Wesley or Branham or Mamu+ Chicago Pick + Charlotte pick +unlimited 2nds.

Could also do Branham+Wesley+Picks for Jonas+Justin Champagnie

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Robert Williams has played in 226/500 regular season games over 6+ season in the league. His health isn't a "worry", it's the reason no one has plucked him off that AWFUL Portland.

He's played in 17 games between this season and last season. One of the hardest passes in the league if I'm San Antonio.

Obi Wan Ginobili said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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I honestly think the Spurs need a back up big right now more than anything. The non-Wemby minutes are just brutal. Zach Collins shouldn't be in the league, much less on this team. Our double digit lead dwindled hard when he came in. You could feel the tide change and knew we were going to lose.

Paul had a horrendous shooting performance. But he's a guard who's almost 40 on an ugly back to back so don't fault him too much. Would have liked to see more mins for Castle on defense. I thought he did some good things on Murray who hurt us down the stretch.

I don't know what Mitch was running for us in the last 6 minutes of regulation. That was some really bad stuff on offense.

---

Brook Lopez, Luke Kornet, Clint Capela, and Kevon Looney are all free agents this year and all their teams have massive cap problems.

The guy I think would be the best fit would be Robert Williams, but worried about his health. If Wemby is playing 32 minutes, we really only need him to play the other 16. I would trade them Tre Jones and a 2nd. They wouldn't want Collins. Financially you could just barely do Mamu+Branham+Wesley for Williams + Rupert. Would save them a ton of money and end the center log jam.

Would love to trade Branham and a second for DayRon Sharpe. Even better would be Sharpe+Cam Johnson for Collins+Wesley or Branham or Mamu+ Chicago Pick + Charlotte pick +unlimited 2nds.

Could also do Branham+Wesley+Picks for Jonas+Justin Champagnie

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Robert Williams has played in 226/500 regular season games over 6+ season in the league. His health isn't a "worry", it's the reason no one has plucked him off that AWFUL Portland.

He's played in 17 games between this season and last season. One of the hardest passes in the league if I'm San Antonio.

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I'd still trade Zach Collins and a second for him

The Spurs are going to have some tough decisions to make starting this off-season. What is Vassell's future here? What does a Sochan extension look like when he's eligible this summer? The Spurs are 10-5 without Sochan in the lineup this year and 8-12 with him in the lineup. I do think the best Spurs lineup we've seen this season was with Sochan on the bench but I get the FO wanting him to start to see exactly what they have there before he wants a $130mm extension this Summer or something crazy. I struggle giving him that contract but I go back and forth.

I definitely question if the Spurs FO has what it takes to make some of these difficult decisions though (like getting rid of fan favorite players or pulling the trigger on a Fox-like trade) or if they will just dump a bag in front of all these guys.

I don't think the Spurs are the type to just dump a bag. We didn't even do that with Manu and Tony.

Sochan is a tough one. I think a lot of our offense problems when he is in are because he can't shoot. But he also seems to be our best POA/wing defender by a long shot. His rebounding this year has been great and he is finally going up with the ball confidently instead of the pump fakes and weak takes.

He's shooting 70% at the rim and 52/28 overall with fewer threes attempted this year. The bigger thing is he is taking 55% of his FG attempts at the rim this year, and it was 32-33% the previous two years. Surprisingly, he is hitting 46% of his corner threes, but those are only 30% of his attempts. With lower volume overall, will be interesting to see if he can keep that up over the season. Just having a reliable corner three and be able to cut from the baseline would make him significantly useful on offense.

The big problem with him (and playing him with Castle) is the lack of shooters. I really think we need to add a couple of offense/movement shooter guys, even if one is awful defensively. Cam Johnson is obviously on the Market. RJ Barrett could be had if you believe in his shot. I don't want their contracts, but LaVine or Beal would be the right fit. Consistent shot, can create. If NOLA blows it up, maybe take the last year of CJ McCollum. I think there is an abundance of guys that can shoot and be secondary ball handlers.

We have Barnes hitting 42% (seems like he goes 3-4 or 0-3 with nothing in between), Julian at .376, Devin and CP3 at 34% then Collins, Sochan, Keldon, and Castle at 27-29%. Overall, the team is shooting 34%, or 24th in the league. And we are awful shooters with awful defenders like Keldon, Barnes, Paul, and Devin (though he showed signs of life against Denver.)

We just don't have shooting and other than Vic, Sochan and sometimes Julian, we don't have high level defense. We just need like 3-4 more real players. Our depth sucks.

Fox would give us a great guy for rim pressure and he is a good defender, but I just can't see the Spurs blowing up the war chest for a Rich Paul client.

I don't know what the actual asking price is for Fox and I certainly agree with not overpaying but I'm not sure it would be "blowing up the warchest"; especially if guys like Vassell and Sochan are involved. The Spurs have to judge what the ceiling is with these guys and if they think they are limited then getting rid of them now before it is fully known around the league can actually end up being a positive. The much easier scenario is to just pay Sochan what he wants and keep punting these difficult decisions down the line and hope that the trade/move/whatever it is that takes this team to the next level just drops in the Spurs lap like it has in the past but Wembanyama is not Tim Duncan and starting next year I doubt he's going to be fine just wasting years away with average players around him.

Sher Thing said:

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The Spurs are going to have some tough decisions to make starting this off-season. What is Vassell's future here? What does a Sochan extension look like when he's eligible this summer? The Spurs are 10-5 without Sochan in the lineup this year and 8-12 with him in the lineup. I do think the best Spurs lineup we've seen this season was with Sochan on the bench but I get the FO wanting him to start to see exactly what they have there before he wants a $130mm extension this Summer or something crazy. I struggle giving him that contract but I go back and forth.

I definitely question if the Spurs FO has what it takes to make some of these difficult decisions though (like getting rid of fan favorite players or pulling the trigger on a Fox-like trade) or if they will just dump a bag in front of all these guys.

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A five year extension at $130m actually wouldn't be all that crazy. That's basically what Vassell signed a year and half ago. I'm sure they'd shoot for a lower number but I would hate this at all. Sochan has shown glimpses of being a very valuable sidekick to Wemby.

San Antonio needs to lean heavily into the "hometown discount" feelings with Sochan, and maybe even a little with Vassell. Neither one of them have done anything to prove they are worth huge chunks of money, either by their abilities or their ability to stay on the floor. If either/both of them are indicating they want their Brinks truck, I just don't know how you give it to either of them.

Castle is going to be guuuud,