Looking back to last year's draft, the Spurs were super fortunate that Raptors pick conveyed at #8. Even when healthy that team is terrible. Might not have ever seen that pick.

And Dillingham hasn't cracked Minnesota's rotation. Still the question of whether another player available at that spot could have helped the Spurs.

LawHall88 said:

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And Dillingham hasn't cracked Minnesota's rotation. Still the question of whether another player available at that spot could have helped the Spurs.

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The obvious answer with hindsight was Edey as backup big. If Memphis was really desperate for him, they could overpay for him, or lick their wounds and reach for Ware or Missi.

Knecht and McCain were hot offensively for a while, but both are awful defenders and that has played them off the floor.

I'm still happy with two unprotected Minnesota firsts. Their team is going to completely fall apart in the next two years.

I think McCain's knee surgery is what played him off the court.

https://craftednba.com/players/jared-mccain

If he wasn't scorching hot, he got pulled because his defense was such a liability.

2nd percentile.

He'd probably make a decent 6th man. I still think Devin Carter will be the better player and our more likely choice.

Carter had a shoulder injury this summer and just got to the GLeague.

Devin Carter looked like the real deal in his first tune-up appearance. He could be an option for Sacramento in the very near future.

29 PTS
8 REB
3 AST
3 STL
11/18 FG
6/9 3PT
33 MINpic.twitter.com/Yob3CQUYXN

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) December 29, 2024

Hit the wall hard in the 2nd quarter.

Minnesota really plays good defense. Spurs just don't have anyone who can penetrate and get to the rim. This is where a guy like Fox would really help.

LawHall88 said:

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And Dillingham hasn't cracked Minnesota's rotation. Still the question of whether another player available at that spot could have helped the Spurs.

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I think what we got from Minnesota will prove to be far more valuable than whoever was available at that spot.

#FreeBlakeWesley

'Okay Zach, you're in. Let's see what you got….(3 mins later)…you got exactly what we thought you had. Bench.'

Keldon dominating McDaniels on that

That last shot was … suboptimal.

Sochan not finding a way to get that ball to Barnes is gonna get all the attention but CP3 and Wemby farting that whole possession away just to hand a grenade to Jeremy was horrendous.

If we are looking for a 3 to escape for a win, not sure why Sochan is out there in that instance. Should have swung it to Barnes after DV committed. Missed it by a mile anyways. Not a great call by the coach.

Agree, didnt like Sochan taking that shot. Feels like he panicked when Barnes was covered and just chucked it. Seems like he had time to gather for a better shot but that's just me.

superunknown said:

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Agree, didnt like Sochan taking that shot. Feels like he panicked when Barnes was covered and just chucked it. Seems like he had time to gather for a better shot but that's just me.

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Should have gone to Barnes

Really hate our rotations now everyone is healthy.

And geez what is Mitch doing to Castle? Guy went from playing big minutes and checking other teams best perimeter player to watching from the line in the fourth while Jones gets torched.

FTAG 2000 said:

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Really hate our rotations now everyone is healthy.

And geez what is Mitch doing to Castle? Guy went from playing big minutes and checking other teams best perimeter player to watching from the line in the fourth while Jones gets torched.

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Castle hasn't been able to do himself any favors lately either. He's a turnover machine. I still like him in the starting lineup though.

It's just frustrating because all of our players outside of Victor have major weaknesses, whether it's shooting, size, poor decision making, etc. We have an abundance of average/below average guards but absolutely no big man depth. Victor's supporting cast just isn't very good/consistent. Barnes played well last night but it means he's now set to have like 4 bad games in a row.

Definitely going to need to shake the team up at some point, because the roster construction just isn't very good. Not faulting the Spurs too much for that, because no way you could have anticipated having someone like Victor. But it's time to start building the right team around him and letting go of players who just don't serve this team anymore. Let the team take what they can from Paul and start to build things out pronto.

FTAG 2000 said:

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Really hate our rotations now everyone is healthy.

And geez what is Mitch doing to Castle? Guy went from playing big minutes and checking other teams best perimeter player to watching from the line in the fourth while Jones gets torched.

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I agree. Starting to lose faith in the guy. The Spurs were playing really good basketball when everyone was hurt with Paul-Castle-Champ-Barnes-Wemby. I understand guys got healthy and that creates some issues but Sochan and Vassell were fine coming off the bench for the time being. Wait for someone to have a slump or get out of rhythm before you make a move. Instead he's the one who caused everyone to get out of rhythm by messing with what was working.

Yea our bench seems like it's getting destroyed each game. At least moving Devin back can give us some balance. Sochan is too important defensively to move to the bench. Still doesn't solve our rebounding issues though.

Enzo The Baker said:

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Yea our bench seems like it's getting destroyed each game. At least moving Devin back can give us some balance. Sochan is too important defensively to move to the bench. Still doesn't solve our rebounding issues though.

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Not gonna be a popular opinion but Sochan seems to be a pretty average on ball defender to me. He does bring a lot of energy though and helps on the glass. Definitely think Castle is easily the best defender on the team already albeit he's still getting rookie treatment so I get not wanting him on the opposing best player yet.

It's not a popular opinion because it's wrong lol. Sochan is far and away our best perimeter defender.

Well it's not really saying much considering who else is on the team but I still disagree. His Drtg and DPM have been pretty pedestrian throughout his career. I think Castle is already a better perimeter defender and would prove that with more minutes. JMO.

Not hating on Sochan. I like Sochan just saying this team has gotten worse since the vets were inserted back into the SL and Castle has been relegated to an end of the bench role.

I like the eye test on both Sochan and Castle. Julian, too, but he's a step down. I'm also not sure if Julian looks so much better because so many players are awful.

Barnes, Paul, Keldon, Branham, etc are all just atrocious defensive players at this point. Barnes and Paul can make a veteran steal or something from time to time, but that's about it.

Sher Thing said:

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Well it's not really saying much considering who else is on the team but I still disagree. His Drtg and DPM have been pretty pedestrian throughout his career. I think Castle is already a better perimeter defender and would prove that with more minutes. JMO.

Not hating on Sochan. I like Sochan just saying this team has gotten worse since the vets were inserted back into the SL and Castle has been relegated to an end of the bench role.

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They are 3-3 with 3 close losses all in the road. I agree that I'd rather see Castle in the 4th over Champanie and Jones, but they haven't been playing worse. They remain a 500 team.

Yeah i thought he had time to get it to Barnes even after the initial attempt to pass and just panicked.

Re: Castle...since Devin has been back I'm sure Mitch has been working him into the rotation (and now starting lineup) and that's going to cost Castle some minutes...has there been any hint that Castle is hitting the rookie wall? Just wondering and knowing its this game 25-50 stretch where rookies kinda just sputter out for a bit.

superunknown said:

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Yeah i thought he had time to get it to Barnes even after the initial attempt to pass and just panicked.

Re: Castle...since Devin has been back I'm sure Mitch has been working him into the rotation (and now starting lineup) and that's going to cost Castle some minutes...has there been any hint that Castle is hitting the rookie wall? Just wondering and knowing its this game 25-50 stretch where rookies kinda just sputter out for a bit.

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I'm not sure it's the rookie wall as much as it is the group he's playing with. When he was starting with Victor, he had a lot more space to work with. He's definitely better with the first group.

Enzo The Baker said:

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superunknown said:

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Yeah i thought he had time to get it to Barnes even after the initial attempt to pass and just panicked.

Re: Castle...since Devin has been back I'm sure Mitch has been working him into the rotation (and now starting lineup) and that's going to cost Castle some minutes...has there been any hint that Castle is hitting the rookie wall? Just wondering and knowing its this game 25-50 stretch where rookies kinda just sputter out for a bit.

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I'm not sure it's the rookie wall as much as it is the group he's playing with. When he was starting with Victor, he had a lot more space to work with. He's definitely better with the first group.

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I think that's right. You can't put Castle Keldon Collins and Trey Jones on the floor together.

Wemby says "here you pretend to take then give it back"

Got him! ↗️ pic.twitter.com/RWEXSJJ1Mh

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 1, 2025

It's 17 points in 7 minutes good? Asking for a friend

Vassell has turned from a disappointing defender into a plain bad defender. You can tell, he doesn't have the smarts. I don't see him on this team long term.

I've had to miss a lot of games in the last couple weeks, didnt realize he was basically playing only 2nd unit these days. Yuck. Would much rather have him run with the 1s and get the reps.

Nah. Dev has been playing the the 1st unit.

Castle on the starting five in the second and all of a sudden we look unstoppable. Sure Mitch will learn nothing from this.