The Spurs have created “optionality” as they consider the best path toward rebuilding, general manager Brian Wright told Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Wright explained that the organization has the ability to improve through the draft, trades or free agency.
San Antonio has one of the league’s worst records at 9-20 and figures to be among the teams with the best odds for the No. 1 pick and Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs also have a surplus of draft assets already in place following the Dejounte Murray deal with Atlanta, and they have veterans such as Jakob Poeltl, Doug McDermott and Josh Richardson who should be in demand before the February 9 trade deadline. The team is also more than $30MM under the salary cap and could have up to $60MM in cap space next summer.
“In a season like this one with the draft, everything gets overmagnified about tanking or anything like that,” Wright said. “It’s never been about that, and it won’t ever be about that. You’re younger and this is a league where you have to learn how to win, and it takes time. It takes the standards and habits and repetitions and doing the right thing, and that’s what this coaching staff has done for a long time, and that’s what these players are learning right now. We will get there.”
There’s more on the Spurs:
- Bringing Brett Brown back in June gave the coaching staff someone with plenty of experience in rebuilding, MacMahon adds. Brown served as head coach in Philadelphia during the “Process” years and understands what it takes to construct a team from the ground up. “Everything revolves around development,” he said. “It’s a big word. It’s not just, ‘Now they’ve got a jump hook.’ It’s growing them up with NBA habits and terminology and educational stuff on scouting.”
- Poeltl was able to play Saturday after missing seven straight games with a bone bruise in his right knee. That allowed the Spurs to have their preferred starting five available for the first time since November 26, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News.
- Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the NBA “worked in conjunction with the Spurs” on the investigation of Joshua Primo, who is accused of exposing himself to a team psychologist, per Tom Orsborn of The San-Antonio Express News. Silver said the subsequent lawsuit, which was settled out of court, shows that the league needs to work to protect the safety of its employees.
Brett Brown understands how to lose at historic levels for 5 years. His development expertise, however, converted four top 3 picks, and a half dozen other lottery picks, and countless other drafted young players they intended to develop, into a roster of only 2 star players (one of whom refused to play and forced his way out of town). I’m sure Brown can be a valuable resource for any team trying to lose. Beyond that, not sure what he brings.
Oh so you know much better than Buford, Pop, and Wright?
Basketball talk online never fails to seep wisdom and humility. Merry Christmas everyone, I guess
It isn’t like the overrated Doc Rivers has done any better..
Brown was at least able to get the most out of Embiid and Simmons as one of the leagues dynamic duos..
Plus, it isn’t like Brown drafted the players either..
True, but I thought Brown’s 76’ers were a mess beyond the losing (which honestly wasn’t his fault since it was by design). Kind of like OKC now, but more so.
Spurs can/should take advantage of their cap space. 9 teams currently projected over 200M next year. Now several decisions need to be made that will impact that number but still…
Anthony Day-to-Dayvis
The Process. Trust the Process. Trust the Process?
The dang Process failed. What do they have to show for it aside from Embiid? Of all those high draft picks they tanked for, where are they now? What are they doing? What did they bring back? Harden? Ya, that was worth it. lol They haven’t won anything and don’t appear to me to be too close to winning anything in the foreseeable future either. The Process was a s**t show. It was a failure. It was a waste of time.
Part of the problem was that they didn’t see it through all the way by forcing Hinkie out. He screwed up by drafting Okafor, but by bringing in that hack Bryan Colangelo, they dropped their rebuild too soon. That dude was responsible for the Fultz debacle which kind of sealed their fate.
I think if Hinkie had another year or two, even if they tanked through that whole time, Philly would be better off today. The multi-year bottoming out process works for big market teams in other sports (Astros, Cubs are the best examples) and with another high pick in 2018 (if they tanked one more year, they could have gotten Luka or Trae, say), they look better and still could have traded Simmons. Or even if they had kept Mikal Bridges.
Yeah Colangelo messed up the Process big time. As a Raptors fan I knew they were screwed as soon as he was hired.
Jerry knew his stuff back in the day. Brian got his jobs through pure nepotism.
Spurs don’t have the balls to admit they’re tanking