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Western Notes: Gilgeous-Alexander, Jones, Cancar, Nuggets’ Bench

March 12th, 2023 at 5:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pumped in 35 points against New Orleans on Saturday but the Thunder are still playing it cautious with his recent injury. He sat out the second game of a back-to-back against San Antonio on Sunday due to what the team described as abdominal strain injury management, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman tweets. The Thunder star guard has exceeded the 30-point mark in his last four outings.

We have more from the Western Conference:

Tre Jones missed the Spurs‘ game against Oklahoma City on Sunday with a non-COVID illness, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News tweets. Jones averaged 13 points and six assists in his last two appearances.
Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar was available to play against Brooklyn on Sunday, coach Michael Malone told Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Cancar missed three games with a wrist sprain and also didn’t play against San Antonio on Friday.
The Nuggets’ second unit has been unsettled after changes were made during and after the trade deadline, Singer writes. Reggie Jackson has struggled with his shooting (29%) since becoming the backup point guard and Thomas Bryant has been relatively quiet since he was brought in to back up Nikola Jokic. “We’re still trying to figure stuff out,” swingman Bruce Brown said.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Southwest Division

March 8th, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Rory Maher

For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents during the 2023 offseason. We consider whether their stock is rising or falling due to their performance and other factors. Today, we’re focusing on a handful of Southwest players.

Christian Wood, F/C, Mavericks

2022/23: $14.32MM
2023/24: UFA
Stock: Neutral

2022/23 has been a roller coaster season for Wood, whom the Mavs acquired in the offseason for their 2022 first-round pick and expiring contracts. He started the season coming off the bench and was providing quality offensive production, averaging 17.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG on .550/.402/.688 shooting through 26 games (26.3 MPG).

A handful of days after Maxi Kleber tore his hamstring, Wood was inserted into the starting lineup, averaging 20.3 PPG, 9.4 RPG and 2.4 BPG on .516/.367/.814 shooting in 16 games (33.4 MPG). The team went 9-7 during that span, but unfortunately Wood sustained a fractured left thumb that sidelined him for eight games.

In 12 games since he returned from injury, Wood has seen his role cut back significantly, averaging 13.1 PPG and 5.2 RPG on .457/.298/.860 shooting in 18.9 minutes per contest. Defensive concerns could be the main culprit, though I haven’t seen that publicly stated as of late.

The 27-year-old heard his name pop up in both extension and trade rumors leading up to the February 9 deadline, but neither came to fruition. He remains eligible for a four-year, $77MM extension until June 30, though that appears increasingly unlikely unless he plays a major role in a deep postseason run.

Kenyon Martin Jr., F, Rockets

2022/23: $1.78MM
2023/24: $1.93MM team option
Stock: Up

The No. 52 overall pick of the 2020 draft, Martin is averaging career highs with 12.0 PPG and 5.6 RPG while shooting a career-best 56.2% from the field through 65 games (26.9 MPG). The high flier is another player who saw his name mentioned in trade rumors early in the season, but obviously Houston decided to keep him.

Considering his team option for next season is only $1.93MM, it seems unlikely that the 22-year-old would enter free agency. So why is he on this list?

As our Luke Adams detailed last month, if the Rockets exercise their option for ‘23/24, Martin would become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. However, if they decline it, he would be a restricted free agent this summer, giving Houston more control. That’s what happened last summer with Martin’s teammate, Jae’Sean Tate.

Martin has appeared in every game this season for the Rockets, including 24 consecutive starts (32 total). If he starts nine of Houston’s 17 remaining games, he would reach the starter criteria and increase his qualifying offer to $5,216,324.

Dillon Brooks, G/F, Grizzlies

2022/23: $11.4MM
2023/24: UFA
Stock: Down

Brooks has always faced criticism for his poor shot selection. However, he has never been this inefficient — his 48.3% true shooting percentage is the second-worst mark in the NBA among 197 qualifying players, only ahead of Detroit’s Killian Hayes (44.7%).

There isn’t one particularly area to point to, because he’s struggling from everywhere: 51.6% at the rim (ninth percentile), 38.3% from mid-range (26th percentile), and 31.9% from three-point range (24th percentile), per DunksAndThrees.com.

On the other hand, Brooks is an outstanding defensive player who is tasked with guarding the league’s best perimeter scorers. The Grizzlies have been better with him on the court in each of the past three seasons.

For better or worse, a big part of the team’s identity is tied to Brooks’ brash attitude and confidence. At 27 years old, he’s theoretically in the middle of his prime. He will get a raise on his current deal, but he hasn’t helped himself on the offensive end of the court.

Tre Jones, G, Spurs

2022/23: $1.78MM
2023/24: RFA ($5.22MM qualifying offer)
Stock: Up

The No. 41 overall pick of the 2020 draft, Jones rarely saw the court in his first season, appearing in 37 games with an average of 7.3 MPG. He saw more action last season, but he was still limited to a reserve role, appearing in 69 games with averages of 6.0 PPG and 3.4 APG in 16.6 MPG.

After trading away Dejounte Murray in the offseason, San Antonio had a glaring hole at point guard. Jones has filled that void, averaging career highs in points (12.5), rebounds (3.6), assists (6.2), steals (1.3) and minutes (29.1) per game.

While he has struggled with scoring efficiency (51.2% TS, ninth-worst in the league among qualifying players), Jones does a very good job of taking care of the ball (3.67-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio), he’s only 23 years old, and he’s on a minimum contract. He has certainly outplayed that deal.

Jones has already met the starter criteria, which increased the value of his qualifying offer to $5,216,324. There’s an excellent chance the Spurs extend that offer to him and make him a restricted free agent.

Jaxson Hayes, F/C, Pelicans

2022/23: $6.8MM
2023/24: RFA ($7.74MM qualifying offer)
Stock: Down

A former lottery pick (No. 8 overall in 2019), Hayes has yet to live up to his draft status. He has only appeared in 38 games this season with a career-low 13.6 minutes per night, a strong sign that the Pelicans don’t view him as a long-term fit on the roster.

Hayes won’t turn 23 until May, so he has time to possibly turn his career around. He is 6’11” and is a strong run-and-jump athlete. His shot isn’t broken by any means – he’s at 72.0% from the line for his career, a solid mark for a big man.

He just looks lost on the court way too often, frequently making careless, head-scratching mistakes at inopportune times, things that drive coaches crazy. The odds of New Orleans extending Hayes a $7,744,600 qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent are very low, so he will likely hit unrestricted free agency this summer.

Southwest Notes: Porter, Morant, Kyrie, Jones, Vassell

March 3rd, 2023 at 7:49am CST by Luke Adams

After returning on Wednesday from a 20-game absence due to a toe injury, Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. admitted that he still wasn’t 100%, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. However, Porter considers it important to play during the final stretch of the season to try to carry some positive momentum into the offseason.

“There’s definitely going to be some tolerable pain going on,” Porter said. “I want to play. This is the best I can get it. Can’t get it 100 percent, so I will play.

“Just the passion and love I’ve got for the game. I’ve been away, been trying to do everything I can to get back on the court. Twenty games later, I’m at this point. This is the best I can get as far as my toe. The pain’s not too bad. I can play through it.”

As Feigen observes, injuries have prevented the Rockets from getting an extended look at their young core together this season, so the hope is that they can stay relatively healthy down the stretch. The starting lineup that Houston employed on Wednesday – Porter alongside Jalen Green, Jabari Smith, Alperen Sengun, and Kenyon Martin Jr. – is probably the one the team would like to lean on down the stretch, but it has been used just four times so far this season.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, whose alleged involvement in a pair of off-court incidents had been previously reported, has been accused of threatening a security guard at a Memphis mall, according to reporting from Molly Hensley-Clancy of The Washington Post. The Post’s report also stated that the 17-year-old who was punched by Morant last summer during a pickup game claimed that the Grizzlies star went into his house and reemerged with a gun visible in his waistband. Morant’s lawyer and agent put out statements on Twitter vehemently disputing that claim, but didn’t address the incident involving the security guard.
On Thursday, two days after expressing a need to scale back the pressure he’s putting on himself with his new team, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving scored 40 points to complement Luka Doncic‘s 42 in a victory over Philadelphia. The Mavs are still just 2-4 in games the two stars have played together, but are confident that the wins will come, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “They’ve got to work through the kinks,” head coach Jason Kidd said of his backcourt duo. “But I think at the end of the day, we’ll be happy with what we have.”
The Spurs got two of their top rotation players back on Thursday, as Tre Jones (left foot soreness) returned from a five-game absence, while Devin Vassell (left knee surgery) played for the first time since January 2. Both players were on minute limits, but had positive plus-minus ratings in a victory over Indiana, with Vassell scoring 18 points in 23 minutes. “It’s refreshing, man,” Spurs center Zach Collins said, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “These guys mean so much to our team. We’ve had a lot of guys hurt, one through 15. But Tre and Devin were starters for us. To get them back, is going to make the game a lot easier for us.”

Southwest Notes: Adams, McCollum, Eason, Spurs

February 27th, 2023 at 4:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Grizzlies center Steven Adams has been out since January 22 after spraining the PCL in his right knee, but he appears to be nearing a return. Head coach Taylor Jenkins said Adams has begun 5-on-5 work in practices and the team is hopeful Adams could play by the end of the upcoming road trip, though that isn’t set in stone (Twitter link via Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian).

The road trip Jenkins is referring to starts Wednesday in Houston and ends next Tuesday in Los Angeles, so Adams could be back within around a week. Remarkably, despite missing the past 13 games, Adams still leads the NBA in total offensive rebounds with 214 (Ivica Zubac is second with 196).

The 29-year-old is averaging a career-high 11.5 rebounds (5.1 offensive) in 27.0 minutes per game through 42 games in 2022/23. The Grizzlies have gone 5-8 without Adams over the past month-plus.

Here’s more from the Southwest:

Pelicans guard CJ McCollum has been bothered by a right thumb injury, which he described as a ligament issue, and plans to undergo an MRI “soon,” per Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter links). “It’s not ideal,” he said. “I’m playing. I have to be better, and I will be better. I understand what’s at stake for us. What’s at stake for our seeding. And how these next few games are going to define our season.” As McCollum noted, the 30-31 Pelicans’ spot in the postseason is quite tenuous — they’re currently the No. 10 seed, but three teams are right on their heels for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
Tari Eason‘s offensive numbers are solid, if unspectacular for a rookie — he’s averaging 8.7 points on .442/.347/.750 shooting splits in 19.6 minutes per game. However, the 21-year-old forward has made his presence felt on the other end of the court for the Rockets, as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. “I see a lot of people talking about some of the best defenders in the league,” Eason said as part of a larger quote. “I want to be one of those dudes they talk about. I feel like I’m the best rookie defender in this class.” Eason ranks sixth among rookies with 5.6 rebounds per night, per Feigen, and second in steals and deflections. His 2.8% steal percentage ranks fifth in the entire NBA, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
The Spurs have had to use a couple of 19-year-old rookies — Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley — at point guard lately due to a mysterious foot injury to starter Tre Jones. According to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News, the Spurs aren’t quite sure what’s going on with Jones’ foot. “It’s a strange injury,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s one of the toughest young men on the planet. There’s nothing on the (MRI) film or anything like that. He just can’t go.”

Southwest Notes: Jones, Langford, Vassell, Bassey, Grizzlies, Green

February 17th, 2023 at 12:15pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s optimism that the Spurs will get some key players back shortly after the All-Star break, head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday (Twitter link via Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News). According to Popovich, Tre Jones, Romeo Langford, and even Devin Vassell are all getting close to returning.

Jones has missed six of the Spurs’ last seven games due to left foot soreness, while Langford has been out since January 23 with a left adductor injury. As for Vassell, he underwent a procedure on his left knee in early January and has been on the mend since then. All three players were part of San Antonio’s starting five before being sidelined.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Charles Bassey‘s new four-year contract with the Spurs has matching $2.6MM cap hits in its first two seasons, both of which are fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. Bassey’s third- and fourth-year salaries are each $2.5MM and are non-guaranteed. His third-year salary would become guaranteed if he remains under contract through August 1, 2024 and his fourth-year salary would be guaranteed if he stays under contract through August 1, 2025.
When Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. were named All-Stars for 2023, it the first time in franchise history that two Grizzlies players had made the All-Star team in the same season. As Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, the achievement serves as validation for the franchise that the right core pieces are in place, even if the club is still working on the complementary parts.
Kelly Iko of The Athletic examines Jalen Green‘s development and explores how important the growth of the former No. 2 overall pick is in the Rockets‘ long-term plans. As Iko details, Houston wants to take a significant step forward next season — adding another lottery talent in the draft and having up to $60MM+ in cap room will help, but the team also needs its own young players to take a leap.

Southwest Notes: McCollum, Wood, Jones, Washington

January 15th, 2023 at 4:07pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pelicans star point guard CJ McCollum may be one of the finest current players never to earn an All-Star berth. The 31-year-old could have a shot at the honor this season, but to hear him tell it, he’s not particularly worried about that recognition, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com.

“I get paid like an All-Star,” McCollum noted. “If it happens, that’s great. If not, I am treated very well on the 1st and the 15th. I just do my job. You could argue I should have made it in previous years. But it’s more about team success… I’m here to win games. I’m going to be more efficient. I’m going to be more consistent. I am going to make plays. I am going to make shots and am going to help us win.”

During the summer, McCollum inked a two-year, $64MM contract extension that will keep him under team control through the 2025/26 season. Through 38 games with New Orleans, McCollum is averaging 21.2 PPG on .435/.403/.785 shooting. He is also contributing 5.9 APG, 4.7 RPG and 1.0 SPG for the 26-17 Pelicans.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

As Mavericks center Christian Wood continues to grow comfortable with his role with Dallas, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News wonders how Wood’s recent development impacts the likelihood of a contract extension being negotiated this season. Wood could enter free agency in the summer of 2023 if he does not reach an extension agreement with Dallas before then. He is eligible to sign a four-year deal worth up to $77MM until June 30. Townsend notes that Wood has been conscious of his coaches’ feedback and has improved on the defensive end of the floor for Dallas. The big man is averaging 18.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, and 1.3 BPG through 40 games this season. He is also shooting well all over the court, boasting splits of .543/.394/.731.
During his first season as a starter, third-year Spurs guard Tre Jones has added a scoring element to his game, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Primarily known as a passer, Jones has averaged 20.8 PPG on 50% shooting from the floor and 40% shooting from the three-point line across his last five contests. “I’m continuing to just trust the work I put in, trying to just play my game and not get too hung up on if I am making shots, missing shots,” Jones said. “I know what my role is on this team, and I continue to try to do that every single night and just let the rest take care of itself.”
Following a 53-point, 10-rebound Friday night game for the NBAGL’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers, rookie guard TyTy Washington was recalled to rejoin the Rockets ahead of their next game Sunday, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. In his last three contests with the Vipers, Washington averaged 33.3 PPG while shooting 46.5% from the floor and dishing out 7.3 APG. “It helped me grow on and off the court,” Washington said of his development with the Rockets’ G League affiliate. “It taught me to stay ready, stay patient. When your number gets called, go out there and do what you do. In the meantime, don’t look at it like I’ve been demoted or anything like that. Go down there, have fun, play your game, and get your confidence.”

Spurs’ Tre Jones Meets Starter Criteria, Increases QO

January 12th, 2023 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

Spurs guard Tre Jones started his 41st game of the season on Wednesday night in Memphis, meeting the “starter criteria” and increasing the value of his qualifying offer when he reaches free agency, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Jones is the second restricted-free-agent-to-be to meet the starter criteria this season, joining Hornets forward P.J. Washington. As we explained on Wednesday after Washington made his 41st start, one of the ways for a player to meet the criteria is to start at least half of his team’s games during the season before he reaches free agency.

As the 41st overall pick in the 2020 draft, Jones would have been eligible this coming offseason for a qualifying offer worth $2,228,276 (125% of his current $1,782,621 salary). However, as a result of meeting the starter criteria, the former Duke standout is now eligible for a QO equivalent to what the 21st overall pick from the 2019 draft would receive if he had signed for 100% of his rookie scale amount. That figure works out to $5,216,324.

Jones is in the midst of a breakout season as San Antonio’s starting point guard, averaging 13.5 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per night in 29.9 minutes of action. Like Washington, he’s a good candidate for a multiyear contract that will far exceed his qualifying offer amount, so even after increasing by about $3MM, that QO could ultimately function as a placeholder.

Still, Jones’ qualifying offer bump could have a bit more of an impact than Washington’s, since his QO will also be his cap hold. As a result, the increase from $2.2MM to $5.2MM will reduce the Spurs’ projected cap space by approximately $3MM.

Of course, there’s still a scenario in which Jones doesn’t even make it to restricted free agency. Because he wasn’t a first-round pick, Jones will remain extension-eligible for the rest of the season, so the Spurs could take him off the 2023 market by locking him up to a new deal before then. The 23-year-old’s maximum in-season extension would be worth about $58MM over four years.

Southwest Notes: H. Jones, Kemba, Mavs, Spurs

November 30th, 2022 at 5:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Herb Jones is a bargain on his current contract, which pays him $1.79MM this season. But he’ll be looking at an eight-figure annual salary worth “at the very least” the mid-level exception and “almost certainly above it” on his next deal if he continues on his current path, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst predicted in his most recent Hoop Collective podcast.

Windhorst’s comments stemmed from a discussion of a feature by Marc J. Spears of Andscape on the second-year Pelicans forward. As Spears details in his story, Jones prefers to live modestly and think “long-term” for his family — he still drives his car from college and wears Pelicans gear rather than spending extravagantly on a new wardrobe.

“If he wants to drive a Dodge Charger and keep wearing the team-issued gear, that’s fine, but he will have tens of millions in the bank doing so,” Windhorst said with a laugh.

Jones, who told Spears that he aspires to be named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team, is under contract for one more season after this one, with a minimum-salary team option for 2023/24. He’ll become extension-eligible during the 2023 offseason and would be a restricted free agent in 2024 if he hasn’t signed a new deal by then.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

New Mavericks point guard Kemba Walker said during Tuesday’s TNT broadcast that he aims to bring ball-handling skills and leadership to the franchise, describing himself as a “good locker room guy” (Twitter link via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News). On Wednesday, Walker told reporters, including Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News, that he hopes to play for the Mavs “sooner rather than later,” adding that he feels “really good” physically. “I feel as good as I’ve felt in a very long time,” Walker said. “I really took my time and made sure I felt better before I really started ramping myself up as well. Yeah, I know I can just say that, but I guess we’ll just have to see for real.”
Head coach Jason Kidd said that using the team’s 15th roster spot on players with non-guaranteed salaries will give the Mavericks the flexibility to keep auditioning free agents until they find one they want to commit to. “Some could say we didn’t give (Facundo) Campazzo a fair shot,” Kidd said, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “He didn’t play a lot of minutes. But this is the way we want to use this 15th spot – look at different situations or different guys. Hopefully, Kemba is the guy if Luka (Doncic) or Spencer (Dinwiddie) are out that he can play that role as a backup.”
Point guard Tre Jones and several of his young Spurs teammates aren’t accustomed to losing as much as they have so far this season and don’t want to get used to it, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “A lot of us come from the background of winning — that’s why we are here,” Jones said. “We talk about it in the locker room. We talk about it every single day, trying to figure out how we can turn this thing around and start stacking some wins again.”

Spurs Rumors: Poeltl, Richardson, McDermott, Jones, Wright

November 9th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs haven’t been discussing trades with teams around the NBA since around the time Joshua Primo was waived and word of his alleged misconduct first broke, according to LJ Ellis of SpursTalk.com.

Ellis speculates that management may have its handful dealing with the fallout of the Primo situation, and wonders if an unexpectedly strong start in San Antonio may have the team feeling more inclined to stand pat and see how the current group performs.

Before they shut down trade talks, the Spurs had been seeking two lightly protected first-round picks in exchange for center Jakob Poeltl, a first-round pick for swingman Josh Richardson, and “positive value” for sharpshooting forward Doug McDermott, Ellis reports.

A source tells Ellis that the Lakers and Spurs discussed a possible swap involving Richardson, McDermott, and Russell Westbrook, but Los Angeles had only been willing to attach a pair of second-round picks to Westbrook, so those talks didn’t gain any momentum. Westbrook would have been waived or bought out if the Spurs acquired him, Ellis adds.

Here’s more on the Spurs from Ellis:

A Western Conference scout who spoke to Ellis believes the Spurs will remain quiet on the trade market this season and wait until next summer to consider any more major moves. “With that (Primo) mess, the Spurs are going to try to stay competitive,” the scout said. “There’s no way they risk looking even more dysfunctional than they already look over there.”
According to Ellis, the Spurs have zero interest in trading Tre Jones, who has taken over as the team’s starting point guard after Dejounte Murray was dealt to Atlanta. Spurs insiders say Jones is a “natural leader and an effective communicator,” Ellis writes.
Spurs general manager Brian Wright has come under fire after a lawsuit filed by one of Primo’s accusers painted him as slow to respond to her allegations when they were reported to him. However, a source close to the Spurs tells Ellis that Wright isn’t in danger of being fired and insisted that the Primo situation was “handled with great care and concern.”

Spurs Notes: Bassey, Jones, Langford

October 24th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Charles Bassey‘s representatives spoke to 22 teams after the big man was waived by Philadelphia on October 13, including the Pistons, Cavaliers, Suns, and Raptors, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, according to Pompey, most of the teams that reached out to Pompey wanted to sign him to an Exhibit 10 contract and have him play on their G League affiliate this season.

Some of those G League offers might’ve resulted in a promotion to the NBA later this season or in 2023/24, but Bassey didn’t want to settle — he ultimately signed a two-way contract with the Spurs earlier today.

“I didn’t want to wait for the next year for a roster spot,” Bassey said, per Pompey. “That’s too long. The Spurs came hard … Some of the teams wanted to give me a roster spot, but they couldn’t give me one right now. I just didn’t want to go through that (Exhibit 10/G League) route. San Antonio said, ‘We can give you a two-way this year and we’ll see where it goes from there.'”

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Bassey, who lived in San Antonio when he first moved to America from Nigeria in 2015 and still has some family in the city. He also believes the franchise is an ideal fit for him.

“It’s a young organization,” Bassey said. “They are rebuilding. I feel like I’m going to have a great chance to play in a pretty good organization. And it’s a character organization. Everybody does stuff the same. … I feel like I’m going to fit right in.”

Here’s more on the Spurs:

In an in-depth story for The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Orsborn takes a look at how Tre Jones is embracing what he calls a “big opportunity” to start at point guard for the Spurs this season. Jones is averaging 16.3 PPG on 53.1% shooting in his first three games this season, a significant step up from last season’s 6.0 PPG on 49.0% shooting. “When we find guys we think have that potential (to be leaders), we try to help it grow,” head coach Gregg Popovich. “Tre has just got it. Some people don’t, some people do. I remember Coach K (former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) telling me about what I would like about Tre, and that was one of the major things. He is just a born leader.”
The battle for the Spurs’ 15th regular season spot entering the season was believed to come down to Romeo Langford vs. Joe Wieskamp, with Langford ultimately making the team. Asked what he wants to see from Langford this season, Popovich said he believes the former Indiana standout has the potential to be a “hell of a defender,” per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
Here’s more from Popovich on Langford: “He’s got quick feet, he’s really long, he anticipates well, and he’s got a real bounce to him. Offensively, I think confidence is what he needs right now. I think he an become a two-way player. He can score at one end and really shake it up at the defensive end. That’s what I’ve seen from him in the short time I’ve been around him and that’s why we kept him.”