Gregg Popovich and the Spurs plan to continue rebuilding this season.
San Antonio Spurs
2021-22 Records: 34-48
Major additions: Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley (2022 draft)
Main subtraction: Dejounte Murray (trade), Lonnie Walker IV (free agency)
Last season: Gregg Popovich is winning coach In NBA history, it was the highlight of most of the Spurs. For the third straight season, they failed to qualify for the playoffs. It’s a major turning point for the franchise, which holds the league record for 22 consecutive games played. This is life when Tim Duncan and David Robinson aren’t walking through that door. The Spurs failed again to his 40th win, earning alimony by playing-in qualifying him for the tournament. Then we went into the offseason with many problems and many potential solutions.
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Summer summary: When was the last time the Spurs bailed out before the start of next season? Welcome to San Antonio’s new reality. There, the R-word—restructuring—is suddenly spoken in a not-so-quiet tone.If this is not revealed during his 2021-22 season, the Spurs surrendered murraytheir All-Stars and defensive demons, and the only link to respect on the roster.
He was essentially sacrificed for the future. Received rights (and swap for 2026).
Spurs GM Brian Wright discusses the offseason trade of Dejounte Murray to the Hawks and what’s next for San Antonio.
Murray was coming off a career-best season averaging 21.1 points, 9.2 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. all-star honors for the first time in his career. He achieved his 13th triple-double, a Spurs record, and the deal was celebrated in Atlanta. In San Antonio, he resigned and shrugged.
This is where the Spurs are now. The Spurs have dropped all pretenses rather than giving the false impression that a few tweaks to their appearance will make them a dangerous team next season. Why fail to reach 40 wins and end up with a half-baked team in the draft? Why not press reset for a chance to win a high pick or French teen sensation Victor Wembanyama? Not that it never worked for Antonio (Robinson and Duncan were both previous No. 1 overall picks).
Murray was under contract for just one more season and failed to achieve unlimited free agency. While his value is high, they decide to press the button now.
Of course, the flip side of this argument is: If he could draft another Murray, wouldn’t he be one of the future picks to be great?
Just like that, the Spurs told former first-round pick Walker, walk the sameApparently, they felt Walker hit the limits of the franchise’s acclaimed player development system.
What the Spurs haven’t lost is their coach. The rebuilding is on track as Popovich will be back for yet another season as he prepares to turn 74 in late January. Popovich loves to coach, enjoys a bottle of wine on his expense account, and is desperate to defy the generous generational gap between him and his young roster.
No one in NBA history has won more than Gregg Popovich, who created an unforgettable legacy during his time in San Antonio.
When the Spurs acquired three first-round picks this summer, their roster got younger. His three, Saw Chan, Branham and Wesley, cannot legally raise a glass with the coach.
Sochan is an energetic 6-foot-8 pogo stick from Baylor who could be a good two-way player in either forward spot. He’s still learning the game live, so that’s really all he has now. He wasn’t even the school’s top player when last season began at Baylor, but as the season progressed, he dropped tips and saw his stock skyrocket during the NBA’s spring workouts and combine. I saw the
Branham played high school ball at LeBron James’ former residence in Akron, then had an encouraging season at Ohio State. He was put in the lottery by several draft pundits, but he dropped to 20.
Same goes for Wesley, who starred in Notre Dame. He needs to sharpen his range from the deep, as he was a 30.3% his 3-point shooter in college.
Another job for the Spurs is Keldon Johnson. 4-year $80 million extensionJohnson made a very promising step in his development last season and, if all goes well, will be the face of the team in 2022-23.
He doesn’t have much competition for the honor.The Spurs are getting a lot of new players, but it will take time. This blueprint suddenly wasn’t so foreign in San Antonio.
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Sean Powell has covered the NBA for over 25 years.you can email him find here here is his archive and follow him twitter.
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