1 00:00:15,839 --> 00:00:21,320 What is krack Lack and fellow thermonuclear A Eppers. I am Dan Favalley coming 2 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:25,519 at you with a very special guest today, a timely guest and making his 3 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:30,000 second appearance on the podcast Noah Magaro George. He's the editor in chief of 4 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:35,000 aer Alamo and the host of Alamo City Limits. Be sure to follow him 5 00:00:35,079 --> 00:00:41,240 on Twitter at N Underscore Magaro. That's at N Underscore. M A G. 6 00:00:41,679 --> 00:00:46,679 A R Oh. So many questions to ask, you know, and 7 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,079 I will purpose this with this. We had this on the books like a 8 00:00:50,119 --> 00:00:54,039 little bit over a week in advance, and apparently it didn't register with either 9 00:00:54,119 --> 00:00:58,479 of us that we could be talking in the aftermath of the San Antonio Spurs 10 00:00:58,719 --> 00:01:02,000 winning the draft lottery. So in case there any Spurs has to think we're 11 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,000 we're just doing this because of Wemby, I promise you were not. But 12 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:07,840 that's that's a nice little bonus for us to talk about. But first and 13 00:01:07,879 --> 00:01:11,239 foremost, how are you doing? I'm great. I mean I think everybody 14 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,040 knows by now the Spurs won the lottery, so great for the organization, 15 00:01:15,079 --> 00:01:19,000 great for the fans, great for the media who covers this team. And 16 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,319 I'm included kind of in you know, face somewhere between fandom and media. 17 00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:30,959 So incredibly excited it is. That's a great. Oh. So, I 18 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:37,719 mean we have to start with Wemby Just how much does winning the Victor Wemban 19 00:01:37,799 --> 00:01:42,200 Yama Sweepstakes alter the trajectory of this franchise? Like, are you able to 20 00:01:42,719 --> 00:01:45,799 It's been less than twenty four hours, by the way, so I'm really 21 00:01:45,799 --> 00:01:48,760 putting you on the spot here, but he's able to contextualize it in in 22 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:53,000 any way just how big this is in just both the short and long term 23 00:01:53,079 --> 00:01:57,560 views. Short term, the best way that I can describe it is last 24 00:01:57,599 --> 00:02:00,799 season they were near the bottom and attendance. They were like twenty eight twenty 25 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,719 seventh and attendance. And that was even with that you know huge Alamo Dome 26 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,760 game where they broke the single game record for attendance. Right, they were 27 00:02:07,799 --> 00:02:09,360 super low in attendance. A lot of games were empty. They had the 28 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:15,479 most blowouts by thirty five points in NBA history. Nobody was going to games 29 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:21,080 yesterday after they won the lottery. Bars were full, they were going crazy. 30 00:02:21,159 --> 00:02:24,240 People were honking downtown. You had, I believe as of this morning, 31 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,280 some people from the San Antonio Express News reported that they had already had 32 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:34,199 over two thousand a season ticket deposits down within the first twelve hours of the 33 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,919 Spurs winning the lottery, And it's just a different vibe now. Obviously, 34 00:02:38,039 --> 00:02:42,080 you know, we see a lot of prospects from whether it's a Palo Bunko 35 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,280 or Zion Williamson or you know, in any of the big names of the 36 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:49,520 recent years. You know, people people want those guys, they're coveted. 37 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,599 But the word generational once in a lifetime, I think that really fits someone 38 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:59,360 like Wemby because we haven't seen someone like him, and for the Spurs to 39 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,639 get someone like him to add to their young core to build around, you 40 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,479 know, for a long time, add to the lineage of great big men 41 00:03:06,599 --> 00:03:09,199 like Tim Duncan and David Robinson, that's really huge. And I think the 42 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:14,719 last thing that I'll say on that is Forbes reported that whatever team LANs Wemby 43 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,599 was going to add half a billion dollars to their value of their franchise. 44 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,919 Well, the Spurs won. You know, it's it's good for the team, 45 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:23,520 it's good for the city, it's good for the fans, it's good 46 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,360 for the media, it's good for everyone. Involved, So just a brighter 47 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,039 tomorrow promised to San Antonio and the Spurs organization. And I know everybody who's 48 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,439 you know, rooting for the team and covering this team couldn't be happier. 49 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:42,599 Yeah, I'm sure Peter Holt is thrilled right the franchise. I mentioned this 50 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,360 to you off air and I did a segment on this. I wanted him 51 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,840 to go or I was most interest to see him go to the Pacers as 52 00:03:50,879 --> 00:03:53,960 my puppies in the background just get freaking out as hell. I was interested 53 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,039 to seem to go to Indian or San Antonio. And part of the reason 54 00:03:57,039 --> 00:03:59,599 I want to seem go to San Antonio is one we'll get into the story 55 00:03:59,639 --> 00:04:02,599 of the function stuff, but they're a franchise that I think you can entrust 56 00:04:02,639 --> 00:04:06,280 with. Everyone's concerned about his body type, just because he's such a large 57 00:04:06,319 --> 00:04:11,000 human. I think there's that inherent concern with everybody, and they're clearly taking 58 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,759 that espmps earlier this year. They're clearly taking his development very seriously, like 59 00:04:15,839 --> 00:04:18,920 his people. When you look at the amount of sleep he's getting and what 60 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:23,199 he's eating and his type of training. And so I think that the Spurs 61 00:04:23,199 --> 00:04:26,800 are just a great fit for that. And I'm curious as to you know, 62 00:04:27,079 --> 00:04:30,800 how you what your thoughts are, and like the concerns that are already 63 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:31,879 coming in, I don't want we're not getting into injury prone. It's just 64 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:36,279 this is such a unique talent who's built, it's just such a this physical 65 00:04:36,319 --> 00:04:41,199 specimen, who is so young and anomalous. Like what do you sort of 66 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:46,399 make of all of that coming in? Yeah, I mean you look at 67 00:04:46,439 --> 00:04:49,240 when ban Yama seven five, reportedly with an eight foot wing span. He 68 00:04:49,319 --> 00:04:51,800 brings a lot of skills table and we'll get into that in a second, 69 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,680 but I think, you know, the injury concerned thing, and I know 70 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,399 we're not going to spend a lot of time on this, but as you 71 00:04:58,439 --> 00:05:00,040 mentioned, I mean his team has been working really hard with him. The 72 00:05:00,079 --> 00:05:03,879 Spurs training staff is you know, regardless of what happened with the Kawhi thing, 73 00:05:03,879 --> 00:05:06,600 they they've really had a good reputation of, you know, resting their 74 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,319 players, making sure their players are healthy, not forcing them to play when 75 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,680 they're not feeling like they are up to it. And you look at him 76 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:15,600 and you know he has missed games every season, a lot of games every 77 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,399 season. This season hasn't missed a single game. Granted they play like one 78 00:05:19,439 --> 00:05:25,040 to two games a week max over in the French League, but I think 79 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,879 that's a really you know, promising thing. You know, he hasn't missed 80 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,480 a single game. He's leading the league and minutes played, points, rebounds, 81 00:05:30,519 --> 00:05:33,519 blocks, Like, I don't have a lot of concerns there. And 82 00:05:33,519 --> 00:05:36,439 I think you look at you know, he's coming to a coach like Pop 83 00:05:36,439 --> 00:05:41,480 who's won five championships. He's had every player you could possibly think of, 84 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,560 from you know, loud personalities like Stephen Jackson to guys who are you know, 85 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,000 kind of quiet, unassuming like Kawhi Tim Duncan. And you know, 86 00:05:49,079 --> 00:05:51,360 even though this roster, I think a lot of people think, oh, 87 00:05:51,399 --> 00:05:54,480 well, you know, you win twenty games, twenty two games, you 88 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,480 must suck, you must be awful. But I think a lot of what 89 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,800 happened last year was babing injuries guys who are not necessarily playing in the right 90 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,759 roles. And you add a guy who can be that focal point on both 91 00:06:03,879 --> 00:06:09,079 ends, and it changes the trajectory of the franchise pretty quickly. Not not 92 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,079 saying they're a playoff team or they're going to be you know, contending for 93 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,959 a title year one. But it certainly alleviates a lot of the concerns around 94 00:06:15,959 --> 00:06:19,160 the roster by adding that Alpha uh, you know sort of player to the 95 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,439 roster. So I don't have concerns. I know some people do, but 96 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,560 I think this is almost a perfect situation for him, especially you know, 97 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,279 considering the Parker thing as well, the lineage there with French players Boors Diao, 98 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,560 their connections. Like, to me, it just was almost two perfect 99 00:06:33,639 --> 00:06:38,839 teams in France, like he was on Yeah, he played on Tony Parker's 100 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:44,639 team and yeah, exactly exactly. So I don't want to force you to 101 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:46,800 boil this day. Well, although by the way you mentioned they're not going 102 00:06:46,879 --> 00:06:50,439 to win a title immediately, wemby saying like I'm ready to win a championship 103 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,720 asapp which is very endearing. That's a great way to rally this in Sobio 104 00:06:55,759 --> 00:06:59,360 Spurs fans. There's so much about his game. It's just anomaloust that we 105 00:06:59,399 --> 00:07:00,560 could dig into. But there's supposed to be an offseason look ahead. So 106 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,199 I'm just curious though, if you had to pick one thing about his fit 107 00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:08,639 or the way he plays and scallet forward to this team, Like, what 108 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,959 are you most intrigued by heading into his rookie season. I'm most intrigued on 109 00:07:12,959 --> 00:07:15,319 the defensive end. This is a Spurs team that had the worst defense by 110 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,079 defensive rating in NBA history. They were atrocious on that end. They had 111 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,920 a lot of holes. They didn't really have a true rim protector once they 112 00:07:21,959 --> 00:07:26,959 got rid of Yaka Purdle. They had guys who maybe aren't the best team 113 00:07:26,959 --> 00:07:30,399 defenders, and guys like Kelvin Johnson. They had a lot of guys who 114 00:07:30,399 --> 00:07:33,279 missed time who were good defenders like Jeremy Sohan and Romeo Lankford. And for 115 00:07:33,319 --> 00:07:35,800 as good as Trey Jones is at the point of attack, right, he 116 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,560 just can't be that impactful, you know, six one, one hundred and 117 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,800 eighty pounds, Like, he's not gonna make the biggest impact. And I 118 00:07:43,839 --> 00:07:46,720 think for the Spurs, adding someone like Wimby who's not just a generational rim 119 00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:49,560 protector, but a guy who is, you know, prolific shot blocker, 120 00:07:49,639 --> 00:07:53,839 can switch on to the perimeter, you know, can can stick to guards, 121 00:07:53,959 --> 00:07:56,519 can use his length in the passing lanes, and it is a deterrent. 122 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,720 I think that's first and foremost the most important thing is he is an 123 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,199 at salute rim deterrent, so guys don't want to challenge him at the rim, 124 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,519 and when they do, he's not afraid to, you know, meet 125 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,319 them at the rim. He's not afraid to get posterized or anything like that. 126 00:08:09,439 --> 00:08:13,600 So I think it automatically just changes the dynamic of the defense. Mistakes 127 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,199 are gonna happen, but he's going to be a guy who can erase those 128 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,839 mistakes, and I think that's really huge and it really alleviates a lot of 129 00:08:20,839 --> 00:08:24,759 the pressure on guys like Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sohan to take on, you 130 00:08:24,759 --> 00:08:28,160 know, the best matchups and have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders. 131 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,720 They can not necessarily take it easy, but they don't have to worry as 132 00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:37,000 much knowing they have that safety net of wimben Yama. They can and the 133 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,480 roster might change, but like the core of it, the youngsters won't. 134 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:43,399 They can run out just some really interesting liners now like ending Meldon Johnson and 135 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:48,159 Jeremy Sown and Devin Vassell, like just those four and then it's like pick 136 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,320 do you need like a big in there? Do you want a guard? 137 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,440 And they could just run so many different things. So I'm very ecstatic to 138 00:08:54,519 --> 00:09:00,120 see, like what type of arrangements Pop comes up with with his advance is 139 00:09:00,159 --> 00:09:05,320 largely the same. Yeah, that is there are possibilities upon possibilities upon possibilities. 140 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,399 So yeah, that's definitely an interesting thing that we could get into something 141 00:09:09,919 --> 00:09:13,200 that I didn't register with me until right now. Does this like we know 142 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:18,120 Pop is back next season, but like, does this extend his career even 143 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,919 longer now by having Wemby or is it just like he was always just going 144 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:24,960 to be maybe viewed as like the chaperone for the next couple of years. 145 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,960 As to this inbound you know, they were going to get a high pick 146 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,399 regardless no matter what, because they're like there has to be at least some 147 00:09:31,519 --> 00:09:33,200 questions of a like Pop might want to stick around longer than a year or 148 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,799 two or three at this point. If Wemban Yama is who we all think 149 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,759 who he's going to be, Yeah, I mean I think that's the age 150 00:09:39,799 --> 00:09:43,240 old question for like the last like half decade is you know when's Pop going 151 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,200 to retire and who's going to replace him? And I think a lot of 152 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,600 people thought he was going to be gone after LaMarcus and damarrow because his promise 153 00:09:50,639 --> 00:09:52,440 to them was, you know, I'm going to stick it out as long 154 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:56,159 as you're here. Then they were gone and he was still here. You 155 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,720 know, he hung around and then it was like, oh, well, 156 00:09:58,759 --> 00:10:01,600 could this be the swan song for pop? You know. He he, 157 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:03,879 you know, tries to guide these young guys and it's a real big losing 158 00:10:03,879 --> 00:10:07,200 season, but he sets them up for the future with the high lottery pick 159 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,519 and he's out the door. I don't think that's the case either. I 160 00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:11,600 think he's gonna be here for a few more years now. Obviously I don't 161 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,720 have any intel like on that. They're very you know, close to the 162 00:10:15,759 --> 00:10:18,519 vest, very secretive in the sports organization, but it feels like he'll be 163 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,159 here for a while, just the way that he spoke about coaching young guys, 164 00:10:22,159 --> 00:10:26,600 and there's just a different dynamic between you know, being in charge of 165 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:30,200 a team that has Tim Duncan and Manu and Tony and Bruce Bowens and Robert 166 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,279 ORI's and like a lot of veterans and older guys who who they know the 167 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,279 routine, they know the details, they don't really need to be reminded of 168 00:10:35,279 --> 00:10:41,000 things, whereas he's getting to coach these young guys and in still fundamentals and 169 00:10:41,039 --> 00:10:45,519 help them grow their game and turn them into you know, these rough edged 170 00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:48,000 prospects into you know, real basketball players gonna be impactful. And he seemed 171 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,480 to really love that and enjoy that, and he spoke about that several times 172 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:54,320 throughout the year. So it wouldn't surprise me if he sticks around, especially 173 00:10:54,399 --> 00:10:58,480 now that you've got when Bin Yama to add to the vassels and the Johnson's 174 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:03,840 and the hands. So it'll be exciting to see what happens. I will 175 00:11:03,879 --> 00:11:05,759 say if he was looking for like an opportunity time to leave this poor guy, 176 00:11:05,919 --> 00:11:09,240 it's like now you just like you can't, like you can't. You 177 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:11,840 have all these excuses to stay rather than looking for looking for the exit. 178 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,120 Do you expect and I don't mean in terms of minutes, but like, 179 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,840 do you expect them to turn Wemby loose? And I would say mostly on 180 00:11:20,919 --> 00:11:24,480 offense, that he's going to be given the runway to explore from day one 181 00:11:24,519 --> 00:11:28,799 in San Antonio. If I had to guess, I would say yes, 182 00:11:30,159 --> 00:11:33,320 I look at like this season in particular, where they you know, they 183 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,679 didn't have anything to lose except for a ton of games, which was obviously 184 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,559 to their benefit. They just had guys out there, you know, experimenting 185 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:43,320 with their games, right, Like Kelton Johnson at the beginning of the year, 186 00:11:43,399 --> 00:11:46,000 he was able to run a ton of pick and rolls, and he 187 00:11:46,039 --> 00:11:48,799 was able to kind of experiment in the mid range with his in between game, 188 00:11:48,879 --> 00:11:52,120 pulling up off the dribble, throwing in floaters, trying to snake pick 189 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,240 and rolls. And they did the same thing for Devin Vassell, like a 190 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,200 guy who probably wouldn't have had a ton of touches or on ball reps with 191 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:00,320 another team. Maybe they let these guys go, you know, they said, 192 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:01,240 you know, there's no leash here. You do what you want for 193 00:12:01,279 --> 00:12:05,320 the most part. Obviously, you know, Pop holds guys accountable, and 194 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,080 there's certain things you can't get away with, and he's gonna pull you aside 195 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,440 and you know, yell at you if you do something too crazy. But 196 00:12:09,879 --> 00:12:13,919 I would fully expect him to let you know, when bin Yama come in 197 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,440 here and just kind of test the limits of what he's able to do. 198 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,559 At the same time, I don't necessarily think he'll be a guy who's taking 199 00:12:20,799 --> 00:12:24,279 you know, twenty shots per game and averaging twenty four. Like, I 200 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:28,559 don't think that's the case. I think he's probably looked at as you know, 201 00:12:28,799 --> 00:12:31,399 the focal point of the offense, but not to the extent where it's 202 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,320 like he's clearly, you know, head and shoulders above everybody else in the 203 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,879 pecking order. I think it'll probably be a sort of one A one B 204 00:12:37,039 --> 00:12:41,159 thing with him and Kelton Johnson, depending if he's still in the starting lineup, 205 00:12:41,519 --> 00:12:43,440 and Devin Vassell as well, who was really fantastic last year, like 206 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:48,080 he was a legit, you know, most Improved Player of the Year candidate 207 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,519 for most of the year until you know, the the knee soreness and the 208 00:12:50,639 --> 00:12:54,759 arthroscopic knee procedure that cleaned up some things. So it'll be interesting to kind 209 00:12:54,759 --> 00:12:58,039 of see how that shakes out. But I think they'll give him the freedom 210 00:12:58,039 --> 00:13:01,200 to kind of you know, stretch the floor, you know, dribble, 211 00:13:01,279 --> 00:13:03,879 take the ball up, sometimes go to work in the post. Like, 212 00:13:05,519 --> 00:13:07,679 I think he'll have the freedom to do quite a bit of things. I 213 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,000 think the way they used and part of this I'm sure was because of injuries 214 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:16,440 and the roster construction, but like the freedom that Sowen had this season is 215 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:18,879 super encouraging if you want to trust that the Spurs are going to give Wemby 216 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,559 full rain. But I think it's also a sort of reality check where youeah, 217 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,559 like there are a ton of Knights where Sowen logged like thirty plus minutes, 218 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:28,919 but they're also knights where like he logged a lot less than that, 219 00:13:30,039 --> 00:13:33,320 And so I think it's sort of like keeping your expectations rained in a little 220 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,720 bit. But I'm fully confident that, like based off really these past two 221 00:13:35,799 --> 00:13:39,080 years. But when looking at so and specifically under the circumstances, like you 222 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:43,480 have to believe that if you're gonna get a generational prospect like women Yama in 223 00:13:43,519 --> 00:13:46,360 there, you're going to give him some just serious wiggle room to to like 224 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,600 explore and fail, because that's part of all this is like there's gonna be 225 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,159 expectations immediately because of all this type surrounding him, but you need to give 226 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,000 him the freedom to fail. And that's why they were among my favorite landing 227 00:13:58,039 --> 00:14:01,639 spots for him, is that I thought they had the timeline and the stomach 228 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,279 to allow that to happen. Yeah, no, I'm right there with you. 229 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:09,080 I think that is something that we're gonna see and I mean we talked 230 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,399 about it, right, Pop is holding guys accountable. But at the end 231 00:14:11,399 --> 00:14:13,879 of the day, like Sohan came into the league as a non shooter and 232 00:14:13,919 --> 00:14:18,360 he shot like twenty four percent from three as a rookie, and Pops still 233 00:14:18,399 --> 00:14:20,279 let him shoot those threes like he encouraged it. If you're open, let 234 00:14:20,279 --> 00:14:22,120 it fly, like you're not going to get better if you're not going to 235 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,000 practice it in a game. And if they expect women Yama to also be 236 00:14:26,039 --> 00:14:31,399 this transcendent offensive talent to match his you know, defensive prowess, then they're 237 00:14:31,399 --> 00:14:33,200 gonna let him experiment and like you said, you know, try and fail 238 00:14:33,279 --> 00:14:35,759 and learn from that. So I fully expect him to have that sort of 239 00:14:35,759 --> 00:14:39,480 freedom. I want to ask you before I get some offseason questions about some 240 00:14:39,559 --> 00:14:43,519 of your impressions of the players that intreague me the most on this roster. 241 00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:46,360 Chief among them remains Devin Vassell. I asked you many questions about him. 242 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,480 I think last year he you mentioned he would have been a most improved player. 243 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,759 Accoundidate he would have had it would have been pretty tough to beat out, 244 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,879 you know, in lowry marketing or even an SGA, but he probably 245 00:14:56,879 --> 00:15:00,360 would have finished in the top three had he played in more games not for 246 00:15:00,399 --> 00:15:03,799 that left knee injury. He just don't I don't think anyone build him is 247 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,039 what he was able to do on offense this year when he came into the 248 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:11,080 league, Like just better decision making off ball screens, which you hinted at, 249 00:15:11,519 --> 00:15:15,360 his weaponize pull up in between game mixing in step backs and faderways and 250 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:20,360 runners. What stood out most to you about his season and what are you 251 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:24,240 most either watching closely or looking forward to or concerned about heading into year four 252 00:15:24,279 --> 00:15:30,679 for him? Yeah, with Devin Vassell, I really appreciated how aggressive he 253 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,480 was, Like he could have just kind of taken a back seat to Kelden 254 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:37,080 and been like, you do your thing and I'll get my offense within the 255 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,480 flow of things. But you know, when pob gave him the opportunity to 256 00:15:39,519 --> 00:15:43,159 have on ball reps, he really took advantage of them. And I think 257 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,000 there was a clear difference from like a year ago, so not last season, 258 00:15:46,039 --> 00:15:50,200 but the previous season where Devin Vassell was often okay to just defer and 259 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,919 be this three and D guy and he didn't really experiment too much. You 260 00:15:54,919 --> 00:15:58,080 know whether that's a little bit of the you know, team and the coaching 261 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,039 staff telling him, you know, know your role. This year, he 262 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,000 fully you know, took advantage of all those touches, and he showed that 263 00:16:04,039 --> 00:16:07,080 he can play with pace in the pick and roll. You know, he's 264 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,200 not a guy who's like an incredible athlete with like a tremendous first step, 265 00:16:11,279 --> 00:16:15,159 who can you know, finish above the rim. But I noticed as the 266 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,080 year went on he was looking to become a little more crafty, like find 267 00:16:18,159 --> 00:16:19,440 his way to the rim. He was finishing well at the rim, he 268 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,200 was pulling up off the dribble, and I think all of those things were 269 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,480 really impressive. And also, as you mentioned, like the the experimenting as 270 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,879 far as you know, step backs, pull ups from three, like that's 271 00:16:30,879 --> 00:16:33,000 not really something that I expected to see too much of, But as the 272 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,840 year went on and he got more comfortable, he let it fly. And 273 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,759 you know, unfortunately it's just that knee injury that really just kind of made 274 00:16:41,799 --> 00:16:44,480 him taper off at the end. Like one of the things that I thought 275 00:16:44,559 --> 00:16:48,879 was really really impressive was up into the knee procedure. So if you erase 276 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,080 all the games after the knee procedure. He was third in the NBA in 277 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:57,720 terms of pull up two point percentage, after Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, 278 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,120 and he was eighth in terms of volume, Like he was taking about eight 279 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:07,519 a game. So I'm not saying that that's who he is all the time 280 00:17:07,759 --> 00:17:11,160 because it was a smaller sample size. It was through like thirty five games, 281 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,240 but he certainly showed flashes of being a guy who can be like your 282 00:17:15,279 --> 00:17:18,599 second third option. And I don't like, as you said, I don't 283 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,440 know that a lot of people saw that. Like I was optimistic for him 284 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,039 to be a good player and maybe have some of that in his game, 285 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:29,480 but he really took a tremendously huge step in his development this season, especially 286 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,319 on ball. Yeah, and it was you saw like hints of it after 287 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,000 the Derek White trade like the season before, but it was just even by 288 00:17:37,039 --> 00:17:38,799 that measure, and you had mentioned him getting to the basket. I think 289 00:17:38,839 --> 00:17:41,680 that's going to be like the biggest if you want him to be like this 290 00:17:41,759 --> 00:17:45,640 three level score who also kind of dips his tone and startom, I think 291 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,119 that's kind of the next frontier for him. But what he has shown now 292 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,480 on ball if he gets the ability to meld that with everything we know he 293 00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:55,960 can do off the ball when they have a proper either number one option or 294 00:17:56,279 --> 00:17:59,599 a top to your advantage creator. This is just someone who is going to 295 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,599 impact winning at the at the highest level. I feel more confident, aside 296 00:18:03,599 --> 00:18:06,880 from Wemby and saying that about him than anyone else on the roster right now, 297 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,440 which leads me to this question, how aggressive would you expect this? 298 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:11,279 And by the way, this kind of snuck up on me. I was 299 00:18:11,279 --> 00:18:14,599 doing prep for this. I was like, fuck, I forgot Devin Missell 300 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,079 was extensional. He's been the league three years already. How aggressive would you 301 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,799 expect the Spurs to be to sign him to an extension? Knowing that, 302 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,359 I think they're gonna be people, especially with the Wemben Yama, with Weben 303 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,160 Yama coming, that might want them to preserve their flexibility for twenty twenty four 304 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,039 free agency a little bit more. Would you expect them though, to be 305 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,519 more hype like they did the same with Kelton Johnson, but they got even 306 00:18:36,559 --> 00:18:37,839 after and we'll talk about him in a second. He didn't have like the 307 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,759 best clothes to this season. That's extension still looks like a bargain Knowing the 308 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,720 archetype of player that Devin Missel is, I don't think they're getting any discounts 309 00:18:47,759 --> 00:18:49,799 in potential negotiations with him, would be my official stand. So I'm just 310 00:18:49,839 --> 00:18:56,240 curious what your thoughts are leading into these extension negotiations this summer. I think 311 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:57,559 the Spurs are gonna want to wrap him up, like make sure that he 312 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,359 is on the roster, especial with the new CBA roles, and they're going 313 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,079 to be able to lock him down for five years instead of four, Like 314 00:19:03,279 --> 00:19:07,599 I fully expect them to go for the full five years. Now. The 315 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,480 money is interesting because I do think he is a guy who is worth, 316 00:19:11,599 --> 00:19:15,519 you know, probably a little above twenty million a year. With that said, 317 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:22,160 I kind of wonder if the Spurs are able to leverage the durability from 318 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,319 this season, like his lack of durability from this season to go, well, 319 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:27,000 you kind of proved it, but it was on a small sample size. 320 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,759 You were hurt for most of the year. We lost a ton of 321 00:19:30,799 --> 00:19:33,240 games. Like, I wonder if that factors into how much he actually ends 322 00:19:33,279 --> 00:19:37,119 up getting and if it's kind of a bargain bin deal like they got with 323 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:42,200 Keldon, But like you mentioned, he is a really interesting archetype of player. 324 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,039 And I don't want to throw out necessarily one for one comparisons because I 325 00:19:45,039 --> 00:19:48,160 think every player is unique. But I think there is very much a trajectory 326 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:53,200 for him to become a sort of like Chris Milton esque player where he you 327 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,000 know, obviously not the best advantage creator, but a guy who can go 328 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,680 get his own bucket, can play make a little bit, not a tremendous 329 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,119 athlete, but very crafty, super high release point on the jumper. And 330 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,480 then obviously I think there's some some plus you know, upside on the defensive 331 00:20:07,559 --> 00:20:11,960 end. But that's tough because I'm not exactly sure how much he's gonna get 332 00:20:12,079 --> 00:20:17,119 or you know, what the range is for him. So I regardless, 333 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:18,240 I still want to see them bring him back, and I think they will, 334 00:20:18,279 --> 00:20:22,480 Like I think they're gonna go for the full five year extension. I 335 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,279 would say, if you can get him for twenty five million a year or 336 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:27,680 less, that you do it absolutely now, and then maybe it becomes a 337 00:20:27,799 --> 00:20:30,839 because that and we have to start evaluating these in the new cap climate where 338 00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,240 it's like twenty five million dollars in the first year of his extension is like 339 00:20:33,319 --> 00:20:37,160 seventeen or eighteen percent of the cap, which is just her player, that's 340 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:38,880 Devin Theseuth. That's really not that much, and so you could be if 341 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,200 they went higher, wouldn't shock me. But like, if that's the number 342 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:45,480 you can get him at now, like I just I absolutely pounce And it's 343 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,599 restricted free agencies, restricted free agencies, so they could let it go into 344 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:49,920 there and they don't have to worry about anything. But if you can keep 345 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,279 him off the open market, where like if he has another year like this 346 00:20:52,319 --> 00:20:56,160 but plays in the vast majority of games, someone's gonna throw him like he's 347 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,480 gonna get paid. Yeah, yeah, explably want to ask you about was 348 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,480 Keldon Johnson You already talked about him a little bit. How do you feel 349 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,200 about what I'm supposed to be now offensively after watching him this year because there 350 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,920 was it felt like there might have been like three or five Keldon Johnson seasons 351 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,240 mixed into this one season, and I feel pretty comfortable saying like no, 352 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:19,880 like okay, like this is probably someone was better off as like a number 353 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,319 three at this point. It's just my overarch arching sentiments on that. Where 354 00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:26,799 do you sort of land with him after watching Was it more function of Okay, 355 00:21:26,799 --> 00:21:30,880 these were his limitations, or if he was in a situation that had 356 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,559 more space or maybe a little bit more talent around him, available talent around 357 00:21:34,599 --> 00:21:38,480 him anyway, that we'd be talking about, you know, a different trend 358 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,440 line for his regular season. That's yeah, that's a really good question. 359 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,920 It's also tough to answer. I know, personally, I'm fairly low on 360 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,480 Keldon versus the consensus among like Spurs fans and even some of the media members 361 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,200 who cover this team. Like, I don't think Keldon is a guy who, 362 00:21:56,319 --> 00:22:00,319 for all of his offensive limitations, should probably have the ball in his 363 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,200 hand that much. Like he misses a lot of passing reads, like fairly 364 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,839 simple passing reads, trying to force things at the rim. He's not super 365 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,799 efficient at the rim. He has basically no in between game to speak of. 366 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:15,640 Right, He's shot like high twenty percent from mid range, you know, 367 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,200 high mid the low thirties on floaters. He was terrible off the case 368 00:22:19,279 --> 00:22:22,400 this year on threes. Yeah, I was awful from there. I mean, 369 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,000 like, and he's also a guy who's kind of a methodical shooter, 370 00:22:26,079 --> 00:22:29,640 Like he needs time, he needs the space to shoot, and like he 371 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,440 doesn't have a lot of versatility. He's not coming off of screens, he's 372 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,440 not shooting in transition, he's not shooting off the move, he's not shooting 373 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,599 off the dribble. Like, I just don't really know what he does for 374 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:44,200 you that you can't find somewhere else, probably cheaper and defensively. I know 375 00:22:44,279 --> 00:22:47,480 some Spurs fans probably are going to come from me for this, but he's 376 00:22:47,519 --> 00:22:52,359 a terrible defender, like super unaware off ball, too small to guard forwards, 377 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,119 too heavy footed to guard you know, guards, He's always going to 378 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,880 be a post mismatch if he's mismatched in the post, Like, I just 379 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,920 don't know that if you have a guy who's so limited and flawed on one 380 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,519 end and pretty much like a huge liability on the other, that you can 381 00:23:07,559 --> 00:23:11,279 have him as a starter long term. Wimby kind of changes that. But 382 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,119 I'm also just a little out on Kelden as like a major building block for 383 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,759 the future. But with that said, he ended the season not shooting well, 384 00:23:18,839 --> 00:23:22,079 but his playmaking kind of stood out towards the end of the year, 385 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,039 and I think he averaged almost five assists per game over his last twelve games. 386 00:23:25,039 --> 00:23:29,000 So he was making some strides there. Having said that, you know, 387 00:23:29,039 --> 00:23:33,240 they force fed him a bunch of touches to read into it. But 388 00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:36,000 I you know, still wish him the best. But it's just a tough 389 00:23:36,039 --> 00:23:38,240 situation with Keldon. They're gonna have to figure that out because depending on that 390 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:45,319 roster or the lineup construction for the starting rotation, it could be awkward. 391 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,720 It could get real awkward real quick. Yeah, I mean someone's gonna have 392 00:23:48,759 --> 00:23:51,880 to come off the bench unless you really want to view wemen Yamas. You're 393 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:55,960 a day facto five and that's not everyone's that's basically in universal agreement that that's 394 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,759 not what he should, yeah do, And so it's is it? I 395 00:23:59,759 --> 00:24:03,359 think you would pick between. I would guess it's either gonna be Johnson or 396 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,519 so and that's the player would be coming off the bench in that scenario. 397 00:24:06,519 --> 00:24:08,000 And so, yeah, you're right, you've extended Johnson. But he's also 398 00:24:08,039 --> 00:24:11,079 making when you look at his number, like there's kind of bench player money 399 00:24:11,319 --> 00:24:15,960 at this point down every year two. Right, it's not too bad. 400 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:18,359 I still really like him as a player. I just think like if you 401 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,599 can hone in, I'm like, Okay, he's gonna hit his corner threes 402 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,240 and if he can attack the close outs or just open space if there's not 403 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,319 you know, defense is packing the paint. I think that's the perfect offensive 404 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,960 role from I don't know what you do with him defensively, because this is 405 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,240 me at least, I kind of forget how small he is all the time. 406 00:24:33,319 --> 00:24:37,799 Yeah, it's like he's six five or six six. I'm like, 407 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:38,839 in my head, I'm like, oh, he's like six s eight six 408 00:24:38,839 --> 00:24:41,519 and nine. It's like no, every time he seems like, oh no, 409 00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:47,839 wait, no, he's not that big. Should do there? I'm 410 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:49,319 sorry, what'd you say? Oh? Sorry? Did I cut out my 411 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,599 bat? I was saying, I'm not really sure what you do with him 412 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,799 long term defensively, But like as you mentioned, with with the contract, 413 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,240 it goes down in value, like it is a bargain. They'll figure it 414 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:04,400 out. So Jeremy so In is like my siren song. I tried when 415 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,160 we were doing our mock all rookie bouts. I tried so fucking hard to 416 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,079 put on my first team. He made a second team. He ended up 417 00:25:10,079 --> 00:25:14,960 making the real second team. He was just so good. I think most 418 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,759 of the focus was on Okay, well, look what he shot after he 419 00:25:17,799 --> 00:25:19,920 switched to one handed free throws, which was like it's like seventy plus percent 420 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,599 or whatever. Okay, and that's I mean great. But what aside from 421 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:29,519 that kind of stood out most or most impressed you with his rookie campaign Just 422 00:25:29,599 --> 00:25:32,839 his activity level, his aggression. He was fearless, right, Like, 423 00:25:32,839 --> 00:25:36,559 he's a guy who gets his offense mostly within the flow of the offense, 424 00:25:36,599 --> 00:25:41,319 like attacking clothes outs or cleaning up the offensive boards or you know, even 425 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,079 cutting to the basket. And like even in transition, he's a guy who 426 00:25:44,079 --> 00:25:45,920 can rebound and run. Like he's not a super dynamic handler, but he's 427 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,400 got a good enough handle where he can just grab a rebound, go to 428 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:52,559 the length of the floor, attack the basket. Like those are things we 429 00:25:52,599 --> 00:25:55,880 didn't necessarily see all the time at Baylor. There were certainly hints of it, 430 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,960 but just his aggression and then his fearlessness. Right, he was like 431 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:02,279 getting into scrums guys, like he was like an old school kind of enforcer 432 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,160 in terms of his you know, just ability to get under guy's skin. 433 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:08,119 He was trying to bother you know, Luca don Chich and Steven Adams and 434 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,279 the Morse Twins and like he was not afraid of anyone. And then defensively, 435 00:26:12,319 --> 00:26:15,519 you saw him out there, you know, man to man, he's 436 00:26:15,519 --> 00:26:18,720 guarding Steph, He's guarding Dame, He's guarding the Montes Sabonis, he's guarding 437 00:26:18,759 --> 00:26:22,799 Paul George, he's guarding Jason Tatum. Like he's taking on the hardest assignment 438 00:26:22,839 --> 00:26:26,759 every night. And you know it wasn't always successful, but he always gave 439 00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:27,880 them a hard time, Like at the very least, he made their life 440 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:32,200 a little bit harder. So I'm super high on him. I don't think 441 00:26:32,319 --> 00:26:34,440 he'll necessarily be a star, but I think he can be that sort of 442 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,920 glue guy who you know, without him, you're not winning a championship, 443 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:44,279 Like he is absolutely integral to that. Yeah, his floor navigation just on 444 00:26:44,319 --> 00:26:45,519 the ball, off the ball, both ends of the floor was would impressed 445 00:26:45,559 --> 00:26:48,559 me most, like the way he was sort of moving. And then obviously 446 00:26:48,599 --> 00:26:52,200 his hair. I was in love with us is Harodus as well, So 447 00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:56,680 I thought he was one of the rook He's a probably and again circumstances perhaps 448 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,240 thrust him into a larger role than I think most will expect him. But 449 00:27:00,279 --> 00:27:03,039 now you just have all this information, especially about him on offense and when 450 00:27:03,039 --> 00:27:07,720 he's being hyper aggressive and attacking the basket, he can really do some damage. 451 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:11,599 That becomes super valuable to the Spurs moving forward, just having that information 452 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:17,720 to base more decisions off of. Did you have any you know, Blake 453 00:27:17,799 --> 00:27:19,799 Wesley, Malachi Branham, or anyone else on us, any impressions from this 454 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:25,200 year that are sticking with you as we lead into the off season. I 455 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:29,599 really really like Malachi Brandham. Last year he was fifteenth on my big board 456 00:27:29,599 --> 00:27:30,759 and I was like, wow, they let him drop to twenty, Like 457 00:27:30,799 --> 00:27:34,759 you gotta snag him. They did. He's a guy who wasn't necessarily the 458 00:27:34,799 --> 00:27:38,480 most efficient, but he had stretches in there, especially from about February to 459 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,559 early March. Maybe he was averaging close to twenty points per game, like 460 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:47,519 fifty forty eighty shooting. Can you know, create his own off the dribble. 461 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,920 Not a super dynamic playmaker, not necessarily like the best athlete either, 462 00:27:52,039 --> 00:27:55,960 but really patient navigating screens, knows how it gets to his spots. Really 463 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,599 good spot up shooter, although the percentages didn't really show that. This season, 464 00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:00,920 I'm pretty high on him, Like I think I don't know if he's 465 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:03,640 a starter, but I could definitely see him being a guy who's like, 466 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,839 you know, you're an off bench, like he's the guy who keeps, 467 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:11,000 you know, the engine running for the second unit. I really like him 468 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:11,920 in that role. I kind of think that's the role he's gonna play for 469 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,839 the Spurs this year. It's just you know, what strides did he make 470 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,319 during the offseason, because, as we mentioned, just not the most efficient 471 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:23,079 guy you're but I think there's a lot of promise there. I wanted to 472 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,359 dislike brandam shot selection as a rookie, and it's just like, no, 473 00:28:27,519 --> 00:28:30,559 I mean he was. He shot like sixty percent on floaters this year, 474 00:28:30,599 --> 00:28:33,559 and it was just like he he kind of has a great feel when he's 475 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,160 in between, at least when he's looking for his scoring. So I am 476 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,759 kind of really curious to see how his career arc pans out and what is 477 00:28:41,759 --> 00:28:44,359 fit on this team looks like long term, because that's not someone I had 478 00:28:44,359 --> 00:28:48,240 really had my eye on leading into last regular season, and he definitely had 479 00:28:48,319 --> 00:28:53,519 caught my attention by by year's end with his abilities there. So, oh, 480 00:28:53,519 --> 00:28:56,599 go ahead, we're you gonna say something. Sorry, No, I 481 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,480 was, I was just gonna add like for Blake Wesley, I think he's 482 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,200 got a long way to go. I think I'll leave it at that because 483 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:04,200 I don't want I don't want to waste your time, you know, talking 484 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,359 too much about Blake Wesley. But he's got a long way to go. 485 00:29:07,599 --> 00:29:11,880 I mean he's like fast and can get to the rim. And that's basically 486 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,880 like my impressions of his game so far as like I don't have I didn't 487 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:15,960 see you still way more of him than I did, and he didn't even 488 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,720 play that much to begin with, so I would fight. But those are 489 00:29:18,759 --> 00:29:22,920 my cursory thoughts on on Blake Wesley at the moment. Yeah, those are 490 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,440 pretty accurate. Like he just he got to the rim at will, but 491 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,079 shot like forty percent at the rim. He wasn't good on floaters. He 492 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,559 wasn't He was pretty good at catch and shoot from three, but his pull 493 00:29:32,599 --> 00:29:34,720 up numbers were really bad. His defense was pretty like shoddy. He was 494 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,519 a little lost, Like his decision making was a little off. I think 495 00:29:38,559 --> 00:29:41,640 he's he's still got a lot of a long way to go if he really 496 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,359 wants to play point guard. Now that's something he told me at Summer League. 497 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:45,079 Was like, I am a point guard. I'm going to be a 498 00:29:45,079 --> 00:29:48,960 point guard in the NBA, and that's not what he was in college. 499 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,920 So I think it's just gonna be a longer adjustment period. But thankfully, 500 00:29:52,119 --> 00:29:55,680 and he's like twenty and it's not like he's twenty four twenty five. He's 501 00:29:55,759 --> 00:30:02,119 he's got time. So how does bringing this to the actual offseason? Does 502 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:06,079 the addition of or knowing they're going to get wemban Yama, does it alter 503 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,680 their off season approach at all? Aside from oh, we have like two 504 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:14,200 million dollars less in cap space to work with. That is also a really 505 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,440 great question because I to make of that, You've got pop. So when 506 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,519 you've got pop, your goal is always to try to win as many games 507 00:30:22,559 --> 00:30:27,160 as possible. So perhaps they go after, you know, some free agents. 508 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,640 They've got what is it, like, a close to thirty million dollars 509 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,759 in cap space this offseason, so maybe they chase after someone like a Grant 510 00:30:33,799 --> 00:30:37,720 Williams or a Cameron Johnson or Austin Reeves. Even I'm not, you know, 511 00:30:37,759 --> 00:30:41,160 not in love necessarily with all those guys, but you know, just 512 00:30:41,279 --> 00:30:45,079 names out there, or you could just kind of let it grow organically because 513 00:30:45,079 --> 00:30:47,759 you've got a ton of assets, you've got a lot of young guys, 514 00:30:47,759 --> 00:30:52,000 you don't really have a ton of roster openings. Like that's a tough question. 515 00:30:52,039 --> 00:30:56,319 Also with Wemby saying he's trying to win a championship or ring asap that 516 00:30:56,079 --> 00:30:59,400 you know, how much does that play into it? Do they want to 517 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:11,920 satisfy hey yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't even know how like it 518 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,480 alters their ops you approach because when you look at the roster, I think 519 00:31:14,519 --> 00:31:17,480 before the draft lottery it was okay if they ended up with Scoot or someone, 520 00:31:17,519 --> 00:31:19,400 maybe you don't need an advantage creator as much. But now you can 521 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,119 look at the roster and say, oh, do they still need that or 522 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,519 is it between Wemby and v Sells development and even having so in and then 523 00:31:26,559 --> 00:31:29,680 we could bring back to Tray Jones? Is that is that not the priority? 524 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,200 And I do think one of the other interesting elements is, like, 525 00:31:33,799 --> 00:31:34,920 you know, one, I want to know what you think their biggest roster 526 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,680 needs with Wemby included right now? Is then two it's also what type of 527 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,559 big Zach Collins might be a big that you really want to play alongside Wemby, 528 00:31:42,599 --> 00:31:47,839 But even trying to scale beyond that, Like, it does feel like 529 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,440 they need a certain type of big to compliment him properly as well. That 530 00:31:52,519 --> 00:31:56,200 might that well, I won't say might most definitely isn't on the roster right 531 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:00,519 now because they're basically bereft of like centers at this point. Yeah, that's 532 00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:04,960 tough one. I really do like the combination of Wimby and Colins is a 533 00:32:05,079 --> 00:32:07,519 really awesome you know, high post, top of the key, you know, 534 00:32:07,599 --> 00:32:12,640 playmaking hub. He's really great there. He also had pretty good numbers 535 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,480 at least defending near the rim, so I think he could bang with bigger 536 00:32:15,519 --> 00:32:21,680 bodies like your Yokich and Valancunises and Anthony davis Is and those sort of guys. 537 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:24,920 So like, I like the fit there. In terms of what they 538 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,359 need, they kind of I mean, for me, it's it's you need 539 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,960 better defenders, you need longer defenders, you need guys who can shoot the 540 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,279 three, and I think, as you mentioned, they need an advantage creator. 541 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:39,599 Like you know, Wemby can has scoring gravity for sure, but he's 542 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:44,880 not the most efficient guy, or hasn't been this season. Eat something off 543 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:46,440 the dribble. I like Trey Jones. I don't know if he's your long 544 00:32:46,519 --> 00:32:52,039 term answer at starting point guard. But I'm not sure where you find that 545 00:32:52,119 --> 00:32:54,279 this offseason, Like is it Fred van Vleet, do you do you? 546 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:58,279 I mean, I don't know. I'm not really sure where you get that 547 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,720 from this offseason. And then you're saying, well, yeah, we're accelerating 548 00:33:01,759 --> 00:33:05,519 the timeline here too. It's like you can find if you even could get 549 00:33:05,519 --> 00:33:08,000 Fred van Fleet that does he's not ancient, but that does say a lot 550 00:33:08,039 --> 00:33:10,680 about and he's not going to infringe upon anyone's development, but that does say 551 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,880 a lot about Okay, we're not really trying to let this marinate at all, 552 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,160 and there's I think there's a there's a cost benefit analysis to be had 553 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,720 there. I would just be I'd be surprised if they went that direction. 554 00:33:21,759 --> 00:33:23,559 Do you expect Trey Jones to be back? It might just be pretty cut 555 00:33:23,559 --> 00:33:27,039 and dry because he's restricted free agent. I don't know who's gonna pay him. 556 00:33:27,039 --> 00:33:30,200 But I'm just curious where you land there. Yeah, I would expect 557 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,440 him to be back. Like I think when he wasn't on the court, 558 00:33:32,559 --> 00:33:37,000 they were pretty awful, Like their offense was just a mess. It's not 559 00:33:37,039 --> 00:33:38,119 like they were elite when he was there, But he was the kind of 560 00:33:38,119 --> 00:33:43,119 guy who if you were like training wheels for a young team, like, 561 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,839 you know, he's he's got a really good first step. He was able 562 00:33:45,839 --> 00:33:47,319 to get to the rim pretty much like whenever he wanted, he could collapse 563 00:33:47,359 --> 00:33:51,160 the defense a little bit, kick it out, you know. He doesn't 564 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,400 ever turn the ball over. He's I mean this season he kind of dropped 565 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,839 off in terms of his like mid range efficiency and floator efficiency. I think 566 00:33:57,839 --> 00:34:00,480 that had a little bit to do with the spacing. But I think if 567 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,079 you don't bring him back, like who's running the offense, you know, 568 00:34:04,119 --> 00:34:06,759 who's taking the ball up the court, who's getting you into your sets? 569 00:34:06,759 --> 00:34:08,800 Like, it's not Blake Wesley, He's not ready for that. I think 570 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,400 that would be a detriment to everyone else's development, including his own. And 571 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,840 it's not so Hand like I love Sohand, but he's not a primary ball 572 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:22,000 handler. He's more of like a rebound and run or connective tissue guy. 573 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,760 Like he's not your you know, initiators. So I just don't know what 574 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,159 they do if they don't bring Trey Jones back, And for that reason, 575 00:34:29,679 --> 00:34:30,880 I think they have to. I think they almost kind of have to bring 576 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:36,239 Tray Jones back. I didn't mention this in the outline, but you are 577 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:38,519 they gonna look at seriously, I assume they're gonna renounce his cap hold just 578 00:34:38,559 --> 00:34:42,440 to maximize their cap space. But do you expect Romeo Langford to be back? 579 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:45,599 No, that's a tough one too, because I really like Romeo Langford, 580 00:34:45,639 --> 00:34:49,519 Like I think he could be a really, really solid role player, 581 00:34:49,559 --> 00:34:52,519 but he's never healthy. Like he's a dude who's missed like two hundred and 582 00:34:52,519 --> 00:34:55,400 thirty of a possible like three hundred or four hundred games at this point in 583 00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:00,440 his career. So love him. But yeah, for cap space reasons, 584 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:04,519 I don't think he's going to be back. You had already mentioned some names 585 00:35:04,519 --> 00:35:07,880 here, but I'm just assuming that they'll carry Tray Jones' cap hold. They'll 586 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:13,679 have around thirty three plus million in space now when factoring in Wemba Yama's number 587 00:35:13,679 --> 00:35:16,880 one pick holed. Are there any free agents that you thought about or if 588 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,880 you're you're in charge of the front office that you would be kind of you 589 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:27,039 know, circling in, uh, sharpie at this point, I mentioned Grant 590 00:35:27,039 --> 00:35:30,599 Williams earlier. I do like Grant Williams for the Spurs, but you know, 591 00:35:30,679 --> 00:35:32,320 with the reports that like he's looking for like twenty million a year, 592 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:36,119 I don't I don't know if I want to pay that to Grant Williams, 593 00:35:36,119 --> 00:35:37,800 Like he may have to kind of come back down to earth and realize that's 594 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,960 probably not his market. But I like him just because he is such a 595 00:35:42,039 --> 00:35:45,639 versatile defender. He can knock down the stand still three. You know, 596 00:35:45,679 --> 00:35:49,400 he's he's he's pretty uh, you know, has a lot of positional flexibility. 597 00:35:49,519 --> 00:35:52,880 Like he's a guy I like. But just looking at this roster, 598 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,119 if I were the Spurs, I would kind of just you know, play 599 00:35:55,159 --> 00:36:00,880 it by ear and just take things slow because I think often, you know, 600 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,239 where we're looking for that immediate gratification of you know, we're going back 601 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:07,519 to the playoffs, we're gonna you know, compete. But I just don't 602 00:36:07,519 --> 00:36:10,760 think there's any real need to rush the timeline. Like you have your franchise 603 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:14,840 player. Now, let's kind of figure out what else we have and let's 604 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:15,960 see what it looks like, like what he looks like with the players who 605 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:20,280 are already on the roster, because it's not like he's coming in like Lebron 606 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,000 did. Where Lebron's coming into like a completely blank canvas, right, Like 607 00:36:23,119 --> 00:36:27,880 the Spurs have players who, in theory could help you win games, they 608 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,000 just weren't playing the right role. So let's see if you know, readjusting 609 00:36:30,079 --> 00:36:34,679 roles and adding Whimby kind of changes anything. So I would evaluate before I, 610 00:36:35,039 --> 00:36:37,880 you know, immediately go all in on, you know, trying to 611 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:43,039 build a contender from day one. I would be right there with you. 612 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:46,880 And I'm just curious if they should be looking at adding probably guys who aren't 613 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:51,840 going to crack there what would be their preferred closing five, But can they 614 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:53,480 open up the floor for everyone in the half court where it's maybe they're not 615 00:36:53,519 --> 00:36:57,719 super young, like like a Max Strus or something like someone's gonna come in 616 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,800 and get up threes, get up threes on volume, and maybe not be 617 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,480 like I mean, he's not He's gonna be a pretty big defensive liability, 618 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:06,760 but he's not gonna be you know, and he's not gonna cost as huge 619 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:07,840 a money of you know, if we went the other way and said, 620 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,400 well, Gary Trent Junior would be kind of interesting for this team, Like 621 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:14,599 that's someone who's gonna cost he fits the timeline. He's super young, but 622 00:37:14,599 --> 00:37:16,559 that's someone who's gonna cost a boatload. And so I'm just wondering if I'm 623 00:37:16,599 --> 00:37:20,719 a big believer in like, if you can open up the half court, 624 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:25,199 that streamsline, streamlines development offensively for a lot of your players, and I 625 00:37:25,199 --> 00:37:29,000 think I would like to see them do something along those lines with their cap 626 00:37:29,039 --> 00:37:30,800 space where it's no, it don't go and over pay him all everyone out 627 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,199 of the water, and it doesn't. And look, if you told me 628 00:37:32,239 --> 00:37:35,400 they signed Gary Trent Junior, I'd be like, yeah, sure, that's 629 00:37:35,639 --> 00:37:37,880 I like that, But I'd like to see him make a move along or 630 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:42,840 an addition along those lines. Yeah, for sure, I'm right there with 631 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:45,320 you. I would add here that you know, Doug McDermott, I think 632 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:50,239 is super undervalued. For if we're looking at like a guy who can shoot 633 00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:52,039 threes and a high volume, constantly on the move, like doesn't need the 634 00:37:52,039 --> 00:37:57,519 ball to score, provides a lot of spacing like he has pretty i mean 635 00:37:57,519 --> 00:37:59,960 immense gravity as a shooter. You can't leave him open, you can't go 636 00:38:00,079 --> 00:38:01,599 under screens, you know, And because he's so good off the move, 637 00:38:01,639 --> 00:38:05,000 you've got to have guys who are able at least on the other team. 638 00:38:05,039 --> 00:38:07,400 You know theory you have to have guys who are able to chase him around 639 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,360 screens and follow him around the court. So I think he adds a lot 640 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,960 of value. I like kb d as well. I know, like he's 641 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,440 not the sexiest name, but I think Kada Bates Diop has really established himself 642 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:21,159 as just, you know, the solid role player. And then mom college 643 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:23,920 VILLI probably not another name that we were maybe you weren't thinking we would talk 644 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,760 about too much, but I really like him off the bench, Like I 645 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,760 think he is a guy who spaces the floor really good playmaker can handle him 646 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,039 the open floor court like he is a defensive liability, so is you know, 647 00:38:35,079 --> 00:38:37,280 Doug McDermott. But I think if we're looking to open the floor for 648 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,880 guys and you know, take some playmaking pressure off of others, Like those 649 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,440 are two names that I think one of them they can bring back. In 650 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,880 the other one they're already responsible for paying him next season. He And that's 651 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:52,039 a great point on McDermott, by the way. The other kind of I 652 00:38:52,039 --> 00:38:54,159 guess positional need that I thought about. Zach Collins had a fantastic season, 653 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:57,519 By the way, He's like, that's someone I like that fit with Wemby. 654 00:38:57,760 --> 00:38:59,880 But it does feel like they need more big man depth on here, 655 00:39:00,159 --> 00:39:02,960 and I'd looked at like a nas read for them. I just don't know 656 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,679 if is he going to be big enough And I don't really think that offsets 657 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,280 enough of the Wemby responsibilities at center, and you already have Za Zach Collins, 658 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:13,159 so it felt like a little too much overlapping. Zach Collins is just 659 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:15,679 better as a rim protector there. But I am curious to see because I 660 00:39:15,679 --> 00:39:21,239 do think they'll add another big man type. I'm just curious to see. 661 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:24,559 You know, the center market's not super robust, especially for maybe ones that 662 00:39:24,559 --> 00:39:27,519 you would want. I mean, like Brook Lopez on this team as a 663 00:39:27,559 --> 00:39:30,519 veteran theader would be absolutely fantastic, but he's not Milwaukee. I'm curious to 664 00:39:30,519 --> 00:39:36,760 see what they kind of do with the big man position. Yeah, you 665 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,400 know that is that's that's gonna be something they definitely need to address. I 666 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,000 know last season it was either a four year or five year. I think 667 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,480 it was a four year contract that they offered Charles Bassi, and like he 668 00:39:45,559 --> 00:39:49,800 showed some stuff. You know, you can protect the rim just kind of 669 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,599 a more traditional rim runner, you know, run and catch, you know, 670 00:39:52,639 --> 00:39:54,800 catch and finish kind of guy. I kind of think they'll give him 671 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:58,159 an opportunity. And I also think, you know, they have two second 672 00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,440 round picks that if I were the Spurs, I think they're probably at least 673 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,960 from my you know, research on the draft this year, I'm watching film. 674 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:09,320 I think there's about thirty ish guys in this class who like could have 675 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:14,360 real impact, like from day one, or at least have long term value. 676 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,760 And I think it would kind of behoove them to package those second rounders 677 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:21,440 and go and get a first round contract that's guaranteed that they can control for 678 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,559 four years. Like, there are some guys that I think would fit for 679 00:40:23,599 --> 00:40:28,000 them that are bigger, some of them are projects, some of them could 680 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:31,119 probably play right away, but I think they could also go that route as 681 00:40:31,159 --> 00:40:37,239 well. Uh. I guess if if you had to boil it down, 682 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,960 would you expect them more to hold their flexibility or do you think that they'll 683 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:44,880 be looking at their cap flexibility whether you're gonna use it in trades or an 684 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:46,960 actual free agents. So do you expect them to actually use it or do 685 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,840 you think that They're gonna conserve it and be like, hey, we need 686 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:52,400 to see what we have in this core, especially now that when ban Yama's 687 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:57,159 coming and will make decisions in the middle of the season if need be. 688 00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,039 Yeah, I think they're gonna hold it. And like last year, I 689 00:41:00,079 --> 00:41:04,039 know that there was a lot at least around the Spurs fan base made about 690 00:41:04,039 --> 00:41:06,880 oh, are they going to reach that salary you know, like floor or 691 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:08,440 they even going to meet that, and people are like, isn't that concerning? 692 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:10,840 I don't think the Spurs cared at all. They were happy to take 693 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:15,400 that, you know, extra money that they were not able to pay out 694 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:17,599 to players and just distribute it to the rest of the roster. Is basically 695 00:41:17,599 --> 00:41:21,400 like a bonus. And like, having seen them do that, I think 696 00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:23,480 they'd be fine to just hold onto their flexibility and go, yeah, I 697 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:28,159 mean it is what it is. Let's see what we got back with Wimby, 698 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,519 With whoever they draft, maybe one or two free agent additions. I 699 00:41:30,559 --> 00:41:35,239 just don't know that they should go out and look to add guys who would 700 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:37,559 potentially take minutes from from young guys on the roster who you know, they've 701 00:41:37,559 --> 00:41:43,079 invested first round picks lottery picks in. Yeah, I would probably agree with 702 00:41:43,119 --> 00:41:45,599 you there. I'm interested to see how the new CBA. I know that 703 00:41:45,599 --> 00:41:47,280 they are. It's actually more punitive to not hit the floor, though I 704 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:51,039 don't know if they're in danger of not hitting the floor next year. I 705 00:41:51,039 --> 00:41:52,840 didn't actually look that up, but I'm just interested to see if that forces 706 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:57,519 teams to spend or act with their flexibility more over the summer. But then 707 00:41:57,559 --> 00:42:00,440 they have the rules now where you can use your exception is trade exceptions. 708 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,920 It's a it's a it's a freaking mess. Is there any one or anything 709 00:42:05,079 --> 00:42:07,320 that I didn't ask you about with this roster, this team, in this 710 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:13,159 future that you think needs to be discussed? No? Not really. The 711 00:42:13,199 --> 00:42:15,880 only thing I could even think of is, you know, some Spurs fans 712 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:17,199 were really worried, you know, the team is moving to Austin. You 713 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:21,400 know, rest assured that I don't think that's happening. You know, between 714 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,480 Wimby coming here, they just uh, they're they're gonna break or open not 715 00:42:24,559 --> 00:42:27,920 just break ground. They already broke ground, but they're gonna open up there. 716 00:42:28,199 --> 00:42:31,760 You know, multi hundred million dollar training facility and medical center like the 717 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:35,519 Spurs are here to stay in San Antonio. They're not going anywhere. So 718 00:42:35,519 --> 00:42:37,519 if there are any Spurs fans listening, you know they're not They're not leaving 719 00:42:37,559 --> 00:42:42,119 San Antonio. That's that's where they're gonna be. That's their home. You 720 00:42:42,119 --> 00:42:45,599 know, they're they're synonymous with the city. I am very interested to see 721 00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:50,880 the one thing I mentioned how many national TV games they get next year, 722 00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,719 because the league was very invested in Wemban Yama before he was even a part 723 00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:58,880 of it. Yeah, and they made it a point to make his games 724 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:01,480 a lot of his games excess at least. And now I'm just curious as 725 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:05,599 to he's here, and like we saw it, we saw like the Zion 726 00:43:05,679 --> 00:43:08,280 effect in New Orleans that first year. I'm just curiously what it's gonna be 727 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:12,360 like with women Yama, who feels like, I don't want to get into 728 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,519 the all time best prospects stuff, but it does feel like he ended up 729 00:43:15,559 --> 00:43:20,599 being hyped up more than Zion even was, who was super accessible because he 730 00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:24,360 played at Duke And I guess maybe it's it felt like the league it maybe 731 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:27,800 it felt like he was more hyped up because the league had to go out 732 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,039 of their way to feature him because he was playing abroad, so I might 733 00:43:30,119 --> 00:43:35,079 just be sort of misinterpreting things there. But I'm you know, if i'd 734 00:43:35,079 --> 00:43:37,880 just set the over under it, like I don't know, I don't even 735 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:40,800 know, like seven or nine, Like even that feels too low with just 736 00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:45,599 how much they were trying to push beyond fans this year, Yeah, I 737 00:43:45,599 --> 00:43:49,000 would expect him to him And this may sound crazy, but I kind of 738 00:43:49,039 --> 00:43:52,360 think anywhere between ten to fifteen would not be out of the realm of possibility. 739 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,519 And I think the Spurs will have a Christmas game for the first time, 740 00:43:55,559 --> 00:44:00,000 and like I don't know, probably a decade. Like like I I 741 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:02,800 don't know how much people really care about the Christmas games, but I know 742 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:07,360 some fans really do. And I think he'll be featured in that game or 743 00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:09,000 the Spurs will be you know, he is going to be synonymous with the 744 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:13,599 team now, so I think they'll get quite a few games. And as 745 00:44:13,599 --> 00:44:16,440 far as like the Zion when I do think Wemby is like once in a 746 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:22,039 generation like Alteimer Prospect, like he's up there with you know, the Lebron 747 00:44:22,159 --> 00:44:25,199 James Is. He's up there with like the you know, Sidney Crosby's and 748 00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:29,840 the Bryce Harpers, who are like talked about when they're teenagers as like franchise 749 00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:32,480 saviors before they're even professionals. So I think he'll have a ton of games. 750 00:44:34,599 --> 00:44:37,920 What would be the broke the TV ratings? Christmas matchup? Wemby versus 751 00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:43,320 Is it Wemby versus Oh an old head like Lebron or Steph or is it 752 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,239 Wenby versus like Luca or Wemby versus Zion. I wouldn't go to the ladder 753 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:51,880 routs because you can't count on Zion being healthy for Christmas game. Yeah, 754 00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,079 I think I don't even have like is it is it Wemby versus? I 755 00:44:55,119 --> 00:44:59,320 mean, like Wemby versus Lebron just because of the Lakers might make the most 756 00:45:00,119 --> 00:45:02,639 just sort of passing up the torch and they could have their debates about who 757 00:45:02,679 --> 00:45:06,880 was the more hyped up prospect. But I didn't even give thought to the 758 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:08,960 Christmas game, but only the national TV stuff. I'm gonna go with double 759 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:13,119 digit national TV games for the Spurs, though maybe that's overly ambitious, but 760 00:45:13,199 --> 00:45:16,960 given the again, given how much the league wanted to make him accessible before 761 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:21,199 he was in the league, I'm going to think that they really are going 762 00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:24,760 to push him well now that he's here. Now I'm right there with you. 763 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:28,360 I think there's gonna be a ton of games, and I think I'm 764 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,639 with you on the Lakers Spurs game too, Like there is also kind of 765 00:45:30,639 --> 00:45:35,239 a low key historic rivalry there. You've got a lot of things going for 766 00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:37,480 you in that matchup, so I could see it for the Christmas Day matchup 767 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,639 for sure. Noah, this was fantastic. Is always thank you so much 768 00:45:40,639 --> 00:45:44,320 for your time, you're able to tell our listeners where they can find you 769 00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:46,920 and all the fantastic work that you do. Yeah, first and foremost, 770 00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:50,400 thank you so much for having me. I always have a blast talking Spurs 771 00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,400 basketball, especially with you, so really happy to do that. But they 772 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:55,440 can find me all on Twitter at n Underscore, Magaro, m A G 773 00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:59,960 A r Oh. You can find my writing at Air Alamo. You can 774 00:46:00,039 --> 00:46:04,079 listen to our podcast Alamos City Limits wherever you get your podcasts, and you 775 00:46:04,119 --> 00:46:06,119 can also check out my YouTube channel. We're gonna go, you know, 776 00:46:06,159 --> 00:46:07,559 get back into that. We're gonna be doing film breakdowns. It's just my 777 00:46:07,639 --> 00:46:10,360 name, Norma guard George. So again, just thank you so much. 778 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:14,000 I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and talk about the Spurs. 779 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:15,880 Yeah, and again, thank you for your time and if you again, 780 00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:19,239 I would appreciate. If you're not following him, now would be a great 781 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,239 time to start at end Underscore. Margaro Wemby is in San Antonio. It's 782 00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:28,239 gonna be one hell of a ride.