Mitch's Preaching To The Choir/Can We Get The Wins A Little Higher...With Fox and Wemby We Gon Be Your Idol - 2025 San Antonio Spurs Season Thread

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EDIT: The Coli (for now) is back live. Saving this writeup for historical purposes in the event it disappears again.

Giving the mega-thread a try. Below, relive the start of the Wemby era in San Antonio. Click above to go to the specific season's outlook. #GoSpursGo

Draft Day is upon us, Spurs brethren. Seems like as good a time as any to kick off a new season thread for the Silver and Black. :banderas:

One of my favorite horror movies (although technically not a movie) growing up was Stephen King's IT. I was 8 years old :flabbynsick:, but to a kid like me, the OG Pennywise was a god-tier monster.

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Thanks to the reboot, most of y'all know the story of Pennywise. Killer clown/cosmic entity that returns once every 27 years or so to wreak havoc on the town of Derry, ME. Even when thought to be defeated, he returns again.

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There are no killer clowns in San Antonio. However, it seems like every decade or so, there's an event that shakes up the city, the Spurs and the NBA itself...

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In 1987, the Spurs won the NBA draft lottery to land David Robinson, an OG top 50 player of all time and hall of famer.

In 1997, the Spurs won the NBA draft lottery to land Tim Duncan, the greatest player to put a San Antonio uniform on and certified top 10 of all time.

Following nearly 30 years of non-stop winning, the wheels finally fell off in 2017 when Kawhi Leonard went on sabbatical and tanked the Spurs season (and future). The monster created by lotto victories of the past was dead...

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...or so we thought.



36 years after the Spurs won the right to draft David Robinson, and 26 years after they won the right to draft Tim Duncan, the Spurs struck lotto gold again. Team Tank won. Victor Wembanyama, the basketball version of Slender Man himself, is coming to South Texas.


This is why we dusted off the tank after 26 years. After the retirement of DunGawd and the meddling of Uncle Dennis, the future seemed bleak. But Pop, Brian Wright, R.C. Buford and co. had a plan. Stack draft picks, deal treadmill champs DeRozan, LMA and Murray away, and lock in on the 2023 draft. The plan worked, and now, in a matter of hours, the new franchise star will be here.


The OP will likely see a few edits in the days to come (if not hours should the Spurs do something crazy to trade back into the first around for another pick). For now, we're looking at a potential swiss army knife lineup like the following:

PG: Jeremy Sochan (a jumper away from being a real problem in this league)
SG: Devin Vassell (when healthy, looks like the best combo of offense and defense on the perimeter)
SF: Keldon Johnson (not the ideal spot for him defensively, but more on that in a minute)
PF: Victor Wembanyama (a true alien on the court who can erase every defensive breakdown on the perimeter)
C: Zach Collins (should handle the dirty work in the paint)

There's been talk of letting Sochan run the point given Tre Jones potential FA status (as well as the fact that Tre probably shouldn't be starting for any team with title aspirations). And that is what the chatter is now. Forget a 15-year rebuild (sup Dejounte :sas2:).


The window has now opened again in San Antonio. Go Spurs Go!

Draft Picks: Victor Wembanyama, Sidy Cissoko
Key Additions: Tre Jones; Julian Champagnie; Sandro Mamukelashvili; Cedi Osman;
Key Losses: Keita Bates-Diop


 
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2024 Offseason Outlook

Here's my current "entering the offseason" outlook of the roster. I'll link this in the OP too for easy reference.

STARTING LINEUP:
PG: Chris Paul
(joins the Spurs about 8 years too late, but finally provides some much-needed vet leadership/accountability for the non-Vic youngins)
SG: Devin Vassell (entering year 5. Entering true prime but needs to show he can stay healthy (yet to play more than 71 games in a season))
SF: Harrison Barnes (the big summer 2024 acquisition? Career 38% 3 point shooter offers an overall upgrade at SF from last year)
PF: Jeremy Sochan (the numbers tell you he's one of the better defenders in the league. Really needs to develop his jumper)
C: Victor Wembanyama (already a top-10 player. Should be unlocked offensively with a true point guard setting the table for him)

BENCH:
PG: Stephen Castle
PG: Tre Jones
SG: Blake Wesley
SG: Sidy Cissoko
SF: Keldon Johnson
SF: Malaki Branham
SF: Julian Champagnie
PF: Sandro Mamukelashvili
C: Zach Collins
C: Charles Bassey

Draft Picks: Stephen Castle, Juan Nunez, Harrison Ingram
Key Additions: Chris Paul; Harrison Barnes
Key Losses: Devonte Graham; Cedi Osman
Future First Round Draft Picks: 2025 (Spurs; Hawks; Bulls Top 10 protected; Hornets Top 14 protected); 2026 (Spurs; Hawks swap); 2027 (Spurs; Hawks); 2028 (Spurs; Boston swap (top 1 protected); 2029 (Spurs); 2030 (Spurs; Mavs pick swap; Wolves pick swap top 1 protected); 2031 (Spurs; Wolves; Kings swap)
 
2025 Offseason Outlook

The Summer of 2025 was circled on the Spurs calendar ever since the Dejounte Murray trade took place. Cap space. The draft pick of a team with a semi-disgruntled star. Wemby! There was chatter that the Spurs could compete for at least a play-in spot once they brought in veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes in the '24 offseason. But as a wise man once said...

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June 26, 2024 - Devin Vassell undergoes foot surgery and would miss 15 of the first 25 games of the season.

November 1, 2024 - Coach Pop suffers a stroke. He would never coach another game.

November 4, 2024 - Jeremy Sochan fractures his thumb and would miss a month.

December 31, 2024 - Jeremy Sochan injures his back and would miss 6 of the next 8 games.

February 2, 2025 - sitting at 21-25, some good news. De'Aaron Fox is acquired for pennies on the dollar after he demanded a trade to San Antonio.

February 20, 2025 - Victor Wembanyama is diagnosed with a blood clot in his shoulder and would miss the remainder of the season.

March 18, 2025 - 11 games under .500, De'Aaron Fox undergoes season-ending hand surgery on his shooting hand, ending his season.

The Spurs would finish the season at 34-48, a 12 win improvement from the previous season. They had the 8th best odds in the draft and also wrote off the potential of amazing value from the Hawks' 1st rounder they owned when the Hawks snuck into the play-in. The ATL pick did fall into the lottery when the Hawks failed to advance out of the play-in. However, some of the ice on the frozen envelope from Dallas (thanks to the Luka stimulus package to LA) fell on the Spurs envelope, and the lotto gods shined once again to net the Spurs the #2 overall pick in the 2025 draft.


Now that the draft and the main portion of Free Agency are out of the way, here's my current offseason outlook of the roster. I'll link this in the OP too for easy reference.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP:
PG: De'Aaron Fox
(will be 100% by training camp following surgery to a tendon in his shooting hand)
SG: Stephon Castle (reigning ROY. Will have to see how the fit with Fox looks after the Spurs criminally gave CP3 82 starts last season)
SF: Devin Vassell (offseason foot surgery last season derailed early campaign. He'd be better off the bench, but money guarantees starting nod)
PF: Jeremy Sochan (we've reached the Ben Simmons shooting clips portion of his career. Put up or shut up time for his jumper)
C: Victor Wembanyama (seems fully recovered from DVT/no travel restrictions. Most talented supporting cast he's had in his career)

BENCH:
PG: Dylan Harper
PG: Jordan McLaughlin
SF: Harrison Barnes
SF: Keldon Johnson
SF: Julian Champagnie
SF: Carter Bryant
PF: Kelly Olynyk
C: Luke Kornet

Draft Picks: Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant
Key Additions: Dylan Harper's Mom; Mitch Johnson (coach); Luke Kornet; Kelly Olynyk; David Jones-Garcia; Lindy Waters III
Key Losses: GREGG POPOVICH!!!; Chris Paul; Blake Wesley; Malaki Branham; Sandro Mamukelashvilli
Future First Round Draft Picks: 2026 (Spurs/Hawks swap); 2027 (Hawks); 2028 (Spurs; Boston swap (top 1 protected); 2029 (Spurs); 2030 (Spurs; Mavs pick swap; Wolves pick swap top 1 protected); 2031 (Spurs/Kings swap)

Defense and rebounding took severe hits whenever Wemby would leave the floor last season. The Spurs locked in on those deficiencies with the FA signing of Luke Kornet and the trade for Kelly Olynyk. And then there's the less-heralded rook of the two draft picks this summer. Carter Bryant has the makings of becoming an elite defense presence in the NBA, and his jumper is pure. If he can become the 3&D specialist we've been searching for since Danny Green (and Bruce Bowen before him), CB could be an amazing asset for us.


Harper looked solid in his first summer action as well. He looks like he'll be living in the paint early on.


Health-permitting, this Spurs team should push for at least 45 wins and a play-in spot. My ceiling for them is a 6th seed and a competitive first round series, which is fine as this team needs some playoff experience. If it can't reach that goal, serious discussions need to be had about Vassell and Sochan's futures with the team (I think the writing is already on the wall for Keldon, but he's so well-liked in the locker room that he may be untouchable barring a can't-refuse type deal). In a perfect world, Vassell would come off the bench and we'd be looking at a starting 5 of Fox/Castle/Barnes/Wemby/Kornet. This would be a good mix of offense/defense and allow Wemby to play his preferred PF spot. A bench spot gives Vassell more opportunity to create instead of standing on the side watching Fox go to work. Harper is in a weird spot as well given Fox and Castle's existence on the roster, but he's the son of a pro and a great talent, so he'll get his run regardless with the potential to usurp Castle and end up in the starting lineup. Lots of options for Mitch in his first year as the head coach.

One final thought, don't extend Sochan's contract until next offseason. :ufdup:

GO SPURS GO!
 
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