Category: Spurs News

Best highlights from Spurs guard Tre Jones’ 2023-24 season

Relive some of Tre Jones’ best highlights from the 2023-24 San Antonio Spurs season.

At the beginning of the 2023-24 season, the San Antonio Spurs went with an unconventional starting lineup that saw Tre Jones come off the bench. They rocked with Jeremy Sochan at the point guard spot. However, once it became clear that wasn’t working, they switched things up, giving Jones the reins as the team’s starting point guard – a much more natural fit.

Though he played a couple fewer minutes per game, Jones looked good in his fourth NBA season. His numbers didn’t take a massive dip, his chemistry with Victor Wembanyama looked solid, and, most importantly, his efficiency improved. Overall, it was a solid year for the 24-year-old.

At the conclusion of the season, the Spurs posted a video of some of Jones’ best highlights from the 2023-24 season.

In a career-high 77 appearances for the Spurs, Jones averaged 10.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists while shooting 50.5% from the field and 33.5% from behind the three-point line.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Keldon Johnson’s 2023-24 end-of-season Spurs media availability

Watch San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson’s end-of-season media availability.

Heading into the season, most of the focus was on star rookie Victor Wembanyama. However, the San Antonio Spurs have a bunch of other talented players on their roster, one of whom is Keldon Johnson. However, with Wembanyama in place, Johnson’s role took a massive hit in terms of responsibility.

In addition, Johnson’s overall place on the team jumped around a bunch. He started some games at the beginning of the season, but he ended up coming off the bench a lot by the end of the season. As the Spurs move forward with Wembanyama at the center of their plans, Johnson’s future with the team is a bit up in the air.

Regardless, after his 2023-24 season, Johnson completed his end-of-year media availability, as posted by the Spurs on their YouTube channel.

In 69 appearances for the Spurs in the 2023-24 season, Johnson averaged 15.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 45.4% from the field and 34.6% from behind the three-point line.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Spurs star Devin Vassell’s end-of-season media availability

Check out the end-of-season media availability for San Antonio Spurs star Devin Vassell.

After an injury-plagued year in the 2022-23 season, Devin Vassell came into this year with something to prove. He looked great in the games he appeared in when he wasn’t injured, but this time around, next to star rookie Victor Wembanyama, Vassell turned things up a notch and turned into a legitimate star wing.

Vassell’s perimeter scoring was crucial to the success of the Spurs, and his ball-handling abilities steadily improved, too. Most importantly, however, Vassell’s chemistry next to Wembanyama got better and better, and as San Antonio looks to make a push for the playoffs in coming years, that will be very important.

With the season having come and gone, Vassell did his end-of-season media availability, and the Spurs’ official YouTube channel posted the full video.

It was a great year for Vassell, and while the Spurs will look to add pieces this summer to help improve the team around Wembanyama, the star wing will undoubtedly be a huge part of their future.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Players vote Victor Wembanyama as best defender in the NBA

NBA players have voted San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama as the best defender in the league.

Every year, The Athletic conducts a poll where they ask players around the league multiple questions to get a gauge of what they think about certain topics. One of the questions is, “Who is the best defender in the NBA?” After just his rookie season, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama won the vote.

“Victor Wembanyama said last month that his friend and fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert would be a worthy winner of the 2023-24 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award,” wrote Sam Amick and Josh Robbins. “But Wembanyama also added that, in future seasons, he, and not Gobert, would be the front-runner. Their NBA peers, however, feel Wembanyama’s time has already arrived. Players voted the towering Spurs rookie as the league’s best defender right now.”

Players also dished out some high praise for Wembanyama.

“’He just makes it so hard to finish at the rim,’” one opponent said of Wembanyama,” Amick and Robbins cited. “Another player said: ‘He’s changing the game. Players — you can’t say ‘scared’ — but he’s changing their shots. He deserves it.'”

Wembanyama is only 20 years old, and he’s already earned the respect of his peers on the defensive end. The sky is the limit for the Spurs big man.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan’s end-of-season media availability

San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan recently did his end-of-season media availability.

This season started off very weirdly for Jeremy Sochan, as the San Antonio Spurs tried to run him at the point guard position. The forward had a bunch of trouble adjusting to the role, and the Spurs eventually moved him back into the frontcourt, leading to much more success both individually and as a team.

Sochan’s season was highlighted by a late-season performance against the Phoenix Suns. He led the Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs to a win over the Suns, finishing the night with 26 points and 18 rebounds. The 20-year-old forward still has a ton of room to grow, and now, he’ll be heading into his third NBA season next year.

At the conclusion of the season, Sochan conducted his end-of-season media availability, and the Spurs posted it on their YouTube channel.

This summer, Sochan will undoubtedly continue working on his outside shot, as that is the most glaring weakness in his game.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Are the San Antonio Spurs about to build a new arena?

We are hearing rumbles that this could be the case.

Could the San Antonio Spurs be about to splurge on a new arena for downtown San Antonio? We are hearing rumbles that this could be the case, with the arrival of star rookie forward Victor Wembanyama perhaps being part of the impetus to get a newer, better location to put some butts in seats to see the Wemby experience live.

Per Fox San Antonio’s Matt Roy, the Spurs’ parent company, Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), has let it be known that they are in the midst of an “economic development project” to be located at the site of the current Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC), which is owned by the University of Texas – San Antonio.

Writing the State Attorney’s office about the project, SSE said “The documents in the request relate to the possible purchase, lease, and/or development of real property that involve SS&E, the city, and additional third parties to the economic development project.”

“The location of the property has not been publicly disclosed and the terms of the project and any resulting agreement involving the location identified have not been agreed upon or finalized,” they add. “Prematurely disclosing the location of these properties will adversely affect all parties’ planning and negotiating positions including SS&E’s.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Hawks’ downfall continues to benefit Spurs at every turn

The downfall of the Atlanta Hawks could continue to help the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks will be forever intertwined. The Dejounte Murray trade helped the Spurs tank and get Wembanyama, and now, they own the Hawks’ future draft capital. Yet just a couple of seasons later, the Spurs could gain even more from the Hawks in a potential trade, as outlined by Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News.

“So now the Hawks enter the offseason forced to decide whether they want to keep trying to make the relationship work, or if they want to trade one of their star guards,” Finger wrote. “Because the rest of the league knows the Hawks don’t have much leverage here, they probably won’t get their desired return for either.

“And if they have to settle? Chances are, their record will suffer, and the picks in the Spurs’ pockets will keep soaring in value. Last year, Atlanta helped them land Wembanyama. In the years to come, the Hawks can help them land a quality sidekick or three, whether the Spurs make those picks themselves or use them in a blockbuster trade.”

Trae Young is the most obvious name the Spurs could target in a deal, but bringing back Murray could make some sense, too.

Past that, guys like Bogdan Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter, and AJ Griffin are all names to watch as the Hawks reshape their roster.

San Antonio should be on the prowl this summer, and Atlanta may be the prey.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Previewing the San Antonio Spurs’ upcoming offseason

What will the San Antonio Spurs’ offseason look like?

The San Antonio Spurs’ season has come to an end. They finished in 14th in the Western Conference, but they ended their year on a high note, winning seven of their last 11 games. Now comes the hard part, as the Spurs will enter the summer looking to improve, with Victor Wembanyama at the center of all their plans.

Wembanyama just wrapped up a phenomenal rookie season, and San Antonio will undoubtedly want to capitalize on it as soon as possible. They’ll have a chance to improve their roster around him through multiple outlets, including the 2024 NBA Draft, free agency, and the trade market.

The Utility Sports YouTube channel recently discussed a potential preview of the Spurs offseason, going over what they could do throughout the summer to improve.

Whether it be through the draft or free agency, one thing is for certain: The Spurs are ready to help Wembanyama win, and it all starts this offseason.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

San Antonio Spurs receive brutal grade for 2023-24 season

The San Antonio Spurs got a terrible grade for their 2023-24 campaign.

Despite the entrance of Victor Wembanyama onto the scene, the San Antonio Spurs still finished the season with one of the worst records in the league. They didn’t come anywhere close to postseason basketball, and because of that, Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, who handed out season grades for every team, gave them a pretty rough mark.

“If the goal was to be bad again, then the San Antonio Spurs can safely proclaim “mission accomplished.” However, there were pretty obvious moves staring them in the face early in the season that would’ve made this a more competitive campaign,” Bailey wrote. “Had Gregg Popovich played Victor Wembanyama more with a traditional point guard, lined him up at center or pulled the plug on the “Jeremy Sochan as lead playmaker” experiment earlier, San Antonio would have won more games.

“Despite having one of the league’s worst overall net ratings, the Spurs were plus-9.0 points per 100 possessions when Wembanyama, Tre Jones and Devin Vassell were all on the floor. But San Antonio didn’t make any of those moves, at least not early enough. And it’s probably fine that it didn’t. Again, another bad record means another high draft pick. And nothing from this season was more important than Wembanyama’s individual play.”

The Spurs are all about the future, and this season may ultimately help prepare them for that, but it certainly was ugly.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Keldon Johnson says Spurs are ‘striving in the right direction’

Keldon Johnson is very excited about the future of the San Antonio Spurs.

When the San Antonio Spurs began this season, there were high expectations for rookie Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foor-4 Frenchman was heralded as one of the best prospects in decades, and throughout the year, he lived up to those sky-high expectations. Wembanyama has been amazing this season, and with him, the Spurs have steadily improved.

Though they finished toward the bottom of the Western Conference, they picked up the pace toward the end of the season. They won seven of their last 11 games, most of which were without some of their core players, as San Antonio shut some people down for the season.

Keldon Johnson is very excited about the future of the team. (H/t Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News)

“Even when we don’t win, we’re still getting better,” Johnson said. “I feel like we are striving in the right direction. I feel like we are right there and it is only a matter of time.”

With Wembanyama, Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and others, the Spurs are set up for a great next few years of basketball, at the very least.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]