Tag: 2023-23 san antonio spurs

San Antonio gets mediocre marks midway through 2023-24 in new Bleacher Report assessment

When it comes to grading the Spurs at the midpoint — more or less — of the season, one has to get a bit granular.

The San Antonio Spurs are, by and large, the ball club most of us thought they would be at the start of the NBA’s 2023-24 season. A rebuilding organization focusing more on skill development than their win total, and with a host of raw prospects surrounding the franchise cornerstone Victor Wembanyama, that makes all the sense in the world.

They might have had more wins in an ideal world where adding additional lottery talents to the mix through the resulting draft pick such a bad season tends to provide. But when it comes to grading the Spurs at the midpoint — more or less — of the season, one has to get a bit granular to give San Antonio marks worth reflecting on.

But that is exactly what Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey did in a recent full-league assessment, who writes that the “San Antonio Spurs’ season-long numbers still look like a full-fledged basketball disaster, but Victor Wembanyama looks more like a bona fide star with every passing week.”

Who’ll stick on the San Antonio Spurs roster past the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline?

Whoever is left when the deadline passes will have a tough row to hoe in terms of wins, but a very bright future alongside Wemby.

The NBA’s 2024 trade deadline is less than a month away, and it is one of the league’s worst-kept secrets that the San Antonio Spurs are planning on making moves. The question surrounding San Antonio’s front office is just how many moves — as well as which players for what targets.

Will we recognize this club when the dust settles on the Feb. 8 limit on exchanging players for the 2023-24 season? With rumors that veteran forwards Doug McDermott and Cedi Osman are on the market for the Spurs, we can be fairly certain that the ball club will get younger. We have also heard rumbles about a potential reunion with the Atlanta Hawks’ Dejounte Murray, or perhaps a trade for a less costly floor general to pair with rookie star forward Victor Wembanyama.

Whoever is left when the deadline passes will have a tough row to hoe in terms of wins, but a very bright future alongside Wemby.

The hosts of the “Locked On Spurs” podcast recently weighed in on this very question; check out the above to hear their answers!

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Shams: Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama set to participate in All-Star Week’s Skills Challenge

Wemby is reportedly going to play in the 2024 All-Star Skills Challenge as well as the Rising Stars contest.

While it does not seem especially likely that San Antonio Spurs wunderkind rookie forward Victor Wembanyama will be suiting up to play for the West in this year’s NBA All-Star game, the Frenchman is reportedly set to take part in All-Star Week events just the same.

Wemby is reportedly going to play in the 2024 All-Star Skills Challenge as well as the Rising Stars contest per recent reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The former No. 1 pick will not be the first big man to take part in the Skills Challenge as it has been won by the likes of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns and Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo in the past.

But he is uniquely talented even for a big and especially for a rookie, which should add plenty of intrigue to an otherwise mediocre event that tends to be overshadowed by the dunk contest and 3-point shootout.

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Stein: San Antonio has ‘made available’ Doug McDermott, Cedi Osman for trade

“A trade before this season’s deadline, sources say, is much more likely,” writes Stein.

It seems that the San Antonio Spurs are looking to move on from a pair of veteran wings currently on the team’s roster. In a recent report that echoes what we have been hearing from Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, his fellow podcast host and Substack legend Marc Stein is echoing those reports.

“Doug McDermott and Cedi Osman are two veterans that the Spurs have made available before the Feb. 8 deadline — with both players (McDermott at $13.8 million at Osman at $6.7 million) on expiring contracts,” writes Stein of the wings in question. While McDermott is the elder of the two at 32, he is shooting a sizzling 46.8 from deep this season, and will likely garner attention from fringe contenders looking for a short-term offensive boost to their roster.

Osman, at 28, may not be quite the long-distance marksman, but he is shooting a healthy 36.7 from 3, and can pass the ball a bit.

“The Spurs could have traded McDermott last season but decided, in the end, against parting ways,” adds Stein. “A trade before this season’s deadline, sources say, is much more likely.”

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San Antonio Spurs jump three spots in Bleacher Report’s power rankings

San Antonio being graced with the first career triple-double of wunderkind rookie Victor Wembanyama is something worth noting.

Things are looking up for the San Antonio Spurs in the estimation of Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey, who has raised the Spurs from the penultimate spot in B/R’s weekly power rankings to No. 26 overall. Per Bailey, San Antonio being graced with the first career triple-double of wunderkind rookie Victor Wembanyama is something worth noting.

“Wemby went for 16 points, 12 boards and 10 assists in a 22-point win over (the Detroit Pistons). And over his last six games, he’s averaging 23.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.7 blocks,” writes the B/R league analyst of the Frenchman’s big breakout game.

“With this recent stretch, he’s surged into top-40-to-50 status in the league, and it’s no surprise his team may be looking to make a win-now move before the deadline,” adds Bailey, alluding to recent rumbles that the Spurs could make a move to improve the roster construction with a real point guard.

Perhaps even one as good as could be had if rumors about interest in a Dejounte Murray reunion actually materialize.

We think a smaller move might be on the table if San Antonio did go this route — think a target on the level of Portland Trail Blazers floor general Malcolm Brogdon — but a starter quality point guard would do wonders for this ball club.

And even a hint of such developments coupled with improved play from Wembanyama justifies a boost in the rankings in our estimation as well.

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What would the San Antonio Spurs do if the 2024 NBA trade deadline were today?

B/R thinks trading for “an All-Star-caliber point guard to jump-start this offense and create more easy opportunities for Wembanyama should be a priority.”

What would the San Antonio Spurs do if the 2024 NBA trade deadline were today? According to one NBA analyst, they would speed up their rebuild. Per Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, ball clubs “with 6-30 records and in last place in their conference don’t typically buy at the trade deadline, although these Spurs aren’t in a typical spot.”

Noting that famed head coach Gregg Popovich is no spring chicken with his 75th birthday set to arrive later this month, the B/R analyst notes “San Antonio already has its franchise building block in Victor Wembanyama and plenty of medium-to-high upside talents around him.”

“With cap space coming and plenty of future first-rounders ready to trade, the Spurs can speed up the rebuild at any time.”

Citing the reported interest of a reunion with former San Antonio floor general Dejounte Murray, Swartz thinks trading for “an All-Star-caliber point guard to jump-start this offense and create more easy opportunities for Wembanyama should be a priority.”

“Having nearly guaranteed a top pick in the 2024 draft already, the Spurs shouldn’t be afraid to buy.”

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Do the Spurs need to trade for a point guard at the NBA trade deadline?

Or is skill development of the players on the roster now a bigger priority?

For some fans of the San Antonio Spurs looking at a ball club clearly more focused on developing Victor Wembanyama and his young teammates, the question of what the Spurs need at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline may not seem to be an important one.

But speculation abounds nonetheless, and for The Athletic’s Kelly Iko, San Antonio ought to add a new face to its backcourt. “If it took an injury to Malaki Branham to finally get Tre Jones named as a starter, I’m not sure how else to say the Spurs need a point guard,” writes the Athletic reporter.

Extolling the potential of Wemby, Keldon Johnson, and Devin Vassell, Iko notes that “Jeremy Sochan isn’t a lead ballhandler, but he’s lengthy, a solid defender and versatile.”

“They’re missing an organizer,” he suggests. There’s a non-zero chance that is no accident given the team’s plans to hone skills a winning focus would make fraught.

But Iko is correct to note that it “shouldn’t take 35 games into the season to realize (an organizer is lacking) … there’s no way San Antonio should be this bad.”

Unless it’s the future one is more focused on, though we would like to see what Wembanyama and Co. look like with a serious NBA point guard. Is it too soon, or will we see Dejounte Murray back in a Spurs uniform, or someone similar? Only time can tell.

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Has San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama turned the corner this season?

Is Wembanyama finding his footing, or is this just a short-term hot streak?

Has San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama turned the corner this season after an uneven start to 2023-24? Ever since the French big man had himself a 30-point breakout game against former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month, Wemby has been looking good for the Spurs.

Averaging 20 points and 8 rebounds per game in recent tilts, the budding San Antonio star is showing a surprising amount of maturity in his game for his age, and vocal leadership on a young ball club that needs it. His court vision and positioning on the court has been improving as well. Is Wembanyama finding his footing, or is this just a short-term hot streak?

The host of the “Locked On Spurs” podcast, Jeff Garcia, linked up with AP Radio’s Raul Flores to talk over how the French big man has been playing — and if they think it will continue.

Check it out in the clip above!

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Is San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama living up to his considerable hype?

Some analysts are questioning whether he has lived up to early expectations given the Spurs’ paltry win totals in 2023-24.

Is San Antonio Spurs rookie wunderkind Victor Wembanyama living up to his considerable hype so far this season? To be fair, there has been as much hype surrounding the French big man since his arrival in the NBA as there has any young prospect entering the league since perhaps as far back as LeBron James.

Those absolutely immense shoes should not be easy for anyone to walk in, yet Wemby has shown some serious flashes of the generational player he may turn out to become one day. His physical gifts need refining, however, if he is ever to attain such heights in the league (no pun intended for the 7-foot-4 forward), which has some analysts questioning whether he has lived up to early expectations given the Spurs’ paltry win totals in 2023-24.

Such was the topic du jour on Fox Sports “Odd Couple” show, which had hosts Chris Broussard and Rob Parker debating just how impactful Wemby has been so far this season.

Check it out above!

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Spurs’ Zach Collins on his play this season, his contract extension, and more

The Gonzaga alum recently sat down with host Emily Austin of the “Hoop Chat” podcast,

San Antonio Spurs big man Zach Collins is in the midst of one of the best seasons of his NBA career in 2023-24, putting up career highs in points and assists despite the addition of wunderkind rookie forward Victor Wembanyama to the Spurs’ frontcourt rotation.

The Gonzaga alum recently sat down with host Emily Austin of the “Hoop Chat” podcast to talk about his improved play this season. They also got into him finding his way as a player after several injury-filled campaigns with San Antonio and the Portland Trail Blazers, his recent contract extension, and how the season is going for the Spurs so far among several other topics.

Collins and Austin even get into the NBA’s new in-season tournament and some celebrity look-alikes of some current player in the league later in the conversation.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear Collins’ interview on the “Hoop Chat” pod.

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