With the NBA's official Free Agency period approaching, let's take a look at the approach the San Antonio Spurs will use as they look to build around generational talent Victor Wembenayama this summer. It's a plan that first requires some fessing up from Gregg Popovich.
โYou know that's a lie,โ the Hall of Fame coach said when alluding to comments he'd made previously about how he doesn't get involved in the team's free agent decisions.
โSure, we all do. This isn't a one, two, three man show. RC's involved, Brian's involved, Brian's staff, all my coaches, myself,โ Popovich continued, mentioning the organization's general manger Brian Wright and president R.C. Buford.
โWe don't care where the ideas come from we want everybody's opinions. Try to triangulate and see where most of the sentiment falls. Do we want this, that or the other? Do we want to let this person go, sign this free agent, trade this person? All those things are discussed broadly. It's always been and always be that way as long as I'm here.โ
Gregg Popovich on tracking Spurs' needs
For the winningest coach of all time, what happened through the first portion of this past season, the first with Wemby, will help drive what the team does in the coming months.
โThat's why we made a big deal in the team at the All-Star Break, seeing what we would do from there forward given what we had to go through in the beginning,โ Popovich revealed. โIf you check the top eight or ten stats on offense or defense, you'll see that we've gone from the end, the 28, 29, 30 to the mid range or lower in almost all those categories. So it's a huge jump.โ
The Spurs finished 22-60. Two of their core guys that often come up in off-season conversations are Keldon Johnson and Tre Jones.
โKeldon has become more of an all-around player rather than the bull in the China shop; give me ball, I go to rim. He's a little bit more nuanced in that now, which helps him,โ the longest tenured coach in the NBA said about the player regarded as their most โtradableโ piece when you factor in his contract, production and role on the team.
โTre has been Tre,โ Popovich said about the man who started at point guard for the majority of last season. โHe gets taken for granted because he does the same thing every night and gives a hundred percent of what he has. Everybody respects it and knows it and we need it. His consistency is off the charts.โ
While Jones manned the spot best for the Black and Silver last season, the point guard position was the most in flux. In last week's first round of the draft, the Spurs took Stephon Castle, who could play there.
โI wish the next season started, I need about a week and a half then I'll be ready to go,โ Popvovich said at the end of the 2023-2024 campaign. โThe players don't want to see me there soon so we'll take a little longer.โ
Since then, โA little longerโ has come as the Spurs get set for free agency.
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