It's an exciting time to be a Spurs fan. A franchise not exactly accustomed to missing the playoffs, they've done just that for the past four seasons during a transitionary period which followed two consecutive first round losses in the postseason.
But while last season was, from a results perspective, the worst in their history, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about their future. One of them, of course, is a really tall Frenchman. And though expectations for both Victor Wembanyama's first season and his career moreover are skyhigh, believe it or not there are other players on this team, too, a couple of whom have plenty of talent of their own.
Malaki Branham showed plenty in his first year, while Devin Vassell just keeps getting better and Keldon Johnson is a solid player who will be even better with a few better players around him. But it's one of the Spurs' most unique players who should be taking the biggest step in his second season in the league.
Why Jeremy Sochan can have a breakout 2023-24 season
Jeremy Sochan entered the league as the number nine pick from the 2022 draft, a unique big man capable of moves as quirky as his myriad hairstyles on the court. In his first season, he lived up to the billing.
He was certainly not perfect, and as he does, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had no hesitation in pulling him from the court and leaving him off it after particularly egregious errors. Overall, however, it was a really impressive first season, especially given how much improvement he showed from the first half of the season to the second.
Over the course of the entire season, he averaged 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. But an inability to hit threes with any sort of decent efficiency as well as some woeful free throw shooting meant he averaged just 7.5 points in his first 24 games. Those issues were far from completely rectified by season's end and his shooting touch remains his biggest area for improvement, but it got better and combined with his pesky defense, ability to score in multiple other ways and playmaking ability, made him stand out as one of the more intriguing prospects in the league.
That rapid development over the course of his first season bodes well for what could be to come in his second. This season, he'll be sharing the floor with his giant new French ami in Wembanyama, and coach Pop will be hoping they form a potent duo at both ends of the floor.
Popovich isn't exactly the kind of coach who likes his offense to run through one player, and this incarnation of the Spurs will be no different. They've got plenty of different scoring and playmaking options, and Sochan won't be dominating the ball by any means. But he'll still be tasked with plenty of responsibility, and has shown that he's more than capable of rising to the challenge.
He had a couple of big scoring games last season which demonstrated his potential in that regard, but he's also got the ability to ultimately average a whole lot more than the 2.5 assists he managed last season – particularly with a 7'4″ behemoth sharing the front court with him.
The 2023-24 season will be just Jeremy Sochan's second in the NBA, and he'll still be a long way from the player he ultimately can become in the league. But after a promising first season, he should be looking to piggyback of his strong second half of his rookie season and put together a second year which will make the league sit up and take notice.
Follow Us
Subscribe
