Transcription
Hey there everyone. Welcome back to Utility Sports presented by Prize Pick. So excited for today's video as we're going to dive into a San Antonio Spurs offseason preview. Continuing our offseason preview series here on the channel.
And Spurs fans, I know you're probably a bit devastated, wishing you're not seeing this video right now, but unfortunately, a loss in the NBA Finals, four games to one to the New York Knicks, now pushes the emphasis for San Antonio into the offseason. How do they improve? What steps do they take to get back to the NBA finals and hopefully win it next time around? We'll talk about all of that in today's video. So, be sure to leave a like and subscribe. Spurs fans, you know I've got you covered for the offseason stuff here on the channel.
So, in today's video preview, first of all, we'll obviously look at a season recap. That is the best place to start with all of these offseason previews. You need a good glimpse at where this team most recently was. And of course, the Spurs achieved at a very high level this year. We'll then look at the NBA draft. The Spurs do have multiple draft picks to use in the two nights of the NBA draft this year, which is coming up very quickly on Tuesday, June 23rd and Wednesday, June 24th. We'll then look at NBA draft prospects to consider, NBA free agency situation. Do the Spurs have cap space or not? What exceptions do they have access to? We'll look at trade possibilities and extensions. The cap table's such an interesting situation for the Spurs right now because they have such great young talent that isn't getting paid a lot, but they do have some high salary players, some big cap holds as well.
Then we'll look at an early outlook for next season, of course, sandwiching the breadandbut content for the offseason is the things that really matter, the seasons, this most recent year and then next year because, you know, winning June and July is always great. It feels good for fans, but winning October through June is really what matters the most in the NBA. Spurs did a great job of that this year, and they're looking to build off of that going forward into the summer here so that they can take those next steps for next season.
So, let's dive into that season recap. Now, the Spurs finished the year with a 62 and 20 record. They had an unbelievable team defense, a real huge jump from where they were at a year ago. I went back and looked at some of their numbers from 2024-25. Uh, their team defensive rating that year was 117.2 and now it diminished and dwindled all the way down to 111.3, which is a significant growth for them. It's a testament to Mitch Johnson in the first full year he spent as head coach of the Spurs and obviously a real credit to Victor Wmanyama who is the biggest defensive game changer maybe in the history of the NBA. His combination of fluidity and mobility, shot blocking, length, timing, ability to defend on the perimeter, ability to stay out of foul trouble, anchor a team defense, and then still rebound the ball as well. Like there's so many things that every single game you turn the Spurs on, he just does something that you've never seen an NBA player do before. He's a one-of-a-one player. He's a special talent. LeBron said it best when he called him an alien. And I honestly just think like we're so lucky that we get to watch this guy play.
Now, unfortunately, he came up short in his first NBA Finals. Their loss to the Knicks was devastating. And I have this to say about that series. I felt like San Antonio controlled the series for the most part. I know they lost in five games. the overall series count. 4 to1 does not look very close or contested, but pretty much every single game was. And I feel like the Spurs had really good chances to win every single game. And I feel like not only do we maybe see a little bit of youth on the court, but I feel like we saw a lot of youth on the sidelines. Mitch Johnson, again, it was his first full year of coaching the Spurs as the actual head coach of the organization. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't think he got out coached in the finals by Mike Brown pretty substantially. And Mike Brown's been along around for a long time. He's coached a lot of NBA games. And I feel like that experience did serve New York very well against San Antonio, not only on the floor, but on the sideline as well. And I think that's a good area for the Spurs to kind of take this season and grow from it because they had a lot of really great stuff. I liked their shallow looks offensively and horns. I liked a lot of the things that they do offensively. The drive and kick style play, the quick 0.5 decision-making from guys like Devin Vel and Julian Champeni who are two of my favorite wings to watch in the NBA because they understand who they are. They don't really play outside of themselves too much. They take care of the basketball. They shoot open shots. They swing the ball. There's a lot of really great stuff going on in San Antonio obviously and that's why they made it to an NBA Finals. They had a huge awesome Western Conference Finals win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. I feel like that was kind of a big moment for this franchise and for WBY and his career specifically and it kind of sapped them a little bit, I think, going into the finals where first two games maybe they just weren't mentally prepared to play. Maybe a little physically tired as well. New York ran through the Eastern Conference, demolished Cleveland, and the Spurs had a long sevengame series right before the NBA Finals. And I I'm not one for excuses. I'm not saying that's the reason the Spurs lost. Again, with the way the series played out, I think they should have won the finals. They were in position, in my opinion, to do so. They didn't get the job done. That's just point blank and simple.
And you can look at the lineups. The fact that Dearron Fox uh had such a bad finals and honestly struggled for long stretches of the season in one way or another, again, I don't want to completely throw Dearron Fox under the bus. I felt like he did a lot of really nice stuff for this first of the year, sometimes calming their offense down, being a go-to force for them at certain uh crunchtime moments, but there's really no way around it. He played poorly in the finals. And I think it was really headlined by the decision in game four to try and score up by one with the ball and the shot clock off. That was unbelievable to me. You open the door for something to go wrong and OG Anobi, was that something that went wrong? A huge block on one one end, a putback gamewinner on the other. And that really, in my opinion, solidified the series for the Knicks, going up 3-1 with three games to go in the series. Two of them would have been in San Antonio, but unfortunately for the Spurs, obviously game five was the end-all be-all for them with another 10 plus point lead blown in this series. And again, it just was unfortunate.
Dylan Harper, though, absolutely loved his game. Last year around the draft, I remained very firm pretty much the entire draft cycle that not only would Dylan Harper be the number two overall pick. But when the Spurs landed the second pick in the lottery, I stuck to my guns on that and said Harper's going to be the guy. People were saying, "Oh, should they trade the pick? Should they not draft Harper and draft someone else instead because they already have Castle and and Fox?" Think about how bad of a decision that would have been if they went a different direction. Dylan Harper is going to be an absolute beast. I loved him all draft cycle last year. He was number two on my board the entire year from October all the way through to the NBA draft. Like he's just such a special finish both tal like talent finishing the ball uh but also just a a really good processor and I think he's just starting to scratch the surface on who he can be on an NBA floor.
Carter Bryant might be the X-factor for this team long term. I I know a lot of Spurs fans are going to point to a need for a big forward, long, big, physical wing. Carter Bryant kind of answered the bell of that this postseason quite a bit. Spent some time in the Western Conference Finals defending SGA. I felt like he was able to really bother him for stretches and I honestly was shocked they didn't go to him a little bit more in the NBA finals, throw him at Brunson a little bit more frequently, and even sometimes throw him at Cat. We just didn't get to see a lot of that. But I do think going forward like Bryant's and uh development is going to be huge for them. I think there's going to be a lot of excitement and intrigue in their organization about his future. Uh, you know, he was such an interesting prospect coming out of Arizona because he was a low volume, low usage player, uh, who had obvious NBA characteristics, traits, frame, athletic tools, and enough shooting talent to at least be passable. And I feel like that's kind of how it played out this year in his rookie season.
Kell Johnson won sixman of the year. Again, if you guys remember my awards show, I said I would have voted for Dylan Harper as sixman of the year if I had a vote. Uh, unfortunately, the votes did not go that way, but Kell, you know, Spurs fans love him, and for good reason. He plays with a lot of energy and passion. Uh, he's a really easy guy to root for, and it's always great seeing him succeed.
Then Luke Cornett, obviously, it was huge for them getting a backup five in general this past offseason. I didn't really love the number that they signed him for, but he was serviceable for them. I thought the postseason kind of showed some of his character flaws on the basketball court with some of the lack of mobility. Uh completely changing his shot diet over time where early in his career, a high volume three-point shooting big and he's just turned into an inside only center, which is a really interesting development. You typically think about it kind of operating the other way where inside bigs tend to try and add that three-point shot and Cornett's development's gone the exact opposite way to try and be more serviceable in a kind of clearly defined role. Uh I still think the Spurs do need a better backup five long term because the moment WBY comes off the floor their team identity kind of collapses massively. Uh and we'll see if they can address that in the 2026 NBA draft which they do have multiple picks in. They own the 20th overall pick, which is in the first round of course. And then they have three high second round picks. Three picks in the top 15 of the second round at picks 35, 42, and 44. So, four real opportunities to go and draft, add some young talent, get, especially with the second round exception, some cheap labor on the back end of their roster, which is important. Or we could see them maybe be aggressive. Do you want to pair 20 and 35 together? Try and move up into the 16, 17, 18 range. Maybe jump in front of OKC who has the 17th pick, for example. Or you could use 35, 42, and 44 and try and jump back into the end of the first round, maybe even, and get that kind of standard four-year NBA contract with the restricted free agency rights on the back end. Now, that's not really as essential as it used to be because of the second round exception rule, but something that they could still obviously look at if there's a guy they like and want to move up for. and end the first day of the draft with two first round picks instead of just one. So, some flexibility there for sure to work with.
And a couple of guys that I really like for them in that first round consist of Bennett Stirts from Iowa. And that's a player I know is going to be met with some question marks and some puzzling looks. But you can't deny like going into the postseason having a guard who is an elite pull-up shooter, a very high quality playmaker, passer to pick and roll, someone who reads the entire floor, never gets tired, his conditioning is topnotch. Like that's the kind of guy that would have been really useful for San Antonio against some of the defensive coverages they saw in pick and roll and isolation and transition offense. And Stur I think would be really a awesome for San Antonio. I think he would be such a great fit on and off the ball around guys like Castle and Harper while also being like supremely additive on the basketball. You think about the way that Trey Jones and Chris Paul were able to function alongside Victor Webmanyama where those two guys early in WBY's career were so additive around him. Feel like Bennett CS would be like the long-term answer to that kind of player archetype. Uh and I think in my opinion like at the stage of Chris Paul's career that he was at when he was in San Antonio and Trey Jones in general, like Curts is a far more talented player than either of those two guys. Obviously, Chris Paul's an all-time legend NBA player. So, I'm not comparing Certs to Prime CP3. Talking about end of career Chris Paul.
Henry Vasar is a guy I love a lot and would really, really love for San Antonio if they were able to get him at 20 because he is a skilled stretch big man who can function off the top of the key, flow into some of their DHOs like we see Luke Cornett do, but he's a little bit more dynamic as both a facilitator and a scorer. can obviously step out and shoot it. Uh, but has very good touch around the rim too. Super efficient as a rim finisher this past season. Uh, and anchored UNCC's defense to a supreme extent when he was on the floor. Now I'm not sure if there's a lot of Vasar Wemby combinations that you would see the Spurs lean into on one of the biggest things for San Antonio is basically just staggering their bigs where they play WBY as a five and then they bring in their backup five as the five and the two of them really don't share the court together a lot. Although they did a little bit. Um, Vasar, you know, maybe you could do that because they can both shoot it and it would be really interesting to see what that looks like with some high lows. Vasar was really good with Caleb Wilson in that kind of setting. So, it'd be very fascinating to see what that could look like potentially.
KA Pete would be kind of that big physical for another kind of co-op uh Carter Bryant combination where you know they drafted from Arizona last year and some of Carter Bryant's biggest calling cards were his frame, athleticism, physicality and there were questions about the production. Coat actually was very productive at Arizona. The biggest question is his shot wear. They're kind of completely retooling his jump shot. It does not look very pretty at all right now. Uh, it's a real work in progress, but I know Spurs fans internally do feel like this is probably one of the best destinations for him because not only do you have a crazy stretch big in WBY that would open up the middle of the floor in the paint quite a bit for KA, but it would also be a great developmental landing spot for him where there's not a lot of pressure on him early to produce or or or play right away and and be productive. They could stick him in the G-League for a while. they could really work with him on the training staff side of things of building up that jump shot, building up the confidence, and over time maybe ends up being a huge steal for them at 20 because the production's there, the pedigree is there, the physicality, the athletic traits are there, the defensive intelligence is there. It really is just the questionable offensive shot diet and processing because of that shot diet. And I think if there's a place that's going to figure it out, it could be San Antonio. Now, I would understand some Spurs fans pushing back on that, saying, "Look at Jeremy Sohan." totally understand that. Uh, and I don't want to diminish that perspective either. It's uh, he's a polarizing prospect for good reason. And whatever side you fall on, I think there's good reason one way or another. Not everything has to be super black and white. Uh, I think there's a lot of gray area for every single draft prospect, honestly. And a lot of it does stem on how their development goes in the first two, three years of their career with the pathway their coaching staffs and player personnel directors really take them on.
Allen Graves from Santa Clara would be an awesome get. I I think if you're looking for a four. Graves is kind of the guy that makes a lot of sense in this draft. Not only in the draft range at number 20, but also just in terms of the feel, intelligence, the ability to kind of hedge out into space a little bit, the aggression defensively to try and disrupt. And I think that would be really nice around Wemby because Wemby just has such an innate skill of roaming to the basket and finding ways to make plays that you just assume he can't make and Graves could be a little gambly and that allows itself to exist when you have someone like Wii who is such a great eraser at the hoop.
Chrisak Jr. is a a high upside steal for me if you make that selection was I think relatively productive defensively. Houston's defense was better with him on than they were with with him off. And that's a real surprise for me honestly going into what I expected for his freshman season. Uh, but then I also think like offensively the stretch skills are there. The ability to handle and shoot it a little bit is impressive. Super efficient around the rim albeit on low volume.
Jaden Quaintance would be I mean just ridiculous. the this is like one of the rare opportunities because of injury that Quaintance could maybe fall to them coming into the year. I was like almost certain he would be a top 10 pick just really didn't get on the court at all for Kentucky. Only played four games after his torn ACL the year prior for Arizona State and obviously the medicals are going to be important here for Acquaintance going into the draft. But it would be 48 minutes of complete defensive dominance from the center spot for San Antonio. acquaintance I don't think would ever really coexist next to WBY offensively. Uh, so you're again looking at just purely staggering the two of them. Uh, but there's not a better option to bring off the bench to replace WBY defensively than Jane Quaintance because he is every bit of freaky athletic as WBY is with in terms of mobility and shot blocking timing and defensive intelligence, spatial awareness. like he's really freaking good on defense and it would be super exciting to see San Antonio get another awesome shot blocker. He's not going to be Webby obviously, but you know, in fact, he's like 7 in shorter than Webby, but he does have a 7 foot five wingspan and he is a superb athlete as well. Of course, assuming he's healthy.
And then Nate Ament from Tennessee. very likely he won't be available at 20, but I wanted to include him because he is one of those bigger, longer wings that in theory would make some sense for San Antonio as a play finishing long disruptive defensive oriented prospect, which is not really what we saw from him at Tennessee, but there were glimpses and I think when you scale him down, it opens up some maybe pathways of opportunity for him to take a little bit more pride and and ownership on the defensive end of the floor.
My prize picks lineup today centers around the WNBA here on Sunday. Atlanta versus Toronto. I've got Angel Ree at more than 30 points, rebounds, and assists. She's done that in several of her most recent games. So, I think she's going to keep that trend going in this one versus Toronto. And then in that Mystics versus Liberty game, I've got two different picks. They've got Brianna Stewart at more than 32 points, rebounds, and assists. I absolutely love watching her play. Extremely skilled and, uh, obviously a very, very talented player in the W. And then Sonia Cronone, uh, player who's been awesome to start her WNBA career. I have her at more than six and a half rebounds and assists. That's a trend she's been on lately as well. Uh, averaging around eight plus rebounds and assists over her last four or five games, I believe. So, I think they're all three going to be able to get the job done for me here in my Power Play lineup today. Thank you again to Prize Pix for sponsoring today's video. Make sure to use code HMA over at Prize Pix. And when you play $5, you get $50 instantly in lineups. Again, use code HMA over at Prize Pick. Price Pix is now available in more than 40 states, including Team Pick. Go over there, follow me on Prize Pick so that you can trail my selections.
So, that's first round prospects. Let's look at the second round. There's a long list of guys here that I think could make some sense. Again, the Spurs have three of the top 15 picks in the second round. Trevan Brazil is a name that just continues to come to mind for me. If you're looking for a another front court addition, Brazil is a guy who not only does he have a lot of college experience, so he can come in and hopefully produce for you right away to a small extent. Uh, but he shot it really well this past year for Arkansas, he's an awesome athlete. Runs the court extremely well. And I thought this past year was a huge growth year for him defensively, not only in terms of actual production, but kind of understanding of the game, knowing when to rotate, when to hedge, when not to, knowing when to be active in his help. And I thought it showed up in the film a lot this past year.
Alex Cariban, I love for the Spurs, their style of play, the uh need for their wings to be quick decision makers and and just shot ready all of the time. like Caravan is that he's done that for a long time next to other really great talent in college.
Terrace Re Jr. would be another nice option for a backup big spot for them. You a little bit lower on than the rest of this list. You know, he's got the craziest block rate out of everybody. And you might be saying, okay, well, you you talked about Jane Quaintance. Why don't you love Yenzo as much? On Yenzo was kind of gimmicky in college, honestly. like no defensive 3 seconds, sit in a zone, keep him at the rim, and he's going to block shots. Their defense was pretty good with him on, but overall, like he was not a super impactful player positively in the grand scheme of two-way context. And I think translating him into the NBA is going to be a little bit tricky offensively, which is why I don't love Onenso uh as a draft prospect completely. But I do see some intrigue at least if you're just viewing it through the lens of rim protection alone.
Joshua Jefferson I think would be a really good get for the Spurs. Combination of feel, perimeter skill, shooting touch, and also defensive intelligence. I think, you know, this is a guy that just screams San Antonio basketball to me.
Tyler Nickel would be a nice addition as a shooter. Again, it's going to be kind of hard to break into the Spurs rotation if we're being honest about it. But Nicholls, a guy that as a specialist could definitely see some minutes throughout the course of a regular season.
Bruce Thornton, highly productive college player. Again, not sure if he's going to be able to crack the rotation or not for San Antonio, but he could be a guy to watch for.
And then Dylan Mitchell, he's bounced around college basketball. I've liked him for quite a while. This past year at St. John's was obviously an interesting one for him. uh playing next to Zubie Edia for and uh really was kind of a big piece of them making the run that they did. Obviously uh fills some of the gaps nicely, blocks shots a bit, rebounds the ball well. The offensive game is kind of limited for a long time. I've kind of compared him to Jared Vanderbilt and I think there's some comps there, but I think Mitchell's not quite the perimeter defensive player that Jared Vanderbilt is. It's just kind of a loose theory between the two. um really not the guy that I would expect San Antonio to walk away with, but I wanted to list him because I do think that's a name that some Spurs fans would at least have some intrigue in.
So, when we look at NBA free agency, and this is where having a whole bunch of young talent on rookie contracts is really nice. They are projected a current maximum of around $9 million in cap space, which really isn't functional. It's not like you're going to go out into free agency and say, "Oh, we have $9 million. Who are we landing?" you know, it's not 2002 anymore where that would have been a huge contract to go sign a guy with. Uh, it's uh that's a tiny contract. In fact, it's 60% of the mid-level exception. It's not very sizable. And the reason they don't have more is Darren Fox, his contract extension, $49.5 million owed to him as an estimate for this next season, is a lot of money. And listen, I I don't want to say the Fox trade was a bust. I really don't think it was. They just made the NBA finals and he was obviously a part of that. So, like I know I know the emotions are probably raw right now for Spurs fans. They're going to say that they hate him and they want him gone. I understand that. We'll look at some possibilities if they do decide to trade him this off season, but really like you look at their cap table and it's not that bad. Obviously, numbers are going to start to skyrocket here a little bit with WMBB's contract coming up and a few others that we'll look at for possible contract extensions here in a little bit. But really the biggest thing is they have access to the non-tax mid-level exception around $15 million. They already have nine guys under contract where they have a first round pick coming in. So then there's your 10th player under contract and then they have those three second rounders. So really, if you want to look at it, they could draft three guys in the second round, draft one guy in the first round. There's four contracts you add to your book if you sign them all with second round exceptions. Get them on cheap long-term rookie contracts. And then you could sign a 14th guy using the mid level and there's your roster going into next season. And that would be if they don't bring back any of their cap holds. You know, obviously Harrison Barnes is a guy that I could see coming back on a much cheaper contract than he's been playing on. But the nice thing is pretty much their entire playoff rotation, which you see pictured on the screen here, is coming back under contract already, which is a real rarity as well in the NBA right now to have everyone already kind of signed under contract. you have team control on a majority of these players and it gives you good confidence that the Spurs are going to be a real threat not only just like they were this past year going into next season but for the next three, four, five, six years going forward, which is very scary for the rest of the NBA given how young this team is as well.
Here are some of those free agent targets that could theoretically make sense around that mid-level exception number. Now, some of these guys might want a little bit more than the mid-level, so there would have to be a little bit of negotiation there. Obviously, signing trades are always possible. There's ways to work around certain things, but Tobias Harris is a name that comes to mind for me. He played very well for Detroit for a majority of the season and then obviously stepped up big time in the postseason for them. He would be a really nice addition as kind of a playoff ready contributor. I wouldn't say you're going to rely on him for 18 to 20 points a night like the Pistons were, but I think you're looking at him through the lens of a reliable shot maker, someone who can drive it off the catch, and then someone who has at least the intelligence defensively to compete and he's not going to bleed a whole bunch of points for you.
Then Mitchell Robinson stealing him away from the New York Knicks would be an interesting storyline here. uh is a guy who's going to dominate the offensive glass for you. Obviously, very stylistically different than what they have on their roster right now. Uh he's one of the bigger, better physical athletes in the NBA. And when he's healthy, uh it really shows up in the not only film, but also in the analytics. You look at his offensive rebound rate. You look at how much he gets fouled. Some of that's intentionally, but some of that's because he's putting so much pressure on the rim and getting on the on the O glass and forcing teams to foul him. And uh the only real workaround right now to him uh being a dominant offensive player is the fact that he can't shoot free throws. And I think you know through the course of an 82 game season that's really not that problematic. Obviously it reared its ugly head a little bit in the postseason at times for New York. But Mike Brown did such a great job managing it and I don't think it would be a huge issue for San Antonio if they did sign him.
Porzingis I actually remember when the Spurs got the first overall pick that became Victor Wmanyama. I remember talking about them possibly signing Porzingis and saying what would that look like? What what could a Porzingis and Webby pairing kind of be on the court and now Porzingis probably would get a little bit more than the mid-level exception. But if he wants to be on a championship caliber team again, imagine him in San Antonio. You have two huge human beings. It would allow you to hedge ball screens, even switch at times, which sounds like death, but really like think about it. Porzingis defending out on the perimeter is not probably a great philosophy, but if you have another 7 foot4 guy behind him blocking shots, I think he can probably get away with it. I I honestly do like the more size you have the better. And if the Spurs want to get bigger this off season, I mean, there's no better way to do it than getting Chris Tops uh because he's also huge. And then you can be more aggressive with WBY at the level if you want to. Uh, and you could really just shrink the floor in ways that other teams just simply can't.
Nik Lavuch is a name that I wanted to mention because he's at least another DHO big skilled, but I don't think he's as sensible of a decision as Porzingis or Mitchell Robinson are because I think with with Mitch, you're getting like, you know, a oneofone type of player on the offensive glass. With Porzingis, you're kind of getting a one-on-one player when it comes to stretch big play and mid post scoring and and some of the value that he provides. Vuvich, you're kind of just getting an all-around player who obviously provides value and does a lot of nice stuff off the top of the key. Shoots it pretty adequately well. Uh, but he has his huge combination of defensive flaws and I just don't think that you can survive those as easily as you can deal with some of Porzingis' and Mitchell's flaws on the court. So, I don't love the Vuvich pathway as much for them. Uh, if they do sign a center, I would love for it to be Porzingis or Mitchell Robinson, honestly, this off season.
Here are some potential trade targets. Now, Spurs fans, hear me out because I'm sure this graphic just made you a little mad. We'll start with Derrick Jones Jr., very cheap contract. He's got one year, $11 million left on his deal. So, super affordable. You could fit him into the contract very, very easily. That would not be problematic at all. He's a winning player. super great fit onto the roster. Another point of attack defender. Not that they really need a lot more of those. And again, like if they're confident in Carter Bryant, there's probably no big trade even looming at all, which is something I want to say here real quick before we talk about the rest of these guys. If the Spurs internally just feel good about the direction of their roster, they're so young. They just achieved at a super high level. Like if we zoom back out and and say, "Okay, a year ago, what if I told you guys the Spurs made the NBA Finals and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, you guys would have said, "That's an A+ season. That's a perfect year for us. That's a huge step forward." So, I know it's really easy to be disappointed right now, but remember that. Remember a year ago, I don't think those expectations were on this franchise at all. And I remember opening night against Dallas where they completely eviscerated the Mavericks in Cooper Flag's NBA debut. They destroyed them and I it was a huge eye opener for me of this team's way ahead of schedule. Way ahead of where I was expecting them to be. And I think now like we've seen it for a full year. They won 60 plus games. They beat the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder and they had a legit chance to win the finals. They don't need to do something crazy. Now, there's pathways to do it because of the deer and fox contract. So, trading Fox for one of these guys on the graphic would not only be sensible for maybe upgrading their team in the short term, but also would help them save money long term when they have contract extensions due up here.
Kawhi Leonard, listen, as Spurs fans are going to say no thank you to that. I understand. But I would think long and hard about it if I was San Antonio. If you can, if Kawhai would be open to returning and would actually want to play for the Spurs again, I would think about it because he is still a top 10 talent in the world when he's available. He's the exact kind of score that I think this Spurs team is badly missing when it comes to pull-up shot diet. Uh his ability to playmake off the bounce. He's just gotten better and better and better every single year of his career as a passer. Like this is the guy that would be like, "Oh my gosh, they got him next to Harper, Castle, and Wemby. Oh my goodness." And his contract is much shorter term than Fox is. And you know, you have draft picks you could dangle to the Clippers. Something like Fox and a couple of assets for Kawawaii is, I don't think, a terrible pathway for the Clippers to possibly take depending on what those picks look like. And then for the Spurs, it's a huge long-term relief getting out of the Fox contract if that's the way they want to go and you upgrade your roster in the short term.
The same could be true about Giannis, although I don't think the Bucks would stomach that same kind of package. The Clippers, I think, are more willing to move Kawhai for less than the Bucks are to move Giannis for less because there's more pressure on Milwaukee around the Giannis trade. So again, I don't think you're going to get Giannis and I don't think this should even try to get Giannis. I'm going to be honest about it. I don't think that that's the pathway to do it.
Trey Murphy III makes half of what Dearron Fox makes nearly. Not quite about 20 million less, but that's a significant amount less. And I think uh you know for San Antonio, I'm not the biggest Trey Murphy, the third guy myself. I think he's really good. I liked him a lot coming out of Virginia. I believe he was top 11 on my big board that year. So a little like significantly higher than he got drafted. He was pick 19 in that draft. uh when Memphis made that trade up with New Orleans from 19 to 13, I thought that's who they're for sure going to take and then they didn't uh which was shocking to me. You know, Trey Murphy would be nice for San Antonio and obviously I think the system would be additive for him. He would really thrive there. So, it's not to say he wouldn't be great for them. Uh, but I'm just not sure that's the pathway I would go if I could move a different direction.
PJ Washington, another guy that I probably wouldn't target. But if you're looking for a big four that could fit WBY and this team's future, he definitely I think checks out. For me, I would like the Derrick Jones Jr. trade if that is something that comes to fruition. A Kawhai deal if the Spurs fans would be willing to do it. And if Kawhai's willing to return to San Antonio, I would love that for the Spurs. I really would. I think it's not only a great story, but really on the court, I think it's a perfect match. Uh I think it's exactly what they need for their end of game situations. I feel like if they had Kawawaii at the end of games in this finals run, they would have won the finals. Like I just very firmly believe that uh they just didn't have enough pull-up shot making and they didn't have enough like steady consistent like reliable, hey, give this guy the ball on the perimeter, everyone get out of the way, let's slow the game down and and make the right decision. And they just didn't have that. And part of that is they had a bunch of young guards. Castle and Harper are still incredibly young. And again, if you want to take the patient approach, I'm all for that, too. I do not think the Spurs need to do something crazy. I don't think they need to do anything super aggressive. They're in a very great spot. And if I was running the Spurs, I probably wouldn't do anything aggressive at all. Maybe a small trade, maybe a small signing. If it's a Fox for Kawaii trade with one or two picks that really don't hurt my long-term flexibility, I'd think about that, too. But I'm not doing anything crazy over the top. I'm not mortgaging four or five first round picks. I'm not trading one of Harper or Castle. I'm obviously not going to make any weird moves with Vel or Champeni. I'm just kind of rolling the team back through. If a Fox trade materializes that makes sense, both short-term and long term, I would consider that. But be very patient and patience is a virtue.
Contract extensions. Uh, there are two that are worth noting this upcoming off season. July 1st, they uh now can work out an extension with Wemby on midnight of July 1st. Uh, he becomes extension eligible for his rookie contract. Obviously, that will be the full escalation because he won defensive player of the year and it is still a bargain for the Spurs. That is a no questions asked. You extend him that max contract and say thank you very much for signing because you are the face of the franchise.
Devin Vel, interesting situation for him. he becomes extension eligible on October 1st. That is a vet contract extension. And the Spurs always do a great job on their extensions in general. They always get their players to sign for maybe even a little bit less than what you would expect. And I feel like if they do sign uh Vel to an extension, I feel like that'll be true, too. I think that they just not only do they do a great job building their culture up internally where players want to be there and stay there, but they also do like a really nice job of working with agents and working with players. And it it just feels like there's a lot of really nice stuff constantly coming out of San Antonio. There was a couple years where things were a little weird, right? The Josh Primo era uh of Spurs basketball. Like there was a couple weird things for a little bit. The Dejante Murray era was a little awkward at times. I felt like from an outside perspective, but you know, for the most part, like the last 30 years have just been nothing but consistency from this Spurs organization. Uh, it's a real testament to the people in the building, the human element behind the sport. Uh, and it's a uh, it's a real awesome thing and I think players want to be there and that's uh, part of why they do very well with the extensions uh, when they're working with their own players and keeping them there in San Antonio long term. Fan base obviously supports their players very well, too. And it's uh, I think that's a big part of it in the equation as well.
So, when we look at next season, first of all, they're going to be great. They're going to be very, very, very great. In fact, I think that they should be considered the In fact, I think they should be considered the title front runners along with the Oklahoma City Thunder. We saw how back and forth that series was. Went seven games. Luckily, it was a lot of great basketball. Those two teams are going to be forces in the West for a long time. They're going to grow to hate each other even more than they already do. The Cet versus WBY drama fuels me. I absolutely love it. WBY completely dwarfed Cadet in their first playoff series against each other and I think you know Chad's going to be motivated this offseason to try and get back even with him, but that's going to be a hard thing to do. It's going to be a very tough thing for Oklahoma City to overcome the Spurs. Uh, these two teams are going to go back and forth a lot. But another 61 season coming. Again, patience is a virtue. The Spurs don't have to do anything dramatic. I know. Immediately following in the turmoil of a finals loss, there's the it's going to feel like the the sky is falling. The earth is shattering. It's not. Okay, take a deep breath. Harper's a rookie. Castle's a secondyear player. WBY is still on his rookie contract. Like, let's be patient. Let's take a deep breath. Okay, it's going to be great. Everything is going to be great. The Spurs are going to be dominant. They're going to win 55 to 65 plus games every single year for the next like seven years, assuming they're healthy. Like, it's a great time to be a Spurs fan. I'm jealous of Spurs fans. I really am. Uh, it's a really great time to be alive if you're a Spurs fans. And just enjoy it. Enjoy it. Be happy that you even made the finals because again, I think you were ahead of schedule this year. And next year, they should be considered again right at the top of the league as arguably the best team on the entire planet. And that's uh incredibly awesome to say for a team that is as young as the Spurs are, especially when you look at their rotation.
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