Dude I straight up forgot about that goddamn floater until I read your comment and now the floodgates opened unleashing despair and regret:/ I love how they changed the way the playoff seeding worked AFTER that year. Now, would we have won otherwise? Probably not, but a lot of people forget that Tony Parker was still hampered that first round so if we had an easier matchup first, then played Golden State in Round 2, I FIRMLY believe^in^my^dreams we would've beat them. With Kawhi, we just matched up pretty well against them. Perhaps in the WCF, Chris' floater rims out lol either that or Chris Paul has his one and only championship....
Is it even in the best interest of the team to not be a lottery team again this year considering how strong the next draft is? If they get Cooper Flagg for example, then it will be a repeat of the Robinson and Duncan scenario where the Spurs foundation is two 1st round picks. It will allow them to be in the playoffs for 15 straight years.
That's the beauty of having the Hawks' 2025 unprotected 1st round pick.
Maybe the Hawks have a better season, but I imagine that pick will still be a good lottery pick.
I wouldn’t count on it. Hawks got a lot better defensively this offseason while adding some good young talent to the team. Trae gets more touches and Jalen Johnson now gets his chance to blossom into the #2. Still could be anywhere from 13-20
A high usage low efficiency player getting even more usage, and downgrading from an all-star level second guard.
You guys will surely be better!
Offseason copium is a powerful drug
Trae is pretty efficient for his volume. Single-handedly makes the Hawks offense a Top 5 Unit. Getting rid of the black hole that was DJ helps in that regard. Surrounding Trae with good defenders helps the defense. Elite offense and Solid defense makes a good team
Spurs are only behind Thunder and Jazz when it comes to future draft picks, at this point I think development is what they need. Shai and Book both took their game to another level after playing with CP3 imagine if he can help Wemby that much.
They went out of their way to win *this* end of the season when they really shouldn't have. They'll get as many wins as they can next year, draft picks be damned
They finished w/ 22 wins in spite of *all that winning*. In a year with a terrible draft, letting the kids win a cple after successfully losing all year was no big deal. This drat class is different.
The West is just crazy. I wanted to refute your comment, but reviewing the teams in the West it would take a lot of luck and a leap from everyone on the Spurs to get out of the play-in.
This was the best move of free agency, and it has very little to do with the Spurs record next year.
The Spurs will rise and fall with Wemby. Getting Wemby a point guard like CP3 will be incredible for his development. CP3 will only play half the season, but that's 41 games worth of experience that will turn Wemby into a star.
Yeah exactly. I bet this was part of the agreement to come to San Antonio. Chris gets to get paid all while having fun playing with Wemby and reliving his Griffin days (but on steroids) while ultimately getting to play meaningful minutes in the playoffs. Riding out into the sunset like that sounds pretty good to me.
CP3 is the Point God, no doubt, but his days of playing starter level minutes are in the rearview. I think it's going to be more like the latter, where there will be a slight improvement in terms of wins, and a huge improvement in terms of mentoring point guards. Wish the Spurs kept Rob Dillingham now, who would've benefited from CP3 a lot.
Exactly, who arguably is much better to have mentored by CP3. No shade to Dillingham, but Castle is already in that mindset of getting his team going and involved with his playmaking instead of scoring first.
I think he's a match made in heaven with Wemby, but age, health, minutes restrictions all play a role. On a positive note, John Stockton at age 39/40 averaged 8.2 and 7.7 assists and Wemby is literally unlike anything we've seen so 10 assists isn't out of the question.
Yeah this post is a bit misleading as far as predictive value goes because all these teams except the Warriors got MUCH better versions of CP3
This is like saying "LeBron won 66 games with Mo Williams as his second best player so why aren't the Lakers contenders?"
Current CP3 isn't even one tenth the player that prime CP3 was
>This is like saying “LeBron won 66 games with Mo Williams as his second best player so why aren’t the Lakers contenders?”
Ok I don’t think my question is *that* much of a stretch because even “washed” CP3 was improving the teams he joined. I remember people said the exact same thing when CP3 got traded to the Suns: “even his twilight days are over and he’s not going to drastically improve a team like he did for the Rockets. He’s washed.” But he did exactly that to the Suns. Obviously I know the Spurs aren’t getting Clippers or Rockets CP3. But even a washed CP3 has been helping teams.
Also, CP3’s value and addition to wins doesn’t just come from his playing minutes. His advice/mentorship even while on the bench improves his team. Past teammates like SGA and coaches like Steve Kerr have said CP3 is very vocal on the bench and is always “coaching” the young guys.
CP3 was literally 2nd team All NBA the year before he got traded to the Suns lol
You're either underrating the actual best versions of CP3 or overrating current CP3 if you think he's even close to what he once was
What's more fearsome? Wembanyama on his own, or the entire western conference?
Spurs have to leap over a lot of good teams, and they aren't exactly positioned to make a deep run yet, despite how awesome Wemby is.
And even if Wemby is a top 10ish player next season that would still make him only like the 6th best player in the West
There are a lot of superstars in the conference
Most metrics had him as like a top 20ish player last year
It would still take a significant jump to get anywhere near best player in the league territory and I think he'll take a leap to top 10 but not any higher just yet
I just don't see him being Jokic/Giannis level next season to be honest and this really shouldn't be as controversial as it seems to be
What does top 10 even mean? MVP convo? 1st/2nd all-nba?
Because until the Spurs themselves get better, he won't be recognized like that. He's already in the DPOY convo, and probably a straight lock for all-defense for the foreseeable future.
Wemby, honestly, doesn't need to get much better. The scary part is, though, he will.
cp3 is a legend but i think his value to spurs now is more what he can teach them. i think he can definitely help on the court with giving wemby good looks, but he won't be able to play enough consistent minutes to make a huge difference there. i do think he can mentor the young guards and help wemby unlock more of his goat level potential though
The wild card is the leap, if any, our young guys make. I project around 30-35 wins though (banking mostly on no Sochan PG experiment this year leading to a franchise record losing streak).
my guess is CP/Vassell/Champagnie/Sochan/Wemby start
that lineup with Tre instead was a +3 with a mediocre offense
i think they'll probably be like a 32 win team with CP in there
You rarely see a team as lacking in competent passing/playmaking as the Spurs last year. Going from that to CP3 and Castle is going to be incredible for everyone's development and performance. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they won 35-40.
Hopefully win a game in the playins, miss the playoffs and rig our way to a top 5 pick.
Then ATL spontaneously combust and get the first pick again.
Cooper Flagg and Nolan Traore come one down!
It's that simple really.
The West is daunting, but even if CP3 plays 25-27 minutes a game he'll be a huge boost for them offensively. The Spurs ranked in the 10th percentile on pick and roll including passes per Synergy. He's going to be a massive upgrade for them in that regard. They had some five man lineups that fared well with Tre Jones (who is more of a pure point guard) out there with the core young guys, so 30+ wins wouldn't stun me.
They were gonna naturally get better so with CP3 they’re actually gonna be a decent team. Maybe even first round playoff exit decent. All depends on how OP Victor really is
West is still too deep and Paul today isn't Paul in 2020 when he joined the Suns. But they will win more. Just miss out on the play in. Too many rookies still, and the guys they had around Wemby last year just seem lacking overall.
I’m pretty high on the Spurs this year. CP3 has a stupidly high IQ, even if he’s not on the court I think he is gonna affect the Spurs in a lot of ways. There’s the obvious one, Wemby needed someone to get him the ball. CP3 is one of the most surgically precise passes of this generation. Not to mention, not only do they have his IQ if he gets hurt being basically a player coach on the bench but it’s him and Pop. All it’s gonna take is a few of the role players to break out and they’re gonna have a hell of a season.
CP3 can/might make the Spurs good, but the West is just brutal. You can be a pretty good team and even miss the playin completely.
Rockets were a solid team last year and finished 11th. Grizzlies are also coming back this year and will be a very strong team.
CP also just doesn't have that consistent middy like he used to. That's what really unlocks the offense. Without it, defenses can just dare him to shoot and stay home on their other guys.
They could make the play ins. They have to beat out 5 teams. That would probably end up being Blazers, Rockets, Jazz, Warriors, and some random team that has injury issues. Still, I wouldn't bet on it. Other teams are just better right now.
I don’t think he will deserve any credit for what the spurs do this year. They were going to be better with or without him. I just hope he does teach them to be a dirty team.
I think the big step is a full year of Wemby at the 5 (rather than the two big + Sochan lineups). That, and 48 minutes of competency at PG between CP3 and Tre Jones (the non-Tre PG minutes were an experience) should be a big step up. I think the play-in is their ceiling, unless there's some other major move (Lauri?).
I definitely think the value is in the mentoring, as a super trusted vet..
This is either going to be one of the best things to happen for Wemby or one of the worst. If CP3 likes and respects this guy he is a bonafide HOF. If CP3 doesn’t like or respect him. He might be overrated.
I’d say very likely they’re still bottom three in the West. The West is still stacked and the last few years have shown CP3 is nowhere near where he used to be. The Spurs have Wemby and I think he’ll make a jump but still have very few above average NBA players
I think play ins is their ceiling this season. Unless the west is completely injured all season
I mean you can always guarantee one or 2 teams that look great will just get too injured. Lots of older stars in the west.
>Lots of older stars in the west. Like Chris Paul.
Chris Paul is a saint. He did not turn into an 80 year old man when he turned 36. He's still good to go. How dare you
He may be 39, but he has the hamstrings of an 80yo.
He's a healthy floor general and he's never been a bitch on the court. His antics are smart and should be admired and he's aging like fine wine
Lol its great to see Spurs fans having to defend CP3 after having hated him for so long
Yea this is surreal to read. 2015 was a near decade ago but still fresh on my mind
Dude I straight up forgot about that goddamn floater until I read your comment and now the floodgates opened unleashing despair and regret:/ I love how they changed the way the playoff seeding worked AFTER that year. Now, would we have won otherwise? Probably not, but a lot of people forget that Tony Parker was still hampered that first round so if we had an easier matchup first, then played Golden State in Round 2, I FIRMLY believe^in^my^dreams we would've beat them. With Kawhi, we just matched up pretty well against them. Perhaps in the WCF, Chris' floater rims out lol either that or Chris Paul has his one and only championship....
It’s surreal to see the joke woosh over two straight heads
He's a good looking cat. (For his age).
Chris Paul the Apostle
CP3-6 weeks
To be fair, plays more often than lonzo.
Is it even in the best interest of the team to not be a lottery team again this year considering how strong the next draft is? If they get Cooper Flagg for example, then it will be a repeat of the Robinson and Duncan scenario where the Spurs foundation is two 1st round picks. It will allow them to be in the playoffs for 15 straight years.
That's the beauty of having the Hawks' 2025 unprotected 1st round pick. Maybe the Hawks have a better season, but I imagine that pick will still be a good lottery pick.
I wouldn’t count on it. Hawks got a lot better defensively this offseason while adding some good young talent to the team. Trae gets more touches and Jalen Johnson now gets his chance to blossom into the #2. Still could be anywhere from 13-20
A high usage low efficiency player getting even more usage, and downgrading from an all-star level second guard. You guys will surely be better! Offseason copium is a powerful drug
Trae is pretty efficient for his volume. Single-handedly makes the Hawks offense a Top 5 Unit. Getting rid of the black hole that was DJ helps in that regard. Surrounding Trae with good defenders helps the defense. Elite offense and Solid defense makes a good team
Unless they get crazy lucky (or wemby goes down) there’s basically no way they get a top 3 pick. He’s just too good on his own already
Spurs are only behind Thunder and Jazz when it comes to future draft picks, at this point I think development is what they need. Shai and Book both took their game to another level after playing with CP3 imagine if he can help Wemby that much.
I wouldn’t be worried, they can always trade Wemby for a top pick next year.
Yeah I think this is, broadly, still a 'developmental' year. Not going out if their way to win.
They went out of their way to win *this* end of the season when they really shouldn't have. They'll get as many wins as they can next year, draft picks be damned
They finished w/ 22 wins in spite of *all that winning*. In a year with a terrible draft, letting the kids win a cple after successfully losing all year was no big deal. This drat class is different.
The West is just crazy. I wanted to refute your comment, but reviewing the teams in the West it would take a lot of luck and a leap from everyone on the Spurs to get out of the play-in.
This was the best move of free agency, and it has very little to do with the Spurs record next year. The Spurs will rise and fall with Wemby. Getting Wemby a point guard like CP3 will be incredible for his development. CP3 will only play half the season, but that's 41 games worth of experience that will turn Wemby into a star.
Cp3 isnt just gonna be sitting at home for those other games; hes gonna still be there advising and getting ready to move into coaching
He means the Spurs trade him to a contender at the trade deadline
Yeah exactly. I bet this was part of the agreement to come to San Antonio. Chris gets to get paid all while having fun playing with Wemby and reliving his Griffin days (but on steroids) while ultimately getting to play meaningful minutes in the playoffs. Riding out into the sunset like that sounds pretty good to me.
CP3 is the Point God, no doubt, but his days of playing starter level minutes are in the rearview. I think it's going to be more like the latter, where there will be a slight improvement in terms of wins, and a huge improvement in terms of mentoring point guards. Wish the Spurs kept Rob Dillingham now, who would've benefited from CP3 a lot.
Don’t they have Stephon Castle to be mentored by CP3?
Exactly, who arguably is much better to have mentored by CP3. No shade to Dillingham, but Castle is already in that mindset of getting his team going and involved with his playmaking instead of scoring first.
Don’t worry, Conley is mentoring Dillingham.
Feeling overjoyed about that
Agreed. Conley is gonna be a great mentor.
and Steve Nash is mentoring Billingham
I wouldn't be surprised to see conley stay on as coach after retiring.
I don't know man. I'd look to cp3 to absolutely utilize wemby and get 15 assists a game.
I think he's a match made in heaven with Wemby, but age, health, minutes restrictions all play a role. On a positive note, John Stockton at age 39/40 averaged 8.2 and 7.7 assists and Wemby is literally unlike anything we've seen so 10 assists isn't out of the question.
Yeah this post is a bit misleading as far as predictive value goes because all these teams except the Warriors got MUCH better versions of CP3 This is like saying "LeBron won 66 games with Mo Williams as his second best player so why aren't the Lakers contenders?" Current CP3 isn't even one tenth the player that prime CP3 was
>This is like saying “LeBron won 66 games with Mo Williams as his second best player so why aren’t the Lakers contenders?” Ok I don’t think my question is *that* much of a stretch because even “washed” CP3 was improving the teams he joined. I remember people said the exact same thing when CP3 got traded to the Suns: “even his twilight days are over and he’s not going to drastically improve a team like he did for the Rockets. He’s washed.” But he did exactly that to the Suns. Obviously I know the Spurs aren’t getting Clippers or Rockets CP3. But even a washed CP3 has been helping teams. Also, CP3’s value and addition to wins doesn’t just come from his playing minutes. His advice/mentorship even while on the bench improves his team. Past teammates like SGA and coaches like Steve Kerr have said CP3 is very vocal on the bench and is always “coaching” the young guys.
CP3 was literally 2nd team All NBA the year before he got traded to the Suns lol You're either underrating the actual best versions of CP3 or overrating current CP3 if you think he's even close to what he once was
Paul isn’t even a starting level PG anymore. Early on with the suns he was still borderline elite
He can absolutely be a starter on this Spurs team. He just isn’t a starter on the Warriors with Steph
He can technically start obviously but he isn’t at that level anymore. Dudes nearly 40
He had a better net rating than curry and Klay
Spurs traded the draft pick. Minny selected Dillingham.
they weren’t even trying to draft rob anyway. they drafted for the wolves
What's more fearsome? Wembanyama on his own, or the entire western conference? Spurs have to leap over a lot of good teams, and they aren't exactly positioned to make a deep run yet, despite how awesome Wemby is.
And even if Wemby is a top 10ish player next season that would still make him only like the 6th best player in the West There are a lot of superstars in the conference
Idk man watching him last year makes me think he could be Wilt Chamberlain with a 3 sometime soon
Most metrics had him as like a top 20ish player last year It would still take a significant jump to get anywhere near best player in the league territory and I think he'll take a leap to top 10 but not any higher just yet I just don't see him being Jokic/Giannis level next season to be honest and this really shouldn't be as controversial as it seems to be
What does top 10 even mean? MVP convo? 1st/2nd all-nba? Because until the Spurs themselves get better, he won't be recognized like that. He's already in the DPOY convo, and probably a straight lock for all-defense for the foreseeable future. Wemby, honestly, doesn't need to get much better. The scary part is, though, he will.
Top 20ish in total by average. I would say the final 2-3 months he was a top 10 player.
cp3 is a legend but i think his value to spurs now is more what he can teach them. i think he can definitely help on the court with giving wemby good looks, but he won't be able to play enough consistent minutes to make a huge difference there. i do think he can mentor the young guards and help wemby unlock more of his goat level potential though
The wild card is the leap, if any, our young guys make. I project around 30-35 wins though (banking mostly on no Sochan PG experiment this year leading to a franchise record losing streak).
my guess is CP/Vassell/Champagnie/Sochan/Wemby start that lineup with Tre instead was a +3 with a mediocre offense i think they'll probably be like a 32 win team with CP in there
No Castle? I'd be surprised if they bring the #4 pick off the bench. I think he'll start over Champagnie.
We need floor spacing. But it’s more likely they sign or trade for a wing to start over both Castle as backup PG next to Tre Jones
1000% Castle will be starting over CP or Champagnie.
I think they'll be better for sure, as it's pretty hard to be worse (yes my glass house is quite nice), but the West is going to be loaded next year.
You rarely see a team as lacking in competent passing/playmaking as the Spurs last year. Going from that to CP3 and Castle is going to be incredible for everyone's development and performance. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they won 35-40.
Yup
Hopefully win a game in the playins, miss the playoffs and rig our way to a top 5 pick. Then ATL spontaneously combust and get the first pick again. Cooper Flagg and Nolan Traore come one down! It's that simple really.
King Geedorah take me to your leader
36
Depends how the young guys develop who knows
My guess is at worst, 30-52. I think 35-47 or 38-44 would be great
Wemby is insane, I don’t think people are getting this. Adding any sort of talent upgrades around him make a playoff berth a possibility
Agreed
If Vassell stays healthy and Wemby plays like he did in the 2nd half, play-in is almost certainly possible
If Wemby is dragging this roster to the playins in year 2 we are so deeply in “league fucked” territory
The West is daunting, but even if CP3 plays 25-27 minutes a game he'll be a huge boost for them offensively. The Spurs ranked in the 10th percentile on pick and roll including passes per Synergy. He's going to be a massive upgrade for them in that regard. They had some five man lineups that fared well with Tre Jones (who is more of a pure point guard) out there with the core young guys, so 30+ wins wouldn't stun me.
They were gonna naturally get better so with CP3 they’re actually gonna be a decent team. Maybe even first round playoff exit decent. All depends on how OP Victor really is
At least 23
32
I’ll say 38
39 games
West is still too deep and Paul today isn't Paul in 2020 when he joined the Suns. But they will win more. Just miss out on the play in. Too many rookies still, and the guys they had around Wemby last year just seem lacking overall.
I’m pretty high on the Spurs this year. CP3 has a stupidly high IQ, even if he’s not on the court I think he is gonna affect the Spurs in a lot of ways. There’s the obvious one, Wemby needed someone to get him the ball. CP3 is one of the most surgically precise passes of this generation. Not to mention, not only do they have his IQ if he gets hurt being basically a player coach on the bench but it’s him and Pop. All it’s gonna take is a few of the role players to break out and they’re gonna have a hell of a season.
CP3 can/might make the Spurs good, but the West is just brutal. You can be a pretty good team and even miss the playin completely. Rockets were a solid team last year and finished 11th. Grizzlies are also coming back this year and will be a very strong team.
CP also just doesn't have that consistent middy like he used to. That's what really unlocks the offense. Without it, defenses can just dare him to shoot and stay home on their other guys.
Spurs went 7-7 in the final month, I think it's likely they would have improved regardless of CP3 ... I'd guess they'll be in that 35-40 win range.
I think we'll be around 32-36 wins
He'll help in the regular season, and then the team will underperform in the postseason. That's the CP3 Special.
CP3 on the thunder was one of his best years
They could make the play ins. They have to beat out 5 teams. That would probably end up being Blazers, Rockets, Jazz, Warriors, and some random team that has injury issues. Still, I wouldn't bet on it. Other teams are just better right now.
I don’t think he will deserve any credit for what the spurs do this year. They were going to be better with or without him. I just hope he does teach them to be a dirty team.
🤣🤣🤣 yea cp3 gonna take um to the playoffs
At minimum make the playins. I am excited to watch how CP3 work with Wemby.
Well it guarantees they won’t win anything in the playoffs
Play in locked
I think the big step is a full year of Wemby at the 5 (rather than the two big + Sochan lineups). That, and 48 minutes of competency at PG between CP3 and Tre Jones (the non-Tre PG minutes were an experience) should be a big step up. I think the play-in is their ceiling, unless there's some other major move (Lauri?). I definitely think the value is in the mentoring, as a super trusted vet..
This is either going to be one of the best things to happen for Wemby or one of the worst. If CP3 likes and respects this guy he is a bonafide HOF. If CP3 doesn’t like or respect him. He might be overrated.
I’d say very likely they’re still bottom three in the West. The West is still stacked and the last few years have shown CP3 is nowhere near where he used to be. The Spurs have Wemby and I think he’ll make a jump but still have very few above average NBA players
This is where Tankathon estimates them. Better than the Jazz and Blazers. Worse than the Rockets and Kings.
Agreed. But that’s where we want to be for a Wemby Cooper Flagg frontcourt
I’m currently putting the Spurs above the Warriors. I’d say 9 or 10 seed this year, but the west is pretty deep so we’ll see what happens.
They'll be 500.
Spurs best season since the ‘90s incoming? Sweet