Some really interesting points by Bill Simmons and Ryan Russillo here, transcribed and sorry if it's a bit long but I thought some parts were worth reading.
TL;DR they discuss the different approaches in drafting a generational talent like Wemby in looking at what happened with LeBron (which was rushed ); and DWade (which seems more ideal).
I thought the great way they framed the question was to ask is Do you wanna hit a double or you do wanna hit a home run?
Also some stuff in there about trading for Trae that I thought was interesting haha
00:58:10
BS : Well sometimes when you sign a contract, what's interesting about comparing the 20 years
RR : What, what would you do? Like what would you do now differently after this Wembanyama season in comparison to say Wemby being like, oh you know, I, you know, I'm not sure who he's going to be if there wasn't a certainty that we feel like we have after his rookie year, what would you do?
BS : So
RR : What changes maybe is the better question.
BS : Alright, so we're running San Antonio, they put us in charge. The first thing I would wanna do is I would wanna go back in history and see how other teams handled the same situation. Because if you remember like Cleveland, they, they kind of panicked pretty quickly. They, they thought they were further along than maybe they were. And and all of a sudden they were in the chasing the assets thing and spending a ton of money. And that's what led to Larry Hughes, they screwed up the bBozer situation. He left that, really hurt them
RR : Ben Wallace, Szczerbiak deal.
BS : Yeah, they, they started chasing it. They had Shaq for a year and by 2009 they were in a lot of trouble. And it was it was like the college kid who kept like putting stuff on his credit card and then it, it eventually backfired, but the Boozer thing really fucked them. So I, I wonder like if that hadn't happened, does it play out a little differently with him? Kobe was in a different situation because he was with Shaq, right?
RR : Yeah. And it was, it was also just different. 'cause we still weren't, we weren't ready for a perimeter player straight outta high school to become what he was. Which I know it sounds stupid, but that's just how it worked in the sports world. Whether it was Garnett coming out and people being offended by him even doing it right. But then once Kobe did it was like who this high school guard thinks he is gonna do this and
BS : Could take shots and playoff games. Yeah, the crunch time. Who is he?
RR : It's just the way it worked and everybody was wrong. So keep going.
00:59:55
BS : I'll tell you, here's a good model. I just thought of this. So Wade incredibly promising rookie year and then they said fuck it and they went all in and and got Shaq. And if you look back, that trade seemed like a no-brainer for them. But it wasn't a no-brainer at the time. 'cause Shaq people thought he was outta shape. People thought he was past his prime. You
RR : Gotta give him the extension too that the Lakers didn't want to give them.
BS : Yeah, they gave up Odom, Odom and they gave up Butler in that trade and, and people, both of those guys were in like the top 30 of my trade value. I think they were able to dump the Brian Grant contract in it. I think they gave up a pick. But that trade wasn't a no-brainer. Now it seems like a no-brainer, but the reason they did it was they were like, we wanna be good right now 'cause we have Dwyane Wade and we think he's special. And that next year he got hurt in the playoffs. I still think they would've made the playoffs if, or the finals if he didn't get hurt. Remember that against the Pistons? He got hurt like midway through that series. I thought they were ready to make it that year. So maybe that's the model. I mean maybe they should look at how Miami handled that Wade situation and be like, hey, could we be, could we be good right away? I would not like just be like, oh we're gonna like do the Presti thing. We're gonna stockpile picks build slow because one thing, they're gonna have a high pick this year, but the draft isn't very good, right? So one of the questions is like if you're them, let's say you're in the top five, do you wanna draft a guy with potential on a higher ceiling or do you wanna draft a guy who's a little further along, a little more proven? Do you wanna hit a double or you wanna hit home run?
RR : I wanna hit home runs. I'm not gonna be like, one of the dumbest draft arguments ever, ever was when Jordan was still with the Wizards and they're like, they're gonna take Shane Battier because he is ready to plug in right now. And you're like, no you're not. You're not taking Shane Battier number one. Yeah, I mean this is stuff that was actually proposed going back now what, 25 years? This isn't even me in the media. Just an annoyed sports fan being like, that's so fucking stupid as I would read it going. But it, there was people that do what we do now then making the argument that that's the thing that made the most sense. And that's a shit that that's, that's not even a double man for a number one pick that's a single. So I don't think the Spurs would necessarily do that kind of thing. And by the way, back to the Cavs thing, I know I've said this before, but part of the pressure of trying to make sure that LeBron knew that they were committed, that actually influenced them to make a lot of those trades that actually were just more expensive with not really much upgrade whatsoever.
01:02:17
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01:03:08
RR : I guess I would just tell you like go through all those Cleveland years when they're desperate to try to make it work. You know, after it was clear a couple years in for LeBron and when you say, well definitely don't do that, it's like, well they were doing it because they were scared that he was gonna think that they weren't invested. Yeah. And Gilbert didn't care. He would always take on more money in these deals, but it never allowed him the freedom for what Miami was able to put together by having all that cap space because they were in such a rush with it all. Now Wembanyama would have to be so good, like I don't really like planning for cap space. I think it's probably the worst of the three strategies. Trades being the best, draft being the second best, which is its own problem. And then free agency just waiting around for free agents. Like it's, it's pretty stupid. So if a trade presents itself that makes sense where you feel like you're raising the level of your talent.
BS : I love the Trae young idea for them. I, I've said that over and over again and I, I just like it.
RR : Why? Why do you love that?
BS : I just like the combo. I think it would be super fun to watch. I don't think they're gonna win a title with Wembanyama in the next three years, but they could be fun to watch and competitive and I, I just like the combo. I think that he needs somebody that the same way Jokic looks out for Gordon, he needs the guard version of that. Somebody who's like, this is my toy that I am just, this guy's seven foot five and he is around the rim and he is unbelievable an athlete. I'm just gonna get him baskets. And if they don't find that person next year, maybe it's not Trae Young, maybe it's somebody else, but that's what they need. It's not about like we got him a power forward, they need a guard who knows what the fuck he's doing. I, if I were them I would overpay for any, any guard like Garland. Like fuck it. What's your price for Garland? We're not trading him. Well everyone has a price. What's your price? What do you want for them? Well no we're not trading them all right. What if it's four first round picks and two swaps? Like just fucking go for it. Get somebody who's like a real guy.
RR : The lobs would be great. And you could also argue that Trae's deficiencies on defense, like maybe Wembanyama able to cover those up even though that's ruling out a lot of the space on the floor that Wembanyama is not gonna show all the way to the three point line over and over and over again. But I just think it'd be frustrating for Wembanyama who's gonna be the face of this franchise, be like, okay, what play is this? And be like, alright this is the play where I dribble the ball until four seconds left in the shot clock and then at this point I need you to stop looking at me and then turn around to see if you can get the rebound
BS : Right, aka the 2004 Paul Pierce.
RR : I don't wanna do that to Victor.
4 comments
For anyone who thinks that Wemby is a special player and what he is already ROTY and DPOY and he will be better next year it is no brainer that spurs need to start building team which will be able to contend right from next year. Those who say to take it slowly and build a team for 4-5 more years through draft just have no faith in Wemby and cant appreciate how special he is.
Build and trade. Look at previous championships. Most are built and trades.
Nuggets build around j and m. Then trade for a.gordon.
Bucks with giannis and then trade for j.holiday.
Lakers may involve more trades than others.
So, for current spurs, who is next to Wemby that I can build upon to add pieces through trades.
Hence, I will go for the highest potential draftee. I think we are still missing the no.2
I won’t go all in for non all star.
Bill Simmons is such an ass lmao
He wants the spurs to spend a ton of draft capital to get a guard like Trae or Garland just bc it would be exciting. He already admitted earlier this season that he “can’t watch the spurs bc they are so bad” even with wemby playing. He’s mentioned this line of thinking a couple of times and he never says that he thinks it would actually lead to the spurs being successful. That’s fine, he’s a media personality not a spurs fan, but doesn’t mean he actually has the franchises best interests in mind.
I still believe we are 1 year away from being a decent team. Why not continue building and surround wemby with players fit to his play style. If we are good enough 3 years from now, then we can look for trades that will elevate us from good to becoming great. We have a ton of picks and (some) pick swaps to offer if there’s any star player that wants out.