It wasn’t supposed to come to this…

It wasn’t supposed to come to this as Victor Wempanyama’s absence has led to one clear thing that is missing for the San Antonio Spurs and has even spurred some articles about trade. And with Stfan Castle and Victor Wempanyama’s recent injury updates, it just exacerbates the problem. And we have a lot to dive into as to what the Spurs were missing and how it was not supposed to come to it this early. As we even have an article suggesting the San Antonio Spurs go land some specific type of talent. But look, we’re going to start here with just the injury updates. And we got Maxim. I’m going to flex some French for you real quick. Memphis individualis back at individual practice. Jared Weiss saying it too from the athletic. Stefan Castle and remain out against the Grizzlies, but they’ve been progressing in their onc court recovery as they work toward a return. And of course, Don Harris. It wouldn’t be a news video without Don Harris. You guys all know Victor Webbyama and Stfan Castle both listed as out tomorrow versus the T-Wolves. Both progressing, both participating in onc court workouts. My guess is the cup game in LA is possible. And this is good news that they’ll be back probably for the NBA Cup. And I mean, if we just have a look ahead towards the schedule, this game versus Memphis coming up tomorrow, it’s a back-to-back Memphis and Orlando. And we were hoping for some of our guys to be back by now, but unfortunately it’s just not going to be the case. Look, getting this kind of update, especially when it comes to two of our best defensive players, it hurts. It really hurts and it forces the Spurs into some tough decisions when it comes to later in the season and even some more stuff I’ll get into later. But to stay on this topic, so I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. Oh, I might have just teased something there actually. If you want to go back and pause and look at it, there you go. But I suggest you stick around. Now, CBS Sports has estimated return dates and different websites have different things. I think one website has Mclofflin uh WebMyama and Castle projected to be back December 2nd, which has just been proven false. So, I don’t know. This one here, CBS says Mclofflin’s expected to be out until December 8th. Same thing with WBY. Castle saying December 3rd. Now, take everything here with a grain of salt because none of this is really confirmed. The Spurs are pretty tight lipped. And honestly, I would be surprised if Castle came in in the second half of a backtoback where we’re going out to Orlando for that game. I just don’t really see that happening. But I would not be surprised if both Castle and WBY were ready to go by next week. And that NBA Cup game very much is a target right now. And look, as much as we are sad that this injury update, it’s just doesn’t it suck though? It feels like a few times this season we’ve had guys just be injured and we’re just like we don’t get the the clear picture as to what’s going on. Like it feels like Harper was kind of out for less time than I thought he would be with that calf strain. And now WBY with his calf strain. Shout out to Brandon Pensky. Unbelievably dirty play. Intentional or not. I still hate that. But like now WebM is going to be out almost the same amount of time and he was in not in a boot. We thought ah all the initial reports were like, “Oh no, Wemb’s totally fine.” And look, it is really good that they’re both progressing back to Encord activities, but I feel like I’m not I’m not crazy, right? We heard the same stuff about about Soad, about De’aran Fox so much early this season. Like, yeah, they’re playing full speed 5v5, but they’re not coming back for another two weeks. And it’s just like, come on, I want to know. But at the same time, I understand the Spurs not wanting to get ahead of themselves. They want to be extremely patient with Webinyama and Castle, two guys who have been absolutely crucial to this team. Of course, Castle averaging 17, seven and a half assists, six boards. He’s going to be a huge a huge asset to this team. And looking at last game against the Pelicans, right? Or not against the Pelicans, against the Wolves. It’s like you got to imagine that Spurs that three-point defense, man. Driving me crazy. I hope with Stefan Castle on the floor, it’s going to help a lot. I got to say, Jeremy So hasn’t been doing doing any favors to the Spurs recently either. He’s the team worst minus 35 this season. He’s one of only four Spurs who’s in the plus minus as in like a minus and he’s a minus 35. I mean, he’s supposed to be one of our good defensive guys. Not all his fault. His individual defense has been good, but of course, WBY and Castle make up that big defensive impact. And now we’ll get into some of those stats I was talking about. This data comes from Data Baller. And looking at some with or without you lineups, as in lineups with WBY and without WBY. And this ignores lowle leverage situations. This is only medium and high leverage situations that we’re looking at. The Spurs defensive rating with WBY is a 109. The lower the better. It’s points given up per 100 possessions. The offensive rating is 116. And while the Spurs offense in 473 minutes without Wemby, it actually does get better by 4.4 points per 100 possessions, that defense is brutal. Of course, the net plus 6.7 when Wembley’s on the court, a 120 defensive rating when Wemi is not on the court is insane. And you know, there’s other stats that we can look at as well. And just the general defensive terms, far past defensive rating, other teams shoot 5% worse in terms of true shooting. other teams are committing slightly more turnovers. The offensive re rebounding percentage goes way down for opposing teams. We know this is true with Webby. Like obviously he has such a huge impact, but all these things here lead up to one thing and I wanted to mention this Alamo article I saw and I can’t believe it has come to this. This is what I’ve I’ve been talking about. It’s like already we’re starting to talk about pursuing trades for more reliable defenders. And if I if maybe you thought I was talking about trading web earlier, sorry about that. I’m just realizing now how that would have sounded. But the Spurs can’t be afraid to pursue trades for more reliable defenders. By no means, this article is linked down below, by the way. Go take a read of the full thing. It’s it’s pretty solid. By no means should fans be turning on Cornet. But the Spurs have produced a positive net rating, a plus 2.2 with him on the court during Wemby’s injury. Instead, San Antonio should be evaluating the options in regard to improving the team’s overall defensive performance. And I find it hard to disagree with that. And again, you look at the numbers like, yeah, obviously Webby is like a transcendent defender. This dude is going to go down as one of the goats of defense of all time. But now we’re already in danger. I can’t believe we’re already Another thing that I can’t believe it’s come to this. We’re already talking about him missing out on awards again because he might not hit the game minimum of 60 games because of this injury, right? He’s already missed a good handful of games this year, which is just rough to see. But if we look at the defensive rating, this courtesy of basketball reference, this is just players on the Spurs who have played at least 100 total minutes this season. So Carter Bryant barely makes that cut off. You can see there when Binyama has a defensive rating of 104 individually, I don’t love I don’t love using individual defensive rating as a stat too often, but when you contrast it with the rest of this team, everyone else the second best is 113. like everyone else is right between 113 and Harrison Barnes worst 117 which is just nuts. And again, reminder, in medium and high leverage situations, the team’s defensive rating without WBY is 120. No one on the team has a defensive rating of 120. That’s how good WebM’s been in those minutes. So, of all players to play at least 100 minutes this year, WBY is far and away the highest impact in terms of defensive rating. And offensive rating, he’s pretty good, too. actually Kell Johnson and Luke Cornett playing to incredibly high offensive ratings so far this year of 134 and 149 respectively. But when we’re talking about looking at pursuing trades and I look at g these games against the Timberwolves, these games, not just that one, but so many other games this year, it’s like the Spurs are giving up like I think I saw a stat, I don’t have it to quote here now, but over 30 uncontested threes a game and other teams are shooting over 40% on them as they should. The Spurs are giving up some of the most open threes in the entire league. And I don’t know what’s causing that. I don’t know if not having Wimbeyama to back you up is is like this mental thing. And I’m sure it kind of is. And obviously having a Jeremy So just kind of back from injury, still getting used to things. Sure. Stfan Castle not in the lineup. Okay. Harper missed a good amount of time. Fair enough. Webby is not there. Understandable. But still, it just feels like the way the defensive set is, even when Wembley has been on the floor are the downside to this team’s defense is that we are very prone to letting other teams get hot from three. And the Spurs can get hot from three themselves. We’ve had some guys who have had good shooting performances. Deon Vel with 35 in one of those games, you know, like it it it can work. We can keep up with some teams, but that cannot be the consistent thing for the Spurs. So, we can’t get into shooting battles, which at its heart is actually the three-point defense. And it’s not just the rim defense, right? That is one thing, but like exploring a trade for some kind of great wing defender is actually something I’m very open to. And it it opens those doors, right? And there’s a lot of fantastic wing defenders in the league, but they’re not a dime a dozen, right? And they’re really hard to trade for. You need to pay a premium to get these guys because every contending team is going to want one. And there’s not very many teams in the league that would say, “No, I don’t want this good defending wing who can shoot threes.” Like a good 3 and D wing is something that can be very valuable to San Antonio cuz right now like Champenni has been doing great getting some rebounds as well. He’s not been horrible, but like get that kind of guy that is just like a really good wing defender who can kind of hit some threes. Something that we hope maybe Carter Bryant can turn into in a few years. He is not there yet, right? We just need to have that stopover from something right now until Carter Bryant is ready. At least that’s what I’m seeing in an ideal world. So, I want to hear your guys’ thoughts cuz we’re talking about trades already to bolster the Spurs defense. And I I want to hear your thoughts on this. Would you make a trade for a wing defender right now? Do you think that’s something the Spurs need desperately or do you think we just need to wait and see until Castle and Webby are back? Cuz I’m in that boat. But look, if it’s still an issue come trade deadline, we might not have much of a choice. But listen, I’ll leave that up to you. Leave your comments down below. I’ll reply to some. I’ll hurt some. So, get some interaction out there. Thank you for watching. I’ve been your host Josh Goss and I’ll catch you in the next

With Wembanyama and Stephon castle sidelined for longer than expected, some fans have resorted to discussing trades to shore up some San Antonio Spurs defensive issues. Josh Gosse breaks it all down on this episode of Spurs Digest.

—

Get 10% off of the BEST Spurs merch we’ve ever worn HERE 👇:
https://diehardaddicts.com/discount/Digest

https://airalamo.com/spurs-coming-victor-wembanyama-realization-ignore-trade-deadline

0:00 San Antonio Spurs News
0:30 Brutal injury updates
5:20 It wasn’t supposed to come to this

Spurs Digest is a YouTube Channel that covers all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors regarding the San Antonio Spurs. We provide comprehensive coverage on topics such as game highlights, player performances, and in-depth analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Chris Paul as well as insights from Head Coach Gregg Popovich and president R.C. Buford. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Spurs!

Have you ever wanted to break into sports media as a write or content creator? Apply to join the Digest Media team today here: https://digestmedia.ca/join-us/

for_digest_redistribution

—

Unchanged

—

NBA Trade Rumors, NBA Free Agency, NBA Draft, NBA Finals Preview, Fantasy Basketball Advice, NBA Betting Odds, NBA Jersey Review, Player Performance Breakdown, Sports Analytics, NBA Highlights, NBA News Update, NBA Stats, NBA Roster Moves, NBA Predictions

20 comments

  1. This season should be a transition to return to the playoffs, either within the top 4 or within the play-in tournament.But In the offseason, many roster decisions will need to be made. For me, only Wemby, Stephon, and Dylan should be untouchable.

  3. I feel that a lot of players will be gone sooner rather than later due to lack of 3 point shooting ability, lack of shooting consistency or bad defense.

    Wouldn’t be surprised if guys like Jordan McLaughlin, Kelly Olynyk, Bismack Biyombo, Sochan, Keldon and even Vassell will be on the chopping block. We need better defensive players and consistent shooters if we wanna compete against teams like OKC in the playoffs.

  4. With the spurs being a loyal franchise, I think Vassell and KJ are "untouchable" as well.

    They are definitely available but like Derrick White and Dejonte Murray, we gave them one of the best options to win on their new team (White got a ring, and Murray join Trae young after ECF appearance) I personally think the team is still TOO young to make any changes. Wemby is 21, castle is 20, and Harper is 19. Vassell, Kj, Kornet, Barnes are AMAZING glue guys. I think waiting for Wemby, castle and Harper to fully develop will be the best for the Spurs

  7. Any needle mover like a derrick white/trey Murphy would cost real assets. I don’t know if it’s time to do that yet. If the ceiling for current team is something like 2 years away.. this next trade is prob moR consequential so idk

  9. Come on guys… The Spurs are in the playoff seeds. No need to rush the Castle and Wemby's comebacks.
    The Spurs' roster is deep enough to play against Memphis, Orlando and Cleveland.

    I thought that Castle would have been back for the game against Memphis at home. This won't be the case. He should then be back at Cleveland.

    For Victor, if he can already play, the injury is healed. What the interest for the Spurs to make him coming back for the games at Orlando and Cleveland (should be very physical and closed games).
    I expect Victor to come back against the Pels (to secure this win) and to have at least one game before the NBA Cup against the Lakers.

  11. Stop tripping! Face it we need a legit 3 N D!!! Carter Bryant is a bust he should b in G league. N sorry as good as Champagne N esp Barnes R playing they will not cut in long term. We have too many dragt picks N that ATL 2026 is useless N too many 2nd rounders. Get Trey Murphy 3 ass here asap or someone to get us over the top.

  12. Extremely unlikely that Spurs will make any major trades along Gosse's lines unless the Spurs get an offer they can't refuse. I'd like to point out that, in effect, the last 7 games the Spurs played without Wemby and Castle(played 1/2 a game where he was already injured – then he didn't play 2nd half), but had a 5-2 record against better teams than the 1st 12 games where they were 8-4. Why was that? I could see maybe trading Biyombo and a couple 2nd round picks for somebody slightly younger, bigger, and better – but no block buster trade. Olynyx can't really play center but he's fine as backup PF and SF for short stretches. I put the fact that the Spurs played better the last 7 games is due to not having Castle and Wemby (and to a leser extent Fox) playing at the same time. They both get too many tovs and fouls, Castle can't shoot outside of like 10 feet and surprisingly enough if you watch him closely and look at the right stats you'll find he is not a good perimeter defender. He's ok on point of attack defense, but below average in other respects. Please watch at least one of the GSW games focusing on his perimeter defense, and look at his defense of 3pt shots before you start arguing with me.

  13. I think Spurs major task this year is cap space for early bird 2026 Wemby contract renewal talk, and 2027 Castle, so I have huge doubt if big trades would happen. Only small trades might be on the table like Sochan / Olynyk etc as their contract is expiring and we might not be able to keep to spare more space. KJ is very locked as a Spurs tho, he's only around 19M and giving exactly what our bench needs. DV would really need to see if any team would want him in the package but I have big doubt either, Spurs doesn't like trading cores anyways but developing.

  16. Bringing back Wemby for the cup game in LA doesn't sound like an abundance of caution. Judging by the physicality in the last cup game, he needs to get some minutes in before he plays in a cup game.

  18. CURIOUS: Tu as appris le français où ? Et quel était cet accent ? 😜 Not from here (Québec), but not France…..? As for Spurs D: it's a perimeter TEAM-D thing; not a problem of individual talent. They tried something before with no switching on the high screen, chasing over the top, and drop coverage (failed); now they're just improvising (badly). Not sure why their coaching staff hasn't put together a coherent new approach when the former didn't work. CB and Castle, and Sochan, (and Wemby) ARE excellent individual perimeter defenders — no new wing needed.

  19. I think we could benefit from getting a guy like Herb Jones off the bench. I would go ahead and trade Jeremy+salary fodder and this years picks swap with ATL for him. He’s perfect in the 2nd unit as a 3 and D guy, shooting almost 37% from 3. Idk Jeremy just isn’t providing anything and I don’t want us to extend him so might as well flip him for someone who can help us

Leave a Reply