点击查看原文：Too soon for San Antonio to make another big trade?
Too soon for San Antonio to make another big trade?
With another offseason underway, columnist Mike Finger and beat writer Jeff McDonald discuss what made Stephon Castle the NBA’s rookie of the year, and question why the Spurs would consider making a run at either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kevin Durant.
Suggested reading:
Spurs’ Castle named Rookie of the Year finalist
Finger: Why the Spurs shouldn’t wonder what if about Kawhi Leonard
Who will coach next season, will Wemby be back and other questions for the Spurs
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Here is the transcript of the podcast:
From a highly secure network of top-secret locations across South Texas, this is the Spurs Insider. It’s the off-season edition. I’m Mike Finger. I’m joined by a refreshed, revived, good to go all over again, Spurs beat writer, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. He’s looking forward to year 18, 19, who even keeps track anymore. Tom Orsborn is still being revived and refreshed on his well-deserved vacation. Jeff, it’s been a couple of weeks since we last talked to the listeners, the viewers, the fans of the local Kajers out there. Has that changed your perspective on the season that you covered, or what’s awaiting the Spurs this summer and next year?
Wait, wait, wait. First of all, do we know where Tom went on vacation?
I’m sure that it’s well, you know, these days it’s probably we probably need to keep in touch. But I have received a couple of texts from him. Uh, they did not picture they did not feature photos of like drinks with umbrellas on beaches. I’m not sure he’s that type of dude. He might be like, uh, if if if I know him, he might be like doing yard work in on a on a ranch in Mart or something like that. But I’m sure he’s, it’s a mental refresh for him, much like the one that you’ve had.
I heard he took one of those 11-minute Katy Perry flights to space.
That might be what he did too. I didn’t get a photo of that. But I know that he’s okay. This, this is a time in the world where you need to check in on people and I know he’s okay so I can calm the listeners’ nerves about that if you’re nervous about Tom. He is okay, he’s doing great. Back to the topic at hand. How are you, Jeff?
I’m doing good. Doing good. I think you might have oversold it a little bit on the intro but that’s okay.
Okay.
Like I’m not that refreshed, right? But I’m okay. It’s a time in the NBA calendar when lots is going on across the association. It’s another riveting play-off. It’s another riveting play-off postseason. There’s there’s series out there that are compelling. You’ve got great players. We’re we’re trying to find out whether defense really wins championships. Like the Luka, LeBron team is up against it. Um, there’s some there’s some big we recording this on our usual Tuesday. There are some big games tonight. There’s an announcement coming up, which is huge news on this podcast. This podcast which is all about postseason awards. One might be heading to the by the time the listeners hear this podcast. I believe Jeff that Stefan Castle of your San Antonio Spurs will be announced as the Local Kajer’s second consecutive Rookie of the Year. That’s some news there. And that’s a good place to start because you know, we can we can reflect a little bit on a rookie campaign that was not anything like the one that came before it. I mean, this is not a Victor Wembanyama take the league by storm type of deal, but still a really solid season from young Stefan Castle.
Yeah, I think he was probably everything the Spurs could have hoped for and more and more and you’re right, it’s not, um, it’s not a Victor kind of thing where he looks like a guy that’s going to be a generational talent. That’s not how he was built anyway. Um, I think he averaged what 14.7 points a game, which is still more than anybody, uh, in the rookie class. But not blow you away numbers, but for those of us who watched him play 80 something times this year. Um, you could tell he’s he’s really something special and he’s going to be a part of or should be a part of what the Spurs do and the foundation they’re building. I mean, I think he’s kind of cemented himself um, in that tier of player on the roster. And it was just it’s both ends of the floor. He’s outside of Victor, he’s he’s their best two-way player. Like already at age 20. And I I think it’s a pretty no-brainer for rookie of the year even though it will not be unanimous like it was last year.
Um, to kind of tie it in with some stuff that’s going on in the league and and you you covered both of these rookie seasons and I’m just interested in your thoughts on a fella who is still an important part of the league, still a fantastic two-way player, still a guy who can put a team on his back and who developed beyond what the Spurs had expected for him when they got him on Draft Night, low those many years ago. Ki Leonard’s still out there, getting it done. Just you covered Ki’s career from the beginning. You covered like you said you saw all Stefan Castle play 80 games this year. Is there is that a fair comparison? Do you see them do similar things and how are they different and how do you expect that Stefan might progress during his career differently than Ki did?
Well, not not to pull a Greg Popovich on you, but I hate to compare players. I hate to put that on I hate to put that on Stefan and say he’s, you know, the next Ki Leonard or whatnot or put him anybody in that tier because Ki when healthy, um, is a top five player in this league and one of the best players in NBA history. But all that said, if you just look at their rookie seasons and a lot of it was due to circumstances, like Castle’s rookie season was more eye-popping, more eye-opening than maybe.
He has to do more. Yeah, exactly. There had to do with the circumstances. Ki came into a team that was title ready and was competing for championships and was asked to really just be a role player. And Ki’s first year, if you remember, it was a lot of just he’d score on like putbacks and he’d get rebounds and he’d play defense. He wasn’t really the offense didn’t run through him at all. And Stefan especially the last third of the year when everybody was out, the last 20 games or so. Um, the offense was really run running through him and he was asked to be their best player coming down the stretch. And I think all things considered rose to the occasion. I this is not me saying that Stefan Castle is going to become the next Ki Leonard. Um, but, you know, the bar, the floor is higher than maybe we thought coming in.
Maybe the ceiling. The ceiling is higher. Okay. I was curious about the floor. Uh, that that caught my ears there when you said the floor is higher. Um, do you what what do you think his floor is? Worst case scenario. Like barring injury, we don’t want to talk about injury. But um, what what is his floor? What what can the Spurs be sure that they have for the next four, five, six years in Stefan Castle?
I mean, is is like a Drew Holiday too much of a too high of a bar? Like am I swinging too high to say that’s the floor?
That’s an interesting thought that I wouldn’t have even imagined for him. That’s that’s intriguing to me.
Um, uh, that that level of production, you mean like a defensive stalwart.
Yeah. Yeah, little bit of offense to go. little bit of offense.
Um, Castle seems more wingy to me than than Drew Holiday. but yeah, I think that’s a that’s that’s that’s interesting.
I mean, his game as a as a rookie reminds, I mean like again, if we’re just going to throw crazy names out there, like his game game as a rookie reminds me of a little like early Shay Gilgeous-Alexander where he just it’s obviously there’s a defensive piece, but offensively it’s just mostly just getting into the paint. Remember SGA couldn’t shoot at all the first first couple years in the league and has made himself into a little bit more of a threat out there. Um, but also like even before he could shoot, Shay was hard to guard and would like lead the league in paint points and stuff and was just I mean we all know now that he’s a free throw merchant as the kids like to say, but he’s always been that. And that’s another thing that Castle could become too is just um, I don’t know, his offensive game really reminds me of like early shades of that and whether he develops into the full I I don’t know, I’m not going to sit here and say he’s going to develop into the full-blown like MVP Shay. But I I think there are elements of his game that are really reminiscent of that to me.
That’s I mean, that that’s that’s fair. I don’t mean to uh, to fact check you in the middle of a podcast. I know we agreed the rules of the podcast beforehand there was going to be no live fast fact checking. But um, to violate that rule, Shay’s three-point percentage as a rookie was 36%. He was he was never he was never as bad as Castle was. And bad’s the wrong term. Like like Stefan Castle started off really, really rough from beyond the arc. He improved throughout the season. Um, you can see that he’s going to be a guy who can make that shot eventually. He he started making it more towards the end. He did not get to the 30% mark for the season. But yet just wanted to do some live fact checking there that SGA started from a higher shooting level than than Stefan Castle did. But I I I think you’re right that uh, I mean if you compare it to Ki Leonard, and Ki Leonard I don’t think was ever as bad as Castle was either, but Castle had much more volume. Like to your points. Ki Leonard was not asked to shoot jump shots as a rookie, let alone three-pointers. He he was a put-back guy. And so I think when you when you see what Stefan Castle is going to do with the next couple of off-seasons when he has time to to remake that jumper or to refine that jumper, I think there’s a lot of reasons to be positive there. Um, the other thing that you mentioned is uh is getting to the line and I think that’s a part of Stefan Castle’s game that’s going to develop in a major way because there’s, you know, you saw these examples throughout this season of him getting to the rim of him beating his guy and then just sort of things falling apart there right at the end. And I think he’s going to learn more how to finish those plays, a little look a little less out of control. And it’s not like he was a wild man, crazy out of control type guy, but I think there were plenty of drives where he just didn’t have a plan to finish it off. And I think that’s a that’s another part of his game that will improve. But we’re talking about a guy who’s going to be a runaway rookie of the year winner. Like that’s a that’s that’s pretty good.
Yeah, and if if there’s Spurs fans that are wondering if if um Stefan’s going to going to win it because maybe you’ve seen things like uh, oh my gosh, our friend Tim Bontemps, uh, he he said that he voted for Zachary Riache. To get. Um, there’s this guy online called Max Cross that does the, uh, Yoman’s work of anybody that has a vote in these awards and publicly announces who they voted for, whether they write it or say it on a podcast or on on a television show, he charts that. So you can kind of keep track of and it’s not official and it’s it’s not um, it it’s a smaller sample size, but he’s got 38 of the, uh, first first place votes um, tabulated and Stefan Castle has 34 of those among the 38 that he’s found. So I think, you know, maybe there’s a big wave towards, uh, Jaylen Wells in the in the next batch of votes, but I kind of doubt it. I think that’s a pretty good indicator. 34 out of 38 votes, that’s a pretty that’s almost 40% of the votes right there. And I realized we’ll know the answer to this by the time most people are listening this podcast, but maybe maybe, you know, this gets out of here this evening and, uh, people are wondering.
We we have some Tuesday evening listeners. Our our great producer Manny Bach gets it out there on Tuesday afternoon sometimes and I know some people like to get it the moment it’s available. There’s there’s people who have their Wednesday morning routines who like to get it then. We’ll we’ll take listeners however we can get them. Um, and yeah, if if you’re a Wednesday morning listener, you already know the answer. It’s already been announced. The NBA announces that uh that award on Tuesday evening and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Mr. Castle. Um, what what what’s the big step for we sort of alluded to this earlier, but what’s the big next step for Stefan and how do you see him fitting into what the uh Spurs are going to run out there on the court next season?
Well, that is the interesting question to me and it’s really the interesting question to to for most of the guys on the roster is how does it fit when Victor and Deron Fox are both on the floor? Because we only had a five-game sample size of that this year where both those guys were healthy and playing. So everybody’s going to get less opportunities when those two guys are playing. That’s just the the way the way it is. So all this talk about, you know, about Stefan and his drives and and having a plan, he’s going to have a lot less of them. He just is. And um, it’d just be interesting to see how like the players that are going to be able to thrive on the Victor Wembanyama and Deron Fox Spurs are players that can take advantage of um, a limited number of opportunities. And Castle will have more opportunities than a lot of guys in that bucket. But it’s still going to be. He’s not going to have the ball in his hands nearly as much, I don’t think as he did the last, you know, coming down the stretch of this season. So how he adjusts to that, um, is going to be interesting to me once this thing kicks off again. And but the same is true with your Devin Vassels and Keldon Johnson’s and etc, etc.
Well, that is why the three-point shot is so important. Yeah. And it’s I mean, breaking news, right? Three-point shot is important the NBA. It’s it’s important everywhere. But on a team, you you just envision the the lineup that the Spurs are going to run out there if everybody’s back and healthy. Um, Deron Fox and Victor Wembanyama, um, Devin Vassell and Harrison Barnes, who never ever ever misses a game and might play till he’s 60. Like he’s he’s just an 82 game, uh, was already 60 to be honest. Old man game. So, so you have the the Deron Fox Victor Wembanyama pick and roll going. And then you have Devin Vassell, who needs to be able to make that three-point shot because that’s his role on this team, is to be the shooter. Uh, Harrison Barnes, who can go out there on the baseline and hit that corner three. That’s his role there. And uh Stefan Castle’s kind of the X factor in the middle of that. I think he’s going to start at the three or if you call it that the the wing position there. And uh, and how does he fit in and is he the slasher? Um, it wouldn’t hurt to be able to at least have a threat of being, let’s say a 33% three-point shooter, which isn’t maybe starting caliber on a on a playoff team, but it’s better than he was and I think that would be a huge step forward for him. Just make one out of every three and to have that threat and I think that opens up all the slashing, all the other stuff that he can do. It’s a really interesting, compelling starting lineup if if those are the guys. And we haven’t even mentioned who they might add in for agency, uh, who they might add in the draft. The steps forward of your, uh, Jeremy Sohan, who’s probably going to be a bench player moving forward and can fit in pretty well there. The, uh, the always entertaining, always productive, always exciting Keldon Johnson will be coming off the bench. Uh, who’s your backup point guard next year by the way?
Well, that’s something you got to figure out, right? Mm. Um, I mean there there needs to be somebody added there I suppose unless Blake Wesley’s still around.
But I think I’m not sure that I’m not sure the Blake Wesley you want to be uh, heading into next season as your number one option is the backup point guard. Now the other thing that factors in here is Step Stefan Castle is going to play some point guard minutes. Exactly. So it could be a deal where uh, you stagger the rotations where Stefan’s always out there. But I do think it’s it’s beneficial to have a, uh, a quote unquote backup point guard, even if even if Castle’s going to get a lot of point guard minutes. Exactly.
And I do think it would be worthwhile to have someone uh with a little more skins on the wall than Blake Wesley does. Just uh, you know, a Trey Jones type. You’re probably not bringing Chris Paul back. Um, and I don’t know, am I overstating that that need to have someone just as as entitled to be the backup point guard?
I mean, it’s on the list. Yeah. It’s not it’s not number one on the list. Yeah, but it’s it’s on the list. It it’s all going to go look weird when they, uh, trade for Janis though.
That’s that that’ll be a heck of a deal. You you feel like you have to give up both Wesley and Branham for Janis? Or can you get away with?
Well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Come on. Come on. The bucks have to pick one. one of those guys. The Lord. like a second rounder. Like Malakai Branham. How about Malakai Branham and two second rounders? That would that get it done? I mean the Spurs need shooting and Janis can’t do that.
He doesn’t he doesn’t he doesn’t fit though. He can’t make a three. He doesn’t fit with their their need at all.
That might not work. Janis is uh is a story that um, it’s kind of a cautionary tale, right? He won a title. The Spurs would take that. But his he’s he’s a freak foreign born big guy who has the world at his feet and who has his franchise excited about the future or did whenever he came into the league. It was going to take the league by storm and he got his one title and now it’s just uh, it’s rough. And that’s the that’s the ending that uh teams like the Spurs have to uh have to be a bit concerned about because things, even when you have the world at your feet.
World turn and leave you there. Yeah. Um, and uh Yeah. Um, and I think things are going to work out better with Victor, but you just you just never know in this league. And uh and how about just two one of a kind, generationally great big guys in Janis and Nikola Jokic who each got their title. But are are there are you sure that either one of them is going to get another one? It’s kind of crazy, right? Like those are just unbelievably awesome players that we’ve never seen in the history of basketball quite like them. There’s just no guarantees, man.
Yeah, what what went wrong with Milwaukee? Boy. That’s a different podcast maybe. Yeah, I’m probably not qualified. Well, I you know, I would I would expect I mean It’ll be really really really awful for Dame Lillard by the way.
Yeah, for sure, for sure. And it’s not like a healthy Dame Lillard has the bucks in the titles race or in the title mix this year. But still that’s he tried hard to come back and then has a now has a brutal, brutal injury to come back. probably you know, could be the end of his career at his age. Uh certainly his career as he as he knows it. It seems like I would uh you know, I don’t think this is breaking news and this shouldn’t be like a headline, but I would expect the Spurs to to give the bucks a call this summer. About Janis? Yeah. Kick the tires.
That would be something else. Now you’re trying to get aggregated. Not really. I’m not I’m not I just think it’s pretty obvious. Like if wants out, you got to give him the call and but you’re one of you’re one of a small handful of teams that could make that happen for the Spurs. I mean, I think everybody will.
Not the only, not the only hand, not the only team, but you you you you’re one of the few teams that has, you know, some some bullets to fire that direction.
What’s the deal? What what what what’s your first what’s your opening salvo from Brian Wright? I mean, I don’t know about opening salvo, but player wise you’re going to have to put some contracts together to make it work. Mm. And what I would say is I I would do anything to keep Steph Castle out that deal, but I I don’t know that he can be a deal breaker. Now you’re being greedy. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I mean you’re you a bunch of first round picks, right? A bunch of first round picks. I mean, you’re probably talking some combination of like uh uh Devin and uh Keldon and Harrison Barnes, Sohan, you’re going make them like some kind of. The players are almost irrelevant.
Yeah, yeah. In these types of deals. Um, it’s about how many first round picks you uh you give up and I guess if if you can do that deal, you just offer as many as they want. Um, yes. I I want, this is this is ridiculous. This is a ridiculous thing to say. But I I just wonder how that is that the fits you want. Those two like I know what you’re saying. I know what you’re saying. Um, it’s it seems insane to question, well, like do you really want to play Victor Wembanyama with Janis? Like the two guys who no one in the league can guard. Do you really want two of those guys? But it’s a it’s it would be a fascinating fit, right? Like I mean, once again You imagine those two guys on the same team together? All you’d have to do is find some one or two guys that can make a wide open three and you’re in business.
Yeah. That that’s alluded this team for five, six years now. Yeah. Man. I’m just thinking about that lineup and laughing. No one could guard it and no one could score on it. So it seems pretty good to me. But there is sort of I don’t know. There are some I mean, the league is rife with examples of if you put too many eggs in like two superstar baskets, it doesn’t work anymore. That’s the other issue is is the age of the super team is sort of behind us. Um, and I I you know, that’s that’s Janis already makes 48, 50 million a year. Victor’s going to pretty soon. Um, the the league is littered with examples of putting like two, three amazing players together and just figuring it out around them and that not working the past five, six years. Um. Like the the other, the other guy the various content creators want to throw in there for the Spurs is Kevin Durant and I don’t know that I want that at all.
I don’t either. What it would take. I love Kevin Durant as a player. Yes I’d love I’d love I’d love to uh to talk to him uh every day because he’s always entertaining. Um, even when he’s surly. I think he’s one of the most entertaining surly guys in the in the league. Um, and just imagining him next to Victor is really, really, really fascinating. Um, but again, this is this is running contrary to how the league has worked lately. Like, and just Kevin Durant by himself, like just consider his past few stops where every like Phoenix, Brooklyn, like both of those teams thought how can we go wrong by adding Kevin Durant to a lineup that already has, you know, name your XYZ All-Stars.
Yeah, it’s going to work. Booker, Bradley Beal.
Yep. It has not worked. And I don’t I I just don’t see that. It’s because they have those three to have those three guys like that salary cap, the rest of the team has to be kind of garbage. Yep. You have to fill in the rest of the team with just garbage and I just it doesn’t work anymore. Yep. that you’ve been good at, uh, today at at topics like that’s good to bring up these, uh, these trades that seem really fun, but I I just sort of I’m not sold on the the Kevin Durant seems more realistic to me in terms of could the Spurs pull it off because it’s. And also I also the one I wouldn’t do I don’t think in a million years.
I think I would not do it either. It’s that that’s the trade that I think the Spurs could do if they wanted to, whereas the honest thing seems more far-fetched because I think Milwaukee is farther away from giving up on Janis than Phoenix is on KD. Um, I just I think The owners should not want to do the Durant trade. Yeah, he’s not a free agent, so it’s it’s it’s a mood point, but I I’d much rather have him on like a 10 million deal like Chris Paul played on last year. Yeah. Like just sign him for that in that kind of situation, but I wouldn’t want to give up assets for him. is going to want. When you go back to the Diron Fox deal, like, um, which I think is something that the Spurs had wanted for a long time, had planned for it. It’s going to work out really well for them. Uh, I’m a big fan of the Diron Fox trade. But the one minor nit to pick there is like Fox seemed to be a little too old for the, uh, not too old, but he he’s he’s a generation removed from the Spurs’ timeline. Like, um, it wasn’t perfectly synced there. Then you add Kevin Durant, like that’s way out of their window.
Yeah. Um, that that all of sudden forces you to to be trying to win a championship this year, which I I just don’t think the Spurs should be doing that yet. No. The Spurs should not go into next year thinking we have to win a title this year. And if you if you trade for Kevin Durant, you feel that way and I think that just hamstrings you for the next decade if you’re putting everything into the 2026 basket. Um, I’m coming out strong against the KD plan. as fun as that would be to have him here. I I don’t think the Spurs should be doing that. Because if you watch some like you know how Chris Paul told Stefan Castle to go castle to go watch a playoff game. Like that was his homework assignment for the summer. If you watch some of this, like the Spurs are not ready for any of this.
No. Like they’re not ready for any of this. And they’re not wanting Kevin Durant away from it either. I don’t mean it’s just a talent issue. I think I think by the the next step for the Spurs is to get to the playoffs and get annihilated in the first round. Like that’s the next step in the process. Just to see what it’s about. Like Victor’s not ready for this. No. He’s not ready for the physicality and the I mean he’s just not. And that’s I don’t think that’s a burn or a rub. I just think that those are the steps you have to take. You have to go there and lose a little bit before you’re ready to win. So I yeah, I think adding like a Kevin would be skipping a step. And the Spurs uh, how many times we heard that said they don’t skip steps. Yep. That’s like their mantra now. Pound the rock and don’t skip steps. Well, I mean there’s just no examples of teams making a run like that without having suffered the uh the excruciating losses beforehand. Like there’s no, there’s no way you go from out of the playoffs to even making the finals, let alone winning the finals or even making the conference championship game. It just does not happen. Like look at how far Oklahoma City came last year. I think they’ve they were went to the top seed in the in the west last year. Had a had a huge step forward a young team and uh and then you lose in the second round to a Dallas team that had taken their postseason lumps before. Um, and that would be let’s say the Spurs just put together a super team next year and and have a great regular season. Like I do not see them getting out of the second round. Uh, no matter what happens. Uh it’s just for everything Jeff’s just said, you have to take those postseason lumps. You have to learn what the postseason is like and to to to acquire a guy that’s in Kevin Durant’s um, age that in in in in at that point in his career. Like I it does not make sense to me. And I and I don’t I have heard nothing about the Spurs being interested in that type of thing other than like the the blogverse out there proposing wild ideas about it. I just do not see the Spurs doing that. It would go against everything that they’ve talked about in terms of building a long-term winner, uh, in terms of not skipping steps, all that stuff. It just does not make sense to me.
So is is honest is 30? Like is that too old? Is he 30? I’ll I’ll look that up since you came to this podcast so well uh prepared. I’m doing the live uh he is 30. 30 and 144 days. So is that too is that too for you?
It’s not too old for me. It’s it’s another sort of step skipping situation though because here’s the other thing, um, even though he’s not a free agent, like you know how these these trades work. The the unless it’s Luca Doncic, the the superstar getting traded sort of has a say in where he’s going. And uh, I would think that somebody a 30-year-old like Janis would want to go to a place where he feels like he could win a title right away and I think he’s smart enough to realize that the Spurs are not a year away from that either. Like I I I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m I’m skeptical of those types of huge huge swings and I don’t think the Spurs are going to be taking them this off season. I won’t completely rule it out. But this is an off season where you have taken your swing at the trade deadline and adding Deron Fox. You just acquire you you you just acquired a second straight rookie of the year. You have three guys who you can build around for the next five years. And if you fill in wisely around them, you can build a championship level team. I don’t think you need to add another future Hall of Famer to put you over the top. And if I know anything about this franchise that we’ve covered for two decades. uh, Tom for five decades. However long he’s been around. It’s that they they aren’t going to abandon their principles. And uh I I hate to throw cold water on all the speculation and whatnot, but I just yes, like Janis is tempting. Janis is way more tempting than KD is. I I think they’d be they’d be hard pressed to to justify that in their minds to give up what they had to give up.
So go draft a shooter, go draft a backup big, throw some money at like a Luke Connard type. I think that’s a good off season. And and after we’d been discussing and KD, it’s it’s probably underwhelming to um to the listeners out there. But if you draft a shooter and a backup big and you sign another guy like exactly like Luke Connard, a perfect name, like that makes your team a lot better. And and you get a full year from Victor and a full year from Fox. A little step forward from Sohan. I think we’re getting more realistic about what he is. Uh, continue to get Keldon things from Keldon. Get a step forward from Stefan Castle. I think I already mentioned that. Devin Vassell, a little more consistency. Like that’s a playoff team. And then and then take your play playoff lumps next year and then if you want to take a swing then after your guys have taken their playoff lumps, that becomes more realistic. But KD this off season man, I I just cannot see it.
I it doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Well, there we go. I’m not paid to make those decisions, so Yeah, I think we’ve solved it. I think we have. There we can talk about for the rest of the off season. We’ll we’ll have to Tom, well, I’ll tell you this, we’ll be back in two weeks and in two weeks, uh, we will have a draft lottery under our belt. In fact, we’re going to record the morning after the lottery where Tom will be covering in a person again in Chicago per his annual tradition. He was there for both the Victor and Stefan Castle lotteries, which worked out pretty well for the local Kajers. That will be the, uh, the draft combine in Chicago. So he’ll he’ll have inside scoops on all the players, the shooters and backup bigs that the Spurs might be looking to, uh, to draft this summer. And uh we’ll look forward to that in a couple weeks. And what do you can do in the meantime there, Jeff? Spurs have the eighth best odds and the 14th best odds. Is that correct? That’s I’m glad you brought that up. We needed to mention that because there were some um, there were some important coin flips, random draws and whatnot. So we can review that for the uh, for the listeners and that the Spurs now uh, they they finished the season in the eighth spot. Uh, where they have a 26.3% chance to draft in the top four and there are four clear top four prospects in this draft. So that would be uh, that would be a big deal for them. 6% to to pick number one overall and uh, the Atlanta Hawks since we last talked to you were eliminated in the play-in tournament, unceremoniously. Uh, so they will have some lottery ball combinations and due to a uh, a flip that they had with Sacramento, the lottery ball combinations that the Spurs have are the 14th best, which add another 3.4% to the top four chances and 0.7% to the number one overall chances.
So between the two, that’s about a 30% chance of the top four. That’s about a 30% chance of the top four. Not bad. Um, and also worst case scenario, um, you are picking, let’s say four teams move up. Like that’s that’s never ever going to happen. But worst case scenario, the Spurs pick drops to 12. The Atlanta Hawks pick stays at 14. So you’re picking 12 and 14 at worst. Uh, most likely you’re picking eight and 14. Chance to pick one and two. Like there’s a chance the Spurs and and Hawks could both have their lottery ball combinations drawn. That would be something else. So a lot of combinations in between. But uh we will know the answer to how the lottery turns out the next time we convene here on the Spurs Insider. Hope all