点击查看原文：Will San Antonio extend De’Aaron Fox's contract?
Will San Antonio extend De’Aaron Fox’s contract?
Columnist Mike Finger and beat writers Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss the Spurs’ nearly-completed roster, how David Jones-Garcia fits into their history of two-way contracts, and why De’Aaron Fox remains an important part of the franchise’s future even with Dylan Harper in the fold.
Suggested reading:
De’Aaron Fox still important in Spurs’ plans
Spurs to sign veteran 3-point specialist
David Jones-Garcia lands two-way deal with Spurs
Here is the transcript of the podcast:
Mike Finger: [Music fades in] From a highly secure network of top-secret locations across South Texas, this is The Spurs Insider, Dog Days of Summer edition. I’m your host, Mike Finger, joined as always by Express News Spurs beat writers Tom Orsborn and Jeff McDonald.
Mike Finger: The roster is pretty much in place. The local cajers have done pretty much what they expected to do this off-season. We’re going to look at the roster that Brian Wright has assembled over the next 30 minutes or so. We’re going to talk about all kinds of mid-summer topics, whatever those topics might be, I’m sure the listeners are riveted. But I’m going to start with Jeff McDonald, looking back. I think there, there is one, there’s possibly one open roster spot left, maybe a couple of two-ways, but the bulk of what the Spurs planned to do has been done. Did they do it the right way? How would you kind of evaluate the roster that the Spurs have assembled this off-season, Jeff?
Jeff McDonald: I think as we’ve talked about before, they’ve they’ve improved in, in at least improved vastly, at least one of the areas that they went into the off-season, you know, needing to improve, and that’s with, you know, the big man depth, the front court depth, um, you know, guys taller than 6’8 to play with and behind Victor, and in Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk, um, the Spurs did, um, address that need. And I think as we’ve done on previous podcasts, podcasts, we can quibble with whether they’ve done enough to address the perimeter shooting need. Um, they did kind of, um, you know, make some moves around the margins that might help a little bit with the David Jones-Garcia two-way and the Lindy Waters III contract. Um, but yeah, they didn’t, they didn’t go out and and sign, um, you know, Steve Kerr or anybody like that. So we can quibble with that. But overall, I think they’ve made strides in filling holes and and, um, being an even more competitive team next season than they are, um, than they were last season, which was a pretty good improvement over the season before that. And of course, all this hinges on the health of a couple of, uh, very important players. But other than, other than that, you know, I think they’ve moved, moved the needle a little bit.
Mike Finger: Tom Orsborn, after a week in Vegas with the Summer League team and a well-deserved respite in Southern California away from the Spurs land, do you have anything to add to what Jeff mentioned in terms of the Spurs off-season?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, I mean, I, I said it, I think the last time we met that, um, you know, it’s going to be fun to see what Mitch Johnson does with these rotations with the pieces that that have been assembled. And, uh, you know, everyone is focusing on the guards, but the big men, you know, that’s interesting too. Uh, what, what he’s going to do with, um, Kornet and Olynyk, you know, how much he plays them with, uh, one of them with Wemby, you know, what, what he does, uh, with maybe a big Oklahoma City type lineup. Um, and yeah, as far as, you know, the recent signings, Waters, um, they, you know, a staffer told me in Vegas that they, they want to assemble a team that has a veteran laden bottom of the bench, you know, something they haven’t had in a while. So, you know, they’ve, they’ve kind of fulfilled that goal. So, yeah, I think it’s, uh, as I said before, I think it’s been a very good off-season for them.
Mike Finger: That’s a, that’s an interesting goal, and it makes a lot of sense. And I think it fits the history of when the Spurs were good. You get some kind. Look, you’re not going to play 15 guys in a night. You can, you can sign 15 players to full contracts. You can sign three guys to two-ways. You’re not going to play all those guys. You’re generally not going to play more than 10. And even when you account for injuries and and guys getting more playing time, guys getting less playing time, you’re not going to play more than 12, um, over the course of a, of a random few weeks, or over the course of a random month. So, what are you going to get out of those guys who aren’t playing? Are those guys, there one train of thought is those are the really young guys who aren’t ready yet, who you are developing, who you are sending up and down from the G League team, um, who are hopefully making progress in the shooter around five-on-five games that Jeff and Tom and I like to watch in in visiting arenas where the guys who never play, play each other and staffers and ball boys. Um, or are those, are, are you getting veteran know-how from those type of guys? And I think that’s, uh, when, when you’re making the step that the Spurs hope to make this year, you hope to get some kind of, um, again, veteran know-how, some, some experience, some leadership from those spots. And that’s another way to use those spots. And I think when you consider that, like Jordan McLauglin’s probably not going to play a whole lot, Lindy Waters, maybe play, maybe, maybe could play some but is not going to be plugged into the rotation on night one. Um, if, if those type of guys can give you a little bit of just veteran-ness, as opposed to who are the alternatives? Malakai Branham and Blake Wesley, who have been around but were were not young anymore and were not guys who you thought are going to be part of the thing in the future. Um, it makes a whole lot more sense to fill out that part of the bench with Jordan McLauglin and Lindy Waters and even like Kelly Olynyk, who might not play every night. I think he’s going to play a lot. But those type of guys as opposed to those tweener types in in Blake Wesley and Malakai Branham.
Tom Orsborn: The development, the development era is over, you know, where they, they have those guys at the end of the bench that they’re trying to develop and, uh, you know, uh, build up, uh, that that era is kind of over for now.
Jeff McDonald: If, if you want a veteran laden bottom of the bench, I got a hot take for everybody for that last, uh, that last 15th roster spot. Let’s bring back Patty Mills.
Mike Finger: You know?
Tom Orsborn: Man, he, he’s in Hawaii. Why the heck would he come back here?
Jeff McDonald: That’s probably the, that’s probably the issue, to be honest. Yeah.
Mike Finger: That’s that’s the type of guy. I do think just, um, roster construction wise, and if you, if you lay out like a a three-tier depth chart, I think that last spot probably should go to a biggish type person. I think they might need one more power forward type, as opposed to another. They’re, they’re covered in the, in the little guy department.
Jeff McDonald: Bring back the, uh, the breakout star of Happy Gilmore 2, Booban Marjanovic.
Mike Finger: Um, sure. Uh, who would be per and I, and I hate to harp on just depressing stuff and heartbreaking stuff, but the perfect guy for that last spot would be Sandro, uh, who’s, who found a better gig in Toronto. But that’s exactly the type of person they need for that 15th spot.
Jeff McDonald: Why’d you gotta bring us down that way?
Mike Finger: I’m sorry.
Jeff McDonald: That’s a wet blanket.
Mike Finger: I’m sorry. Um, there’s a couple of two-way spots available. I, I was looking at this and this is not going to, uh, win us the podcast award of the year, whatever the podcast Emmys are, which I know we were in contention for.
Jeff McDonald: Thanks, Podys.
Mike Finger: It’s not going to. It’s the Podys.
Jeff McDonald: I think they call them the Podys.
Mike Finger: It’s not going to make us go viral, uh, when you’re talking about two-way contracts. But I’d mentioned on a previous podcast about how it had been a while since the Spurs had hit two-way pay dirt. And I went down a two-way contract wormhole, as it as it were. And, uh, did, you, you fellas are on top of it. You cover the league, you cover the team year-round. You’re probably aware that the, the idea of a two-way contract, the first two-way contracts were signed in the summer of 2017. It’s been eight years in the two-way contract era. At first, there weren’t three available, now that, now there are three for every team to sign. Um, some of the greatest two-way contract players the league’s, league has ever produced include the likes of Austin Reaves, of Duncan Robinson, Naz Reid, Ludort, Um, Alex Caruso was on a two-way contract at one point. Uh, Derrick Jones, Max Strus, um, there’s been some guys who have, who have become productive NBA players on two-way contracts. Do you know the first two-way contract that the Spurs ever signed? There’s no way you know this. Uh, so I’m not even going to ask you, but that, that person’s name is Matt Costello. Do you fellas remember Matt Costello?
Jeff McDonald: Um, I remember Abbot.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, Luse, uh, Luse’s great grandson.
Mike Finger: Uh-huh. But do you, do you, can you even, you both were covering the team at the time, we all were covering the team in 2017.
Jeff McDonald: I remember the name, yes.
Mike Finger: But you don’t remember much about his, his style of play or anything like that.
Jeff McDonald: If he showed up at my front door right now to, you know, change my locks, I wouldn’t recognize him. No.
Mike Finger: This was a long way of getting to the second two-way contract that the Spurs ever signed, which was also in 2017. And this person you probably do remember. And you, Jeff, for a brief moment, thought that he might have seen this person in a restaurant in Los Angeles several years later. [Laughter] At a, during a Super Bowl, Jeff, do you know who I’m talking to?
Jeff McDonald: Are you, are you talking about, uh, the great Daren Hilliard?
Mike Finger: Daren Hilliard. Who we did not see.
Jeff McDonald: Should we just tell that story?
Mike Finger: Well, we need to have the great Bill Shoening on the, uh, on the podcast.
Jeff McDonald: We will, but now that, now that we beat around the bush, we might as well tell it.
Mike Finger: Everyone’s going to be so confused.
Mike Finger: Super Bowl, uh, what year? Several years ago.
Jeff McDonald: Several years ago.
Mike Finger: Spurs were playing, you can look it up. Spurs were playing in, in the, the City of Angels. The night, uh, the night after the Super Bowl, or maybe the night before the Super Bowl, so we had a night off. And the Spurs contingent decided to watch the, the big game at a, at a local eatery.
Jeff McDonald: It was, it was, it was the Yard House. It was the Yard House.
Mike Finger: Yard House.
Jeff McDonald: We, we didn’t pick it, right? It was just right across the street from the hotel.
Mike Finger: Former long-time legendary voice of the Spurs, Bill Shoening, sitting next to me. And he looked across the way and he said, that guy over there in that booth right across from us, that is that is Daren Hilliard. And, uh, I said, you know, that does kind of look like Daren Hilliard. And Bill got up and walked over and he, he, he shook the, the guy’s hands, sat down next to him, sat and talked to him for 15, 20 minutes. They were long-lost friends. The group of us looked and said, that must be Daren Hilliard. Bill’s talking to Daren Hilliard. Bill came back after 15 minutes and said, nope, that wasn’t him.
Jeff McDonald: And the kicker of the story is when the, uh, artist who was not known as Daren Hilliard got up to leave, he was like 5’10".
Mike Finger: Yeah, 5’, yeah, he was not anything close to Daren Hilliard. But Bill could talk to anybody and, uh, Bill, Bill regaled him with stories about the Spurs. Anyway, uh, this was a long way of getting to the fact that the Spurs have had a few guys on two-way contracts who have become, uh, productive NBA players. You have the great KBD, Keda Bates-Diop, was a, was a, uh, two-way player for a while. Drew Eubanks, two-way player for a couple years. Um, Dom Barlow, tryin’ to make his way in Philly now. Dom Barlow, yeah. And the one, the one that I’d forgotten, who is, I think, the Spurs’ best two-way player, and the one that’s still around, I that that’s the big giveaway here. He’s still around.
Jeff McDonald: I was going to wonder if you’re going to get to him. Cause I, I had a, I had a listener reach out to me and tell us we were idiots for forgetting this guy.
Mike Finger: Yeah, and that person is.
Jeff McDonald: Julian Champagnie.
Mike Finger: Julian Champagnie, started on a two-way. It wasn’t for a full, here’s the thing, it wasn’t for a full year. He was signed as a two-way at the end of a, of a season and then immediately.
Jeff McDonald: I wasn’t even mad. That’s why we forgot him. The Spurs didn’t technically sign him to his two-way deal. The 76ers did and waived him and the Spurs just picked him up off waivers, which means they assumed his two-way contract. There you go. So the press release that went out didn’t say Spurs signed Julian Champagnie to a two-way contract, even though that’s sort of what happened. Uh, and that’s why we, that’s why it fell through the cracks for me is I thought of him as a as a guy the Spurs claimed off waivers, but I didn’t, I didn’t do the extra step in my head going, yes, they claimed him on a two-way contract. So, he was a two-way player.
Mike Finger: That was towards the end of a, that was towards the end of a season. I believe it was the end of the 22-23 season. And then that summer of 23, he was signed to a full deal. And, uh, has that that’s worked out pretty well. And so, we weren’t trying to, this was a long roundabout way of, uh, of atoning for our Julian Champagnie omission. Um, but we have the utmost respect for Julian Champagnie, who I think is going to be an important part of the Spurs roster this season. Um, you know, he, I think, uh, in, in, in one sense, he’s holding down a spot that they might hope that, uh, young Carter Bryant assumes eventually.
Jeff McDonald: Eventually.
Mike Finger: Um, but in in the meantime, he’s a he’s a like for three million dollars, he’s a really good guy to have on your bench and, uh, you know, three and D type of guy. A guy who Spurs might re-sign in the future. Like that’s, that’s a, that’s a true two-way success story for the Spurs. So they have had some guys, uh, break out from there. Now, looking forward at what they have this year, they did sign a Summer sensation David Jones-Garcia to one of those two-way spots.
Jeff McDonald: Jones-Garcia.
Mike Finger: And, uh, I think that’s a good spot for him. He was not, as we said in the last podcast, I didn’t, didn’t think he was a guy who was beating down the door to get one of the 15 full contracts. But to keep that guy around on a two-way, I think that’s exactly how you use your two-ways.
Jeff McDonald: I’m glad you brought up David Jones-Garcia. Uh, I’ll ask this question even though I know the answer. You guys don’t happen to read the, like, uh, comments under our our podcast that people leave.
Mike Finger: Absolutely. Do we even have those?
Jeff McDonald: Oh, there’s plenty. I, I, I read them because I just feel like if people take the time, uh, you know.
Mike Finger: On what, uh, on what form?
Jeff McDonald: Uh, on all of them, but usually YouTube would be the most, uh, most commented.
Mike Finger: Is that right?
Jeff McDonald: But any, anyway, uh, people hated our David Jane Jones-Garcia take last time.
Tom Orsborn: I’m sure they did.
Jeff McDonald: Like, hated it. Like, hated it.
Mike Finger: Where we said that they should sign that that he’d be fine for a two-way but not for a full and they, and they ended up signing him to a two-way.
Jeff McDonald: Some people, I mean, some people were nice about it. Loved the pod, guys, but don’t understand your DJ G-shade. Um, other people though, like there was one fella that, uh, thinks we’re protecting Spurs management because they don’t want a guy from the Mexico City G League team to come in and upstage all the other Summer League guys and, uh, that’s why they wouldn’t sign him to a full deal. You know? But, um, I think we proved ourselves right on that, you know, like what we said. Sign him to a two-way if if you can get him for that. I wouldn’t go much more than that. That’s what they got him for. So that was that was great.
Mike Finger: That’s pretty, that seems pretty non-controversial.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, well, they they hated our take. They thought we were. He was worthy of a full contract. Some any, 30 teams could have signed him to a full contract. They they thought we were, uh, crapping all over him, you know? Just just just discounting his entire, uh, summer summer shine. By the way, Summer League’s fake. Summer League’s fake, everybody.
Mike Finger: Well, that’s true. We’re talking about practice.
Jeff McDonald: But my favorite comment on this, uh, thread was, uh, the guy says, um, uh, the guy who uses the word cajers must have been around when basketball was invented.
Mike Finger: Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. You’re making a, you’re making an impression out there in, uh, in in podcast land. Maybe it’ll get, maybe it’ll win you a potty.
Mike Finger: I think that’s all A.I., isn’t it?
Jeff McDonald: No, Allen Iverson is the one that’s talking about practice.
Mike Finger: Oh, okay. Okay. Well, I mean, I was not, I I am sort of shocked that anyone thought we were bashing David Jones-Garcia, who I think, uh, earned the two-way contract and got a two-way contract. That’s exactly how two-way contract should be used.
Jeff McDonald: There are some people that say things like good take, way to be rational, but I’m not going to read those. Those aren’t funny. Yeah. Anyway, um, yeah, good for David David Jones-Garcia. Perfect, perfect spot for him. We’ll see like the chances of him becoming a regular member of an NBA rotation. Probably not that high because there’s just the history of two-way contracts. You don’t see a lot of those. The hit rate isn’t through the roof. But he has a chance. And, uh, he’s one of the best basketball players in the world when you think about how many jobs there are in the NBA. And to get one of those three-way spots, like or two-way, the three two-way spots that each team has, one of the absolute best at what he does in, in, in the, in the world, you know, the the top 1% of the 1% of the 1% of the 1%.
Mike Finger: That’s true.
Jeff McDonald: I, I have not looked this stat up. I’m just going to assume it’s true, but I bet he, uh, led all players, uh, playing in Mexico in scoring last year. Yeah, that’s awesome. So he’s definitely the best player in Mexico.
Mike Finger: Well, I, I don’t, I don’t know about that. I don’t want to make any assumptions about Mexico. There’s, there’s great players in Mexico.
Jeff McDonald: Edward Naher? There’s a good, there’s a good chance he was.
Mike Finger: And now he has a chance to show his wares in the, uh, in the NBA G League and possibly in the NBA. He has, he can play as many as what, 50 games in the with the big team. I don’t expect that to happen. But, uh, good for him.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, he’s going to have to beat out a lot of guys that they that are, you know, need minutes before he can get his shot, you know.
Mike Finger: And I’m not sure it’s about beating out. It’s just like it’s going to take injuries because you’re not going to you’re not going to move him ahead of, uh, a lot of the guys who are ahead of him. That’s just the way it works. But he, he can take advantage if he gets an opportunity and, uh, you know, congrats. Do, do not want to make it sound like we are, uh, down on David Jones-Garcia.
Jeff McDonald: Of course not. Perfect two-way guy.
Mike Finger: Realistic. Perfect two-way guy. The, um, the other contractual, uh, situation this summer involves possible extensions. Like the, the roster’s pretty much set, but there are extensions that the Spurs might be able to give out. And the most noteworthy of those is that of De’Aaron Fox, who, I believe on August 3rd, is eligible to sign a four-year extension. He’s signed for one more year, he’s under contract for this season. They can add four years to that and pay him over 220 million dollars and wrap him up through the 2031 season if they so choose to do so, and if De’Aaron Fox chooses to sign that deal. I am of the thought process that maybe that is not as automatic as it might have been when the Spurs traded for De’Aaron Fox six months ago. I still think it might happen. But, uh, I think we alluded to this at the on the on the last podcast, things have changed since they made that deal. Um, I think in some ways, the, the Spurs landing the number two pick in the lottery and landing Dylan Harper has made people forget about what a big deal it was for them to get De’Aaron Fox. It has made people almost too down on De’Aaron Fox. Um, because when when you think about how we were talking about him, um, that first week after he was on the roster, and he hits, he hit the game-winner against, was it, Charlotte, Tom? Atlanta?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah.
Mike Finger: There were those two games. Atlanta, he hit the game-winner. You’re thinking this is just exactly how they drew it up. And you can imagine De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama being pick-and-roll partners into the next decade. They got him for a steal. The Spurs gave up no player that was part of their future. None of their more attractive draft picks. Really got him for nothing. And you still look at it and the Spurs got a a really, really good player for almost nothing. And, uh, the, the difference is, does he, does, does he make sense long-term with Dylan Harper and with Stephon Castle and with, you know, on down the line, Carter Bryant, what have you? Or is this a situation, Jeff, where you think there might be a middle ground to be found where an extension is signed for less than four years and the max?
Jeff McDonald: I can’t really tell you numbers or years, but I will be surprised if they don’t, uh, if De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs do not agree on something.
Mike Finger: Yeah. I I I would be a fool’s errand for me to sit here and try to tell you numbers and, uh, uh, you know, years and years and dollars. I’m not Bobby Marks, but, um, I would be I would be shocked if they don’t come to an agreement on something.
Mike Finger: And here’s here Tom, is the the the argument for it and the argument against just throwing him out with the bathwater because they got Dylan Harper. Again, he is a he is an asset. He is a guy who fits. He’s a guy who they targeted not just six months ago, but the Spurs have had him in mind for a long time as somebody who fits their program. He, he, he wants to be here. And when you think about it, like the reason they got him for nothing is because De’Aaron Fox sort of forced that. Like he made it clear to Sacramento that he didn’t want to be anywhere else. And that this is this was his preferred destination. And when a when a player like that, an All-Star caliber player, kind of puts himself out there and says, I want to be in San Antonio, and I want to be part of what you’re building, and shows that kind of faith in an organization that has not won a lot in recent years. Like, I think I, I don’t, I’m not sure I want to use the phrase, you owe him something, but maybe you do. Like, like there’s, you don’t just put that person on the trademark because you get Dylan Harper. You don’t just flip him to another place where he doesn’t want to be. Like you you sort of do owe him the, uh, the the chance to be a part of this long-term. And I think if the Spurs were this, there’s no way they’re going to do this because it’s not how they operate. But if they were to say, oh, we got Dylan Harper now, and we’re going to dump you to Charlotte or Memphis or, you know, just name your team, Toronto. Like, what would that do for the Spurs dealing with players in the future with De’Aaron Fox’s agent, with whoever? Like that’s just not a smart way to go about business. And so, I I fully expect, like Jeff said, for a, an extension to be reached, maybe the full extension, but, uh, I mean, worst-case scenario, if you do the, the max extension, you have a guy who I think is going to be, uh, desirable by other teams for a good while. And if it doesn’t work out where you think that Dylan Harper and De’Aaron Fox can coexist for for five years into the future, there’s, you’re going to have options. You’re going to have flexibility. And so, uh, I know I was going to get to Tom here eventually, but that’s that’s kind of my view of of that situation.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, I agree. It would, it would send a terrible message, you know, after after the desire that he’s shown to be here. And, and it just makes no sense. You’ve got such a small sample size.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Tom Orsborn: Of him and it was a good sample size, you know, it just makes no sense to me, uh, to discard him. If anything, Dylan Harper’s the, I mean, he’s the unknown quantity. We know what De’Aaron Fox is, you know, it’s just, uh, it just doesn’t make sense.
Mike Finger: I think it’s a.
Jeff McDonald: He’s also a good basketball player, too.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: On top of all that, there’s all these like business reasons and, uh, you know, making people happy and, oh, he’s also a good basketball player, too, a player that’s going to help you win games. Like I don’t, he’s one of the best scoring guards on the planet. Is he an MVP candidate? Of course not. Is he an All-Star candidate? Maybe. He’s been to the All-Star game before. You know, he’s, he’s gotten you 23 points a game every, you know, the last five years in a row. Um, like I and I just, we just watched two teams in the finals that like you you bunch of ball handlers, bunch of creators, bunch of secondary, like you can’t have too many of those guys. So when you have one that wants to play for you, one of the best in the world that wants to play for you, and you have a chance to lock him up, I think you do it. Now, you can like, the the Genesis of this question is, you know, for what and how long, and those are all questions you can, um, you know, bat around, but at the end of the day, you you don’t just cast him aside because you drafted a rookie. Who’s going to be a great rookie, I think. I have high, I have high hopes for Dylan Harper as well down the line. But I, I don’t see there’s any, maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t see any reason all these guys can’t coexist and win a ton of basketball games together.
Mike Finger: The hard part of podcasting in this era is it’s just, uh, you’re you’re you’re having a take on one side or the other and there’s not room for, like no one pays attention to the middle ground. But the to to devil’s advocate against what y’all are saying, or not necessarily against, but just to to temper what you guys are saying. The, the, the argument that that De’Aaron Fox should not be someone that you wrap up for the max toward until 2031 is there’s going to come a point when this roster gets more and more expensive and maybe the most efficient use of all your financial resources isn’t to be paying a bunch of guards, uh, a bunch of point guard types in, in Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, and Dylan Harper, all that money to play with Victor Wembanyama when you could use that money on something else. But I think that is a four or five years from now problem as opposed to a, and you should always be planning for the future. Yes. There’s always some devil’s advocate to everything that we say here. But I think that’s what people see is down the line is the best way to build a championship team to have three guys who all have point guard qualities. The cool thing about it is, all three of those guys have point guard qualities, but they’re they’re really different players. Um, Stephon Castle’s a guy who’s going to guard the heck out of wing guys. Like you have no issues imagining him guard guarding small forward types, shooting guard types. De’Aaron Fox is more of the the quick playmaker type, the pick and roll type. Uh, Dylan Harper, you can imagine him playing between those two guys. The key is you want one of them to be able to to make three-pointers at a higher rate than they do now, which I think will be possible with both Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle. But you could see a scenario where all three of those guys coexist and and fit into a role and, uh, and really become an elite backcourt for the Spurs. And I think you have to give that a chance to to work itself out. And if for some reason, in a couple of years, you realize you can move on, like Dylan Harper’s become a clear All-Star in the making. Stephon Castle has added a dimension to his game and you can, you can play him on the wing. And you can start to think, okay, maybe we, we can move on from De’Aaron Fox. But for all the reasons we talked about here, I think that it makes a lot of sense to keep De’Aaron Fox happy and around. And I think he’s really important for what the Spurs hope to do the next couple years in terms of making the playoffs. Like, the the when the Spurs make the playoffs for the first time, they will have basically nobody who who has been there before. Um, Harrison Barnes.
Tom Orsborn: Kornet.
Mike Finger: Whom I’m forgetting. Luke Kornet. Those are, those are role player type guys. You want one of the guys with the ball in their hands to have a little experience and De’Aaron Fox hasn’t played in a lot of playoffs, but he’s got a little more veteran savvy than some of those younger guys and I think that will be a a big help when the Spurs get into those series.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: And then four years from now, when you’re ready to compete, you re-sign Chris Paul at 44 to be your to be your veteran point guard.
Mike Finger: Oh, we talked about him, he’s in he’s with the Clippers now. We brought that up.
Jeff McDonald: I think we all expected him to go there.
Mike Finger: I’m not sure when it became official, but like happy for him. He’ll, he’ll fit in great.
Jeff McDonald: He gave the, uh, I saw he gave the Spurs some props in his, uh, his little, uh, welcome press conference there, saying he probably wouldn’t be in the league if the Spurs hadn’t thrown him a lifeline last year. So, good, good for everybody.
Mike Finger: Spurs really enjoyed him. I think he really enjoyed the Spurs. That was cool. That that, uh, that he, I I think it’s cool that that Victor Wembanyama and Stephon, like Stephon Castle’s going to be a guy who appreciates and remembers Chris Paul for a long time. Those, those were, they were side-by-side in the locker room. Yeah. Uh, Chris loves Stephon Castle. Stephon Castle loved Chris Paul. And even if Stephon Castle’s future in this league is not as a point guard, like he learned a lot of stuff from that guy and and got a lot of confidence and encouragement and, uh, and just a lot out of that relationship that I think will pay off for the Spurs for a long time.
Jeff McDonald: I’m going to make a.
Mike Finger: I realize there are fans out there, the listeners of the podcast that didn’t love the Chris Paul experience, like every minute of it, and and and felt like he wasn’t going to be here forever, so what was the point. But I think when the Spurs win a playoff series down the line, there will, there will be at least a piece of it that dates back, that that that traces back to to stuff that they got from Chris.
Jeff McDonald: And, and just knowing what I’ve seen from him in the last year and talking to the other guys about him, I don’t think the mentorship with these guys is over. Like, I think Steph, Stephon Castle, for better or worse, can expect tons of phone calls from Chris Paul this this year to come. Because Chris, as we know, watches everything. Every game, and if he sees something that Steph needs to know, he’ll have no problems calling him up, texting him up. And, uh, you know, what you said is correct. Like he he’s left a he’s left a an imprint on this team that you’re you couldn’t get otherwise. And it’s going to be an important, uh, small piece when these guys develop into what the Spurs hope that they will develop into.
Tom Orsborn: Be funny this year if, uh, Steph Castle’s all over, uh, Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant about rookie chores. Where, where’s my towel? Where’s my donuts?
Mike Finger: Now, I think that part of it, that would be hilarious, but I think that part of it is just going to be, it’s just going to fade away. Kids these days, to sound like the guy who was around when basketball was invented.
Tom Orsborn: That was in the K.G. days. Yeah.
Mike Finger: Back in the K.G., like the the whole, um, and this might be for for good, but the whole hazing thing, the whole, it’s not even hazing, it’s more just, um, the the idea that that rookies need to pay their dues. That whole mentality just doesn’t exist as much anymore. And I don’t think Stephon, it’s very funny that Tom brings that up, but I can’t imagine Stephon passing that down. He thought it was corny and out of date when he, when he was expected to have towels and stuff.
Jeff McDonald: But it was kind of Sandro that was the ringleader of the payback there. That was not exactly an old man.
Mike Finger: That’s true. There are old souls among the youngsters.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, De’Aaron Fox is a big believer in that hierarchy.
Mike Finger: Yeah. Maybe, maybe that’ll that’ll continue to be passed down. But I just don’t, I think that that eventually is going to go away. Um, maybe I’ll be wrong.
Tom Orsborn: Probably.
Mike Finger: But, uh.
Tom Orsborn: Times are changing.
Mike Finger: Times are changing.
Tom Orsborn: For the better.
Mike Finger: Sometimes for the better.
Tom Orsborn: Sometimes. Yes. Yeah.
Mike Finger: Well, uh.
Jeff McDonald: A newspaper you’ve been reading.
Tom Orsborn: All right. [Sighs]
Mike Finger: That that sigh, that heavy sigh from Tom Orsborn means that we’re reaching.
Jeff McDonald: Start Q to go.
Mike Finger: We’re doing that conclusion on the Spurs Insider. We will meet again at some point in August. Things are slowing down, uh, free agency wise, transaction wise, uh, just basketball wise in August, but we will meet again to check in. Uh, hope everybody has some fun summer times out there. Uh, enjoy. Go touch grass, get away from the podcast world for a little bit and, uh, we’ll be around to see you again in a few weeks. Until then, take care of each other and keep it real.
[Music fades in]