San Antonio Spurs
The 2022-23 San Antonio Spurs can be defined by a surprisingly hot start, followed by a tanktastic season that resulted in landing the coveted No. 1 pick.
What did we learn?
The Spurs won the lottery of ALL lotteries and will get Victor Wembanyama.
It’s another stark reminder that history loves to repeat itself as the Spurs tanked for Timmy back in ‘97 and they did so again for Wemby this season.
But that’s not the way the season began. Not even Paycheck Pop could have seen the Spurs 5-2 start coming.
Pop and the Spurs pulled it off by doing what they always do: playing sound team ball, keeping the ball moving and getting everyone involved. But the winning wouldn’t last long.
After starting the season 5-2, the Spurs proceeded to win just one of the next 17 games. Yeah, 1-16 … tank mode ENGAGED.
Over a 26-game stretch from New Year’s Eve to late February, the Spurs won two games. Yeah, 2-24 … TANKTASTIC!
Keldon Johnson struggled with his efficiency (45 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from 3, career-worst numbers) for large portions of the season as defenses were able to key all the way into the Spurs’ 23-year-old No. 1 option. Keldon eventually found his shot, making 44 percent of his 3s in March, and he did still average a career-high 22 points per game.
Devin Vassell made a big leap offensively and had some truly fabulous games, scoring 25+ points eight times this season after never scoring more than 22 points in a game during his first two seasons. But he also dealt with a knee injury that required surgery and missing two months. That was when the Spurs went 2-24 and were toast without him.
Vassell returned to the lineup at the beginning of March, and that’s precisely when the spunky Spurs started surprising people again, including monster wins over the No. 1 Nuggets and the Hawks in Dejounte Murray’s return to San An.
Jeremy Sochan’s hair, defense and rebounding were all as good as advertised. Even better, really. Not even Rodman himself could do a better Rodman impression.
19-year-old rookie Malaki Branham had some eye-popping games toward the end of the season. Not only did he start 32 games for the Spurs, but he had 10 games of 20+ points. Nine of those occurred after the start of February.
Tre Jones played in the most games for the Spurs at 68, and he doubled his career average in points (12.9) and assists (6.6). Jones notched two triple-doubles during the last week of the season, including one against his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves.
In typical Pop fashion, the Spurs finished top 5 in assists per game.
In tanking for Wemby fashion, the Spurs finished with the No. 29 offense and the No. 30 defense, equalling the worst net rating in the league.
In the end, it was all more than worth it as the greatest coach in NBA history is now paired with one of the NBA’s greatest prospects ever.
Just like that, the black and silver are BACK.
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Additional Notes
Shout out to Zach Collins who played his most games in a season (63) since 2018-19. He also averaged a career-high in almost every statistical category, putting up 11-6-3 in 23 minutes a night.
Shout out as well to 31-year-old Doug McDermott who shot above 40 percent from 3 for the sixth time in his nine-year career.
The Spurs were once again sellers at the trade deadline and once again did big-man business with the Raptors. This time it was Jakob Poeltl sent north of the border for a protected 2024 first-round pick and two seconds.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
History loves to repeat itself. Under 23.5 wins.
Spurs 2022-23 record: (22-60)
Yes indeed! History does, in fact, love to repeat itself.
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What’s Next?
VICTOR WEMBANYAMA. The future is now and the timeline of the Spurs rebuild is accelerated drastically.
Fill out the roster with some more shooting. The Spurs were bottom-5 in 3-point percentage at 34.5 this season.
The Spurs do have max cap space available, projected to be around $35 million. Tre Jones is a restricted free agent and Zach Collins has a non-guaranteed deal that could free up more money. San Antonio is sure as hell a more desirable destination all of a sudden.
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Favorite Spurs Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:
The Spurs might have lost in OT, but this was still awesome.
