Avoiding Finals Hangover Through Development

This is the locked on podcast Network celebrating ten years of your team We day Eight, seven, seven, three, nine, three, four, four, four so first' find that number provider will even be hind let's get online thirty a month gonna blow your mind. F o you don't hesitate. L it in now before two lay eight, seven, seven, three nine three, four, four, four eight and apply S optimum. com for details Zach, nice vacation spot. But without TMbile five G home interternet, it's scary here Don't open it. relax. I ordered TeamMobile five G homeome Internet with same day delivery powered by door dash, Nothing to be afraid of. We're saved. T moobile five G homeome Internet delivered the same day, powered by Doorash, just thirty five bucks a month when auto pay and a voice line. Plus taxes and fees, S day delivery for most internet eligible customers, see if it's an option during checkout While the spurs have been calm and steady, the rest of the West has been wild and wacky anybody doneone enough to dethrone the conference champions I don't know How about we talk about that, right? No You are Lcked on Spurs, your Daily San Antonio Spurs podcast, partart of the locked O podcast network. Your team every day Hello and welcome back to locked on Spurs. My name is Matthew Tyan. thank you as always for making us a part of your day. On today's show, we are going to get into a little bit of summer League stuff as you know, obviously it begins tomorrow. It begins Friday evening out in the bay. We're also going to get into a little bit of just like have the spurs as they are presently constituted after the signing of Tobias Harris. haveave they done enough to maintain their spot atop the Western conference. but first It's time to kind of jump in and talk a little bit about what other teams in the West have done as they look up at the top Burrs at the Thunder. I guess you could say to a degree maybe even the nuggets, although you'd be hard pressed to say that they are in the same tier as San Antonio and Oklahoma City right now. And first I want to start with the Los Angeles Lakers and I just want to give everybody an opportunity to kind of laugh a little bit And also, you know, if you are the empathetic type. Do you feel sorry for Lua Donich who a couple of years ago was in the NBA finals. Then out of nowhere get shipped off to Los Angeles And then in less than two years. suuddenly has a kind of a shell of a team around him And in what looks to be I don't know, the first all white starting lineup that we've seen in a long time at the NBA, that's kind of the joke It's going around right now, but LA goes out. and spends a lot to get Walker Kessler from Utah. a sign and trade in which they're going to pay him for one hundred thirty million dollars over four years. They also had to give up Basically every draft pick they had available to trade, every first round draft pick they had available to trade to the Utah jazz Since then They've had a couple of different signings along the way with with Quentin Grimes being one of them U Sandra our friend Sandra Mamu Kellish Vei who W out and got himself paid, man went out and got himself paid three years are for three or four years, fifty something million dollars, like good for him. Super happy for Mamu, reallyally good dude and he deserves every bit of it att least in my eyes. And then also Colin Sexton to sort of round things out Is that any sort of threat to the San Antonio sppurs in the West Lua Donich is one of the best players. Oh, by the way, they did obviously give Austin Reeves a new contract and a big one like four years one hundred eighty five million is a team that is centered around Lua Donich, Austin Reeves and Walker Kessler who just got paid for pretty much not doing much of anything in his young NBA career has dealt with some injuries has definitely shown some flashes like this isn't an indictment of who he is as a player, but He quickly was thrown into I guess this is a different topic for another day, but like one of the reasons the toobias Harris signing is even controversial is because he comes with this tag of being an overpaid player over the course of his career Well Walker Kessler is walking right into that one Go get your bag though, man. like that's all that matters at this point. But the Lakers haven't done anything to elevate themselves in the pantheon of Western confference seemes at the moment They haven't done anything really to anything probably, but take a step back this point So as we look at the contenders, as we look at the teams at San Antonio should compare themselves to. I don't think the Lakers are one of them How about the Houston Rockets? The Houston Rockets go out and get Marcus smart and Bogan Bogdanovich Doesn't sound like a ton But when you when you factor in The fact that they're also going to be getting Fred Van Vleet back, you would think byy all accounts, his recovery from a torn ACL prior to last season has gone well It sounds like he's going to be ready to go. He's going to add a critical element to that team. We know like at certain points last season. they were really throwing in the Read Shepherd at point guard idea working through it as best they could and it just simply did not work They really lacked shooting largely lacked some organization on the offensive end. So With all of those things in mind, this seems to be paper at least, a team that's going to have better spacing Got to be a little bit deeper obbviously bringing in guys like Bogdanoich and smart and then again Bringing Van Vleit back from injury. You're talking about a team They will have added veteran experience. to go along with those the free agency itions. I think Houston is looking like they're in a pretty good spot. having some organization on offense is also going to help Kevin Durant, who. Kein Durant was kind of Kevin Durant last year. He was good It's just the rest of that roster couldn't hold itself together in a lot of ways We don't need to talk about Oklahoma City. We know what they are. They're going to be back so long as they're healthy. They're right there at the top with San Antonio I believe right now San Antonio is the favorite to win the West again, but like Oklahoma City is right there. But what about Portland? What about a team that was on the come up? met San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs and actually took a game from them sureure, game was a game where Viictor Wimbinyama sustained a concussion, which Can we just flash back to that for a second I thought San Antonio's playoffs were over right there. I thought that was like a fractured jaw genuinely sitting in the building. watching him hit the ground really hard and then like not move. for what felt like half an hour, even though it was just a few seconds I thought San Antonio's run through the playoffs was over there. But alas, he was all right. San Antonio made a run all the way to the finals But Portland is an interesting one right now We've already talked about Jhorant, the Jhorant trade. We've looked at that back court and thinking to ourselves like, man, that's a lot of dudes who have to handle It's It's Dame Lillard. It's John Morant. It's Drew Holiday. It's Scoot Henderson who had himself at least one game against the sppurs before San Antonio was like, none of that. We obviously know that they have Denny Avdia. They brought Robert Williams the third back who in that series at least was the better center But Donovan Klingon has made a name for himself and he's on the come up The only question to me at this point or one of the questions, I shouldn't say only question. there are plenty of questions with Portland Tiago splitters out, Mikea Norri' in on that crazy contract that's basically going to be like one year at a time because the owner is trying to revolutionize how an owner should pay for his NBA team. I guess we'll see how that goes I'm also curious though, to see if there's another trade coming Portland There is a framework of something really interesting with that team, but there's got to be another step in here somewhere. And if you've listened to our podcasts this week You know that my theory, one of my theories at least and why we we're seeing these teams trrade for guards. is that so they can have the depth to compete with San Antonio and Oklahoma City to teams whose who a lot of their success has been derived from the guard play and guard depth ball handlers and advantage creators. likeike that's a big reason why they've been successful And so I think that there are there is something to the idea that teams are trying to replicate that. At the same time, if you're Portland I feel like That many guards, that many Dame Ja, Drew especially If you believe in Scoot Henderson as one of your young players for the future You would think that there's another move coming And they have some ammunition to make that happen You would think So we will see with Portland. One last team, actuallyually, I'll put it this let's let's do this real quick I've got two teams. In the spirit of what we just watched in San Antonio We're going to come back and talk about The Dallas Mavericks and the Utah jazz because those two are quite interesting to me. We'll get to that next Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. The biggest stage in world soccer is here. The United States wins again Heading to the round of sixteen crazy. 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When the game's on the line, the best know when to pass, becausecause the right assist can change everything. And off the court, it's no different. That's where your state farm agent comes in. whether it's protecting your car, your home, or helping you prep for the unexpected, they'll help set you up with a game plan that works for you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state. All right, we are back in just a reminder for those of you who are You know, new to the show, haven't been here in a while. If you're new, please share and like and share and subscribe, whether it's on YouTube or on whatever platform you're getting your podcasts Turn on your auto downloads, your notifications, all that good stuff. It really helps us out and you guys have been great in the three months that we've taken over this show and we could not be more appreciative. And when I say we I of course, am also talking about Tyler, the producer, Tyler Printince. Wlcome to the show, sir Thank you than you for entertaining my thoughts for the first ten minutes or so, but I want to I just want to throw in there, we broke thirteen thousand subscribers just a couple days ago. We're already on our way to thirteen two. so thank you to everybody for joining us for these shows. Yes, genuinely. It's been a fun few months, obviously on at a good time when the San Antonio sppurs are making their come up once again and U than y'all for being along for the right. All right, Tyler. I have I just want to throw this out there I am very interested to see in like I said, before the break in the spirit of what we just witnessed in San Antonio where we saw a team go from thirty four wins to sixty two wins With that in mind I am very curious to see what the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz are able to accomplish this year. And before you sort of sneeze at that Let's just think to ourselves the kind of progression you can see from a player like Cooper Flag from year one to year two We're also talking about a team that that just goes out and gets the kid from Michigan. I don't know why Morez Johnson, I think is is who they drafted. I'm blanking right now They bring in Dusty May from Michigan. You're talking about a team that has sort of started to round itself out. Now I think that there is definitely time They're going to need some more time to move along That is it I think the Cooper flag is that special And I think that he is going to be that kind of impact player where as you're approaching last season and you're at least I was and you're thinking about whereere San Antonio is going to slide into this stuff coming young teams and and when we bring up Dallas, we're also talking about a team that has a really good mixture of youth and veteran leadership because they've got the PJ Washington's and the Naji Marshals. the Daniel Gafffords, the Derek Livelyies who just like didn't even play last year hardly at all Um they just they just traded for A guy that sppurs fans, I'm sure if you've been watching any timee San Antonio plays the grizzlies, it feels like this guy goes off, but Santi al Dama. Yeah, he's one of those guys. He's one of those guys Jordan Clarkson Polvich Bogd down Bogdanovich, the guy we mentioned in Houston, he's had a he's made a habit of doing that kind of stuff. against the spurs, but My point is like It always seems like teams like that arrive sooner than you think they're going to. And so that's one of the reasons that I throw Dallas out there. I don't know if you agree with that take or not, but I really As we speak about the mavericks The team that I feel like fits that description even more so is Utah? Utah has ton of talent over there between Jarren Jackson Junror and Lauri Markinin Georgease Bailey. They just went out and drafted Darren Peterson. This is the kind of group that has enough veteran leadership, especially in a guy like Markinen who is an established star in the NBA. Jaron Jackson also established star in the NBA. p along alongside the young guys that are coming up That is sort of the definition of a team that especially when you consider and this goes for Dallas a little bit too. Eespecially when you consider the fact that they were tanking their behinds off. They are one of the reasons that they gotes getting good. They They They are one of the reasons why the NBA had to make the change that it did in terms of lottery reform They went out and I think that this was very smart before they were forced to be good when they had one last chance at a good lottery pick They said, all right, fine. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to go out and trade for Jaron Jackson But we're still going to shut everybody down. So we're going to go get An star Yeah put on this roster We're going still be bad. We're going to still take advantage of the rules as presently constituted. prettyretty egregious tking by the Utah jazz like pulling guys out When they had the lead doing all kinds of Yes Obvious tanking moves I think I believe they were I believe they were fined at one point last year. And this was not something that was Bires cry about fines all the time. There was I'm sure There was nothing inconspicuous about it. We'll put it that way Of those two teams, if I had to tell you, Tyler The Mavericks in the jazz one of them is going to make a leap Who would you bank on making the larger one Or I guess I should say if you're if you're as a Spurs fan Who are you looking at and saying like, you know, that is That is probably going to be the team that Sneaky over the next several years is actually going to work itself into the challenger conversation in the Western confonference. I think the mabs are still a few years away from being good, I think, because some of the best they have are Like Kyrie Irving's been hurt hasn't been Playing a ton. That's the other addition. Clay Thompson is no longer Clay Thompson Um The jazz to me are a team, like they have two all stars. Jaron Jackson's a guy that's gone Not too Don't forget about Ace Bailey too. their're picked from Ace Bailey is very talented I guess the question is how do all those guys fit together and how can they like find a way to win games, but they also have a great coach and Will Hardy, former spurs guy sure. So I would say the jazz, I could definitely see the jazz making a big leap this year and being like play in mayaybe a little better. depending on how things line up for I agree with that. I will say though that I am excited to see Kyrie Irin come back because like he was really playing well for Dallas and like also just one of the most fun basketball players to watch. And he was really like he had found kind of a home there. like he was really settling in, you know, there was a lot of backlash when they first traded for him and it really seemed like he was kind of sliding into that community in a good way and sort of taking over his role as one of the leaders on the team. So You never like to see the small guards whose games are predicated on quickness and shiftiness, you know, deal with lower extremity injuries like he has. So it's going to be interesting to see how he bounces back you know, at the same time,, He you just you got to think that he'll, especially in today's day and age, like when you tear an ACO Dude seem to come back pretty well from it. Like the surgeries are so generally successful It's not like it used to be where you you remember like the micro fracture stuff that used to just ruin guys careers ACL tears were like eighteen month returns, recoveries, stuff like that. That just isn't the case anymore. And not for nothing. only know this because I'm unfortunately also a Dallas Cowboys fan. One of the best U I can't think of the word for the type of surgeon he is, but one of the best guys for that type of surgery works for the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas. so I'm sure Kyri Iring was taken care of just fine. Well And look, the whole point of this, right? The whole point of this is to say how do they stock up against the sppurs? And like We're looking at a lot of these teams and rightight now as it stands, you just have to say that San Antonio and Oklahoma City He. in a tear unto themselves.. But I think the point of this exercise for me at least The point of this is to look ahead because When you're caught in the moment and you're looking around at all these teams and you're thinking to yourself as as many people were sort of, you know, joking about out loud, sorry as that flew in my face as as you're looking around and you're thinking to yourself like Man, how are you going to compete with these two teams? They've got picks. They're so young Yadda, yadda, yada The point of this exercise to me is like Wait a minute Like Remember what you were saying about and granted, nobody has Viictor Webinanyyama. I get that and you can obviously safely say things like that at the same time, like this is the same sort of conversation we were having about the Spurs a year ago and they they make a run all the way to the finals. Cooper Flag might not be Victor Wembanama, but he's not too far off. kid has a lot of talent This year's draft class between AJ De Bana Darren Peterson like there is and depending on what you think about Cambooz or granted, I think Memphis is further away than all of these teams that we're talking about at this point, but I digress. The point is when you're talking about the next decade And there were a lot of conversations about like, o, why would you even try? at this point. Like Victor's just going to run the league Blah, blah, blah. Well, first of all These front offices are crazy competitive and there's It's a reason every every a lot of these guys are and guys and gals are in those positions is because they want to win not their jobs. A player in the NBA, a coach in the NBA, someone who works for an NBA team, if you are not competitive and think that your team could have an opportunity to eventually win it all. And like in this like just because the media narrative is that Weby's going to run the league. These other teams don't care about that. And so they're designing a lot of this to go after him. They're designing a lot of this to go after Oklahoma City. And like you look at a team like Utah that goes out and says, all right Well We're going to go Trade for a gigantic front court And you're going to have these Victor is going to have to face Lauri Markinin and Jaron Jackson Junr. on a regular basis. In Dallas, you're building up You know, livelyes back. you're also going to have to deal with Cooper Flag who is still only nineteen years old and he's a six ten wing who can play some point guard. Like there's there's just a lot that the Spurs and everyone else is going to have to plan for as they continue down this road to more and more success. All right, coming up next Summer League starts tomorrow We're going to blend that with a little bit of a question That has to do with free agency and whether or not the Spurs have done enough. We'll be right back Eight, seven, seven, three, nine, three, four, four, four A fab a profess so fine. I' not the pro It even be high let's get online thirty a month gonna blow your mind. F oes don't hesitate. Luck it in now before's too late eight, seven, seven, three, nine, three four, four, four eight Tes apply. See optimal. com for details Eight seven, seven, three nine three four, four four eight afternoon five so first so fine. got another provider Lving behind. Come on everybody. let's get online. thirty a month gonna blow your mind. Five oes don't hesitate. Lock it in now before's too late, eight seven, seven, three nine three four Forour four Hey turns apply. See optimum d. com for details Alrighty I want to set a few rules becausecause this is just kind of in a In the spirit of Summer League, which is always entertaining and it's always that whole Look. It's always better when you haven't been watching basketball for like two months as we've been we've been accustomed to around San Antonio for the last few years that you finally get to see your team in a jersey again, right It's been so long Uh, but Now San Antonio is fresh off a finals loss. So I think people still want to see their guys back on the floor and now it's the shiny new toys thing. So a couple of guidelines that I just want to point out here buy too much into what you see at Summer League. if a guy is good. If a guy is good at Summer League That's what you want to see. T We'll see how it translates once the games really start to matter The other the other thing that you have to watch for Does your guy look bad at Summer League Is he not playing well Summer leeague. That is the case That is a bad sign You doot want your guy to look bad at Summer League. Remind that Victor did not look super great in his two games during looked right in the second one. It was that All right one. It was that first one. you know Not great in the first one for sure. Inefficient in the first one. I think that was just such a crazy environment and U ye, I do remember the the conversations after start crashing out. Here comes the b, you know the b conversation. He looked fine in the second game and the rest is history. U You don't want your guys looking bad. That's all I got to say. The other thing And this is just kind of how the Spurs have done it for a while. L I remember even going back to the Kwi Lonard days. onene of the ways that they used Summer League was This was, you know, Kai' second year in the league They just put the ball in his hands. They basically let him run the offense. They let him be a big point guard or a point forward, however you want to call it And so I just want to say that I think you're and as after we talked with Corless Williamson the other day summer sppurs practice This is the feeling that I got in general that you're going to see a lot of Carter Bryant sort of running the offense. He is for this group listed as a guard. on the roster. Which maybe that maybe that has something to do with it. I don't think that There's much to look into there, but it is a little bit little bit weird that like it I don't maybe I don't know why you list him whyy would you list him as a guard? Yeah because he's a for he's clearly not a guard. unless right He's unless he's hiding I will say, he showed off some handles and some moves this season that I was like, oh, I didn't know you could do that. So maybe he's hiding and holding onto a bunch of stuff we just haven't got the chance to see yet. I tend to start I tend to, you know, veer toward like that stuff damn They're probably not thinking too deeply about it, but But that is at least a little bit interesting because like no, he's like This was a guy who was never playing Sure he well, you know, unless you want to talk about it from a defensive standpoint, like he defended guards along the way, But still you're not going to look at him and think that dude is is a guard. He's a wing. So but it is interesting that he is listed that way because I do expect him to be on the ball quite a bit in Summer League. They want to give him reps on the ball. That's where like you start to see the serious development. That's where you start to see sort of the next step Absolutely That is required. And he's just not going to get those opportunities in the big leagues, L he's not to get a ton of opportunities to be on Ball to initiate offets, do that kind of stuff. So this is a great place to do it And it's going to be important. And every single rep in Summer League is going to be important. He's the Carter Bryant specifically is I know everyone's going to be, you know, wanting to get a glimpse of Terrace Reid. Youll you'll probably get plenty of opportunities. He's going to play while there in San Francco. He's going play when they're in Las Vegas, but Carter Bryant will not be playing until they are in Las Vegas and it's probably only going to be I don't know, two or three games is my guess It's aange Jay Aquaintces' hurt I would have loved to have seen him in Summer League and see what he can do U yeep, he'll be out there just won't be playing. But the reason why this is important. One of the reasons why it is important to see how Carter Bryant pererforms at Summer League is because When we're talking about and you see it in the banner on the video screen, Fals hangover question mark We are We're looking at a situation where the addition of Tobias Harris.' it is San Antonio's big move It is something that in theory on paper should be very helpful because of the things as we talked yesterday about the things that he does well that San Antonio did not do well as a team last year. The added skill set will be very beneficial for this group, not just the skill set, but the veteran leadership, the professionalism, all of that stuff all in a player who's going to be playing a substantial role on the team But when it comes to fending off any sort of finals hangover when it comes to batting all of the teams that we've talked at Nauseum about here. Over the course of this episode They're going to need the improvements from their young guys. Carter Bryant included, but very clearly they're going to need leaps from Steph Castle from Dylan Harper from Victor Wembonyama. and yes Carter Bryant So These are the minutes that matter. likeike they matter a lot because If you're not getting that internal development You're bringing back a team that is large like and talking about an actual status quo That status quo is what the rest of the conference is coming after And if you are not preared to fight off the infantries that are coming for you that are trying to figure out ways to beat you then you're going to be in trouble because like as as Victor said after game five, like He's trying to wrap his head around the idea that they're going to have to play a hundred more games to even get back to where they were. Well, it could be less if they just kind of wipe people off the floor. Sure. But but you get his point. But minimum is ninety six no matter what. might as well be a hundred. Well, the minimum, I guess would be ninety four. unless you're talking about youre to get back to the to the finals, but but the whole point of this is like The only way they're going to be able to as as as much as people will really, you know, split hairs over the Tobias Harris signing The real impact players going to be your your young stars. Y. the guys who and I'm not saying that like toobias isn't going to be an impact player He will be Or at least you really hope that he will be. Yeah It's those guys. It's that youth movement. It has to continue to come along and find its own. U because those are the ones. they are the shifting tide. for this franchise. They are the reasons You can talk about Darren Fox as well. like obviously he's going to need to have a big bounce backack year. especially once they make the post season again, if they do Uh, he's gonna ha he's going to have a, u He's going to have to to redeem himself a little bit in the eyes of a whole lot of people Iaron Fox can never have a game like Game four of the finals ever again. Well game five was Game five was worse Um had chance had multiple chances still to win that game even though we gave up the lead. only he had to do was hold the ball. I know, I know. but anyway This is a How do you avoid the finals hangover? Tobias Harris is going to help But it is all the guys returning that are going to have to elevate their games, particularly the young guys you need them all to make another leap so that your margin for error doesn't stay where it is. if that makes sense. You have to build it. That buffer has to be created Absolutely. If they do that, man, if they do that, just their normal path of development. that your typical what you see from star players from their first to their second season or their second to their third.