There’s no denying that it will be a year of development and rebuilding for the San Antonio Spurs. The team holds a youthful core, one that head coach Gregg Popovich will get the best out of for the future of the franchise. Dejounte Murray, who was an All-Star for the Spurs last season, is gone. Spurs fans can look forward to flashes from their young players, but also potentially a top spot in next year’s NBA Draft.
San Antonio Spurs 2022-23 Season Preview
Roster Changes
Murray is now with the Atlanta Hawks. His constant triple-double threat and scoring prowess will be missed, but the Spurs gained three first-round picks as well as an additional possible pick swap. The first-round pick gained for the next draft is owned by the Charlotte Hornets, meaning it’s a pick that realistically can land in the lottery.
Murray was the main contributor who left the team, but guard Lonnie Walker IV also left for the Los Angeles Lakers.
San Antonio was busy during the 2021 NBA Draft, notably bringing in Jeremy Sochan, Blake Wesley, and Malaki Branham. All are expected to see plenty of playing time and becoming contributors.
Sochan is a project, but he has the potential to become one of the league’s top defenders in the future. Wesley holds strong “three-and-D” potential, an archetype for success in today’s NBA. Finally, Branham can flat-out shoot and score. Sochan is the highest draft pick of the bunch and has the clearest role to maximize playing time. He’ll be competing with veteran Doug McDermott at the three.
Wesley and Branham are guards, meaning they’ll be competing for time against veteran Josh Richardson and other young players such as Devin Vassell, Tre Jones, and Joshua Primo.
A Developmental Year
Standing out as the Spurs’ star is forward Keldon Johnson. He averaged about 17 points and six rebounds per game last season. It’s likely Johnson will become the focal point of the offense, so the Spurs will look into making him a borderline star.
Vassell is another intriguing prospect. Last season he averaged about 12 points and four rebounds per game. Vassell shows the ability to shoot at high percentages and fill up the bucket. The team holds high hopes too.
Jones is a young point guard but a Duke product. There’s always potential there. Primo is just 19 years old and showed flashes last season.
The development of these four players and the three aforementioned rookies will be crucial for the Spurs.
McDermott and Richardson are solid veterans to have. Eventually, however, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see them traded to contenders for future assets. This will be something to monitor.
San Antonio is also home to one of the better centers in the league in Jakob Poeltl. He averaged about 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocks per game last season. There’s no doubt that the 26-year-old is worth keeping for now and the future, although a team committed to rebuilding may garner plenty of interest for a surefire starter.
Expectations for the San Antonio Spurs 2022-23 Season
Expectations are quite low for the Spurs this coming season. Based on the roster, it seems like an almost impossible task for this team to make the playoffs, let alone the play-in tournament.
That’s fine, however. San Antonio’s moves this offseason showed a clear favor for rebuilding.
How that rebuild goes will be interesting. On one hand, San Antonio holds enough cap space to take in other teams’ salary dumps. One example of this is the Spurs finding themselves in the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook trade rumors. On the other hand, San Antonio can stand pat and compete for the first overall pick to potentially land a star-in-the-making in Victor Wembanyama.
