While the San Antonio Spurs finished an ugly 22-60 last season, there was renewed hope for the fanbase entering 2024-25. Victor Wembanyama would be another year older after an otherworldly rookie season. The team added a future Hall of Fame point guard in Chris Paul to help set him up. Harrison Barnes also was brought in to add more veteran leadership, while rookie first round pick, Stephon Castle, could further learn the point guard position by watching Paul. While the Western Conference is deep, many believed they could make a run for at least the Play-In Tournament.
Through seven games, San Antonio is off to a 3-4 start. Head coach Gregg Popovich is out ‘indefinitely’ with a health issue. Now the Spurs will also be without Jeremy Sochan.
Spurs To Be Missing Starter With Fractured Thumb
Sochan Injury Makes Change To Spurs Starting Lineup A Necessity
The 21-year-old Sochan will be missing a decent chunk of the regular season for San Antonio. While an exact timetable for his return hasn’t been stated, Sochan will undergo surgery for a fractured left thumb. He suffered the injury in Monday’s outing against the Los Angeles Clippers. Law Murray of The Athletic is anticipating that Sochan could miss 15-20 games.
Here's the play where it looked like Jeremy Sochan might have fractured his thumb
Surgery might have him out 15-20 games. Stephon Castle could enter starting lineup, Sandro Mamukelashvili could join rotation pic.twitter.com/yPPjXY5l55
— Law Murray 🕯️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 6, 2024
It’s a tough break for San Antonio early on in the season. Sochan had been the team’s starting power forward in each of their first seven games. Playing 29.3 minutes per contest, Sochan has averaged 15.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 steals. The 6-foot-8 forward has shot 51.2% from the field, 25.0% from beyond the arc, and 68.0% from the foul line.
The Spurs next game will be on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets on the road. While it’s unclear who would take Sochan’s place in the starting five (Murray states it could be Castle), perhaps it could be Olympic gold medalist Keldon Johnson. The 25-year-old Johnson has been utilized in a sixth man role to begin the season, but he was a full-time starter for San Antonio from 2020-21 to 2022-23.
Career Starter Since Entering NBA
Sochan is in the midst of his third NBA season. He was selected with the ninth overall pick by San Antonio in the 2022 NBA Draft. That was after playing just one season collegiately for Baylor. In that one year there, he was named the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year.
Despite being just 19 years old when entering the NBA, Sochan was inserted into the starting lineup from the get-go. He started 53 of his 56 appearances as a rookie in 2022-23. While the Spurs went just 22-60, Sochan was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.
Sochan remained a starter last season, coming off the bench just once in his 74 appearances. The Spurs began last season trying Sochan as the starting point guard for the first 25 games, but transitioned away once it was clear that a true point guard was needed to grow Wembanyama’s game even further. His averages went up slightly across the board compared to his rookie season.
If Murray’s 15-20 games missed projection for Sochan proved to be accurate, he would return to action anywhere beteeen December 6-25 for San Antonio.
