It's awesome to see him rounding back into form. He has been one of my favorites since he started getting regular minutes his sophomore season. I don't think it is a coincidence that his best stretches are when he is furthest away from injury recovery, he really just needs to be healthy to be an asset.

Even if he doesn't figure out how to be a high end off-ball player that runs around off of Fox and Wemby, I think he could absolutely demolish other teams benches as a year-in year-out 6MOY candidate. Even this year coming back off of the injury he was torching other teams benches.

Edit: He has been using his length really well defensively recently too. In addition to the steals like you said, I think they said on the broadcast last night that he is tied for the most blocks for a backcourt player since the ASB.

You are exactly right. I think that Castle coming into his own is going to extremely benefit Vassell on both ends of the court. Really hoping that Devin can stay healthy and have an off-season where he is not trying to recovery from injury or surgery and have a full camp.

I could see a rotation where the 96 minutes of PG/SG are split fairly evenly between Fox, Castle, and Vassell. That's 32mpg each. We've seen that you can play any two of them together. We do need a solid backup PG and would love if we could snatch Davion Mitchell with the BAE.

Then at Forward, we have Barnes (27mpg this year, say 24-25mpg next year, Sochan (26mpg this year, say 28mpg next year), Champagnie (23mpg this year, say 18mpg next year) and add a forward like Rasheer Fleming in the draft (20mpg next year.)

Then add a backup center (luke kornet) to split Wemby's minutes. Solid rotation.

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

The Ringer put up their draft preview finally. Haven't looked at much, except they put LaBron Philon WAY high. Only have top 14 so far.

I'm personally hoping that CP3 sticks around next year to be our bench PG. With Pop rumored to be trying to make a return I don't see it as a out of the picture. Then really we just need a big, ideally one that could play next to Wemby or as the standalone Center (obviously Naz Reid would be the pipedream but Minny isn't gonna let him go and we couldn't likely afford him anyways).

I think that Blake Wesley can be your backup PG after CP3 hang it up and I'd love for us to give him the chance; call me a sucker for defensive-minded players but the energy he brings out there is infectious and if he ever figures out how to finish once he gets to the rim he is going to be a very solid table-setter even if that jumper never comes along.

But I think your starters need to be: Fox, Castle, shooter, Sochan, Wemby. Dev can probably be your shooter but I think he may be best utilized as a higher usage guy off the bench. One of the most effective lineups to the eye test during this recent run has been Blake-Castle-shooter-Sochan-Mamu so I would really like to see what the starters would look like by plugging Fox/Wemby in for Blake/Mamu.

TheNotoriousP.I.P. said:

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I'm personally hoping that CP3 sticks around next year to be our bench PG. With Pop rumored to be trying to make a return I don't see it as a out of the picture.

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I would love to offer him 15mpg and $10M for a year again if it doesn't cut into our MLE. But Dallas could offer him the starting job until Kyrie comes back, and he could even play some with Kyrie. The Lakers could offer him Luka's backup spot and his family still lives in LA. LeBron is one of his best friends. I could see Orlando or Miami offering him a starting slot, too. I think it is not very likely he comes back. But maybe. I think I would rather take Davion Mitchell for the BAE if he would sign for that.

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Then really we just need a big, ideally one that could play next to Wemby or as the standalone Center (obviously Naz Reid would be the pipedream but Minny isn't gonna let him go and we couldn't likely afford him anyways).

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Better to ignore that Naz Reid even exists. He is not coming to SA.

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I think that Blake Wesley can be your backup PG after CP3 hang it up and I'd love for us to give him the chance; call me a sucker for defensive-minded players but the energy he brings out there is infectious and if he ever figures out how to finish once he gets to the rim he is going to be a very solid table-setter even if that jumper never comes along.

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I love Blake, but I don't think he is a 2nd team PG on a championship level team. I think he is the 3rd PG. I love his speed, hustle and defense, but that isn't enough.

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But I think your starters need to be: Fox, Castle, shooter, Sochan, Wemby. Dev can probably be your shooter but I think he may be best utilized as a higher usage guy off the bench.

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I have no problem bringing Castle off the bench. Manu was our 2nd best player and he was coming off the bench for guys like Roger Mason and completely washed 35yo Mike Finley. All about maximizing the ++ rotations, and we don't really know what that will be. And I think we ideally need more than one shooter with Wemby, Sochan, and Fox.

Quote:

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One of the most effective lineups to the eye test during this recent run has been Blake-Castle-shooter-Sochan-Mamu so I would really like to see what the starters would look like by plugging Fox/Wemby in for Blake/Mamu.

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Five of our last 6 wins have been against tanking teams. I'm not putting a ton of faith in that being a representative of what is going to be championship contending. The only win in the last 3 weeks that was not against a tanking team was the ridiculous Mamu game against the Knicks (who was missing their best player.)

Damian Lillard has a deep vein thrombosis (blood clot) in his right calf and is out indefinitely, the Bucks say.

Lillard is on blood-thinning medication, which has stabilized the clot, and will continue to receive regular testing. pic.twitter.com/YAUVi4qmLD

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 26, 2025

I am not basing my Blake Wesley hype on only those 3 games. He is +54 in his minutes this year, behind only Wemby, and +52 in the 12 games where he has played more than 15 minutes (ie games where he has been the backup PG). His assist to turnover ratio has always been very good, and he has the handles and athleticism to beat his matchup more often than not. I admitted he has some things to work on to be a viable offensive player, but I think you are selling his ceiling a bit short. He literally just turned 22 10 days ago, is one of the better defensive bench guards in the league already, and is a willing and decent playmaker. I think it's a little foolish to proclaim he will never be more than a 3rd PG.

TheNotoriousP.I.P. said:

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I am not basing my Blake Wesley hype on only those 3 games. He is +54 in his minutes this year, behind only Wemby, and +52 in the 12 games where he has played more than 15 minutes (ie games where he has been the backup PG). His assist to turnover ratio has always been very good, and he has the handles and athleticism to beat his matchup more often than not. I admitted he has some things to work on to be a viable offensive player, but I think you are selling his ceiling a bit short. He literally just turned 22 10 days ago, is one of the better defensive bench guards in the league already, and is a willing and decent playmaker. I think it's a little foolish to proclaim he will never be more than a 3rd PG.

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I'm not saying he can't progress, but we are in year 3 and he still can't shoot. Look at his shot map: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/wesley-blake-shot-chart

That plus/minus is very misleading because the heavy lifting was done in the Mamu game vs the Knicks and three tanking lottery teams (+18, +34, +13, +19) and in those 4 games, he scored double digits one time and had had 5 or more assists one other time.

I love him and he has insane quickness and plays super hard on defense, but his minutes aren't going down each year while he is healthy because the Spurs just don't like him. He's scored more than 7 points 7 times this year and each time was against a tanking team.

He just isn't ready to be a backup on a contending team yet. And if the Spurs thought he would be next year, they would be playing him a lot more this year than 10mpg.

I hope he can make huge strides this summer. I would love to see his hustle, defense and effort be a long term part of this team.

🚨 Victor Wembanyama was recently expected to undergo surgery following the deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.

French national team coach Frédéric Fauthoux announced it today, adding he’s hopeful that Wemby will participate in the EuroBasket tournament this summer.…

— Maxime Aubin (@MaximeAubin1) March 27, 2025

One of the guys I like with the Hawks pick. I think he could be a stronger Trey Murphy.

Maybe after the Final Four, I will put together a Spurs-centric big board for our two picks. Lot more to worry about than when we had just #4 and 8.

Been an awesome game from the lads today

Back into 8th in the tank-a-thon! SOS wise should be favorites to keep that spot.

‼️ONE OF THE CRAZIEST ENDINGS TO AN NBA GAME OF ALL TIME ‼️

UNREAL

pic.twitter.com/SXMAOhbZ81 https://t.co/aBdzDaBsQV

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 28, 2025

Giddey is out there earning his new contract for us. They are 8-5 in his last 13 games. He's playing insane.

Guitarsoup said:

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‼️ONE OF THE CRAZIEST ENDINGS TO AN NBA GAME OF ALL TIME ‼️

UNREAL

pic.twitter.com/SXMAOhbZ81 https://t.co/aBdzDaBsQV

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 28, 2025

Giddey is out there earning his new contract for us. They are 8-5 in his last 13 games. He's playing insane.

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Josh Giddey in his last 10 games: 220 points, 96 rebounds & 100 assists.

Giddey is 1 of 8 players to ever record such minimums over a 10-game stretch in NBA history.

He joins Michael Jordan, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James & Magic… pic.twitter.com/fqNH2r0N24

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 28, 2025

Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Or he Udokaed

Guitarsoup said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Or he Udokaed

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All of the articles out there are basically saying it was shocking and nobody knows the reason yet. A Udoka situation is certainly on the table.

Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Who's the assistant?

Enzo The Baker said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Who's the assistant?

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The Memphis Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim head coach, sources tell ESPN. Iisalo, a native of Finland, is a former Finnish professional player and coach. He was head coach of Paris Basketball in 2024, winning the EuroCup and EuruCup coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/nKPCdzh7Ms

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

LawHall88 said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Who's the assistant?

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The Memphis Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim head coach, sources tell ESPN. Iisalo, a native of Finland, is a former Finnish professional player and coach. He was head coach of Paris Basketball in 2024, winning the EuroCup and EuruCup coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/nKPCdzh7Ms

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

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That's the guy. He has won coach of the year awards in multiple leagues in Europe. He has been their "offensive coordinator" in Memphis and if you haven't noticed... their offense has been humming all year despite tons of injuries.

There are a lot of cool videos about his theories.

Jenkins was 0-12 in his last 12 games against teams above .500

LawHall88 said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Who's the assistant?

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The Memphis Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim head coach, sources tell ESPN. Iisalo, a native of Finland, is a former Finnish professional player and coach. He was head coach of Paris Basketball in 2024, winning the EuroCup and EuruCup coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/nKPCdzh7Ms

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

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Damnit.

FTAG 2000 said:

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LawHall88 said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Who's the assistant?

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The Memphis Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim head coach, sources tell ESPN. Iisalo, a native of Finland, is a former Finnish professional player and coach. He was head coach of Paris Basketball in 2024, winning the EuroCup and EuruCup coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/nKPCdzh7Ms

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

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Damnit.

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Obviously just learning about the the Finnish coach but Jenkins had high success before Iisalo's arrival to the grizzlies. He'd be a major get for the Spurs especially with his ties to the organization. Jenkins with the Spurs makes a lot of sense. Would love to get a nasty defensive identity for this team.

NBA 3-point leaders in March. 👀 @Yvngdevo #PorVida pic.twitter.com/1IYjgl904g

— Dan Weiss (@DanWeissPBP) March 28, 2025

FWIW, Chris Vernan, someone who is plugged in with the Grizzlies, thinks Jenkins' firing is just performance based. He says they haven't beaten a good team in two months and the franchise chose to go in a different direction. If not from the Spurs, Jenkins is going to get a pay day from a team.

You don't fire your coach two weeks before the playoffs. That's just a wild move regardless of how they have been playing.

There's either something really damning about Jenkins that's gonna drop or there were teams circling around Iisalo.

The fact they dumped two assistants too says either something really jacked or they want Iisalo and went to him and said who do you want to stick around. I think both the assistants are long time Jenkins assistants so that does point to the latter.

I agree Jenkins would be a great get for SA.

Enzo The Baker said:

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FTAG 2000 said:

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LawHall88 said:

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Enzo The Baker said:

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Ag Natural said:

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Memphis just fired Jenkins. I bet they are pushing him out to elevate that assistant we all want.

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Who's the assistant?

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The Memphis Grizzlies are naming assistant Tuomas Iisalo as the interim head coach, sources tell ESPN. Iisalo, a native of Finland, is a former Finnish professional player and coach. He was head coach of Paris Basketball in 2024, winning the EuroCup and EuruCup coach of the year. pic.twitter.com/nKPCdzh7Ms

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025

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Damnit.

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Obviously just learning about the the Finnish coach but Jenkins had high success before Iisalo's arrival to the grizzlies. He'd be a major get for the Spurs especially with his ties to the organization. Jenkins with the Spurs makes a lot of sense. Would love to get a nasty defensive identity for this team.

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I almost asked the questions a week ago: Of all the coaches in the Popovich tree, if Pop were to transition to a Pat Riley type role, who would Spurs fans want to target? Assume Kerr and Udoka were not available, but everyone else was.


I think Jenkins would do very well in San Antonio, but several other guys would too.

Becky Hammon should be considered as well

Sam Vecenie pitched a Lauri Markkenan to Spurs idea. Basically Devin + #9 + Filler (Malaki?) for Lauri. I think this really makes sense for them if they end up #3 and get Ace Bailey in the draft.

The good: Lauri as a 7' movement shooter working off ball to stretch defenses is absolutely something we need. He is in a down year this year and that combined with his contract (30% cap going down to 26% of cap) makes him less of a sexy asset than he was a couple years ago when he was on a ~16M/year deal. The fit is super obvious and I think we all agreed he would be nice hear when it came up before.

The bad: He's averaging 56 games/year over his 8y career and has never played 70 games. Some of that you might be able to blame on tanking, but he hasn't been in Utah forever. He dropped to 19/6 on 42/34 shooting this year after being a 24/8 on 49/40 shooting guy the two years before.


My thought:

Then we use the Hawks pick on a guy like Jase Richardson or Carter Bryant. Wings are much easier to replace in free agency. Pick up Luke Kornet and maybe Davion Mitchell with the MLE/BAE


Wemby/Kornet
Lauri/Barnes
Sochan/Julian/Keldon
Castle/Jase or Bryant
Fox/Davion

Guitarsoup said:

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Sam Vecenie pitched a Lauri Markkenan to Spurs idea. Basically Devin + #9 + Filler (Malaki?) for Lauri. I think this really makes sense for them if they end up #3 and get Ace Bailey in the draft.

The good: Lauri as a 7' movement shooter working off ball to stretch defenses is absolutely something we need. He is in a down year this year and that combined with his contract (30% cap going down to 26% of cap) makes him less of a sexy asset than he was a couple years ago when he was on a ~16M/year deal. The fit is super obvious and I think we all agreed he would be nice hear when it came up before.

The bad: He's averaging 56 games/year over his 8y career and has never played 70 games. Some of that you might be able to blame on tanking, but he hasn't been in Utah forever. He dropped to 19/6 on 42/34 shooting this year after being a 24/8 on 49/40 shooting guy the two years before.


My thought:

Then we use the Hawks pick on a guy like Jase Richardson or Carter Bryant. Wings are much easier to replace in free agency. Pick up Luke Kornet and maybe Davion Mitchell with the MLE/BAE


Wemby/Kornet
Lauri/Barnes
Sochan/Julian/Keldon
Castle/Jase or Bryant
Fox/Davion

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I've been super high on Lauri for years. Maybe the down year let's us trade for him and resign him at a slight discount.

Imagine the length and disruption possible with Lauri and Wemby both out there.

I like Vassell, but there just aren't a lot of bigs that can give you 50/40 shooting at volume and there are a lot of guys that can give you Devin's 44/38 shooting on the wing.