Are the Spurs the favorites? | Southwest Division Preview
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. I'm Dave DuFour here with Espera Henne and Zena Keita. Coming up, we continue our offseason grades. This time, it's the Southwest Division. I'm going to ask these guys if Tobias Harris puts the Spurs over the top.
Good morning, everybody. What's up, guys? The gang's all here. Open it up with Tobias Harris. Good for you, Dave.
Are the Spurs now favorites after signing Tobias Harris and extending Victor Wembanyama?
Hey, listen, man. I said it during the playoffs. It was kind of a joke. And then they go out and they sign Tobias Harris, and that's really the only move they make. They keep their guys. You know, they bring a lot of guys back. They sign Victor Wiminyama to a five-year extension, and he takes a huge discount, which helps set them up for the future. The Spurs are just going to be around for a little while, I think.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, they also re-signed Justin Champagny or Julian. Yeah, Julian Champagny. And they were able to honestly have a pretty interesting draft with Terrace Reed Jr., Jaden Quaintance being there as well. Two guys who I think will help their front court spot. You know, I think a big issue for them in the playoffs was the fact that they were bleeding minutes when Luke Cornett was on the floor or bleeding points when Luke Cornett was on the floor. Right. Hopefully one of those young guys will be able to step in. And yeah, the big question for them is Tobias Harris. Will he be able to fill in that role? I think we looked at them all season and even in the finals where it was like a starting power forward with size, with rebounding, with a little bit more shot creation.
is exactly what they need, and a veteran presence. And all of those things combined is Tobias Harris. I don't think on the free agency market was there any other guy that made more sense for them than Tobias Harris. No, not to me.
I agree with that, especially with the decision they needed to stretch for. I'm still curious, though. One of the biggest things we saw with the Spurs when they kind of got mollywhopped in the finals at the end of games, right? They're starting strong and then closing out without secondary shot creation. They didn't have enough of that. And I don't know if you're looking at De'Aaron Fox to be your shot creator at the end of games and he wasn't able to do it. Is now Tobias Harris the answer to that? I don't, I don't know.
It's at least another guy who can do some stuff. So it might take, you know, you think about it, it takes some of the pressure off and Tobias here. Look, he's, he's not going to hit eight threes in a game most likely. But he's also not going to not shoot when he's open. He can bully a guy and kind of attack when he's going to get some mismatch, which is something I thought that they were missing from that four spot.
Yeah, I agree with that. I'm curious too, like you guys were, you know, you were at Summer League. Jaden Quaintance was not at Summer League.
Yeah, he didn't play.
He has those injuries and those injuries are not quiet. Like they're, you know, he's torn both his ACLs. He tore his meniscus in college, missed all of Summer League. I don't know if you're going to see him until probably like middle of the season.
How will the Spurs' draft picks and Julian Champagnie impact their frontcourt depth?
Yeah.
Hopefully, I would be even less optimistic than that, to be honest with you. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't play. But that's why I like their draft in general, Zena, because I think Terrace Reed Jr. is a guy who could just jump in and play for them rotation minutes or at least be another big to throw out there.
He gets Carter Bryant vibes, like comes in. play rebounds. I don't know if he defends as well. I would lean on you guys to tell me that more than I would know.
Just a different position than Carter Bryant, right? Carter's more of a four. Terrence Reed is like probably a five. You know, Carter can kind of slide down.
Gonna be a better athlete than Luke Cornett. And that's what they really needed.
Because remember, they were playing Carter at the five for like a hot second. So that's what I was thinking about. But okay, with all that though, You had Tobias. Your draft class is okay.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:27
2
Are the Spurs now favorites after signing Tobias Harris and extending Victor Wembanyama?
0:27–3:14
3
How will the Spurs' draft picks and Julian Champagnie impact their frontcourt depth?
3:14–4:30
4
Can Tobias Harris provide late‑game shot creation and veteran stability for the Spurs?
4:30–29:25
5
Did the Rockets' additions of Fred VanVleet, Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic fix their half‑court issues?
29:25–33:39
6
What remaining concerns do the Rockets face with injuries and spacing despite their offseason moves?
33:39–37:09