Primo, picks, and the Summer League progression plan
As the Summer Spurs prepare to tip off in Las Vegas, remember: It's OK to be a little irrational.
Oftentimes you’ll read rules or disclaimers listed by various outlets and media members ahead of NBA Summer League play, generally put in place to provide a levelheaded approach toward analyzing games and performances, temper expectations and put the level of talent on the court in context. It’s boring, but it’s meant to be helpful.
The problem is nobody wants to hear about all that this time of year, and because of this absolute fact it is the official stance of this publication that fans should go as wild as they please. The harsh reality of the NBA will hit all rookies a few months from now, so there will be no harshing of vibes found here — unless your rookie looks totally overmatched over the next 10 days or so … then alarms will sound.
For now, we’ll enjoy the new faces and entertaining matchups; we’ll sit through the stretches of truly terrible basketball just to catch a glimpse of the future; we’ll proclaim players “steals” and “busts” based solely on the results of exhibition games; and we’ll do it all knowing how little any of it actually matters. It’s our last view of the NBA until well after the deathly hot summer months are mercifully behind us, and we will react accordingly.
Point Primo
The Spurs’ Summer League progression plan over the years has been pretty simple: Rookies are thrown into the mix for a brief training-camp period and let loose to find their footing alongside new teammates, and second-year players are expected to run the show from start to finish until they ideally graduate from summertime duties. That means it’s Joshua Primo’s turn to take the reins for the Summer Spurs.
The grizzled 19-year-old Vegas veteran will assume the role most San Antonio sophomores have filled before him, tasked with being the lead guard for coach Mitch Johnson.
“For guys in their second year, summer league is a bigger deal. It’s always exciting for the rookies, but the second-year guys, they know what to expect. They’ve been through everything, and we look at them as vets,” Johnson said following a practice last week. “They need to help the new guys or the young guys, so I think it is a big summer for (Primo).”
With the departure of Dejounte Murray still visible in the rearview mirror, plenty of questions remain up in the air as to who the primary ball-handler will be for the Spurs next season. General Manager Brian Wright mentioned last week the point guard position is one the team will have to address, but he didn’t specify exactly how they’d go about doing it.
Primo entered the league with a readymade 3-point shot and promising defensive upside, but what really caused San Antonio to fall in love with the eventual (and controversial) 12th overall pick were the flashes of versatile playmaking potential. He was a low-usage player at Alabama who spent the majority of his time off the ball, but when he found more opportunity — especially during the pre-draft process and at the combine — he made a hell of an impression.
“He played more of a spot-up shooter-type role within their offense with Herb (Jones) and some of the guards that they had, and so when we got to the combine, we saw him in a completely different role. We saw him playing some point guard at times, playing off the ball and creating sometimes,” Wright said following the 2021 NBA Draft. “You saw the flashes that you would see in-season, you just saw a little bit more of it. And, obviously, we got to have him in our gym and got him in a workout and continued to spend some time peeling back the layers. We were just extremely impressed with the young man — the maturity, obviously the talent and the potential upside going forward.”
While Primo’s numbers didn’t exactly jump off the page during his rookie campaign, the tape showed the types of moments the Spurs hope will become commonplace. His ambidexterity, balance, passing ability, vision and intelligence are all obvious, but putting it all on display consistently is going to be a giant next step to take. He’s still very raw, and the transition toward reading and understanding NBA defenses from the perspective of a lead or even secondary facilitator is arduous, but San Antonio made it a point to immerse him in that role in Austin for much of the 2021-22 season.
The team is still very high on him a year later, and the way he handled his rookie season did nothing but bolster that belief. Considering the state of the Spurs’ roster at this juncture, Primo stands to absorb plenty of ball-handling responsibility next season, even if the team brings in another true point guard not named Tre Jones. Still, it remains to be seen if that role is built for him, especially considering how often the Spurs have used the terms “positionless” and “versatile” to describe their roster-building decisions in recent years.
Primo appears more comfortable off the ball and as a secondary playmaker at this stage of his career, and he isn’t the type of explosive slasher you love to see at the tip of the spear. But where he lacks burst, he makes up for it with a cerebral approach to the game you don’t often see in guys his age. In the end, duties will surely be distributed more evenly than they were last season, and it’s difficult to believe Gregg Popovich will readily hand the keys to the offense over to a 19-year-old who has yet to prove himself.
Then again, he’s done it before.
Sochan, Branham and Wesley
For many, the vibes of Summer League appearing on the horizon provided a much-needed pick-me-up after the Murray trade shook a lot of folks to their core. Naturally, however, Covid decided it was time to make another convenient appearance.
Ninth-overall pick Jeremy Sochan was hit by the much-less-novel-these-days coronavirus and placed in health-and-safety protocols last week shortly after his arrival in San Antonio, and the Spurs announced Thursday he had been ruled out for the entirety of Summer League/
Just a whole pile of wet blankets.
The move is precautionary, as Sochan by all accounts is doing fine. Because he has been unable to practice with the team, the Spurs do not want to expedite any sort of ramp-up process in order for him to play. San Antonio simply doesn’t want to risk any type of injury.
That leaves Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley (the 20th and 25th picks from this summer’s draft, respectively) as the team’s first-round headliners. While Sochan’s energy and defensive motor would’ve held great entertainment value in a summer-league setting, these two will have plenty to offer.
“These kids want to prove whether they should be at this level or justify why they were drafted. Blake is a very dynamic driver, very athletic. His speed stands out when you watch him,” Johnson said. “And I think Malaki has a little bit of a throwback game — in terms of being kinda crafty, using change of speed, finds his spots and ways to score.
“So I think they both have the knack and skill sets that will help us.”
Branham and Wesley offer a real contrast in styles. The former is a methodical, fundamentally sound scorer who thrives within the framework of a solid offensive structure; the latter is a versatile, “roll the ball out and let’s hoop” type of scorer whose creativity is his appeal. You know what you’re going to get with one of them, while the other may inevitably just keep everyone guessing.
The issue for Branham over the next 10 days is that structure at Summer League is about as sturdy as a pop-up tent. He loves to operate in and out of the pick-and-roll, navigating his way into the mid-range and pulling up from his spots. He’s long and physical, and he knows how to use his body to create space, which allows him to elevate and shoot over defenders despite not being an explosive athlete. On the perimeter, while he’s not much of an off-the-dribble threat, he’s an excellent spot-up 3-point shooter who can get hot if left open.
But summer-league basketball can get messy — like really messy — so it will be interesting to see how he performs alongside brand-new teammates. A week of practices is hardly enough time to build more than a basic understanding of tendencies, and his game at the college level depended on rhythm, spacing and a solid pick-and-roll relationship with his big men. He’s steady, smart and talented enough to get buckets in exhibition-style play, but exactly how much he stands out in a relatively unorganized crowd will be interesting to observe.
Wesley is quite the opposite. In a game of random basketball he’s the type of player who could go for 25 points, but is more likely to go for 10 at this stage of his development. He thrives in the broken court, able to get downhill quickly and find cracks in the defense, whether he’s attacking the basket or looking to kick out to shooters. In isolation he’s got an entire bag of tricks at the ready, and he constantly keeps defenders on the their heels. Athletically, he’s not a true high-flyer, but he’s got a smoothness and fluidity that belies his lanky frame.
Defensively he loves to get his hands on the ball, turning careless handles and passes into instant offense. When he’s out in the open floor he’s very difficult to wrangle, and he’s just as happy letting it fly from 3 as he is getting into the paint and using his length to weave through potential shot-blockers. He’s got a full offensive arsenal, but the problem at this point is actually putting the ball in the basket with any type of consistency, which is an area he immediately said needed to be addressed during his post-draft media availability.
But all of this wrapped up into one package is what makes him such a potentially fun watch at Summer League — a high-upside player with a ton of unpredictable variance.
Perfect for Vegas.