It's starting again...

It's starting up again. We got some cliff surfacing and some off-season workouts that not only is getting us hyped for the season, but it's showing some of the incredible, incredible work that not only StepCastle, but Kelton Johnson has been doing following in the footsteps of Wemby as there are a lot of questions specifically about Kelton's future, not only in the rotation, but with the team in general. And a lot of that is caused by Tobias Harris, the newly signed Spur with a lot of talk coming out recently about where he'll slot into the lineup. One recent article that even talked to some reporters and some other people will give us some insight into where he will end up slotting in. We're going to dive into all of that coming up on this episode of Spurs Digest. But Tobias Harris, I mean, I think it was a great ad. And I want you guys to let me know down below, do you think Tobias Harris will start? We've had this conversation before. I'm going to revisit some of the stuff we talked about before, some of the numbers, but also a little look into some new stuff that's come to light. But before we get into all of that, this video is brought to you by PrizePix, America's number one sports picks app. If you download it and you use code Digest, it helps us out a ton here at Spurs Digest, but also you get $50 when you play your first $5. And we got some picks for some baseball coming up at the end of this one. I like baseball too. Hope you guys do too. But the ultimate question, is he going to start? I mean, I'm going to bring up the playoff numbers again from last year. I know the efficiency was not great. I think he will. I'm just going to say this outright, but I know that not everyone does, which actually kind of surprised me because when we got Tobias Harris, I assumed that he would immediately be thrust into a starting role, especially, but look, even if it's not a starting role, let me back up. I think, no, let's take a look at the payroll here. I think Tobias Harris, it doesn't matter as much if he starts, it matters if he closes. Similar thing to Dylan Harper, right? Like, it doesn't matter if the starting lineup has De'Aaron Fox and Champagny in it. If the closing lineup is just dependent on who plays well on that given night. If Mr. Champagny is 5 for 7 from 3 and Tobias Harris is having a bit of an off night, well, then you put Champagny back out there later in the game. If De'Aaron Fox has 5 turnovers and he's shooting 0 for 5 from 3, you end the game with Dylan Harper. I think that's the important part here, but I do have to dive into an article from Tom Petrini. So when he asked the follow-up to people outside the Spurs, well, first of all, he asked, like, hey, was this a good move? And most people said, yeah, like, yeah, I think it was a great move. Before, like, Zach Lowe even said, just basically, clearly an addition and nothing else, right? But when he asked the follow-up about whether he will start the people outside the Spurs, people took a second and ranged from I don't think so to yeah, probably, in a way that showed that the answer isn't clear-cut. And the person being asked hadn't thought too much about the question until right then. And I think, again, part of the reason people are not thinking too much is just because the closing lineup matters more than the starting lineup, but it is an interesting thought experiment. So taking a look at the depth chart, it really comes down to him versus Champagne versus maybe Keldon Johnson, but I don't really think so. Look, there's, there are a lot of minutes to go around at, like, the two through four spot. I mean, you can name all these guys. Castle, he will maybe play some small ball four. I know he won't really. Devin Bissell will probably play the small ball four, if anything. But yeah, you have Bissell, you have Harris, you have Champagne, you have Carter Bryant, you have Keldon Johnson, you have Harris and Burns. You have six players, essentially, all vying for those two forward positions. But like I said, I don't think it necessarily matters who starts versus finishes the game. What I will say is that I think Tobias Harris is going to be basically an upgraded Harrison Burns from last year, where Harrison Burns, to be fair to him, man, he had an unreal start to the year, especially, well, I mean, I say that as if he was averaging 28 games. He was very efficient from three to start the year. And honestly, even as the year finished and he, after that injury, he just didn't quite shoot the way he did at the start of the year. But 38 percent is not bad. He shot very well from three. Mr. 100 percent, as Sean Elliott loved to say. We said it for a reason. He felt like he didn't miss from the corners. He was shooting like 45, 50 percent for like a decent sample. And, you know, obviously, that wasn't going to be sustainable over the long term. What I think Tobias Harris is going to be able to do is take this 26 minutes a night, 10 points per game in the regular season. Tobias would be able to play about that same amount of minutes per game, maybe up closer to 30, an average closer to 13 or 14 points. Maybe on better efficiency, as Harrison Burns is taking a slight decline. You're essentially replacing him with Tobias Harris. And by the way, I don't think Harrison Burns is done by any means. Like, I don't think he's dead. He's still on the team. We brought him back. Like, I think he's going to be an important beast, too. So leave your thoughts on all this down below. But I want to dive into the offseason, offseason workouts. This is awesome. The Guard Whisperer, working with Steph Castle. I'm going to play the videos again. Steph working on that three-point shot. And to be honest, like, his three as the season went on and as we got to the playoffs looked better and better and better. And I was very, very pleased with what I saw. I'm going to pop his playoff stats up here in a second as we just take a look at the video down below. You'll see Calvin and you'll see Steph Castle. But in the playoffs, 35% from 346 from the field. Obviously, the problem was the four fouls a game, the three and a half turnovers, including a double-digit turnover game. It was not the prettiest, but he's working. He's putting in the work. And one thing that the Spurs seem to have in their culture right now is working a lot, whether it's in the offseason or the regular season to be your best self. And it's something Wembley has shown more than anyone else, I would say. It's something that he takes very seriously. His body, his training, and that's why he went to China. It's why he's doing all this kind of stuff. So even though this is pretty standard, it's just an all, like a guy who's going to be an all-NBA guard at some point, an all-defense level guy working with the Guard Whisperer. Like, that's not a news story in and of itself. But what I think is is good is that you're not seeing this from everyone, right? Like, in the lab, working on their game. You are seeing it from some players, but not everyone. And I love to see that Steph Castle is out there doing it right now. After a strong playoffs, you're hoping that he can, again, improve in his actual ball-carrying roles, maybe shoot the three off the dribble a little better because obviously he was a bit better on the spot-up threes than anything else. But the other guy that we got to talk about, Keldon Johnson. I mean, we're going to roll the tape again and we'll see Steph Castle. This guy out here copying Wendy, doing some Chinese training. This came from his Instagram. Very, very fun stuff. And I think Keldon, more than anyone, first of all, like we always talk about, he brings the energy to this team. He is the heart and soul of the San Antonio Spurs. But I have talked about his uncertain future. I think a lot of you probably agree he has an uncertain future. And while he is putting in the work, I think he's just, where am I pointing? This way? This way. He's putting in the work and I think he's just trying to find a way to bring back his old self. And I don't know if I want to say old self, but like, I always remind you guys, this was a guy that was a 22-point-per-game score, 45% from the field. This past year, I mean, his efficiency went way up, career-high, shooting from three outside that 17-game sample in 2019-20 at 36.4%. Actually, that's not true. He shot 40% back in 21-22. I forgot that, but still, one of the better three-point shooting seasons of his career. But again, outside that small sample in 2019-20, it was his highest field goal percentage for any season. And his points per game were solid. His rebounds per game were solid. He actually averaged more rebounds this year than he did in that high-scoring year. He was able to focus his efforts in the best places for the Spurs and help them win games. But we got Toby, we got Harrison Barnes, we got Carter Bryant knocking on the door. I love that he's working. And I actually still think Kelvin Johnson has a lot to prove with this team, but I have not been shy in saying that this is the kind of guy that I'm not sure if he's going to be back past this year. We've seen those rumors floating around that maybe we won't be offering him a contract extension. We know his 18-ish million dollar deal is going to be one of the most movable contracts on this team if we do decide to go that route and bring in some other talent. So, I really love that he's working on his game, doing what he needs to do here. It's just kind of fun. But, you know, he's one of my favorite players. See the jersey behind me. I don't know about his future. I don't mean to end this on a sad note, but listen, that will do it. Leave your thoughts on this offseason stuff, the training. I just think it's cool. I just think it's really cool to see what the guys have been up to. But before we head off, some pics for you. We got some baseball today. Coming up Wednesday, we got KC versus, sorry, San Francisco versus KC. 3.5 Ks for Mr. Landon Roup. I always forget, is it Roup or Roup? Anyway, it doesn't matter. I don't watch much of Giants baseball, to be fair. Anyway, I'm picking the Moore on 3.5 Ks though, because I know that he is more than capable of doing that. Seth Lugo, I know a lot more. Same thing with Christian Scott, as I mentioned in the previous video. I'm very unfortunately a Mets fan. Seth Lugo, again, what a great project by Kansas City. You've taken him as a reliever from the Mets and turning him into a starter. 4.5 Ks for Lugo. 5.5 Ks for Christian Scott. It's the Mets, guys. It's the Mets. I'm just, former Met picked the Moore, current Met picked the Les, and Logan Henderson. Logan Henderson, you can, I mean, it's against the Mets. I think the Mets offense at least has a chance to do well. So I, while I did pick the Moore here, I would, if I were you, take the Green Goblin pick, but then also take Lugo and Christian Scott. Lugo, pick the Moore. Christian Scott, pick the Les. Logan Henderson, if you want, if you really hate the Mets, like I do a lot of days, it's a fair one as well. But listen, that will do it for this video. Thank you for tuning in every single day. I'm your host, Josh Gaus. And I will catch you all in the next one.