This just opened a very interesting door for the Spurs...

This opens a very interesting door for San Antonio. After the LeBron James signing in Philadelphia has taken over the NBA news world, there have been a lot of reports about other players maybe getting bought out and joining him there, trade rumors and stuff. But there's one player that is expected to be bought out that actually is a very perfect fit for San Antonio. We're going to dive into all of that, plus a little update for Mr. Julian Champagny as he discusses his long-term future with the San Antonio Spurs. And also, win projections have been released. And well, I think you might know where I'm going with this, but we're going to get into all of that coming up on this episode of Spurs Digest. And why not just start with these win totals? Look, I know, we made the NBA Finals, blah, blah. We've talked about this a bunch. Well, let's get into what the rest of the NBA seems to think. Not only were we ranked as one of the best off-seasons out there. Oh, I'm going to take the chat away. You can see me there. We're going to take that away. Here are Calhoun's win forecasts for each Western Conference team. Now, we actually, I don't think we see all of them here. I think some of them are cut off. However, the Spurs are currently the favorite to win the Western Conference with an expected win total of 61. Now, part of this, in my opinion, is because the OKC Thunder, of course, they traded away Lou Dorton, who is a very important part of their team. Hey, you can see it cutting off a little bit there. But, you know, it opens a big door for San Antonio because some teams are getting weaker. The East is getting stronger. And look, the battle for playoffs, it just feels like there's more parity than there has been in a while, maybe partially because of this second apron stuff. But there are a lot of teams that are going to be pushing, pushing, pushing for the top of the West. And before I dive in a little bit deeper to that, I want to thank PrizePix for sponsoring this video. It is America's number one sports picks app. And if you download it using Code Digest, it helps us out a ton on the channel. And you get $50 when you play your first $5 in lineups. It is Freaky Friday. Discounted rates. We got some picks coming up for you later in the video. But I want you guys down below right now to tell me, what will the Spurs win total be this year? What is your prediction? Honestly, I want you to tell me what number you'd be unhappy with. Because I think for me, I want to say anything under 60 wins would be a disappointment. And I don't want to be that guy. Am I really going to come out here and say, we suck if we don't get 60 wins? But I think it's fair. We got 62 last year in, again, a pretty tough West. The bottom of the bottom of the West was a bit of a tank-a-thon. But there were a lot of decent teams. Even the 6 seed, 7 seed, 8 seed, 9 seed. They were all solid teams above 500. Is 60 wins feasible? More than feasible. Is 65 possible? I think so. I think you have to aim and strive to be better, right? Because the team did not really have a downgrade. We added Tobias Harris. We kept the entire core around. We lost some guys that didn't play many minutes. And we signed Wemby to a big extension. It's like, this team should be better than last year. So I think the Spurs will win the West. I'm predicting 63 to 64 wins. But I'd love your thoughts on all that down below. But one of the guys that was very important to this team this year was Mr. Julian Champagne. And I'm going to show his playoff stats, actually. Because I think in the playoffs, he really stepped up in certain games when we really needed him the most. We know we did in the regular season. But 11 points a game in the playoffs on 40% from three. And there were moments in the playoffs where that three-point percentage was way, way higher. So love what he brought. But he actually spoke about his long-term future very recently. And in a very glowing way. So I got a couple things to show you. First one here, I appreciate the Spurs to the fullest. Obviously, I've been here for three and a half years now. Hopefully, I'm here for the rest of my playing career. I love it here. It's the best. And this is specifically about Julian Champagne, of course. But if he is saying this, you have to imagine that that sentiment is common among pretty much the whole rest of the team. Maybe not everyone. There are always outliers. But you've got to think a lot of other guys are thinking this same way. Maybe a guy like Tobias Harris coming in on a two-year deal. Maybe he likes it so much, he's like, man, they appreciate me here. I want to stay here to the end of my playing days. Who knows? Harrison Barnes took a $10 million a year pay cut. Now, that's the reason I didn't use the word discount. But pay cut to stick around as well, right? And again, Champagne brings something the team desperately needs. And that is elite three-point shooting. And I use elite maybe sort of lightly. But 40% from three on the team that made the finals is pretty good. Here was playoff shooting splits from all the different areas of the floor. Mid-range was not so great. But at the rim, 74%, which is actually pretty, pretty good. But he brings that aspect that the Spurs really need. And I love it. And so I'm very curious to see how other players feel about this. Even a guy like Kelvin, a guy like Devin Vassell. And with Wemby taking the discount, you have to wonder, are other players going to be willing to take discounts to stay around long-term? Now, I don't know if Champagne's contract was a discount per se. I think 15 mil is very fair for what he brings. But hey, I mean, leave your thoughts. Do you want him to stick around to the end of his playing days? Do you think that other guys might feel the same way? Because I think that the camaraderie, the willingness to stay, stick around, and build something special with Wemby, which is what he actually specifically dives into, is a big thing. The big fella's here to stay. I'm here to stay. Got the same team back, couple additions. It's going to be pretty good. It is going to be pretty good. Like I said, 63-64 wins. But the Spurs do have an open roster spot. That is one of these things, right? 14 out of 15, there is some space. And I know we just signed David Jones-Garcia to a two-way. Questions about Emmanuel Miller, whether we'll actually keep him on a two-way, because we have four different two-way guys right now. You can't go into the season with four two-way contracts. You only get three. But we do have one open regular roster spot. So like I said before, I think the most likely option is one of Jones-Garcia, maybe Gillespie, who knows, gets that standard spot. And the other three, Miller, Brown, and again, either Gillespie or David Jones-Garcia. Get on a two-way deal and go to the G League. But there's an interesting name that came out. And I want to hear your guys' thoughts. Man, I don't want you to just tear me a new one if you think this is a bad idea. But I just couldn't help but think about it. Um, so Evan Sedary tweeted this out. Batavia's Caldwell Pope is expected to soon reach a buyout with the Grizzlies, and he could follow LeBron James to the Sixers. Philadelphia plans to add one or two more bench pieces at veterans' minimum deals to further solidify their title aspirations. And so I have aspirations. Every time I see that word, it's just kind of comedy, isn't it? So I was thinking, what's the guarantee that he goes to Philly? Obviously, like, it would be a great fit in Philly. You add some more shooting to that team. You add another great bench piece, a guy that's a bit of a 3 and D kind of player. He's played with LeBron before. You know, he can win titles. He knows what to do. But like, doesn't he feel like a good fit in San Antonio? And look, I know Champagne is probably going to be the backup too, whatever. Champagne is going to play maybe more of the 3 or even the 4 at times, right? Like, he's also listed as the backup 4. And you just wonder, right? Like, a bench lineup of Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant, Julian Champagne, Luke Cornette, and then you also have Kelvin Johnson. One thing that that bench sort of lacks is a lot of shooting. You know, Champagne obviously brings some, but it's like, there are a lot of lineups here where you don't have a ton of shooting. So I was like, can we even do this? And yeah, the Spurs actually do still have the biannual exception. We signed Jordan McLaughlin to the veteran minimums provision. So we still have, as far as I understand, and maybe you cap gurus can dive deeper onto this and tell me why I'm wrong or why I'm right, five and a half million dollars. Now, I wouldn't necessarily give them that much. But again, if it's like a veteran minimum type deal or something very low below this amount, it's something the Spurs could play with. Now, the only problem is the Spurs are very, very close to the tax right now. And that is where it gets a little complicated because as good as Cadavious Caldwell-Pope is as a fit for the Spurs, the question that arises, do you want to be a tax paying team? Is it worth going after a guy like this and dipping into the tax for it? A guy that averaged eight points a game last year, only 32% from three, which is well below what he's normally doing, I will say. And I think I start to wonder, right? Obviously, Wenby taking the discount, tried to get this team out of these questions of whether they should dip into the tax or not. And as far as I understand, I'm pretty sure the math works out. We're like, we'd be very close. Like not first apron, but at least in the tax, which does affect your taxpayer MLE versus non-taxpayer MLE, all this kind of stuff. But there's always ways to move out some money. I don't think that would be ideal to have to trade someone to fit him in. But I start to wonder, right? There are some interesting avenues the Spurs could take here if a guy like this maybe were available. And I don't know. I don't think it's necessarily smart to go after this. And again, like I said, just dip in now. Because I don't think he's a big difference maker, but it's the kind of move that I really want to start to consider. These kind of moves that are a bit like, okay, it's a bit bold to do this, but kind of why not? Let's try and win. And like just win now. Like we're well below the first apron at the very least. Well, well below the second apron. There are opportunities. So anyway, leave your thoughts on this down below. It's just something that popped into my mind. And I'm curious what you guys think about it. Pros and cons to it for sure. But I'm wondering what you think. Final thing before we end off this video though. Thank you to PrizePix again for sponsoring this video. We got some baseball picks for you. These are coming up tonight. It's Freaky Friday. Get your discounted rates. Joey Cantillo, I'm picking more on the 5.5ks. It's a tough one. It's a red demon pick or red devil pick. But I don't know. Something about them playing the Rays. Like I know the Rays, but like I'm taking the more there. I'm taking the less on Matthew Boyd. And I'm taking... See, Devers is one of the interesting ones. It could be hit or miss on his fantasy score on a game-by-game basis. But I am actually picking the more on 5.5 hitter FS tonight versus the Angels. Because I don't know. Sometimes Devers just hits bombs and I'm ready for it. Pasquantino, take it or leave it. That one's also there in my picks. But hey, you can feel free to pick some of these, none of these, or any of these. And regardless, make sure you're using prize picks for it. You get $50 when you play your first five. Thank you for tuning in every single day. I've been your host Josh Gaus, and I will catch you all in the next one.