How the San Antonio Spurs Should Address Their Starting Point Guard Situation

Five months ago, Spurs fans were raving about Dejounte Murray, their 25-year-old All-Star with a seemingly promising future as the impresario of a revamped offense, triple-double manufacturer, and incumbent face of the franchise. Fast forward to the present day, and San Antonio has a gigantic hole at starting point guard after triggering a rebuild by shipping Dejounte to Atlanta for draft capital.

The Atlanta Hawks are trading Danilo Gallinari and multiple first-round picks to the San Antonio Spurs for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2022

The Houston Rockets might be the only organization with similar question marks surrounding the quality of their lead ball-handler. And in the age of heliocentrism, the Silver and Black are without proven advantage creators who can make life easier for their motley of predominantly off-ball scoring specialists. So, how can the front office address their predicament before the regular season begins?

San Antonio has a couple of options. They can pick an in-house candidate or sift through the free agent market for an external solution. We’ll discuss the former later, but are there any unsigned guards worth pursuing?

Collin Sexton, Dennis Schröder, and Eric Bledsoe are the first eligible NBA bachelors that come to mind. And considering the Spurs will have around $25M in salary cap space once the Gorgui Dieng deal is official, money is a non-issue. Regardless, there are other logistical obstacles. San Antonio would have to waive someone on a guaranteed contract to create room for an incoming player.

Most veterans are looking for a chance to compete for a championship or earn another lucrative payday. Several oddsmakers think San Antonio will have the worst record in the league this season, making for a difficult sell.

Though they have enough cash to make losing manageable, Bledsoe is on the wrong end of 30, Schroder is approaching that mark, and both players are coming off their least-productive seasons in nearly a decade.

As for Sexton, he could be a fantastic buy-low investment for PATFO. But the Cleveland Cavaliers have the right to match any offer sheet the Spurs send his way since he is a restricted free agent. Whether or not they want to bring back the 23-year-old guard is another story. He missed 71 games last season with a torn meniscus, and Darius Garland earned his first All-Star appearance, leading the team to their first winning record since 2018.

Assuming the Cavaliers let Sexton walk to avoid sabotaging the chemistry they built with Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, San Antonio could be adding a ferocious scorer that averaged 24.3 points per game on uber-efficient .471/.371/.815 shooting splits a little over a year ago.

Giving Sexton the green light to attack at will is a delightful notion. Yet his score-first mindset might interfere with the development of prospects like Blake Wesley, Malaki Branham, and Josh Primo. Sexton was among the 36 players who recorded at least 70 touches per game in 2020-2021 but had the fourth-fewest assists out of that group. Reliable self-creators are less valuable to the rebuilding Spurs if they provide nominal facilitation.

On-ball reps are crucial for young guards, and the Spurs should be careful not to take them away at the expense of picking up a couple of extra wins on the schedule. The soundest course of action for PATFO is to allow their teenagers and early-twenty-somethings to compete during training camp for the honor of running the offense.

There are only three legitimate contenders for starting point guard on the roster. Tre Jones, Josh Primo, and Blake Wesley. Each player holds unique benefits and drawbacks. Although fans probably consider the 19-year-old first-rounders the future of Spurs basketball, there are genuine reasons to ease them into featured roles instead of thrusting them into the fire.

Wesley was mesmerizing at Las Vegas Summer League, stealing the show for San Antonio. He used his exceptional first step to burst past defenders and draw help, pulled off acrobatic finishes near the rim, and completed a handful of special live-dribble passes. Positive indicators aside, the Notre Dame product shot 30% on 90 field goal attempts, the lowest mark out of the top 30 scorers at the event.

Blake Wesley ranked in the bottom 4th percentile as a half-court finisher while having a Summer League-high 14 shots blocked.

His burst is insanely impressive but the overall streakiness and shooting touch are the things that need the most work right now.

— Noah Magaro-George (@N_Magaro) July 18, 2022

Primo seemed ready for a breakout after exhibiting an abundance of shot-making potential as the motor of the Austin Spurs. But that never came to fruition, with two underwhelming outings before landing in H&S protocols. Shifty dribbling and no-look dimes are aesthetically pleasing, and maybe that showmanship will intersect with functionality. Right now, it only led to the second-most turnovers per game (4.3) in the G League.

Small sample size, but Josh Primo ranked in the 94th percentile in both spot-up shooting and overall defense during Summer League.

His ability to relocate on the perimeter, handle some on-ball reps, slide his feet, and strip drivers should give him a floor as a 3&D swingman.

— Noah Magaro-George (@N_Magaro) July 21, 2022

Neither inexperienced ball-handler is the ideal person to direct an offense in which most of its players need a helping hand to score, which leaves us with Tre Jones as the rational choice for the starting gig.

The 22-year-old is a traditional floor general, always looking to involve his teammates first and foremost. We will refrain from rehashing his complete skill set again, but here are the numbers you need to know.

Jones posted 13.5 points, 4.6 boards, and 7.5 assists on 48.8% shooting in 11 games as a spot-starter last season, a nearly identical statistical profile to Kyle Lowry, though on a vastly smaller sample in a remarkably different context. San Antonio went 3-8 with the second-year guard at the helm, a respectable record, given how shorthanded they were in those matchups.

tre jones is shooting 52.5% on floaters this season (42-of-80). he's also at 55.6% on mid-range jumpers (20-of-36). pic.twitter.com/98ptXKFSzO

— Dan Favale (@danfavale) April 6, 2022

Tre also notched a 5.1 assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking second only to his older brother Tyus Jones. Head coach Gregg Popovich has always valued protecting the ball, and the diminutive passer is already one of the best in the world at limiting giveaways.

Even if the Spurs are determined to participate in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, they would still benefit from having a dependable presence to keep everything operating smoothly. The freedom of trial and error can foster development, but too much responsibility in the wrong environment too soon can set prospects back and deteriorate confidence. 

The Duke alumnus is undersized on both sides of the court and lacks any semblance of a consistent three-point jumper. He has minimal gravity as a scorer and can be excessively unselfish and hesitant to take advantage of uncontested looks. Nonetheless, his conservative yet effective facilitating can produce open looks for players learning how to generate unassisted offense. 

Tre Jones doesn’t have to carry the torch Dejounte Murray dropped on his way out of the 2-1-0 permanently. He can, however, guarantee it remains unscathed as he helps wean his younger counterparts into heavier on-ball assignments in more palatable increments. The former second-rounder is imperfect, and he is precisely what the Spurs need heading into a season of uncertainty.

All statistics courtesy of Synergy Sports, Basketball Reference, and NBA.com