Analysis Lowe/Hollinger: 2025 Most Confusing Teams

[inagra]

Hollinger picks Spurs as one of the most confusing teams

- Fox trade and injury
- Incapable of incorporating Fox
- Roster mismatch
- Lack of shooting
- Three guard rotation
- Is Mitch legit or blah

 

[brazil]

not sure how and what is confusing tbh... what is confusing is for instance trading Luka for AD... Spurs are not confusing, get #2 pick creates 3 guards rotation issue, Spurs solved some roster issues like back up C but failed to bring shooting then incapable of incorporating Fox says who ? is Mitch legit well duh.. Spurs doing Spurs things, again what it is confusing ? Lakers hiring JJ was and still is confusing

 

[brazil]

Spurs trading for Giannis or Spurs hiring a former player with no experience that would be confusing. Spurs are quite consistent with the Spurs way of doing things

 

[spurraider21]

the Fox thing doesnt worry me. i think he and Wemby will work out great. Fox and Sabonis were a deadly offensive duo and Wemby should be able to turn that to 11. my big issue with them is the shooting more than anything. i think Castle does enough off-ball things (look at how he was deployed at UConn) to let me think the backcourt can work itself out in theory, but that is also contingent on Castle being a respectable shooter, and i have no confidence in that right now

the spurs had to draft Harper, no way around it. too good of a talent. but it came at the expense of taking an nba ready shooter like Tre Johnson, Kon, or even VJ/Bailey

 

[jeebus]

Trollinger has been a big ol bag of floppy wieners since his shitty ranking system back in the early 10s.

 

[O_V]

The Spurs haven't made a confusing decision in a while. The paths for Sochan, KJ and Vassell all clearly lead out of town. Hoping those good decisions continue.

Fox and Vic are going to be really good together.

 

[LeBowen]

Spurs have a lot of uncertainties, but nothing is confusing.
The plan is obvious, the question is will it work?

The only mismatch on the roster is Jeremy, but he'd be a mismatch on any roster with his lack of offensive game.
Obviously wing positions can be way better, but we can't sort everything out right away.

We went from CP3/Tre to Fox/Harper at PG and from Collins/Bassey to Kornet/Olynyk at C.
I'll call that an absolute success.

 

[scott]

I'm confused how someone could be confused

 

[PhantomDashCam]

The shooting is obviously the biggest concern with the Spurs but heck, Houston was the West’s Second Seed last season in the West and Milwaukee finished fifth in the East (Houston finished 21st overall in 3PT %, one spot behind Spurs; Milwaukee finished 1st.) Both were handled in the First round of the Playoffs anyway.

Spurs drafted the clear, consensus second best prospect in the class and drafted a seemingly highly rated 3 and D prospect with their other lottery selection.

What would warrant more confusion for me is if the Spurs didn’t have a HC appointed early in the off-season, traded down from their second pick for “future considerations” and failed to sign appropriate big man support for Wemby.

 

[DTW]

Spurs have a lot of uncertainties, but nothing is confusing.

That's the better way to put it.

It's a question of whether their talent can supersede their fit. Teams overcome it every season and make the playoffs, even in the West and usually without a player the caliber of Wembanyama (see Rockets).

It's not an easy rotation to manage, but there's enough here that with reasonable health, it should be the expectation. It doesn't hurt that teams projected to finish around them like the Mavericks and Grizzlies are already banged up.

 

[The_Second_Coming_of_VY65]

While I agree with the roster moves and am not personally confused, I do understand the argument. Superficially, adding another guard who doesn’t solve a need (shooting) while also not addressing much needed wing depth (and shooting) can be confusing. Opting for an unproven internal promotion vs. going after a Jenkins or a Mike Brown can also be confusing. If your mentality is that Wemby is ready now so give him the pieces he needs, these are not the smartest moves.

Hollinger isn’t going to be steeped in the intricacies of the team. He’s looking at it from afar and offering an opinion without a whole ton of due diligence. But I can see where he’s coming from, even though I disagree with it.

 

[Shmurs]

People really nitpicking here.

They’re “confusing” in the sense that their roster is extremely flawed but Vic might be able to pull them into the playoffs. Sure this is more of an “uncertainty” rating but I think everyone gets the idea.

And it is “confusing” why the 3 amigos are on this team, still, after a summer where wings and shooters were widely available. Mitch is also inherently a confusing coach because he’s both a puppet for the FO but also an autonomous leader.

I don’t know…they seem to fit the bill. Maybe not as much as Chicago or Brooklyn but this team does not operate with much of a sense of order at this time, roster and coaching-wise.

 

[scott]

What would warrant more confusion for me is if the Spurs didn’t have a HC appointed early in the off-season, traded down from their second pick for “future considerations” and failed to sign appropriate big man support for Wemby.

100%... and tbh, that outcome would have not at all surprised me based on what we've seen from the FO over the last few years. This offseason (and really going back to the Barnes deal) has been one of the most confidence-inspiring of the last decade.

 

[KobesAchilles]

It was confusing to pick Harper over Edgecomb. I agree on that. Also it is very confusing to hire within an organization that has 7 straight losing seasons. Also our building around Wemby is very confusing. I’m not sure we need Steph Marbury hero ballers in this team.

 

[scott]

It was confusing to pick Harper over Edgecomb.

Passing on the better prospect because he's a guard only to just draft a lesser guard would confuse me more.

 

[KobesAchilles]

Passing on the better prospect because he's a guard only to just draft a lesser guard would confuse me more.

Lesser how?

 

[Neuromancer]

There's nothing confusing about them. They're obviously still a work in progress. You don't go from bottom of the barrel to contender in one fell swoop

 

[Shmurs]

There's nothing confusing about them. They're obviously still a work in progress. You don't go from bottom of the barrel to contender in one fell swoop

That’s the story from the last 2 years. You can only tell that story for so long. If you’re talking progression, then you have to consider what this team would look like with Durant and a couple other pro wings. Seems to me you’d see a top 6 team this year and a possible contender next year. And it seems to me Durant and wings were gettable if the FO decided they want to really begin competing.

Instead this is another throw away year. 3rd one in a row with Wemby on a rookie deal. That’s a little weird considering the trade assets + diminishing value of those assets this team presently has.

 

[Neuromancer]

That’s the story from the last 2 years. You can only tell that story for so long. If you’re talking progression, then you have to consider what this team would look like with Durant and a couple other pro wings. Seems to me you’d see a top 6 team this year and a possible contender next year. And it seems to me Durant and wings were gettable if the FO decided they want to really begin competing.

Instead this is another throw away year. 3rd one in a row with Wemby on a rookie deal. That’s a little weird considering the trade assets + diminishing value of those assets this team presently has.

I don't think not being a contender is a throw away year. Yes, we should definitely expect growth and at this point, the playoffs are the expectation. But there's a huge gap between complete dumpster fire and legit contender. We should be in the middle of that with the possibility to push further based on potential trades to improve the roster. Let the season begin before you already start writing them off

 

[scott]

Lesser how?

I mean, you can have our own evaluation that says other wise and that's completely fine... but Harper was the clear consensus #2 and it wasn't even really close... draw your own conclusions.

 

[bozhemoi]

Confusing is New Orleans drafting Fears when they don't need a small PG who can't shoot and that trade thing for Queen.

The Spurs aren't confusing. It's very clear where the problems are.

 

[KobesAchilles]

Confusing is New Orleans drafting Fears when they don't need a small PG who can't shoot and that trade thing for Queen.

The Spurs aren't confusing. It's very clear where the problems are.

Confusing is the Pels hiring Joe Dumars lol

 

[KobesAchilles]

There's nothing confusing about them. They're obviously still a work in progress. You don't go from bottom of the barrel to contender in one fell swoop

No but plenty of teams have gone from the bottom of the barrel to a playoff team the next year. Also the Spurs haven’t really shown progress at all.

 

[Shmurs]

I don't think not being a contender is a throw away year. Yes, we should definitely expect growth and at this point, the playoffs are the expectation. But there's a huge gap between complete dumpster fire and legit contender. We should be in the middle of that with the possibility to push further based on potential trades to improve the roster. Let the season begin before you already start writing them off

Contender next year. There’s no reason that couldn’t have been the case. But not moving off the amigos and bringing in another real pro or two this year makes that impossible. We’re not much different from where we were 8 months ago, and still have several minus players to get off of. That sets the timeline back, which the FO accepted because of Harper (I guess?).

 

[poopbox]

Hollinger has some really weird takes. No wonder he never got a job in the league after the Grizzlies.