In addition to three players drafted in the first round in June (Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley), the Spurs recorded the arrival of two other very young elements in their workforce this offseason. They are Dominick Barlow and Jordan Hall, who signed “two-way contracts”.
The first is only 19 years old. Youngest player in the Texas franchise this year, out of the “Overtime Elite” program and showed up in preseason with an average of 6 points at 83% shooting success in 7 minutes per game.
“He looks very good, especially considering his age,” says Jakob Poeltl. “He has a cool head, he does his job when he has opportunities. I like his calm, I did not expect that. He took open shots with confidence. It’s impressive. He is very talented, very athletic. If he develops properly, he can become very good. »
Despite such performances and although the Spurs are rebuilding with a very young group, his immediate future is not on the NBA floors, confirmed Gregg Popovich.
“It is only at its beginnings. He’s going to spend time in the G-League and play a lot of minutes there.”announces the coach at the San Antonio Express News. “If he stayed with us, he wouldn’t really play, which doesn’t help his development. We have had players who have progressed in the G-League over the years and this will undoubtedly be the path he will follow. »
“We are all in the same boat, we are going through the same thing”
The five-time champion coach could hold exactly the same speech for the second, Jordan Hall (20), who was in great difficulty during the preseason with only two small points scored in total, and no award-winning basket scored despite five attempts.
Dominick Barlow and Jordan Hall are not yet ready to fully face the professional world. “I can’t wait to go play with Austin, take the temperature, play,” says the winger. Last season, Joshua Primo, who was not yet 19 when he arrived in Texas, had also made a move to the G-League, with the Austin Spurs, in addition to his 50 games played in the NBA.
They need to rack up the minutes in the league’s antechamber to gain experience as they won’t have many veterans to help them on a daily basis. This season, in San Antonio, only four players have more than five seasons in their legs and the majority of the workforce is under 25 years old. A real bottle class.
“It really is a unique situation,” notes Dominick Barlow. “A lot of rookies arrive in teams that have veterans, who can be listened to. We are all very young. We are all in the same boat, we are going through the same thing. We are not at different stages of our careers and our lives, but in the same phases. »
