I have zero clue what’s going on behind the scenes, but it seems to me that Pops knows that starting Sochan at PG is not a formula for winning basketball for now. If we were trying to win this year and develop Sochan at PG at the same time, Sochan would be coming off the bench to ease him into this new role. With Sochan starting, we are almost guaranteed to have more losses, which helps us land a higher draft pick.

So now the Spurs have more flexibility in next year’s draft: if Sochan develops into a serviceable starting point guard, they can go BPA. If it doesn’t work out with Sochan, he’ll go back to his regular role as a wing player but he will have gained to some experience that will help him with his court vision and playmaking skills, plus the Spurs will have a chance to land a good PG like Collier or Topic.

After next year’s draft, the Hawks picks will start to kick in and Spurs won’t be as dependent on their own record to land good picks, plus they will have added more complimentary help for Wemby, and a smarter Sochan. So for now, we just have bear the losses and watch this team’s young core grow together and improve. It worked out for OKC, it will work out for us too.