Jeremy Sochan’s disappointing fate represents rare Spurs blunder

Jeremy Sochan’s time in San Antonio is officially over. While the Spurs buying him out now is a bit of a surprise, an eventual breakup felt inevitable.

The young forward will surely draw interest from other teams on the open market, making this far from a death sentence for his career, even though we’ve seen many a high draft pick fizzle out after their first contract. He still has potential and could break out in a new spot.

However, Sochan’s release does cement an opinion some Spurs fans may have already had: the team’s 2022 draft class was a tremendous failure.

San Antonio struck out in three pitches in the 2022 draft

The Spurs have an outstanding draft track record, making it crazy to say that they went 0-3 with their 2022 class, but it's true. The Silver and Black had three first-round picks that year, selecting Sochan ninth overall, Malaki Branham 20th, and Blake Wesley 25th.

Branham and Wesley were traded in the offseason for Kelly Olynyk, making Sochan the last domino to fall. All three guys no longer being on the team is enough to call the class a disappointment on its own. But the unfortunate reality is that at the end of the day, none of the trio made a significant impact for the Spurs.

Sochan came the closest to being a real contributor. He was far from a non-factor, averaging north of 11 points in his first three seasons while starting a good chunk of his games played. He had his down moments (the 2023-24 point guard experiment), but he had plenty of positive stretches too. His defensive versatility, competitiveness on the glass, and smart passing were valuable at times.

However, it’s very telling that the year the Spurs began seriously competing is the year Sochan fell out of favor. When San Antonio was rebuilding and not playing for anything, it was fine to just throw him on the floor and let him play in the name of development.

He’s a flawed player, though, especially because of his poor jump shooting, and high-stakes basketball in the NBA is all about exposing weaknesses. Sochan got left behind because he couldn't keep up.

The Spurs would probably draft differently if they could go back

Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley, on the other hand, were complete whiffs. Branham had a solid rookie year but didn’t do much to write home about after that. To this day, most of his NBA career highs were set in his freshman campaign. The Ohio State product is currently a free agent after being cut by Charlotte.

Wesley never gained real traction in San Antonio. He’s on the upswing with Portland this season and could still do well for himself long-term, but that doesn’t change the fact that he brought little value to the team that drafted him.

Ultimately, while Sochan, Branham, and Wesley are just 22 years old with unfinished business in this league, it’s safe to say they were a major letdown from the Spurs' perspective. The organization is doing more than well for itself despite that, and making mistakes is part of scouting, but San Antonio undoubtedly wishes they could have another crack at the 2022 draft.