3 Ripple effects of Josh Primo's stunning exit from Spurs

Ripple Effect #1: Loss of a valuable asset in a rebuild

From a purely on-the-court perspective, the biggest ripple effect of releasing Primo is the team wasting a lottery pick. Those things come in handy, especially during a rebuild, and having to release a player taken 12th overall just a year ago is like getting kicked in the teeth while wearing braces. In retrospect, the Spurs shouldn't have reached for Primo, which is actually probably something that most fans felt during the draft night back in 2021.

Despite that, we all trusted the Spurs' ability to identify talent and develop players when they should've just gone with the best player available. Alperin Sengun was viewed as the better prospect, but fans hoped that Primo's age, work ethic, and skillset would allow him to quickly surpass him. That's obviously not the case now, especially with Sengun averaging 15.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks through six games for the Rockets in his second season.

Perhaps, going forward, the Spurs might play it safer with who they draft, and maybe they already have by selecting Sochan ninth overall in the 2022 NBA draft. Additionally, by keeping all of their picks in this year's draft, they, ironically, helped soften the blow of losing Primo, but it's still a major setback for the team.

Ultimately, the Spurs have no choice but to move on and deal with the ripple effects as they come. Fortunately, the team is off to a strong start, with several of their young players stepping up, leading to increased optimism about the Spurs' future.