The painfully obvious solution to the Spurs point guard woes

As we near the midway point of the regular season, the San Antonio Spurs are still mulling over their options at point guard. Coach Gregg Popovich surprised many when he decided to bench last season's starter, Tre Jones, to start this season in favor of experimenting with starting Jeremy Sochan.

The hope was that Sochan would thrive in that role, or at least develop ball skills that would be useful. It wasn't a complete failure, but the Spurs struggled without a traditional playmaker, and Pop ended the experiment, only to begin another by starting Malaki Branham. That wasn't any more successful, so after 30+ games, he finally went back to Jones.

The Spurs are playing better under Jones but he still has a lot to prove

There are two ways to interpret Pop's seeming reluctance to start Jones. The first is that he trusts Jones, but he wanted to give Sochan a chance to learn valuable skills. The other is that he thinks Jones is serviceable but not the answer at point guard long-term.

summer,The answer is probably later, reinforced by the team's decision to only give Jones a two-year deal last summer when they tend to try to lock young players up for longer. The Spurs have also reportedly reached out to the Atlanta Hawks about re-acquiring Dejounte Murray and have even been linked to Trae Young. That suggests that they are actively looking for upgrades at point guard.

San Antonio should aggressively pursue both since it's clear that they don't think of Jones as a full-time starter. Even if they don't land either player, odds are that they will look to both free agency and the NBA Draft for long-term solutions at the position.

Ultimately, Jones has helped the Spurs play much better of late. That being said, judging by Popovich's and the front office's actions, they are actively looking for an upgrade.