Spurs’ 2022 draft mistakes look massive as players they passed on break out

The San Antonio Spurs are rising up the ranks of the NBA, with Victor Wembanyama one of the league's five-best players and a strong mix of young players and reliable veterans. But even as they take a massive step forward, the specter of past mistakes is clinging to them. How much better would they be if they hadn't completely blown the 2022 NBA Draft?

Sugar coat things all you like, but before the Spurs were nailing top-five picks like star students, they had three first-round picks in the 2022 draft: Nos. 9, 20 and 25. They may not have had a chance at Chet Holmgren or Paolo Banchero, but they were in prime position to draft multiple players who could be a part of their long-term core.

Instead, the Spurs blew it, taking players at each pick who have failed to develop into the players the Spurs envisioned when they made the selections. No. 20 pick Malaki Branham is a fringe rotation player on the league's worst team in Washington, and No. 25 pick Blake Wesley failed to develop entirely in San Antonion and has played in just seven games this season as he fights for his NBA life. The Spurs dumped both this past summer as essentially dead salary.

The more egregious miss came at No. 9, of course, where expectations were much higher. The Spurs drafted Jeremy Sochan, an NBA Draft blogger favorite whose defensive floor and playmaking upside formed an intriguing combination. Despite playing him at every position from point guard to smallball center, Sochan has failed to develop as an offensive player. He is one the outer edge of the rotation in his fourth year, averaging just 4.2 points per game in a microscopic role.

The Spurs are haunted by what could have been

It would be one thing to swing and miss on the picks, but at each selection there was a much better option available. That became evident almost immediately as this class began to declare itself across their first couple of seasons in the league. What is making things worse, however, if that members of the class are now breaking out in their fourth seasons -- but not the players the Spurs chose. Knife, twisted.

For Sochan, the Spurs have known since his rookie season that Jalen Williams would have been a better pick. The 12th pick in the draft, Williams erupted into a top-notch scoring threat while also bringing All-Defense level impact on the other end. He was the second-best player on a title team just last year.

This season, however, the shame has gotten worse. Jalen Duren, the 13th pick, has blossomed into an All-Star in the middle for the Detroit Pistons. How much more potent would the Spurs' twin towers approach be with Duren and Wembanyama on the court together?

Or look down I-10 at the Houston Rockets, who took Tari Eason with the 17th pick. He has become a version of what the Spurs hoped they were getting with Jeremy Sochan, a defensive do-it-all swiss army knife woh can space the floor reliably enough and be a menace in transition. He would be a fantastic change-of-pace from Harrison Barnes and would be lethal running with De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle on the fast break.

It doesn't get better later in the draft, either. The Spurs took Malaki Branham one pick ahead of Christian Braun, who signed a lucrative contract extension prior to the season and has become an ideal 3-and-D partner for Nikola Jokic in Denver; Wemby would love to have him filling the lanes and defending opposing guards in San Antonio. One pick later the Jazz took Walker Kessler, another solid starter the Spurs would love to have.

It's perhaps the worst of all when you come to Blake Wesley at pick No. 25. The chances of drafting a starter with that pick are low, and yet the Spurs had a plethora of options available to them and missed them all. Andrew Nembhard has already broken out and started in the NBA Finals last year for the Indiana Pacers; he would be an ideal complement to Fox in the backcourt.

This year things have only gotten worse. Peyton Watson is breaking out for the Nuggets, an elite defender who is showing real on-ball creation juice. And while most rangy defenders struggle to shoot (hello Castle and Sochan!) Watson is draining 42.8 percent of his 3-pointers this season as a 6'8" forward. He is in line for a massive contract this summer.

No team nails every draft pick, and the Spurs have certainly done a great job over the last few years not blowing their selections (you can quibble with Kon Knueppel over Dylan Harper, but both look like future stars). How much better would they be with the likes of Jalen Williams, Christian Braun and Peyton Watson on the roster? Or even one of them? The contrast is jarring.

The Spurs are great. Their future is bright. But the 2022 NBA Draft is a mistake they would like to move on from. Whether they trade Sochan at the deadline or let him walk in free agency, they soon will do just that.