There is only about a month till the San Antonio Spurs’ awful season ends. They will want to get this year behind them as soon as possible. They say that God delivers his greatest fights to his best warriors, which is fine, but the Silver and Black must be exhausted.
While the off-season will provide relief for everyone, just one person will benefit: Jeremy Sochan. Next year marks the end of his rookie contract, so fans can expect the front office to go ahead of the market by paying him early and securing the Polish Prince long-term.
Sochan’s contract extension should pay him $20 to 23 million each year.
It’s tough to say what the exact numbers would be, but this is the range I’d expect from the former Baylor Bear. It’s higher than Keldon Johnson, but lower than Devin Vassell. That number would place him above Jusuf Nurkic but below DeMar DeRozan. This is the Dillon Brooks-Aaron Gordon range.
Sochan is San Antonio’s top perimeter defender. He competes in all of the important wing matchups and performs admirably. Some of the NBA’s finest players have battled with Jeremy as their primary defender, and the Spurs require someone like that.
Of course, he’ll need to continue to work on his offensive game, but his shot is coming around in a huge manner. The Oklahoma-born hooper shot 26.5% from three over his first 20 games of the season, but in his past 20 games, that total has jumped to 39.1%. He only takes 1.2 shots each game, but he makes them. His hot streak has brought his season percentage up to 33.3%.
Sochan shot 24.8% from deep during his rookie season and 30.8% last year. His point average per game has not improved, but his efficiency has. This kid has completed all of the tasks assigned to him. They’ve played him out of position more than any other player on the roster. The coaches first requested Jeremy to play point guard, and this season they asked him to play center.
They can’t give him $20 million fast enough, and he deserves every penny. He defends his teammates, defends at a high level, and works tirelessly to improve his game while serving as the team’s Swiss army knife, adapting to any task.
He started and came off the bench. He receives a lot of touches in some games, but hardly in others. But Sochan is a lunch-pale person. He doesn’t complain. He simply works hard and does whatever his team needs to succeed. When he modified his free throw form to one-handed, everyone should have realized what kind of player the Spurs possessed.
Leave a Reply