More than one thing can be true about the Spurs’ Point Sochan experiment

Zachary BonDurant-USA TODAY Sports

A list of points, facts, and assumptions, presented with minimal commentary.

The geographic center of the Spurs’ culture war right now is Gregg Popovich’s decision to install Jeremy Sochan as the team’s nominal point guard. The coach has already bristled at questions about it, and fans both online and (presumably) offline have strong feelings around whether that configuration is best for the team’s early success, the development of Victor Wembanyama, or both.

Because emotions run hot on this discussion, below is a list of notes that all relate to what we’ve seen or heard so far. Some lean in favor of one side; some lean the other; hopefully they can collectively show a bigger picture and cut through what is a nebulous and hilariously incendiary topic.

The Spurs offense has been vastly better with Tre Jones on the floor.
The Spurs offense has been at its worst with Jeremy Sochan on the floor.
Tre Jones has assisted Victor Wembanyama more than any other Spur.
Sochan and Wembanyama have shared the floor for 60 total minutes through 4 games.
Jones and Wembanyama have shared the floor for 53 total minutes.
There is no guarantee swapping Jones (team-best plus/minus) and Sochan (worst plus/minus among rotation players) will be a net positive.
The league has seen a re-emphasis on size, across all positions.
The Spurs probably like starting big, for a few reasons: Playing big allows the Spurs to switch 1 through Wemby on defense and limit the amount of mismatches created when teams push the pace off rebounds and/or turnovers. It can also limit the amount of drop coverage exposure Wemby would face against bigger rim rollers
Starting Tre Jones would mean they probably can’t do that.
The NBA has become increasingly “positionless”.
What is a point guard, anyway?
What are words?
You still need lineups with sufficient organization and play/advantage creation, which the team is, at least in the short term, punting on with the Sochan-Jones trade-off.
Theoretically, a more realized Wembanyama and Devin Vassell could serve as those offensive anchors, limiting the need for it from the nominal point guard position.
Tre Jones is, for all his strengths, still a below-average three-point shooter.
Tre Jones is young enough (23 years old) to still improve from three, like his older brother did in recent seasons.
Tre Jones is 6’1”, which probably won’t change.
Year One Victor Wembanyama has and will likely continue to have a high assisted field goal rate (depend on others table-setting).
With more minutes, Tre Jones can absolutely set him up for more buckets.
Jeremy Sochan cannot be expected to do as much of that.
If Tre Jones was viewed as the team’s long-term starter, there would probably be no Point Sochan experiment right now.
If Tre Jones as a starting point guard isn’t part of your long-term future around Wembanyama, the next best thing may be seeing what could be and working your way towards it.
Tre Jones will probably still finish plenty of games this season.
Jeremy Sochan is young (20 years old).
Victor Wembanyama is young (19 years old).
The season is young, too (4 games).
That does not mean this will work
There are worse things than being bad for one more season.