The Portland Trail Blazers keep circling back to San Antonio.
After meeting the Spurs in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, Portland has quietly become a landing spot for former Spurs. Drew Eubanks, Blake Wesley and Sidy Sissoko have all made their way to the Blazers in recent years, and former Spur Tiago Splitter coached Portland in its postseason series against San Antonio.
Now Jeremy Sochan is the latest name to cross over. Sochan signed a training camp deal with Portland, adding another layer to a connection that has started to stand out.
Maybe it’s coincidence. Maybe it isn’t. Either way, the Blazers are clearly chasing a certain kind of roster, and the clearest thread running through these moves is defense.
Sochan on the minimum could end up looking like a smart grab if Portland can surround him with enough offense to make the fit work. San Antonio couldn’t make that formula click, but in the right situation - perhaps with the Blazers - he could find a better lane.
There’s also another striking parallel between the two teams: both are loaded with point guard talent.
The Spurs’ backcourt includes De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. Portland’s guard room is just as crowded, with Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Ja Morant, and Scoot Henderson.
That kind of depth gives both teams flexibility. It also means they can keep multiple creators on the floor and shuffle lineups without losing much in the way of ball-handling or playmaking.
Lillard and Morant bring the scoring punch. Henderson and Holiday offer a stronger defensive edge while still contributing on offense.
The biggest difference is obvious: Portland doesn’t have a Victor Wembanyama-type centerpiece in the middle. Instead, the Blazers are leaning on forward Deni Avdija.
It’s not a perfect one-to-one comparison, but the overlap is hard to miss. Portland has been collecting former Spurs, and in the process, it has started to resemble San Antonio in one important way: a roster built around multiple starting-caliber point guards.
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For the Spurs, the move fits neatly into a roster picture that still has room to keep adding talent without forcing any other decision. Peter will join the offseason group as San Antonio continues sorting through its young depth, and the camp invite gives him a shot to carve out a role after an early bounce from the Pacers. [Read more 🡒]
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For San Antonio, the move adds another name to a competition that already has some pressure attached to it, with the club carrying 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals. Peter is set to be in camp, giving the Spurs one more look at a guard who has already shown he can stick around an NBA system and now has a chance to make his case in a crowded setting. [Read more 🡒]