San Antonio Spurs fan favorite Jeremy Sochan's future with the team is very much up in the air. While he is just 22 years old and entering his fourth season with the Spurs, time may be running out for him to emerge as a key part of the team's young core.
Shooting, shooting, and (checks notes) shooting will be the name of the game for Sochan next season. [He is already a talented defender](https://airalamo.com/supremely-awesome-jeremy-sochan-stat-spurs-fans-beam-pride) who also made strides as a rebounder and made a massive leap as a finisher around the rim.
Those skills will make him an NBA player for years to come, but whether he can punish teams from outside is what could get him paid.
Although Sochan and the Spurs have yet to agree to a contract extension, there is a chance that one could get done prior to the rookie extension deadline. History suggests that the Spurs will extend him, with them previously doing so with several recent former first-round picks.
Will the San Antonio Spurs extend Jeremy Sochan?
------------------------------------------------
Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Keldon Johnson, and Devin Vassell all received extensions, though several other recent former Spurs picks didn't. It's anyone's guess what a potential extension could look like. I previously predicted the Spurs would give a 5-year, $120 million-ish deal to Vassell, which ultimately happened.
Putting on my fortune teller hat, five years would be too much of a risk for Sochan. After all, if he doesn't develop further, then they'd have him on their books for the next six years. Yikes. Instead, a four-year deal is a reasonable length, worth around $70 million and up to $75 million with incentives mostly tied to shooting.
That would pay him around $17.5 million on average on the low end and $18.25 if he were to hit every incentive. At the moment, he certainly isn't worth that amount, but it wouldn't be a disastrous deal if he doesn't get much better.
The Spurs must tread carefully with Jeremy Sochan
-------------------------------------------------
At worst, he could be a third big man who can play alongside Victor Wembanyama or Luke Kornet, depending on who's playing alongsidethem.
With Sochan as a rotation player, shooting may continue to be a problem for San Antonio, but that could be alleviated by Wembanyama continuing to improve as a high-volume 3-point shooter. Also, one of Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper would need to make a meaningful improvement as a shooter to help make Sochan fit if he himself never evolves into one.
In that scenario, long-term the ideal lineup would be Castle, Harper, Carter Bryant, Sochan, and Wembanyama. If Sochan can make a big jump and become, say, a 35% shooter on four 3-point attempts per game, then San Antonio could soon change up their starting lineup.
De'Aaron Fox, Harper, Castle, Sochan, and Wembanyama could have enough shooting to work with plenty of playmaking and two superstars to carry the offense.
Jeremy Sochan shouldn't be untouchable in trade talks
-----------------------------------------------------
Or, the Spurs could zag when we think they'll zig by not extending him and looking to trade him. That would be more surprising, but perhaps not as much as it should be. San Antonio has a laughable amount of non-shooters, with five, count 'em, five non-shooters in their rotation.
Harper could be a respectable spot-up 3-point shooter like he was at Rutgers, and Castle is at least a high-volume shooter who could hopefully inch closer to 35%. Coach Mitch Johnson could also minimize Keldon Johnson's role in favor of more Julian Champagnie.
All of that would help, but if two of those three things don't happen, then that's a problem without an obvious solution. Castle and Harper are infinity stones in the gauntlet, and Kornet is valuable at a position of weakness, leaving Sochan in a weird spot.
His ceiling is a high-level rotation player on a great team; his floor is a good third big man. That's not normally a player that's untouchable in trade talks. Let's hope he gets extended and is the former; otherwise, he could be on the trade block if things don't go well next season.