Spurs Film Room: Deeper Look at Joshua Primo's NBA Summer League Opener

Joshua Primo finished with 20 points and five assists in his NBA Summer League opener. What did he show in particular in his performance?

LAS VEGAS — The San Antonio Spurs opened the 2022 NBA Summer League with a 99-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The clear focus of the offense was recent lottery pick Joshua Primo and the two available first-round picks from this year's draft: Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham.

Primo finished with 20 points and five assists with an output of 1.25 points per possession. He was among the more efficient performers in the whole NBA Summer League in the early going of the event. It's important to look beneath the surface in an event of this nature to find what will translate to regular NBA basketball. 

Here are some key observations from Primo's 2022 NBA Summer League debut:

Primo Thrived Attacking Off the Catch

Primo made the bulk of his scoring impact as a spot-up threat and for any perimeter player, seeing success in that area is always a positive. He knocked down multiple catch-and-shoot 3s and attacked the gap to get to a floater on another. Of his 16 scoring possessions, half occurred in this area. 

Again, these aren't flashy plays, but there's value in being a consistent, stable contributor. As the Spurs continue to build their roster, it is vital to have players capable of spacing the floor and making the defense pay for loading up on drives, pre-rotating in help, and tagging. 

The most dynamic of Primo's spot-up possession was arguably the best play of his performance overall. With the shot clock winding and his teammate, he decided to shake up to the wing to make himself available as a relief option to take the 'time bomb' shot. He went to work getting to his step-back and knocked it down. 

Want to See More Risk-Taking, Growth as Initiator

Seeing Primo be more aggressive earlier in the game would be ideal, given he's the "veteran" of this Summer Spurs squad. His development as a recent lottery pick is of paramount importance for the organization, and with that comes the expectation of some degree of dynamic potential. 

In a game meant for player development, Primo didn't record a single isolation possession, wasn't involved in meaningful off-ball actions, and didn't record any handoffs. He succeeded in areas he should already be comfortable with, like spot-up, but he was inefficient running the few ball screens he had. 

For a player who is receiving consideration to play point guard, this is a critical area that requires consistent execution. During the six ball screen possessions, he shot 1-3 from the floor (33.3 percent), drew a shooting foul on a pull-up, and turned it over twice against double-teams. The results were a bit shaky and resulted in an output of 0.667 points per possession, which leaves a lot to be desired.

Primo gets the switch out of the ball screen on the possession below but decides to give it up to the rim roller into a crowd. That's a situation he needs to attack in isolation and display any potential progression he's made since the start of the offseason. He gets it back late in the clock and turns it over. 

Throwing an inaccurate pass toward the weak-side block when a double-team was beginning to apply pressure was another display of Primo's need to develop as an initiator. Not getting the ball to the open man on the weak-side wing earlier in the play sharply reduced the chance of a positive outcome. 

In neutral ball screen situations, Primo still looked uncomfortable getting aggressive to make a play. During the possession below, he attacks the switch going left and attempts to finish off one foot with his right hand despite there being help in the paint. The outlook to make a positive play was as low as it gets. 

Doing a better job of protecting the basketball when dribbling off the ball screen and playing with pace could have resulted in a far more advantageous outcome. On another single-coverage ball coverage play from Primo, the on-ball defender reached in from behind to poke the ball loose, and he lost control. He ended up taking a contested pull-up jumper. 

To Primo's credit, he did get aggressive by hunting a pull-up 3-pointer against a switch as the game was nearing its end. Getting aggressive and attacking with a purpose as he did in this play is a prime display of what he would do himself favors by showing to be capable of doing on a more consistent basis.  

Primo Displayed Some Playmaking

Primo displayed some playmaking in basic read and react situations, except for the assist from passing to a wide-open Malaki Branham with a pin-in screen to seal off a contest. He capitalized by drawing the defense when there were opportunities to hit an open shooter on the perimeter.

In transition, Primo quickly identified an opportunity to make a pass to the big, who made himself available as a relief option behind the defense. An underrated aspect of this play was a defender already being in a position to engage him or take a charge on the catch. Instead of getting rattled, he was poised and made the right play. 

To be clear, there is a lot more to being the 'head of the snake' than driving into a soft spot of the defense within the flow of the game and making a simple passing read. In a regular NBA environment, he'd need to make far more advanced reads and show he can do things like manipulating the low-man, make live dribble passes, and use pace to his advantage to force the big defender and team defense to make commitments or recoveries, and much more. 

Primo the "Ghost" Screener

The Summer Spurs did do something creative with Primo that stood out. He was deployed as a ghost screener with Blake Wesley initiating the possession. While he did score, there was potential for him to stay behind the 3-point line for a jumper as opposed to dribbling into a tougher, more contested shot. 

When Does Primo Play Next?

The Summer Spurs return to action on Sunday in a matchup against the Golden State Warriors (6:30 p.m. CT) on NBA TV. 

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You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.

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