The San Antonio Spurs have released 22-year-old forward Jeremy Sochan, making him an unrestricted free agent able to sign with any other NBA franchise with room for him. Shams Charania of ESPN reported
the news this afternoon, indicating that Sochan will have multiple suitors for his services.
Sochan was playing only 12.8 minutes per game for the Spurs this season, having appeared in 28 outings. That’s about half of his expected norm based on prior seasons. He averaged 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds, shooting 47.5% from the floor and 25.7% from the three-point arc.
Known for his rangy defense and once-promising all-round ability—and more recently for his trendy hair—the 6’8 power forward made the NBA All-Rookie team in 2023 after San Antonio selected him 9th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. Since Sochan is currently in his fourth NBA season, the Spurs would have had the chance to make him a restricted free agent at the end of the season with an appropriate qualifying offer. He had been rumored available at the recently-expired 2026 NBA Trade Deadline but evidently the franchise was not able to find an acceptable deal for him.
It’s possible that more will come out about this story from one side or the other. For now it appears that if you get (oops, sorry, Spurs fans…I meant “earn”) enough high lottery picks, you can afford to toss away young players that other teams would covet like Paris Hilton recycling a slightly-used designer bag. So far we have not been able to confirm the rumored quote from a source inside the Spurs organization saying, “Championship? If other teams want one, why don’t they just go get one? Geez.” Nor the accompanying quote, “Cutting 22-year-old, four-position defenders? That’s hot!”
We’ll update this story if more information is released.
