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Spurs Season-In-Review: Romeo Langford Focused on 'Being Consistent' in San Antonio
Adding a strong offensive talent was a big to-do last season for the San Antonio Spurs.
At the trade deadline, they got that in Josh Richardson, who provided solid 3-point shooting for the young team. But in addition to the offense, the Spurs also added a presence on defense.
Former Boston Celtics shooting guard Romeo Langford made his debut for the Spurs in March 2022, and despite playing just four games, he made clear what he could bring to the team — which only continued in 2023.
Langford averaged 6.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 points in 43 games this season, but it was both his perimeter and interior defense that told the story of his year.
On offense, Langford's best performance came in the form of a 23-point, near-70 percent shooting night against the New York Knicks. While that level of production was not a regular thing for the guard, he's made it a goal to make that the case.
"[The next step for me] is just being consistent," Langford said. "When I'm out there and healthy, and when I get to play a consistent role, I'm productive. That's the main thing. I like being on the court because when you're not on the court, you can't show what you can do."
In his best games, Langford showed flashes of the high ceiling that landed him a spot on the Spurs, but it was also his off-court leadership that made him a solid addition for San Antonio.
Even with only a few NBA seasons under his belt, his time playing in Boston with some of the league's top talent gave him plenty of experience to pass on to his younger teammates on the Spurs, which helped them compete with teams like the Celtics despite a significantly smaller amount of star power.
"It just shows that we are capable of playing at [this] level," Langford said after the Spurs' Jan. 7 loss to the Boston Celtics. "We're [young], and look what we did. We just came from a back-to-back and took one of the best teams in the league down to the wire."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich liked what he saw from his players that game, and for the rest of the season, especially in a year where player development was at the top of his team's to-do list.
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys," Popovich said. "Lots of great contributions from everybody. Over time, we'll get everybody back, but these guys should be really proud of what they did."
Entering the offseason, getting players back will be a to-do for Popovich and the Spurs, who could potentially be building around an all-time prospect in French center Victor Wembanyama.
Langford, who is set to be a restricted free agent, will be integral to that.
He showed his ability to improve, bought into Popovich's mindset, and played the best basketball of his career, with only room to grow next season for the Spurs.
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