One of the benefits of how the Spurs handle their rookies’ first steps in the league is that they shield them from pressure. Just like Devin Vassell the year before, lottery pick Josh Primo didn’t face serious expectations to be a reliable contributor right away, which turned out to be a good thing since he clearly wasn’t ready for that responsibility.
Primo showed plenty of flashes of intriguing potential, especially when he got a chance to get consistent minutes later in the season, but an understandable lack of consistency (he was the youngest player in the league, after all) plagued him throughout.