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He's quite a bit older but in this draft a team could take him late lottery. I'm guessing around early 20s.
Also, Cody Williams with a bit of a stinker today. Oh-fer shooting, etc. Not a big deal for a freshman.
Dalton Knecht looks pretty good (as in doing it all).
Don't know if he's lottery or not but he damn sure moves the needle.
He's quite a bit older but in this draft a team could take him late lottery. I'm guessing around early 20s.
Also, Cody Williams with a bit of a stinker today. Oh-fer shooting, etc. Not a big deal for a freshman.
Hypothetical:
Who do you take at #4 if:
1) Sarr, Topic, Rasicher are gone, and
2) there is no TOR pick?
Cody williams no question.
I alluded to this in another post, but as much as I like Sochan and think he has Scottie Barnes-lite upside, he's ultimately a little small to be a true 4. You don't want to give up positional size at both the 3 and 4 positions, so ideally you get someone who's 6'8" or over to play with him. Cody williams is 6'8" with a 7'2" wingspan and has the frame to fill out just like his brother. He's super raw but from the clips I've seen of him, he actually has the length, potential for strength, and the defensive savvy to serve as a POA defender allowing Sochan to better utilize his glue guy skills. His 3 ball needs work and his shooting signal is mediocre, but I'm willing to bank on his youth and work ethic. I saw somewhere that it's way easier to marginally improve a bunch of ok-ish skills than it is to completely overhaul something that's completely broken and I strongly agree with that. Cody williams is actually ok to decent (not good to great) at a ton of stuff including his handle, defense, shooting, and passing and I'd be willing to bet on his development on the margins. Additionally, trey jones has shown himself to be an actual serviceable starting point guard (did not expect his defensive EPM to be 0 at this point in the season) and so wing is probably a more pressing lead than lead guard unless you have the rare chance at getting a true big initiator which I'm not completely convinced Topic is.
Dillingham. Easily.
I would probably go with Cody as he has Good upside plus I think the way he plays would go very well with Wemby. We are a terrible defensive team and and also bad at rebounding so I don’t know what a 6’1 PG will help us with those two things.
I’m leaning this way too. I think picking a PG here is a wasted pick.
I like Dilly a lot and he's awesome to watch. I think he'll be good, but the risk profile is too high for me to take a swing on him that early. If he ends up being 6'1" barefoot with like a 6'3" wingspan, that's a huge physical disadvantage to overcome defensively. Not impossible, but just more difficult to become an average defender. If he's more like a 6'7"-6'8" wingspan I'd have a much easier time drafting him early. Williams has pretty good skill for a freshman wing on top of a great frame and physical profile, so his margin of error for success in the NBA is just higher.
The other consideration in this though is that the 2025 draft has pretty much all wings and bigs in the early top 15 and no point guards. Then again, if you're trying to trade for a disgruntled all star guard trying to ask out in 2025, a lot of teams would probably rather receive a young up and coming wing with potential than a small guard as one of the "young players" of that trade just because they're probably lower friction and easier to build around.
Dilly is just too small IMO (based on what we read anyway). The league is moving away from those guys.
Like last year if we missed on Wemby/Scoot, I'd advocate trading down in the draft. I just don't see cost/benefit at that point. I don't see it at #1 either, to be honest, but see Risacher right now as worth a 2-4 pick. I think you can get Dillingham a bit later, or anyone else you like.
Still don't get people saying Cody Williams. Have you seen him play? He's late lottery right now at best. That ain't bad, but it's not the player you think he is.
The league is full of 6'1" guys - or guys who claim to be "6'3"" but really aren't, like Donovan Mitc or Jalen Bruson or De'Aaron Fox. If any era lets those players thrive, it's this one. The question is how far they can take you.
I'm skeptical of Williams, another limited shooter, who lacks strength, explosive athleticism and a consensus strength(s).
I realize the natural pick is projected too high for him at this point, but I want Sheppard because unlike most of these flawed, raw wings who people fetishize every year, he's one of the few players I feel confident will positively impact winning.
I’ve seen Filipowski in person and I don’t really see Poeltl (or even Zach Collins) in him. He’s not as good a rebounder or interior defender as Poeltl (or even Collins). But he’s much better on the perimeter, can put the ball on the floor, create his own shot, and shoot from distance. I see him more as a poor man’s Dirk Nowitzki.
In the good chance the Toronto pick doesn't convey, I'm thinking about the 2nd round picks, currently 33 and 43. Previously, I'd thought they'd be moved. Now... I still think so. There's a high possibility of the team only taking one pick. Maybe. I don't have a great grasp on late first rounders into the second rounders. I felt like I had a better grasp last year. Honestly feel like last year was deeper.
Problem the Spurs are facing is whether they can upgrade over existing talent or not. And I don't mean any pisswater child "we gatta cut Branham now wwaaa waaa" baby . I mean real world "Will taking a semi-marginal player in the second round supplant what's already happening with, say, Dom Barlow?" I like Julian Champagnie, but we clearly need a starting SF. Roster spots will become scarce.
I just feel like this team needs starters or, at the least, strong bench contributors, and in the second you get those by sheer miracle or you try to get an older player who may not need extensive on-boarding.
OR, and I know this comes up every year and never happens, trading into the late 1st round. This is a chance to do it, with that 33 pick pretty enticing, packaged with a wad of other seconds throughout the years? Possibly? A guy like Dalton Knecht may be gone by then but would be attractive, or a Tyler Kopek.
tl;dr: If the Spurs miss out on the Toronto pick, they may opt to use one of the seconds, and it may not be one of those long-term Noah Clowney types and more like trying to spear one of those Jaime Jacquez or Podziemski types, although they were selected late teens.
After Watching More Film Of Several Forwards In The Draft, Buzelis Is the Most Skilled One And It’s Not Even Close. IMO, He Has To Be The Spurs Pick.
Draft Buzelis And Dunn
Jones/ Wesley
Vassell/ Julian
Buzelis/ Keldon/ Cissoko
Sochan/ Dunn
Wemby/ Barlow
If They Trade For Murray
Murray/ Wesley
Vassell/ Branham
Buzelis/ Cissoko
Sochan/ Dunn
Wemby/ Barlow
Much Better Offensive Versatility And Defense Tbh
That’s exactly right: how far will they take you? They get hunted mercilessly in the playoffs. Brunson, with his linebacker build, might have a chance. The compe ive advantage that Tont Parker had two decades ago, his speed, has been erased by better talent levels accesos the league.
^ I do think the scenario I posed about picking outside the “Top 3” and no TOR pick is looking increasingly likely.
Probably not the end of the world honestly:
— TOR will likely be a play-in level team next year, so looking at a late lotto pick in 25, which probably isn’t that big a drop from say 7th this draft. That’s likely 3 lotto picks in the juicier 2025 draft.
— SAS picking 4-6 still means they get someone like Cody, Matas, or the 2nd best PG prospect.
— forces the Spurs hand to do something via trade this summer
The idea that the league is more talented is nonsense. It's specialized, that's all. Every team plays exactly the same way.
And GSW won with a tiny guard.
Isn't he way better than his brother at the same age? I'd be fine spending even the #1 pick on a better Jalen Williams.
Why? Our odds are what they’ve been all along.
Oh, and the last time Toronto jumped out of the lottery, they went all the way to the 6/seed in the East, bypassing the play in altogether. That pick was #20, traded to us for Thad Young, becoming Malaki. Better that we collect it this year.
LOL let's draft Jeryl Sasser ahead of Tony Parker
I mean we can’t control the TOR situation, I’m just saying it’s not some terrible outcome if the pick is deferred one year. The East has also improved considerably in that 5-8 range since they last made the playoffs: Indy, Orlando, Knicks, Cleveland are all better than them right now. Say nothing that, Allstar FVV, Siakam, and a young OG are out the door.
It’s both. You can’t tell me that when you look back at NBA rosters in the 2000s, that, even holding constant for style of play (an overrated go to of the old head players), that 60% of players on rosters then wouldn’t even be a 12th man on a roster today. That’s silly.
I’m not saying that. I’m saying Tony had elite speed and that was disruptive in the 2000s, and it took teams time to catchup. But they’ve long caught up by now.
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