Donovan Clingan - 2024 NBA Draft Prospect

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/donovan-clingan-spurs-draft-deep-dive/

[DPG21920]

Im open to virtually all scenarios. But drafting a Center at 4 that isnt Sarr (and even then Im largely against it) is my one thing I really dont want to see for the reasons stated here. At pick 8? I can live with it. Not pick 4.

Spurs want to get another pick or trade back and get a center (wont be Clingan or Sarr) I can even live with that. But taking a center at 4 would be rough in the moment. Of course, if it works out really well then who cares, but it will be a big bet from the FO to do something like that.

[spurraider21]

one of my acceptable picks at #8 overall. at the very least he would provide 20-25 minutes of rock solid backup center play (rim protection when wemby sat was a massive issue last year). and at best, either Clingan's hypothetical shot develops, or Wemby's perimeter skills continue to improve to the point where he can flourish playing alongside a traditional big (something that did not seem to work too well last year, either with collins or barlow). his excellent high post passing could make some for awesome offense with wemby

i'd generally be disappointed if we pass on Dillingham for him, but to me he's in that tier of player that i'd be ok with drafting at 8 just because he seems like a fairly sure thing

i wouldnt like taking him at 4, but if the top 3 picks are Risacher/Sarr/Sheppard, and we wind up with Clingan - Dillingham, that would be acceptable to me (id basically imagine we took dilly at 4 and clingan at 8)

[NASpurs]

Either he'll be a great addition to the team or he'll be a great asset for a future trade.

[Chinook]

I'm not worried about Clingan/Wemby, because I don't think it's all that important to never play Victor at PF. He doesn't have to ALWAYS be at his most free offensively. Giving him a variety of high-quality teammates would be great for his development. Ultimately, Wemby developing is the thing that matters, not whether the team they put around him this year works from a contending standpoint. Plus drafting Don would increase the likelihood of Collins being dealt, which is basically a universal good in terms of them bringing in a player who fits better for that salary space. I also second SR21's stance that Clingan/Dillingham would sit well with me, as would a number of other scenarios.

I'm more concerned about Clingan's and Sochan's fit. As the 20-25 MPG talk suggested, Wemby would be taking a lot of the backup PF minutes if the Spurs drafted Clingan. That means that Jeremy and Donovan would be likely to spend a lot of time together. Unless Sochan has completely revamped his shot or Clingan's touch beyond the arc is real, that seems hard to work.

Jones, Wesley/Branham/Champangie, Johnson, Sochan, Clingan feels like a questionable unit. It could be good defensively if Wesley develops or Champ settles in. But offensively, it's sort of dead

[onechance87]

one of my acceptable picks at #8 overall. at the very least he would provide 20-25 minutes of rock solid backup center play (rim protection when wemby sat was a massive issue last year). and at best, either Clingan's hypothetical shot develops, or Wemby's perimeter skills continue to improve to the point where he can flourish playing alongside a traditional big (something that did not seem to work too well last year, either with collins or barlow). his excellent high post passing could make some for awesome offense with wemby

i'd generally be disappointed if we pass on Dillingham for him, but to me he's in that tier of player that i'd be ok with drafting at 8 just because he seems like a fairly sure thing

i wouldnt like taking him at 4, but if the top 3 picks are Risacher/Sarr/Sheppard, and we wind up with Clingan - Dillingham, that would be acceptable to me (id basically imagine we took dilly at 4 and clingan at 8)

yup...If we take clingan,The second pick should be a really good offensive player.And also hoping sochan improves his 3 point schooting as well
could make this work.

[Uriel]

Clingan is a great player. Let's hope GM's in the top 3 recognize that.

[spurraider21]

Clingan is a great player. Let's hope GM's in the top 3 recognize that.
Also this. While i do like Clingan, the best bet for Risacher, my top guy, falling to 4 lies with Clingan going top 2

[exstatic]

When the dust clears in ten years or so, Clingan will have the best career of the 2024 center drafteees.

[The Truth #6]

From what I read in this review: Can't shoot the 3. Nor has great post moves. Smart player. Great low post defender.

Sounds like a limited player in the NBA who is more suited for the college game. I'm not discounting college titles but feels like he's graded higher than he should be because of getting lots of media exposure.

The Yak parallel makes sense. A better rebounder but worse perimeter defender.

I don't know. I'm sounding harsh but he likely has to change his game with added skills to really succeed. Or needs to be on a smart team that's already good, like the Celtics.

I'd rather have Edey who has post moves if looking for a big slow dude.

[spurraider21]

I'm not worried about Clingan/Wemby, because I don't think it's all that important to never play Victor at PF. He doesn't have to ALWAYS be at his most free offensively. Giving him a variety of high-quality teammates would be great for his development. Ultimately, Wemby developing is the thing that matters, not whether the team they put around him this year works from a contending standpoint. Plus drafting Don would increase the likelihood of Collins being dealt, which is basically a universal good in terms of them bringing in a player who fits better for that salary space. I also second SR21's stance that Clingan/Dillingham would sit well with me, as would a number of other scenarios.

I'm more concerned about Clingan's and Sochan's fit. As the 20-25 MPG talk suggested, Wemby would be taking a lot of the backup PF minutes if the Spurs drafted Clingan. That means that Jeremy and Donovan would be likely to spend a lot of time together. Unless Sochan has completely revamped his shot or Clingan's touch beyond the arc is real, that seems hard to work.

Jones, Wesley/Branham/Champangie, Johnson, Sochan, Clingan feels like a questionable unit. It could be good defensively if Wesley develops or Champ settles in. But offensively, it's sort of dead
sochan was ok as a rookie, to the point where his sophomore season felt disappointing, and he spent much of that season starting and playing alongside poeltl. obviously sochan needs to continue to work on his shooting, but tbh im not drafting around Sochan until he proves he's a good starter and a core piece we can comfortably project will still be on the team 3 years out

[scott]

Rather than a Top10 pick on Clingan, I'd rather just sneakily move into the back of the 1st and grab Filipowski.

Edit: but if I'm sneaking into the late first, I want Tyler Smith first

[spurraider21]

From what I read in this review: Can't shoot the 3. Nor has great post moves. Smart player. Great low post defender.

Sounds like a limited player in the NBA who is more suited for the college game. I'm not discounting college titles but feels like he's graded higher than he should be because of getting lots of media exposure.

The Yak parallel makes sense. A better rebounder but worse perimeter defender.

I don't know. I'm sounding harsh but he likely has to change his game with added skills to really succeed. Or needs to be on a smart team that's already good, like the Celtics.

I'd rather have Edey who has post moves if looking for a big slow dude.
to me the key differences are that on both ends, clingan is more mobile. i know the combine numbers said one thing, but their tape says another. maybe its because clingan is such a faster processor than edey that he is quicker to make his decision and get moving, whereas in pre determined drills that gap doesnt show up. but either way, clingan is much better movement wise.

also, clingan feels like somebody that can blend into an existing team by just playing his role, kind of like how the Mavs centers do, or how Poeltl did with us. good screen/roll stuff, solid passing, etc, whereas Edey is not as comfortable doing those "connector" things and kind of just has to "be the system" such that when he's on the floor the offense runs through him. yes that can be efficient when its working (not unlike Boban's NBA career where his advanced stats and production were quite good), but also means you have to build the second unit around him, making him a pretty heavy (no pun intended) investment.

maybe Edey ends up being boban with better conditioning and a little more movement on defense, and hey that could be quite good. but in the modern nba, thats not really an archetype that has seen success. maybe edey is good enough to overcome the era he's in. clingan feels like a safer bet to me to find a role and be effective in it

the other concession here is that Edey is a much better FT shooter than Clingan, so when people talk about Clingan potentially having a jump shot, Edey has potential in that dept as well. though with Edey's main skill being back to the basket scoring, its unclear how vital that actually will be for him.

[scott]

Is Clingan projected as a significant offensive upgrade to Walker Kessler? Their college stats are shockingly comparable, with Kessler having superior rebounding and block stats.

If Walker Kessler was in this draft and his current NBA outcome was 100% known - I still wouldn't take him with 4 or 8.

[exstatic]

Is Clingan projected as a significant offensive upgrade to Walker Kessler? Their college stats are shockingly comparable, with Kessler having superior rebounding and block stats.

If Walker Kessler was in this draft and his current NBA outcome was 100% known - I still wouldn't take him with 4 or 8.

I think it’s a weak C class, and that his median outcomes, the most likely tail to hit, are better than the other Cs.

[spurraider21]

Is Clingan projected as a significant offensive upgrade to Walker Kessler? Their college stats are shockingly comparable, with Kessler having superior rebounding and block stats.

If Walker Kessler was in this draft and his current NBA outcome was 100% known - I still wouldn't take him with 4 or 8.
he's a better passer imo (tho not a playmaker. think Poeltl)

he's also just bigger. at the combine, without shoes, Clingan was 1.5 inches taller, 2.5 inch longer wingspan, 2 inch longer standing reach, and weighed 26 more pounds

[AFBlue]

Odd fit next to Wemby. Would pass at 4. If available at 8, I'd use as trade leverage for future or real assets.

[stnick2261]

It’s been said a couple times already, but if he is there at 8, I would take him. Being older and more ready, he could have early production that turns into a trade during the 2025 draft.

[HankChinaski]

One thing about Edey is I think he only started playing basketball his junior year of high school. Compound that with his development in college and he has shown quite an impressive growth each season in college. He appears to be a guy that puts in a lot of work on his game.

I really like Edey I just wish spurs find a way to get a pick later in the draft to grab him if he is still on the board with their assets. I think he would be amazing as the first big off the bench. I still think he has plenty room to grow as a player.

[Ariel]

A throw back center who doesn't move super well on the perimeter, shoots about as well as Poeltl, weighs almost 300 lb and has an extensive injury history, is not a good use of a top 10 pick. The only way I would be ok with taking Clingan, is if the Spurs main targets at 4 were gone and he's selected to trade back or out for additional assets.

[scott]

he's a better passer imo (tho not a playmaker. think Poeltl)

he's also just bigger. at the combine, without shoes, Clingan was 1.5 inches taller, 2.5 inch longer wingspan, 2 inch longer standing reach, and weighed 26 more pounds

But despite that size, Clingan didn't use that in ways that you would expect. His REB/40 min (despite what I said earlier, I was looking at nominal stats not per 40) are only slightly better than Kessler's (+0.5) but Kessler put up 7.1 blks/40 versus 4.4 for Clingan. The note on passing is certainly important though.

It's just weird to me that the two top centers in this draft, who are even talked about going #1 and #2, have pretty reasonable direct comps in the league (Duren and Kessler), both of which are pretty mid, tbh.

[Splits]

Locked on Spurs profiled him today. Per usual Garcia and Jack Thompson have a variety of shithole takes (i.e comp to Brook Lopez) but if you looking for some Spurs/Clingan fodder/porn waste 30 minutes of your life:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y41suEtkKMg

[Dejounte]

Without watching much of this guy, the only way I’d draft him is if his offensive game resembled Tim Duncan by even a little bit but most of his shots are just around the basket. No post up game, mid range pop, nothing.

I do believe this type of center (if that player is a top option) is what gets you deep in the playoffs, not those lanky unicorn types that people think are taking over the NBA just because they can shoot threes. Wemby is the exception to this rule because… there will simply not be another Wemby. We got lucky with him. And much of Wemby’s game became more of a post up center as the season progressed.

[spurraider21]

But despite that size, Clingan didn't use that in ways that you would expect. His REB/40 min (despite what I said earlier, I was looking at nominal stats not per 40) are only slightly better than Kessler's (+0.5) but Kessler put up 7.1 blks/40 versus 4.4 for Clingan. The note on passing is certainly important though.

It's just weird to me that the two top centers in this draft, who are even talked about going #1 and #2, have pretty reasonable direct comps in the league (Duren and Kessler), both of which are pretty mid, tbh.
sarr is a higher ceiling/lower floor prospect than duren was. think he's more athletic and shows some perimeter-ish skills that duren doesnt really have, but not remotely developed enough to be reliable right now. duren's scoring is largely limited to the restricted area, whereas sarr has some face up game, short turnaround shot like sochan has flashed, etc. sarr's ball-handling right now only really shows itself in transition though.

id also say he's lower floor because he's not as strong, doesnt really have great hands despite having the rim-running physical profile

[spurraider21]

Locked on Spurs profiled him today. Per usual Garcia and Jack Thompson have a variety of shithole takes (i.e comp to Brook Lopez) but if you looking for some Spurs/Clingan fodder/porn waste 30 minutes of your life:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y41suEtkKMg
lol if youre going to make 30+ minute draft profile vids you definitely need some freaking game footage to make your point :lol

otherwise why bother with the youtube component? just release it on spotify or whatevs

[scott]

sarr is a higher ceiling/lower floor prospect than duren was. think he's more athletic and shows some perimeter-ish skills that duren doesnt really have, but not remotely developed enough to be reliable right now. duren's scoring is largely limited to the restricted area, whereas sarr has some face up game, short turnaround shot like sochan has flashed, etc. sarr's ball-handling right now only really shows itself in transition though.

id also say he's lower floor because he's not as strong, doesnt really have great hands despite having the rim-running physical profile

I'll just agree to disagree. I don't see any of those things in Sarr's game, other than the short turnaround shot (which isn't really enough of a differentiator on its own). My own opinion is that folks see in Sarr what they want, but it's all just hope at this point. We'll see - but I don't think Sarr will even match Duren's 9/9 rookie year 14/12 sophomore season statlines. Duren has been pretty disappointing with rim protection though, that's an area where Sarr could easily outperform.

[scott]

lol if youre going to make 30+ minute draft profile vids you definitely need some freaking game footage to make your point :lol

otherwise why bother with the youtube component? just release it on spotify or whatevs

This Podcast sucks ass when it's audio only, I couldn't imagine it could be worse... but then I saw the YT version :lol

[CGD]

Man Timvp must really hate Matas, who is more likely to be a realistic choice.

[rankingtear]

No.. He has more value in a trade at draft night than any other point in his career in SA.

[Spurs Homer]

Clingan at 8 would be ok for a couple of reasons…

a BIG reason- if he pushes Zollins further out of rotation- that alone makes him worth it…

and

7-3 players with a MOTOR do not grow on trees…

combine wembys length and clingans length…and pop might even remember what to do with a twin towers lineup…
but even if they dont pair well - just taking zollins minutes is a yuge win

[Splits]

lol if youre going to make 30+ minute draft profile vids you definitely need some freaking game footage to make your point :lol

otherwise why bother with the youtube component? just release it on spotify or whatevs

Needless to say there was none, just those two assclowns repeating what they heard and framing as their own take.

Clingan's tankathon sheet looks about as clean as any I seen:

https://i.ibb.co/QfvG772/Screenshot-2024-06-15-3-42-32-AM.png

[Ariel]

It's just weird to me that the two top centers in this draft, who are even talked about going #1 and #2, have pretty reasonable direct comps in the league (Duren and Kessler), both of which are pretty mid, tbh.
I agree with Clingan, but I don't see Sarr in the same mold as Duren. Duren is smaller (probably 6'9" without shoes) and a vertical athlete which is useful mostly for lobs and rebounds, but not a good defender anywhere (inside, on the perimeter), kind of like a lighter Drummond or a homeless man's Dwight. Sarr is taller (7' barefoot) and moves better laterally, being able to keep up with players on the perimeter, and even when he's beat his length allows him to recover and get a lot of blocks. On the negative side, he's much weaker and less aggresive on the boards. His ceiling is maybe JJJ if he learns to shoot, but realistically I don't expect him to get to that level. Still, I'd rather have Sarr than Duren.

[spurraider21]

Needless to say there was none, just those two assclowns repeating what they heard and framing as their own take.

Clingan's tankathon sheet looks about as clean as any I seen:
i despise those tankathon sheets. i dont think they're based on any actual scouting/analysis but rather a function of their raw stats being inputted and then the plusses and minuses get spit out based on positional averages or whatever.

[scott]

I agree with Clingan, but I don't see Sarr in the same mold as Duren. Duren is smaller (probably 6'9" without shoes) and a vertical athlete which is useful mostly for lobs and rebounds, but not a good defender anywhere (inside, on the perimeter), kind of like a lighter Drummond or a homeless man's Dwight. Sarr is taller (7' barefoot) and moves better laterally, being able to keep up with players on the perimeter, and even when he's beat his length allows him to recover and get a lot of blocks. On the negative side, he's much weaker and less aggresive on the boards. His ceiling is maybe JJJ if he learns to shoot, but realistically I don't expect him to get to that level. Still, I'd rather have Sarr than Duren.

I don't want Sarr or Duren... but despite what you say above, those traits haven't shown up on the court thus far for Sarr. He's about a wash with Duren on blocks (looking at Duren's college stats). Sarr is taller but Duren has a larger wingspan. I won't put very much into the respective D ratings for Duren in college or Sarr in the NBL and take your word for it that Sarr most better and has more defensive versatility. https://tankathon.com/players/compare?players=alexandre-sarr--jalen-duren

[Ariel]

i despise those tankathon sheets. i dont think they're based on any actual scouting/analysis but rather a function of their raw stats being inputted and then the plusses and minuses get spit out based on positional averages or whatever.
Tankathon probably ranks based on what percentile that player rates (per minute?) on a given stat. Certainly nothing that should be used as gospel, especially the projected 3P% (:lol)

[Chinook]

sochan was ok as a rookie, to the point where his sophomore season felt disappointing, and he spent much of that season starting and playing alongside poeltl. obviously sochan needs to continue to work on his shooting, but tbh im not drafting around Sochan until he proves he's a good starter and a core piece we can comfortably project will still be on the team 3 years out

Sochan's rookie season was on a team with bare-bottom expectations. Jeremy had mostly negative pairings, but Jakob was one of his worst. The reason why there was (is) hope for Sochan is because of the dramatic improvement he showed post ASB when Jakob was gone.

No, I don't think the Spurs should choose to not draft Clingan because of Sochan. However, if Jeremy is still the best choice at PF on the roster, then him and Clingan being unable to play legit minutes together would complicate a rotation that should want to get all three guys significant minutes. Taking Victor out of the conversation, if Sochan and Clingan have to avoid playing together, that limits one or both to playing less than half the game. Clingan almost certainly would play fewer than 24 minutes if he were on the Spurs, but Sochan would ideally play around 30 next year. I would hope the roughly six minutes they'd share with each other each game wouldn't be a down time for the team.

[Splits]

i despise those tankathon sheets. i dont think they're based on any actual scouting/analysis but rather a function of their raw stats being inputted and then the plusses and minuses get spit out based on positional averages or whatever.

that's precisely what they do, they don't take in other factors like strengh of competition, etc.

I did see a vid of Clingan and sure seems like the majority of his blocks ended up the 3rd row, antithesis of VW blocks

[JuneJive]

At what point is taking BPA not a wise move?

I would say it's this situation right here.

[rankingtear]

Everything the opposing teams do to counter Wemby they won't have to do anymore because we are doing it for them. Picking Clingan would be dumber than the reaching for Primo.

[Mugen]

I'd want Wright fired on the spot if he drafted Clingan at either #4 or #8 tbh.

[z0sa]

I like him, but eh, we already have Wemby, who's already way, way better than Clingan will ever be. Pass.

[KobesAchilles]

I wonder how many games we could win if our defense didn’t go historically bad every time Wemby sits. It’s like the problem the Warriors have offensively when Steph sits. Just having rim protection 48/4 would be amazing. Idgaf how Sochan fits in on this team when it comes to drafting someone. Either he does or he doesn’t but Jeremy Sochan should have zero input on who we draft going forward

[spurraider21]

I'd want Wright fired on the spot if he drafted Clingan at either #4 or #8 tbh.
Tbh if we get dillingham, clingan, and also fire Wright that’s a pretty great scenario in my book

[DPG21920]

Why are yall hating on Wright? He’s done a solid job last few years IMO

[Chinook]

Why are yall hating on Wright? He’s done a solid job last few years IMO


You can argue that Wright deserved to get fired over what happened with Primo. I know you've already said you don't think it was that bad, but there was definitely a time where it looked like he was going to be let go. We'll likely never know exactly what role he played in the whole ordeal, but if he did what he was accused of, the sheer lack of foresight would be worth a suspension if not a dismissal.

But all things consider, Wright's not been too bad in terms of GMing. We don't know fully what his job entails. For example, we have heard he works on trade packages, but we have no idea how much freedom he has in trading folks away. Like did he make the decision to trade away DJM, or was he just the one who called ATL and got them to give up the picks? I haven't loved the team's picks under him, but I don't think he's been below-average there. Collins and McDermott were decent acquisitions, but I'm hoping for something less conservative this time around. I think this off-season is really important to take Wright's measure. The team has so many paths it can take and assets to facilitate those paths. How they're able to start actually building around Wemby rather than just getting more assets is going to determine if he's a good GM or a meh one.

[spurraider21]

Why are yall hating on Wright? He’s done a solid job last few years IMO
Wright has shown he can blow it up and get assets out of players. But so far he’s done a poor job actually building a team out of it. If we didn’t luck into wemby we’d be the worst situation in the league this side of Washington

he had a stretch of 4 first rounders that were primo, Sochan, branham, Wesley.

character meltdown aside primo was a questionable pick and it’s a huge red flag to me not only that they liked him but supposedly thought he was legitimately a face of the franchise type talent per reports from timvp

sochan has promise still but both branham and Wesley have been flops

his big FA acquisitions have been McNuggets and Zollins. The latter turned out fine.

[Knoxxx]

Can someone explain to me why Clingan is rated higher than Edey?

[Mr. Body]

Tankathon probably ranks based on what percentile that player rates (per minute?) on a given stat. Certainly nothing that should be used as gospel, especially the projected 3P% (:lol)

Sarr shoots 0.5/1.9 for threes per game, for .276 3pt%. His free throw percentage is .707. Somehow they project his NBA 3pt% to be .355. How does that make sense?

[Mr. Body]

You can argue that Wright deserved to get fired over what happened with Primo.

How could anyone possibly argue this?

[Ariel]

Sarr shoots 0.5/1.9 for threes per game, for .276 3pt%. His free throw percentage is .707. Somehow they project his NBA 3pt% to be .355. How does that make sense?
It doesn't, which is why I said the projected 3P% especially shouldn't be used as gospel since it's probably some random combination they pulled out of their asses.

[Chinook]

How could anyone possibly argue this?

How can any one possibly argue a guy being accused of covering up repeated instances of sexual harassment and exposing his company to potentially millions of dollars of legal damages, could lose their job? Pretty easily. Did Spurs fans block out the incident or something?

What happened with Primo wasn't a minor thing. He's never had his day in court, and while there have been a couple of judgments against him corroborating the allegations, we don't know the full extent of them. But if they are true, Primo was and maybe still is a sexual predator who cornered multiple women and exposed himself to them. Wright and certain other Spurs executives knew he was doing it and suppressed allegations against Primo to the point of not renewing the contract of the victim who pushed the hardest to bring the allegations to light. Because of their inaction, Primo potentially exposed himself to more women while working for and representing the organization. That could have been prevented had the allegations been taken seriously and intervention happened.

Now the above as I said isn't fully substantiated. We don't know what happened, and I certainly have some issues with the case that POS Buzbee laid out. But IF that is what happened, Wright 100-percent should have been fired. It's far worse than Buford's DWI. I'm hoping there was a lot more nuance in the events, but the story itself has played out too many times to excuse (again, if it happened as they alleged it did), and for all we know, it could have been even worse than we heard.

No, the Spurs can never bring Primo back, even if he turned out to be good. No, the Spurs can't bring in another player accused of sex crimes without taking a massive PR hit. And no, Wright and the rest of the front office didn't get out of the situation unscathed. This is 2024. It's a testament to the organization's effort toward cultivating their image that they weathered the controversy as well as they did. But the foundation is still very cracked from it, and pretending like what happened wasn't the huge deal it was won't discourage it from happening again.

[jesterbobman]

I get why he could go top 3, and I think there is a need for a decent backup big behind Wemby as a rim protector, to the point where I wouldn't hate him at 8 (for instance, I'd rather have him than Knecht), but it's not at the top of my list as an ideal. As Chinook pointed out, the Clingan/ Sochan fit is bad, and if you're not absolutely confident that Sochan is a long term starter (I don't think anyone is there) then it's setting up a second unit with a poor fit from two lottery picks.

I'd rather go guard / wing at the top (Some combo of Castle, Sheppard, Risacher, Dillingham) and potentially try and trade into the late first for a swing on a different big who isn't an A+ rim protector but could have a role as part of two big units / as a spacing big next to a unit with Castle / Sochan... (Ideal for me is Ware at about 21 /22, though Tyler Smith and DaRon Holmes would be good too in the space big category.)

[Mr. Body]

How can any one possibly argue a guy being accused of covering up repeated instances of sexual harassment and exposing his company to potentially millions of dollars of legal damages, could lose their job? Pretty easily. Did Spurs fans block out the incident or something?

You think this was maniacal genius Wright cackling and wringing his hands while the rest of the organization sat there helpless? Lol, seriously?

[GAustex]

How can any one possibly argue a guy being accused of covering up repeated instances of sexual harassment and exposing his company to potentially millions of dollars of legal damages, could lose their job? Pretty easily. Did Spurs fans block out the incident or something?

Good grief the pervert sucked along with being a pervert

[GAustex]

Wright has shown he can blow it up and get assets out of players. But so far he’s done a poor job actually building a team out of it. If we didn’t luck into wemby we’d be the worst situation in the league this side of Washington

he had a stretch of 4 first rounders that were primo, Sochan, branham, Wesley.

character meltdown aside primo was a questionable pick and it’s a huge red flag to me not only that they liked him but supposedly thought he was legitimately a face of the franchise type talent per reports from timvp

sochan has promise still but both branham and Wesley have been flops

his big FA acquisitions have been McNuggets and Zollins. The latter turned out fine.

Dougie McNoD and Zollins both suck

[Blizzardwizard]

Drafting a backup with a top-eight pick? Bad.

Drafting him to start at C and doing the other team a favor by clogging the paint and giving Wemby an extra body to navigate inside meaning he gets stuck on the perimeter more often? Also bad.

Didn't work last year with Collins at C and Wemby at PF. Victor was obviously much better once he kicked to C and was given the extra interior freedom the lack of an additional big provided.

The idea going forwards should be the create more space for Wemby to operate in not less. Basically needs a Sochan-sized player at PF for the long-term but ideally one that can actually shoot.

[Chinook]

You think this was maniacal genius Wright cackling and wringing his hands while the rest of the organization sat there helpless? Lol, seriously?

Bro. Do you think Wright is a little kid or something? He's a millionaire executive. Fucking low-level supervisors cover up sexual harassments claims. You don't have to be a genius to sit on something you think is embarrassing

[DPG21920]

How can any one possibly argue a guy being accused of covering up repeated instances of sexual harassment and exposing his company to potentially millions of dollars of legal damages, could lose their job? Pretty easily. Did Spurs fans block out the incident or something?

What happened with Primo wasn't a minor thing. He's never had his day in court, and while there have been a couple of judgments against him corroborating the allegations, we don't know the full extent of them. But if they are true, Primo was and maybe still is a sexual predator who cornered multiple women and exposed himself to them. Wright and certain other Spurs executives knew he was doing it and suppressed allegations against Primo to the point of not renewing the contract of the victim who pushed the hardest to bring the allegations to light. Because of their inaction, Primo potentially exposed himself to more women while working for and representing the organization. That could have been prevented had the allegations been taken seriously and intervention happened.

Now the above as I said isn't fully substantiated. We don't know what happened, and I certainly have some issues with the case that POS Buzbee laid out. But IF that is what happened, Wright 100-percent should have been fired. It's far worse than Buford's DWI. I'm hoping there was a lot more nuance in the events, but the story itself has played out too many times to excuse (again, if it happened as they alleged it did), and for all we know, it could have been even worse than we heard.

No, the Spurs can never bring Primo back, even if he turned out to be good. No, the Spurs can't bring in another player accused to SA without taking a massive PR hit. And no, Wright and the rest of the front office didn't get out of the situation unscathed. This is 2024. It's a testament to the organization's effort toward cultivating their image that they weathered the controversy as well as they did. But the foundation is still very cracked from it, and pretending like what happened wasn't the huge deal it was wont' discourage it from happening again.

Ya - I was more talking specifically GM’ing. I thought he was going to be fired for sure with Primo stuff.

[Chinook]

Good grief the pervert sucked along with being a pervert

The thing is he wasn't accused to being a pervert. He was accused to being a predator. He wasn't sniffing panties or watching tentacle porn. He was cornering hotel staff and exposing himself. It's important to call things as they are so people don't start rewriting history.

[Mugen]

Tbh if we get dillingham, clingan, and also fire Wright that’s a pretty great scenario in my book

Get the old man outta there as well and then we're really cookin'

[GAustex]

The thing is he wasn't accused to being a pervert. He was accused to being a predator. He wasn't sniffing panties or watching tentacle porn. He was cornering hotel staff and exposing himself. It's important to call things as they are so people don't start rewriting history.
noun. plural perverts. Britannica Dictionary definition of PERVERT. [count] : a person whose sexual behavior is considered not normal or acceptable.

[Chinook]

noun. plural perverts. Britannica Dictionary definition of PERVERT. [count] : a person whose sexual behavior is considered not normal or acceptable.

Being a pervert isn't a crime, and reducing the accusations to "abnormal" or even "unacceptable" sexual behavior mutes the full impact of the issue. People start remembering the situation as Primo being too immature to control his fetish and causing a minor PR event instead of a man committing sex crimes and the organization being accused of covering them up. That's how you can have posters talk about bringing him back, because they don't realize it was actually a big deal, from a legal-liability standpoint at least, if not a moral one.

[GAustex]

^ dude is still a pervert
But if you wish
A perverted predator

[scott]

Yeah execs definitely get fired when they fail to do anything about sexual assault being reported to them (which was accused). Could have easily seen Wright taking the bullet on that one... honestly surprised no one from the organization got canned over that.

[Mr. Body]

Wright didn't get fired because it's clear the whole organization was making decisions together. They seemed to try to work things out internally. Primo persisted. He was waived. End of story. If you want to think something beyond this happened, write a novel about it.

[Chinook]

^This is definitely not what was accused or reported. If this were true, the organization would be significantly more liable than they were. Pop and RC were specifically framed as not knowing what was going on. If they did and "handled it internally" by letting the psychologist go and doing nothing to prevent Primo from exposing himself to more people while on team business, that's so much worse.

[GAustex]

Primo pick was a disaster of the highest order. Pitiful management

[Chinook]

I feel bad for timvp though, because I'm contributing to hijacking his thread about Clingan for Primo bullshit. So I'll leave it there.

I don't think the Spurs will draft him, and I don't know that the rumors about ATL coveting him have any merit. But the Spurs are in a great position to benefit from him regardless.

[tbdog]

Clingan will be zubac or Hartenstien. That's kinda his ceiling. Centers that start but can't finish games.

[Anonymous Cowherd]

I'd want Wright fired on the spot if he drafted Clingan at either #4 or #8 tbh.

He shouldn't be available at 8, but if he is we absolutely should take him in order to get a higher value - and rarer to replicate - asset without having to sacrifice picking the lottery draftee that can most help our team (because we'd have already done that at #4).

Grabbing someone who could easily be top 3 at 8 because we uniquely have 2 lottery picks is like an *exact* scenario of how to maximise that specific advantage.
The only reason he'd be at 8 is because every other team 1-7 only gets 1 shot to improve their overall team with a top-end of class draftee.

[BatManu20]

I'm pretty confident Clingan will not be a Spur on draft night tbh, barring a rare draft-and-trade scenario. He's just a weird fit with Wemby and we have bigger needs. Although we do need a better defensive backup Center so our interior D doesn't turn to shit every time Wemby sits. Don't think Clingan will be there at Pick 8 anyways (hopefully ).

[LeBowen]

It doesn't look like Pistons are interested.
If they pass on him, it feels like he could drop all the way to #9. Grizzlies would surely pick him.
Kind of a strange situation for the Hawks. Everyone keeps talking about a trade with the Spurs, but I think they should call the Blazers and do the #1 for #7 and #14 trade if they really want Clingan.

[rascal]

^This is definitely not what was accused or reported. If this were true, the organization would be significantly more liable than they were. Pop and RC were specifically framed as not knowing what was going on. If they did and "handled it internally" by letting the psychologist go and doing nothing to prevent Primo from exposing himself to more people while on team business, that's so much worse.

I don't believe what was reported, that Pop and RC didn't know what was going on. Those guys know everything that is going on. The organization tried to downplay it until they couldn't anymore and it became public. That's why no one person took the blame and got fired. They even had no desire to let Primo go until it reached a point they had to.

[rascal]

It doesn't look like Pistons are interested.
If they pass on him, it feels like he could drop all the way to #9. Grizzlies would surely pick him.
Kind of a strange situation for the Hawks. Everyone keeps talking about a trade with the Spurs, but I think they should call the Blazers and do the #1 for #7 and #14 trade if they really want Clingan.

I can see that happening and Sarr going to Portland.

[TrainOfThought5]

Talking about literally everyone but Buzelis and Carter, who we’re probably going to actually choose is crazy

[ulosturedge]

I think Clingan's value is up there because even at worst you will find a role for the guy just based on his measurables. He seems pretty mobile to me. He has good basketball IQ from what I hear, and the floor space him and Wemby would eat up on defense seems like an intriguing scenario. In a draft year that seems like their could be alot of busts this would be one of the safer plays that you will get some value out of the situation no matter if he reached his potential or not. The fact that Castle could be a bust(shooting), Dillingham can be a bust(size), ect. And not to mention there are more guards to choose from then bigs at the top end of the draft. Someone is gonna take the value proposition as opposed to the high risk high reward option. I don't think he will be there at pick #8 and I don't really see any superstars in this draft for the most part, so I won't be mad however this plays out(unless they do some real off the wall shit lol).

[couchman]

I’d rather have Risacher or Sheppard, but unless something really weird happens at the top of the draft Clingan will be the obvious BPA at 4.
In a shitty draft those are the only three players who can contribute immediately AND also represent upside.
Knecht and Carter can also contribute early but have much more limited potential for improvement.
The Spurs simply aren’t good enough to pass on BPA right now and we can’t afford to draft two more kids who are years away from helping Wendy.
I’d like to see how our defense works with Collin’s minutes taken by Clingan.
I also would like to see if the “Wemby can’t play with another big” theory is true when the bigs in question aren’t Collins being a disaster or some journeyman waiver wire nobody.

[Duncan2177]

I’d rather have Risacher or Sheppard, but unless something really weird happens at the top of the draft Clingan will be the obvious BPA at 4.
In a shitty draft those are the only three players who can contribute immediately AND also represent upside.
Knecht and Carter can also contribute early but have much more limited potential for improvement.
The Spurs simply aren’t good enough to pass on BPA right now and we can’t afford to draft two more kids who are years away from helping Wendy.
I’d like to see how our defense works with Collin’s minutes taken by Clingan.
I also would like to see if the “Wemby can’t play with another big” theory is true when the bigs in question aren’t Collins being a disaster or some journeyman waiver wire nobody.

You just move Collins to PF backing up Sochan and Clingan to center backing up Wemby.

[NASpurs]

This is the perfect thread to say Fuck Collins.

I hate that shitty dude so much I would draft Clingan at 4. :lol

[LeBowen]

This is the perfect thread to say Fuck Collins.

I don't want any big in this draft, but if it would mean Collins is gone, I'd get over it.
Him being in the rotation is more detrimental to the team than Bryn starting.

[MultiTroll]

I'm all for the Spurs adding a big both to pair with Wemby and/or to sub in for him.

Don't wanna see Wemby get injured due to overuse, overtaxed with Pops current pets.

[mo7888]

You just move Collins to PF backing up Sochan and Clingan to center backing up Wemby.

I'd resign Mamu and move Collins. Mamu would fit pretty well next to Clingan in a 2nd unit.

[Mugen]

He shouldn't be available at 8, but if he is we absolutely should take him in order to get a higher value - and rarer to replicate - asset without having to sacrifice picking the lottery draftee that can most help our team (because we'd have already done that at #4).

Grabbing someone who could easily be top 3 at 8 because we uniquely have 2 lottery picks is like an *exact* scenario of how to maximise that specific advantage.
The only reason he'd be at 8 is because every other team 1-7 only gets 1 shot to improve their overall team with a top-end of class draftee.

If he was available at #8 then BWrong should be able to extract an asset or two from the Grizzlies at #9 like the Pacers/Wiz trade last year. If he isn't able to do that and actually drafts Clingan when they already have the future best C in the league then yeah he should be fired on the spot.

[BacktoBasics]

If we want a big why not just trade into the late 1st round and draft Edey or Ware rather than waste the 4th pick on a guy who isn't going to bring any major dynamics to the team. That's not to be dismissive of Clingan but it seems that could largely be addressed later in the draft.

[stnick2261]

If Clingan is there at 8 and Memphis wants him at 9...I'd try to trade him for a 2025 swap.

From our perspective, everyone we actually wanted at 8 would still be there at 9.

From Memphis' perspective, we had the worse record this year so there is a good chance the swap means nothing next year.

[R. DeMurre]

Not too interested in Clingan for the Spurs, but I still don't buy the concept that Wemby can't be paired with another big based on the Collins experience. I still think a future experiment to pair him with length and form one of the longest front courts ever can still be in play if an Evan Mobley/Jonathan Isaac/Robert Williams/Holmgren type of guy becomes available. Sign Bitadze to a reasonable contract and you have your back up defensive center to hold down the minutes when Victor's resting.

[poopbox]

Is Clingan projected as a significant offensive upgrade to Walker Kessler? Their college stats are shockingly comparable, with Kessler having superior rebounding and block stats.

If Walker Kessler was in this draft and his current NBA outcome was 100% known - I still wouldn't take him with 4 or 8.

Exactly how I feel about him. On the one hand he could be phenomenal defensively playing next to Victor some and mostly playing backup center when Victor is out. On the other hand should you be drafting Walker Kessler clone in the top 10?

Probably not. The fit is going to be exceptionally awkward to start. Clingan also opens up the door to point Sochan again if Victor has to go back to playing the 4 :cry

[Anonymous Cowherd]

If he was available at #8 then BWrong should be able to extract an asset or two from the Grizzlies at #9 like the Pacers/Wiz trade last year. If he isn't able to do that and actually drafts Clingan when they already have the future best C in the league then yeah he should be fired on the spot.

To state what should be obvious, when negotiating this sort of trade you have to be prepared to walk away from a bad offer.

And if we walked away from a bad offer but then didn't pull the trigger and draft him, therefore letting Memphis have him for nothing, that would be having our pants pulled down.

Any deal with Memphis where we get something good from them would entirely rely on our believable BATNO being, drafting Clingan.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Not too interested in Clingan for the Spurs, but I still don't buy the concept that Wemby can't be paired with another big based on the Collins experience. I still think a future experiment to pair him with length and form one of the longest front courts ever can still be in play if an Evan Mobley/Jonathan Isaac/Robert Williams/Holmgren type of guy becomes available. Sign Bitadze to a reasonable contract and you have your back up defensive center to hold down the minutes when Victor's resting.

Agree completely. The problem was more the lack of a point guard than pairing with a big.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Clingan is way overrated. I’d take Edey over him all day long. But neither in the top 10. Clingan will have a solid NBA career, but is massively benefiting from playing for UConn. If you switched Edey and Clingan on UConn their point differential goes up by 5 points or more. UConn has 4 players that may get drafted this year. I bet most people have a problem even remembering the names of the other Perdue starters. Edey carried them all year and through the tournament.

[Mugen]

To state what should be obvious, when negotiating this sort of trade you have to be prepared to walk away from a bad offer.

And if we walked away from a bad offer but then didn't pull the trigger and draft him, therefore letting Memphis have him for nothing, that would be having our pants pulled down.

Any deal with Memphis where we get something good from them would entirely rely on our believable BATNO being, drafting Clingan.

:lol Yeah we heard the same excuse when BWrong reached for Primo, "Takes two to tango."

The Bulls have also been rumored to have been interested in Clingan as well. If BWrong isn't able to get any additional value if Clingan falls to him at #8 and knowingly drafts a backup C in the top 10 then yeah he should be fired on the spot.

[Mugen]

The Wolves had a nice run this year with their big lineup but that experiment will ultimately fail tbh. It's much more difficult to build a championship roster with two bigs in your crunch time lineup in today's NBA.

Wemby will need a competent backup for sure, but that need can be filled without wasting a top 10 pick tbh.

[TD 21]

For The Bigots And The Uninitiated (spurstalk.com) (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303507)

[LeBowen]

The Wolves had a nice run this year with their big lineup but that experiment will ultimately fail tbh. It's much more difficult to build a championship roster with two bigs in your crunch time lineup in today's NBA.

Wemby will need a competent backup for sure, but that need can be filled without wasting a top 10 pick tbh.

Idk if it's a two bigs lineup since KAT is their best shooter.
KAT and Wemby would definitely work. That's why I want Markkanen. If it's to work, one of the bigs has to be an elite shooter, even for guard standards.
And the other one also has to be capable. Which Gobert obviously wasn't.

If we're talking about just finding a backup for Wemby, I wouldn't worry about it too much until we're actually a serious playoff team.
Until then, either get a young prospect or one of those veteran minimum guys.

[Joseph Kony]

If the Spurs dump Collins shitty ass i wouldn't hate the pick tbh. Spurs go to complete shit everytime Wemby steps off the court so having a legit backup that can anchor the D for those periods would be a solid get. really tired of watching Collins repeatedly get abused and posterized by any player with a pulse

[Mugen]

Idk if it's a two bigs lineup since KAT is their best shooter.
KAT and Wemby would definitely work. That's why I want Markkanen. If it's to work, one of the bigs has to be an elite shooter, even for guard standards.
And the other one also has to be capable. Which Gobert obviously wasn't.

If we're talking about just finding a backup for Wemby, I wouldn't worry about it too much until we're actually a serious playoff team.
Until then, either get a young prospect or one of those veteran minimum guys.

I don't really consider Markkanen a "big." I classify "bigs" in today's NBA as guys whose best position would be a C.

KAT sucks at rim protection but he's not mobile enough to be a 4, he's a C tbh. Gobert is a C. Wemby is a C. And Clingan is a C.

[LeBowen]

I don't really consider Markkanen a "big." I classify "bigs" in today's NBA as guys whose best position would be a C.

KAT sucks at rim protection but he's not mobile enough to be a 4, he's a C tbh. Gobert is a C. Wemby is a C. And Clingan is a C.

Fair point about Markkanen.
Chet and Wemby combo would definitely work and it would be unfair. Is Chet a C? If not now, he'll surely be one a few years down the road.

Anyhow other than Markkanen, my take is that getting another 7 footer to pair with Wemby would just take away from his advantages and shouldn't even be considered.

[jjspur]

I'm going out on a limb here, but even if we don't draft Clingan (which we probably won't) , some other team will. That team will utilize him in ways we can't or won't. Clingan was an important part of a team concept. He wasn't the best player, but he was a big part of 2 championship teams. He knows how to play within a system, and he does it well. He won't start right away, but you know he will eventually.

That being said, Clingan may end up having a better career than Sarr, and certainly better than Poeltl or Collins.

[Mr. Body]

I would probably take Clingan over Sarr in a vacuum. People ignore how Sarr only played 18.0 minutes a game and wasn't great at important parts of his role, most particularly rebounding and his upside is theoretical, like his shooting. There's a push to claim Clingan can stretch the floor, but I don't think that will ever happen. Clingan probably has a higher floor to me and the percentage chance that Sarr hits all his highest ceiling dice rolls isn't great. Not that I dislike Sarr. I'd certainly give him a shot on the Spurs. Just that as a top pick he's problematic. Clingan feasted on rolls and actions that got him in the dunker spot. I can see a huge appeal as a target for Trae Young while being more of an anchor on the defensive end than Sarr can be.

[NASpurs]

If the Spurs dump Collins shitty ass i wouldn't hate the pick tbh. Spurs go to complete shit everytime Wemby steps off the court so having a legit backup that can anchor the D for those periods would be a solid get. really tired of watching Collins repeatedly get abused and posterized by any player with a pulse

How many games were lost last year when this loser came in?

[exstatic]

Talking about literally everyone but Buzelis and Carter, who we’re probably going to actually choose is crazy

I don’t see much of a chance at all that they choose Buzelis.

[exstatic]

To state what should be obvious, when negotiating this sort of trade you have to be prepared to walk away from a bad offer.

And if we walked away from a bad offer but then didn't pull the trigger and draft him, therefore letting Memphis have him for nothing, that would be having our pants pulled down.

Any deal with Memphis where we get something good from them would entirely rely on our believable BATNO being, drafting Clingan.

Not necessarily. I’m sure there would be other interested parties. Memphis just needs to know they’re not the only game in town.

[Knoxxx]

I’ll repeat why is Clingan ahead of Edey? Edey outperformed Clingan at the combine, in particular in agility drills in addition to outmeasuring him. Just trying to understand serious question here…?

[Raven]

I’ll repeat why is Clingan ahead of Edey? Edey outperformed Clingan at the combine, in particular in agility drills in addition to outmeasuring him. Just trying to understand serious question here…?

age probably, but yeah i agree, edey's profile is very interesting

[Knoxxx]

age probably, but yeah i agree, edey's profile is very interesting

Trading down for a real asset and taking Edey has been an obvious move from the get go. I never had Clingan in my top 10 for Spurs though either way.

[Raven]

Trading down for a real asset and taking Edey has been an obvious move from the get go. I never had Clingan in my top 10 for Spurs though either way.

i don't know, i'm thinking this a great draft for centers and shitty for everything else.. i mean guys with those kinds of wingspans are extremely rare, but there's at least 3 with preposterous size in this draft..

[exstatic]

I’ll repeat why is Clingan ahead of Edey? Edey outperformed Clingan at the combine, in particular in agility drills in addition to outmeasuring him. Just trying to understand serious question here…?

Combine should only ever be a tie breaker, not THE basis for a draft decision.

[couchman]

I’m in record saying that Edey can be successful in the NBA if a team is willing to build their offense and defense around him.
I don’t believe the Spurs are that team because Wemby is our centerpiece.

So why do I like Clingan and not like Edey for the Spurs?
It comes down to defense.
Clingan has already shown an ability to defend the pick and roll well in drop coverage.
Most scouts believe that will translate to the NBA.
Eden, otoh, has struggled with that more and has shown less anticipation and skill in that area.
Scouts generally believe he will played off the floor with PnR.

[Knoxxx]

Combine should only ever be a tie breaker, not THE basis for a draft decision.

Right but Edey put up I believe about 37-16 v Clingan and the ratings don’t seem consistent at all with that discrepancy as Clingan #s were junk by comparison. Lopez gets plenty of play and I don’t see why Edey couldn’t be a considerably stronger version of him. Edey can abuse just about any center on the planet inside. He had a hyper aggressive inside game with an unstoppable hook shot and baby soft touch. He withdrew from the draft and did nothing but train to improve physically and skill-wise.

Edey would put up 30-15 and not even look like he was having a good game. Clingan does no such thing and I thought the blocks were similar. The idea that his inside game doesn’t translate, if you actually watched him (not saying you didnt) won’t translate seems unfounded to me. Who is big and bad enough to stop him in today’s NBA. Wemby maybe?

[Mr. Body]

I think it comes down to Clingan being a better defensive anchor. He's a better shotblocker and appears to patrol the paint better. I do think the discrepancy in draft positions may be too much. Clingan also is getting 'potential shooter' tags, which is too optimistic. To me, they're very similar prospects in that they were dominant in college but it may not translate at all.

Edey probably projects as needing touches around the basket, where he's good, but this isn't the modern NBA offense. He's also two years older.

[ulosturedge]

I’ll repeat why is Clingan ahead of Edey? Edey outperformed Clingan at the combine, in particular in agility drills in addition to outmeasuring him. Just trying to understand serious question here…?

There is a thought out there that Edey's game won't translate well on the NBA level. He is "slow twitched" so to speak and doesn't run the floor as well. Clingan shows to have a faster twitch to react to players making moves to the basket or whatever else. Be it because he has better anticipation or maybe better agility. Basically, there is more bust potential on Edey in today's NBA. So he is predicted to go late first round because of this. They obviously could be wrong but that's what the tape shows.

[Knoxxx]

There is a thought out there that Edey's game won't translate well on the NBA level. He is "slow twitched" so to speak and doesn't run the floor as well. Clingan shows to have a faster twitch to react to players making moves to the basket or whatever else. Be it because he has better anticipation or maybe better agility. Basically, there is more bust potential on Edey in today's NBA. So he is predicted to go late first round because of this. They obviously could be wrong but that's what the tape shows.

I understand there is some thought and evidence that Clingan reacts better and Edey was prone to be out of position, though I saw those comments after the carving up by the machine that was last year’s UConn team. I didn’t feel like those made up for the massive discrepancy in PPG and RPG production.

And the scoring and rebounding of Edey seem like the things most likely to translate. I also like the durability Edey showed, often resting only 1-2 minutes per game.

[exstatic]

Right but Edey put up I believe about 37-16 v Clingan and the ratings don’t seem consistent at all with that discrepancy as Clingan #s were junk by comparison. Lopez gets plenty of play and I don’t see why Edey couldn’t be a considerably stronger version of him. Edey can abuse just about any center on the planet inside. He had a hyper aggressive inside game with an unstoppable hook shot and baby soft touch. He withdrew from the draft and did nothing but train to improve physically and skill-wise.

Edey would put up 30-15 and not even look like he was having a good game. Clingan does no such thing and I thought the blocks were similar. The idea that his inside game doesn’t translate, if you actually watched him (not saying you didnt) won’t translate seems unfounded to me. Who is big and bad enough to stop him in today’s NBA. Wemby maybe?

Clingan played within an offense. Edey was the offense.

[SpursBills]

I've come around on Edey quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. Edey basically suffers in the same way that Gobert does, although his impact is obviously not at the same level - his game is aesthetically ugly, he looks uncoordinated and clumsy, doesn't have a bag, and it's easy to point at his success and just say that "he's big". He's not going to be respected at all in 5 years even though I predict his impact metrics are going to be at minimum league average and probably way above that. I would not be opposed at all to trading down and picking up an extra asset for 8 and then taking him late lottery or mid-first, and having him as a permanent fixture as a backup big playing 20-25 minutes.

I think it's close between him and Clingan, and Edey in the mid-first may be better value than Clingan early lottery. Clingan provides way better rim protection and can anchor a much better defense and shut down the paint entirely. However, Edey anchored a top 20% defense the last 2 years with terrible perimeter defenders while expending a ton of energy as the focal point of a post-centric offense so his impact on defense might be understated. Additionally, while Clingan has not shown as much of an ability to punish smaller shooting lineups, Edey will make it impossible to play a smaller or even average sized big against him - he shot 80% at the rim against double and triple teams all year, is one of the offensive rebounders of the last 25 years, and will have a monstrous size advantage against every small big in the league - guys like Daniel Gafford, Bobby Portis, Okongwu are going to get their lunch eaten in the post without a constant double.

The post-centric offensive big may be all but obsolete, but there a lot of duds in this draft with "potential" who just haven't produced and at some point I think you just have to go for good basketball players in poor molds over theoretical players in ideal molds. There's been nobody as dominant as Edey in college basketball in the last 25 years and at some point I think you have to take a shot on a guy with literally Shaq-like offensive numbers who only started playing basketball 6 years ago to see if that production translates.

[AFBlue]

I'd rather use the early second on a project big that we can add to the pile, preferably one that has some level of shooting upside.

[R. DeMurre]

I've said before that I think a solid handful of seven footers in the next decade will owe their contracts as bench guys whose main job is to offset Wemby... and I think adding Edey as a 20 mpg back up center would amplify this problem. How many teams will have the personnel to deal with 48 full minutes of 7'4"+ offensive attacks? Or end-of-quarter final possessions where Wemby + Edey are on the floor together? If the player(s) the Spurs want are gone by #8, I could definitely see trading back to grab Edey plus another asset. The circus visuals alone make it interesting :lol.

[heyheymymy]

Not a Clingan guy but I could see SA being much higher on him than the fanbase. He does have a really solid floor. Worried about that foot injury history though.

Not sure Clingan is the answer but Spurs have to protect their investment in Wemby and looking at the depth you have Zollins who was really struggling last season but did have a really strong finish to the season prior and you have Bassey with health issues.

You may not really have much at all behind Wemby when you really get down to it. What happens when Wemby needs to rest, or god forbid has an injury? These backups look like shit even in support roles and they are going to crumble if thrust into starter roles too big for them. Not sure who the answer is, maybe SA knows Bass is back and going to be good to go? Heard at one point Bass was out until camp lol so that's not an ideal timeline for confidence there. Maybe Zollins has a serious bounce back? Season before Wemby he looked good esp after the ASB. Then Wemby comes and Zollins lost his start and maybe that was the issue?

But Wemby is too valuable not to have better depth around him. It'd have to be a definitive Robin, SA has their Batman. And it'd need to compliment Wemby's game, not sure Clingan does that. Could be a PF really tbh, esp a shooting PF, the C could then just be a second rounder third string insurance big.

[rankingtear]

I've said before that I think a solid handful of seven footers in the next decade will owe their contracts as bench guys whose main job is to offset Wemby... and I think adding Edey as a 20 mpg back up center would amplify this problem. How many teams will have the personnel to deal with 48 full minutes of 7'4"+ offensive attacks? Or end-of-quarter final possessions where Wemby + Edey are on the floor together? If the player(s) the Spurs want are gone by #8, I could definitely see trading back to grab Edey plus another asset. The circus visuals alone make it interesting :lol.

I think Vic plays more than 28 min. 35 min at his peak and close to 40 in the playoff. So thats 13 min and 8 min at best.

[R. DeMurre]

I think Vic plays more than 28 min. 35 min at his peak and close to 40 in the playoff. So thats 13 min and 8 min at best.


1 minute 45 seconds together every quarter would equal 7 mpg... end of quarter possessions, etc... that puts Wemby at 35 and Edey at 20. Just one example.

[couchman]

No way Wemby plays 35 mpg this year.
I predict 30 or 31 at most.
The last time the Spurs won a title Tony led the team with 29.4 mpg.
And it would be dumb to burn Wemby’s odometer on a season where playoffs are unlikely.
A good backup big could easily average close to 20 mpg on this team.

-C

[venitian navigator]

I totally agree with knoxx wiew...there Is no logical reason not tò consider Edey a less valuable player than Clingan expecially for us...add tò that he Is a wonderful High character guy and totally coachable and loves the game and wants tò win.
Imho we should try in any possibile way tò draft him (One way could be switching Chicago 2025 with Chicago 2024). A trio of Castle, Risacher and Edey woulbd be my favourite draft night...

[venitian navigator]

Sorry i was meaning a more valuable player...

[Big Empty]

We take Cling we plug a HUGE hole defesively. We could play them two against larger front courts but mostly Clinghan could continue the inside defense when Wemby is on the bench. Hey may drop to 4 if Castle gets taken. Cling is worth an extra 10 wins just coming off the bench next year alone and whoever we take at 8 will just continue to help fill out the help Wemby needs