The last couple of Spurs' draft day trades...

[Solid D]

...did the Spurs' do the right thing?

This topic is one of many early-season ponderings and is not intended as complaining. Merely verballizing a question that bears asking.

Exhibit A: It doesn't take a genius to look at the recent performances of Knick rookie Trevor Ariza, (14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 0 TOs in 21 min. last night against Phily) and make you wonder. Why would the Spurs trade for the 42nd pick in the 2004 draft, and then select this Sanikidze kid who is currently scoring 5 points a game in Dijon France when they could'a had a V8! Trevor Ariza was available and taken next at 43 by the Knicks. Was this a "miss" similar to Boston's selecting Joe Forte instead of Tony Parker?

The Spurs needed a "long 3", and still do need, a guy on the wing who is athletic, can score, rebound and defend. They certainly could have used a player like Ariza to contribute right away at 2nd round money. Was Ariza one of San Antonio's top names on their draft board? Did the Spurs do the right thing? (Where's that :Q Question emoticon when we need one?)

Exhibit B: Leandro Barbosa. Did the Spurs do the right thing trading the 2003 first round pick to Phoenix? Is Beno Udrih, another 1st round money PG taken a year later, that much better? Barbosa averaged 7.9 ppg his rookie year and now backs up Steve Nash with 5 ppg on an undefeated Suns team. The Spurs may not see talent as good as Barbosa if the Suns continue to play the way they are now. The Spurs may never receive recompense any better than a #25 pick. Did the Spurs do the right thing?

This question is not for the complacent.

[samikeyp]

Good question. I still think though its too early to tell.

[GoSpurs21]

hindsite is always 20-20, sounds like whining to me

[Spurminator]

I would have liked to have kept Barbosa... I think he would have been a nice backup for Parker last year. Time will tell if we got the better PG in Udrih moving forward, but who knows whether or not Barbosa could have been a difference maker for us against LA when Parker went cold?

[jalbre6]

I think A was a miss. Period. Isiah finally got something right.

B is the SA front office being "fiscally conservative" in 2003. Just my opinion.

[Marcus Bryant]

Time will tell, of course.

[Karl Mundt]

Didn't the Spurs trade for Sanikidze AFTER the draft was complete and therefore didn't have the choice of what to do with the 42nd pick?

[Solid D]

We didn't hear about the trade until later, but usually teams do arranged trades and ask their trading partners to select certain players for them. I'm pretty sure the Spurs asked ATL to select Sanikidze, at least that was my understanding on it.

[ChumpDumper]

We were never going to keep Barbosa in any case. We picked him FOR Phoenix. He was not on the Spurs' list.

Ariza had serious health problems in college if I remember correctly, so it's easy to see why teams passed on him. If Viktor continues to develop, he could be another 1st round talent taken in the 2nd. Jury's out on that one.

[T Park]

isnt Sanikidze like 19 years old??

Give the kid some time......

[Mr. Body]

Sanikidze is a project but a good one. He's very young and could pan out in the future.

Barbosa and Ariza are crap-shoot kinds of players. Who knew they'd be productive so soon? New York picked Ariza not because they knew he was going to be good, but because they hoped he would. There are no guaranteed returns anywhere in the draft, but especially in the late picks. The last few of the first round are even more dodgy, because they come with guaranteed money. Moving Barbosa was the right move (whether planned previously or not). Remember Leon Smith? We did the same with him, drafting him for Dallas late first round. He was a disaster and they had to pay him.

For our picks, we've been fortunate to the extreme. Who else picks up their starting guards, both of whom are pushing for all-star roster spots, with a late first round and a late second round pick?

[Solid D]

Quality post Mr. Body.

[Mr. Body]

Thanks!

[ChumpDumper]

I wanted Josh Howard that year, but after Ebi was off the board, cap space became king.

[jcrod]

Yeah I wanted Josh also, but I alos wanted Lampje. What daft was that, yr before last. That was the same draft as Barbosa. He was projected as a lottery pick and wound up in the second round. I think he's been playing regularly for PHX. Anybody now who good he's looked?

[xcoriate]

Yeah we should have picked Marquise Daniels in the second round too. But life goes on, we got Parker and Manu most teams would be estatic if they had either that late in the draft.

[Rynospursfan]

I have to say I think the Spurs have done very well for us considering we always have late draft picks. Maybe someday G.M.s will realize that you draft the best player available, and do not draft just based on potential. Until then the Spurs will reap the bennifits.