Speaking of Tankathon mock drafts, when the Spurs roll the #1 pick Tankathon has them taking Topic. Every other team takes Sarr. Dillingham isn't taken until #12-14.
They also have the Spurs taking Sheppard as high as #4 if they don't get Topic.
Tyler Kolek has so much Stockton to his game, simple, crafty, fundamental passes made at the correct microsecond and on the money.
If he's available with the 2nd round pick, gotta be a consideration.
Here's a hare-brained scheme for you: Draft 3 point guards and let the cream rise to the top! Topic/Dillingham, Collier and Kolek
Topic
Sarr
Dillingham
Is my guess of the order from a Spurs draft board perspective
Most likely Topic will be the Spurs pick. They are desperate for a pg and next year's draft doesn't look deep in pgs.
Doubt the Spurs will consider trading for a starting quality pg so it's going to be Topic.
Spurs will probably even draft Topic with the Number 1 pick but they won't get the first pick again this year. Sarr will go #1 so won't be on the board for the Spurs.
Asset/resource management-wise, I might rather have Kolek at 33 than Topic at 2.
Topic may certainly be better, but I don't know if he's a long-term solution with his question marks and using a top pick elsewhere might be better. It alarms me that Topic's highlight packages are just him constantly getting to the basket in his league. I mean, that's cool and all, but that's not going to happen in the NBA. What else does he do? I know he gets assists, but how?
Yup, that's my issue as well. I've read people crediting him as a very good playmaker, yet none of his clips lead me to believe that is the case, you don't see many high level reads, he doesn't seem to create much for others, he's explosive and gets to the rim at will and finishes well (even though contact), but other than that there's not a lot of areas where he wows you. Any Luka comparisons are exclusively racially based, they're nothing alike as players
As for 2nd round candidates, how about Ajay Mitc ? 6'4" combo guard, super crafty and resourceful, efficient finisher. Current stats: 19.6 points, 4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 36% from 3, 85% from the line.
I might actually like him better than Topicl
I really don't like the idea of drafting a point guard unless they're sure he's the real deal.
Would just slow down the timeline even further and every '24 draft prospect looks like a long-term project.
We definitely need good wings more than we need a point guard.
Decent point guards are always available and every good wing is really expensive to trade for.
I think that people are way too hyped on Topic just because Jokic and Doncic are two best players in the league right now.
Remember Hezonja or Musa? Way better and more hyped prospects, didn't make it.
There were also various Benders and Samanics over the years.
If we're drafitng a point guard, he either needs to be a positive defender or potentially elite shooter. Topic is neither and it doesn't look like he'll get there anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Champagnie is probably the worst starter in the entire league.
Keldon needs to be gone this summer before teams realize he's a big net negative.
Jeremy has potential, but can't shoot.
Can't get anywhere near the playoffs without at least two new wings for those SF/PF positions.
Meanwhile, throwing a handful of seconds on Tyus Jones would be a servicable solution for a year or two.
My opinion is:
Topic
Sarr
Then who the heck knows.
You don't think they like any of the forwards? Champagnie is terrible and can't imagine they'd be too excited about overpaying say Tobias Harris to come.
I brought up Ajay earlier in the thread and someone responded that they saw him somewhere in the 18-25 range, but it certainly doesn't appear that way based on the mocks. I like this kid.Yup, that's my issue as well. I've read people crediting him as a very good playmaker, yet none of his clips lead me to believe that is the case, you don't see many high level reads, he doesn't seem to create much for others, he's explosive and gets to the rim at will and finishes well (even though contact), but other than that there's not a lot of areas where he wows you. Any Luka comparisons are exclusively racially based, they're nothing alike as players
As for 2nd round candidates, how about Ajay Mitc ? 6'4" combo guard, super crafty and resourceful, efficient finisher. Current stats: 19.6 points, 4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 36% from 3, 85% from the line.
I might actually like him better than Topic
I do think they like the forwards. I was just answering the question that presupposed that these were the only 3 options to be ranked.
He's got a strong Derrick White vibe, might be better, though.
Any help is needed for sure. But on that board, I'm more intrigued by Ajay Mitc , though still learning about Kolek.
Not that impressed with Topic at least not yet and Spurs are so talent deficient they can't go drafting by position they need to go BPA, so I hope we can get Sarr.
Oh ok I see, I thought you were saying that was what you projected the top 3 on the Spurs board to be
My overall top 3 Spurs board is probably
Risacher
Topic
Not sure on 3 but I'll go Matas or Salaun over Sarr based on fit
Ah, sorry, missed it. May be outside the projected early 2nd range now, I just took a look at Tankathon but it isn't the most reliable source in this sense. But regardless, if the Spurs like Ajay (or someone, ANYONE) they should make it happen. They have plenty of draft capital, they can trade up, down, in, out... no reason not to get their target. OKC realized this and when they feel confident about some prospect they don't take chance: traded 3 firsts to get an extra pick in the '22 draft where they took Jalen Williams, moved from 12 to 10 to make sure no one leapfrogged them for Cason Wallace, etc. Same thing with Houston going after Sengun, Dallas after Luka, etc. If you feel confident, no need to take a chance and wait for your guy to fall into your lap.
Last edited by Ariel; 02-22-2024 at 02:26 PM.
Those are assertive front offices, the Spurs are not.
You do understand that Europe has half the spacing and twice the physicality of the NBA, right? If he can do it there, he can do it here, easily.
The problem is, they didn’t trade the 3 picks for JW, they traded them for Ousaman Dieng, who is the only player on OKC that Chip hasn’t been able to teach to shoot.
They also traded #17 to Minnesota for Poku. So, totaling this up, OKC traded 4 FRPs for Ousaman Dieng and Aleksejev Pokusevski. They were also the ones who drafted Sengün and traded him to Houston.
Last edited by exstatic; 02-22-2024 at 03:20 PM.
I wouldn't necessarily assume who was the higher priority by their draft slot, OKC landed two CONSECUTIVE picks and at that point they knew they were getting both JDubb and Dieng. The order used could come down to something as simple as prioritizing relations with Dieng's agent. For context, in the presentation of their '22 rookie class, Presti actually stated that they had been following Dieng for long, and Jalen Williams wasn't someone they had on their plans and surprised them at the combine, so I wouldn't be so sure who would they have gone with had they not landed the second pick.
Oh, and OKC's shooting has much more to do with having great spacing and ball movement to create easy looks for everyone, than it does with Chip, if he was some sort of genie that could turn a non shooter in to an elite shooter, you'd think Giddey would be the prime candidate, yet he's likely the odd man out as a result of his failure in that area.
Last edited by Ariel; 02-22-2024 at 03:31 PM.
I wouldn't be opposed to taking Sheppard with the Raptors pick if the board fell a certain way. We definitely could use a combo guard who can hit 3's, compete on defense, and handle spot PG duties, because lord knows Branham is abysmal at all 3 of those, and I don't think we need to sit around and wait for 3-4 seasons for every draft pick to develop before we decide its ok to draft their compe ion.
Even if we took somebody like Dillingham or Topic with the earlier pick, could make for a nice guard rotation, especially with Tre only being under contract for 1 more year.
Could have some really interesting diversity of talents in the backcourt if you had, say, Dillingham and Wesley as the primary point guards, both being blazingly fast off the dribble and therefore assets in transition offense, with Wesley being the better defender and Dillingham being the offensive generator, with Sheppard backing up Vassell, or even playing alongside them in lineups with say, Wesley-Sheppard-Vassell, etc. Can really get creative there.
Obviously wing is still important, but if preferred targets like Williams/Buzelis are off the board when we make our selection w the Raptors pick, can still build something intriguing and then just go sign a FA like Tobias.
If the board doesnt work out in a way where we take a PG in the lottery, would really really like them to be aggressive and trade back up with the mountain of SRPs we have just to grab somebody. I don't want to be in a position where we basically have no choice but to re-sign Tre due to a lack of options.
Last edited by spurraider21; 02-22-2024 at 04:10 PM.
I don’t know much about Sarr but it sounds like he’s another Andre Drummond. Not sure if that’s good or bad.
What do you think I said?
I agree with everything you said. Point guard is the biggest crapshoot in the draft. I’d rather the Spurs spend assets on a proven pg than draft some teenager who will have no idea what he’s doing for his first three years in the league.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote