He's kind of like Blake Wesley, only longer but less athletic, slightly better shooting but even worse finishing, with worse defense and bball iq.
People say out of hand that Dillingham is the worst defender in the draft. This is probably true, but I'm not sure that Topic is any better. I definitely don't think Salaun is any better. 7:08 begins the manifold, woeful defensive problems, and shows that size isn't the solution. This guy is a total mess on defense. It's nearly hopeless.
It finally came to me this guy is one of our old draft picks - Ryan Richards
Richards was more talented tbh, but probably the least driven player we ever drafted
I see Salaün almost as a lock at 8. (unless some other team picks him before 8).
many here are complaining about the lack of talent and the lack of sure fire star potential in this draft.
so what will teams do, especially those with more than one pick?
you use at least one of your picks to gamble on youth and raw potential.
Salaün tops all other players in this draft regarding raw potential. He ist younger than most, has great positional size (might even grow a bit) and he has even better functional size. With his standing reach of 9‘2“ he might even play some center in some line ups. He has a great body, but will likely get bigger, as all 18 years old do.
he had some of his best games at the end of the season and we can assume in front of dozens of scouts, including Spurs scouts. I‘m also sure Spurs like his shooting. Yes, he was very inconsistend, but he had several games when he shot like 4-8, 3-6, 4-10. and he had games, when his shot didn‘t fall, but the more important thing was, he didn‘t stop. He kept trying. We know that‘s something Pop ist looking at.
so yes, I can see that the Spurs gave him a promise at 8. I don‘t love it, but I can totally see the reasons the Spurs might have to do so.
If you pick Saluan your looking at him playing minimum 3 years straight in G League as it is going to take that long just to work on fundamentals
11+ pages ting on a kid as young as Saluan while slobbin' over guys like Buzeli/Holland/Cody Williams is wild to me tbh
It def wouldn't take "minimum 3 years" tbh, that's hilarious
I think the thing on him is that he has the motor to play defense. Kid just doesn't have the mental part yet. I'm guessing if they take him it's 100% on projecting his improvement.
But I think you nailed it on Dillingham and Topic. Hard to even see their desire to play defense. And if there's one thing that's killed the Spurs over the last few years it's been guys that don't have the ability to play defense which led to our NBA historic lows on 2022-2023.
He hangs on the rim after a dunk like an awkward player. Unfortunately I see the spurs drafting him at 8 because of the French connection. Let's just assemble the most awkward looking team.
Probably accurate. That said, if at the end of 3 years, you've got a very polished 20 or 21 year old that is still years away from his cieling, coming to the team, then you do it.do it, assuming PATFO's projection is that he can give you that. But then there's always Samanic and Primo as evidence they don't always project properly. I would say tge thing that separates Salaun is you can see his motor which was not the case with those other two.
I think he's (consciously or not) trying to oversell his athleticism, when he's not a special vertical athlete.
I don't know I think that Holland plays hard both on offense and defense and I think you can easily make a argument that Holland upside is much higher then Salaun. I have been looking at this draft hard and I think I was one of the first to bring him up in the "Draft Pick Forums" so it's not like I am just looking at him. My initial thoughts was that I really like him for our 35th pick, but he was very raw but I liked that he played with passion and a slight edge. As someone pointed out maybe they want him to be Wemby's Frank Br......... Either way if the Spurs pick him I will still root for the kid and in this draft if he sucks there will be no "I Told You" as honestly this draft is just crazy..lol
I don't see Salaun as any type of upgrade to Sochan. What's the point of drafting him.
They're looking for people who will be ready to compete by next year...maybe they believe he can be accelerated
If that's what they want then you probably don't draft this kid. I think you take him at 8 IF you view this draft almost 180° from a normal draft of having a high draft pick ready to go at least by year 2. I think he's at least a 3 to 4 year project. But why would PATFO do that? Unlike teams with draft picks that high, the Spurs are in a fairly unique position.
How?
1. I think the Spurs could get away with that given how many draft picks we have coming in the next few years and how many could be in the top 15 of the draft.
2. Spurs already have a relative full roster with many that you give another year or two to see if they continue to develop with Wemby. And I'm including everyone from Vassell and Sochan to Mamu and Champ.
3. Finally, we are shaping up to have an unparalleled access to free agents moving forward that we can sign given Wemby's almost unheard of draw with them as multiple reports have suggested of vets wanting to come play here. That's never happened here before and certainly not to the extent it seems possible.
4. Having young well skilled players is a win-win in that regard. You either stash and develop talent in Austin that can help win championships or you use said talent to help facilitate trades of said restricted vets on expiring contracts.
Now as for the #4 pick, I think that is one you ideally have plans for immediately or at least by next year. If you take that philosophy, you take a guard /wing combo like Castle or a defensively minded forward/guard combo like Buzelis, imo.
Last edited by offset formation; 06-23-2024 at 01:04 PM.
GIT R DUN
sochan does this too
So Salaun at 4 or 8?
GIT R DUN
Oh God we're drafting him aren't we.
michaelscott.gif
GIT R DUN
Might as well create his draft thread
What's Matas Buzelis doing there.
Unfortunately - there is no one to make heads roll or hold PAFTO accountable. Most likely scenario is that Wright gets blamed and PAFTO fires him without a single look in the mirror.
31 will look good up in the rafters next to 32
There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
