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Okay, add in that NOP gets sold to a new ownership group led by Anne Rice, Trent Reznor Lil Wayne and Brad Pitt. Then my scenario happens.
Meh them, cheap ass Tom Benson Wife makes them share their medical staff with the Saints and low and behold everyone is always hurt there because the Saints are the priority. They don't deserve success.
Okay, add in that NOP gets sold to a new ownership group led by Anne Rice, Trent Reznor Lil Wayne and Brad Pitt. Then my scenario happens.
I have bad news about Anne Rice.
Can any of her parts be salvaged and sent along in the trade to CHA for use on Mark Williams?
Depends where he’s picked. Also depends what happens with guys like Vassell and KJ. If he has the ability to play off the ball, and that isn’t really clear yet, I don’t have a problem bringing him along slowly in the rotation or off the bench, as long as that isn’t permanent or viewed as his ceiling.
As currently slotted (10&15) do you see us keeping both picks this year?
My answer would depend on what they’re doing with the roster. We essentially have two open spots now,and Bassey and Mamu are ending contracts. Other players may also be on the move,either creating or using roster spots. I guess I would say that if they feel that they have roster spots,they could use both FRPs.
I like this answer because we are on a lucky streak in the draft. Why not keep pulling the handle when you know the team has multiple needs to fill. Then the new salary cap rules will also make it hugely advantageous to have performing young players on rookie deals. The board has also been fluid, Demin was once #5 now #15. McNeeley surging to #12 but still within our range. There are endless possibilities with our picks. Kalkbrenner ranked #44 we pick #40. Prospects can always be traded soon thereafter, such as Knecht.
It's actually a simple calculation. If you don't win one of the top 4 picks, then you want a potential starter with a lottery pick and that's either Knueppel or McNeely in addition to Wemby, Fox and Castle. (I'm not sure about Tre). Both will probably no longer be on the board for pick 10. So the Spurs will probably have to try to trade up a few spots. We'll see who ends up getting picks 5 to 8 and whether a trade is possible. From the current perspective, for example, picks 7 and 27 would probably be better for the Spurs than 10 and 15. (With a 25-30 pick you can draft a backup big)
I think so, if only to secure some cheap labor they want to develop. By the end of 2026 you have a few players who can naturally roll off their deals in Barnes, Wesley, Branham. Keldons contract looks like a good candidate to be moved by then too.
I predict we get Top Four or Five
I dunno how, just my intuition.......
Let's talk McNeeley. Even if he didn't go for 38 last week, I'm trending toward being higher on him than previously. He's been compared to Kispert in the past, but I wanted to see how he compares to other similar drafted players over the years.
Arbitrary bart torvik query:
6'7"+, 3PA/100 > 8, FT% > 80, 3P% > 35, 1st round draft picks
Basically, I wanted to look at tall wing shooters with high 3 point volume, high free throw percentage, and decent 3 point percentage - 3 quick and dirty factors predictive of future shooting
The hit rate for this query was actually very high for productive NBA players, which I've touched on before - shooting generally translates extremely reliably in taller players. Of the matches, I weeded out guys who were more shooting guards (Grady ) and stretch 4s (Ryan Anderson, Lauri Bird). Guys like Paul George, Trey Murphy III, Brandon Miller, and Ben Mathurin are on a different level athletically and were also weeded out.
After some subjective weeding out, this is the list: wing/forward shooters with average athleticism, positionally 3/4s
Age USG 2Pt% Def BPR AST:TO DREB% FTR Liam McNeeley 19 23.9 47.6 2.42 1 21 45.4 Corey Kispert 20 13.6 57.3 1.65 1.2 12.3 13.4 Cameron Johnson 21 16.3 51 0.52 2 12.8 26.1 Doug McDermott 20 28.5 63.2 -0.01 0.6 20.5 32.7 Gordon Hayward 19 19.2 51.9 - 1.2 17.8 47.8
I thought about adding Kon Knueppel to this list as he compares very favorably, but he seems much more of a 2/3 given his smaller stature.
The other 4 guys on this list all turned out to be fairly productive players. Kispert's low FT rate suggested he had difficulty with physicality and his handle was poor, and was used primarily as a spot up shooter. Cam Johnson was a poor defender, and McDermott was a bottom-tier defender. Gordon Hayward was pretty solid in all respects at the youngest age and not surprisingly turned out to be the best pro.
The most interesting thing about McNeeley here is that much like Hayward, he has a very high free throw rate which is highly unusual in high volume wing shooters. If you look at wing forward draft picks by FTR and 3PA/100, you see almost an inverse correlation. Prospects are either strong at rim pressure/free throw drawing and not great shooters (Kyle Anderson, Rui Hachimura, Aaron Gordon), or shoot a high volume of 3s but don't draw fouls (Knueppel, Jett Howard, Grady , Trey Murphy III). It's fairly rare to have someone who both shoots a high volume of 3s and gets to the line a bunch. He's also not a zero on defense like quite a few of his comps, and while his AST:TO is on the low side, it's important to note that his AST% compares favorably to just about everyone on this list. He basically produces better at a younger age than many of his "wing shooter" comparisons.
Overall, while I'm not typically a fan of drafting one-dimensional shooters in the lottery, McNeeley's profile suggests that he may be more. I still don't quite know what to make of him, but we do know that 1) tall wings that exhibit a strong shooting signal early typically succeed in the league and 2) he has certain statistical indicators suggesting a much more well-rounded offensive profile and overall better player than someone who only functions as a "floor spacer". I think if you can get something between Kispert and Gordon Hayward, that would give your other forward more leeway with regards to shooting limitations.
I continue to be high on Will Riley. His stock has fallen after his horrible shooting stretch but I think the shot will translate and he’s also showing some creation upside, which would put him in an entirely different tier of prospects if real.
I know he has limitations defensively, he’s super skinny and he’d probably take a year or two to get up to speed in the NBA but long term I like him.
We can’t get five. At least I hope not.
I like how productive McNeeley is on the boards. He's physical and scrappy in addition to being a shooter.
I'm pretty high on McNeely too. I have him #7 overall on my board currently. On Riley, I'm a little higher than most. Currently, he's #18 on my board compared to #34 on TaT.
In our range i'd be happy with either Knueppl or McNeeley. They are both some of the best shooters in the draft. Knueppl is a little shorter listed at 6'7" but i think he is more like 6'5"-6'6" and could be considered slightly better play maker. Kcneeley is bigger listed at 6'8" (and looks to be close to that) and is a better rebounder. Id probably take McNeeley 1st as he has that combination of size, shooting and rebounding that we need. , id take both of them if we can!
can he at least adequately defend SFs?
if so, imo he's a smash grab with our earliest pick (provided we dont vault into top 4)
My ideal starting future starting 5 configuration for this team:
Offense: 2 rim pressuring guards, 2 jumbo shooting wings, mobile center who gets offensive boards, screens, DHO ballhandler
Defense: 1 quick guard to defend jitterbug PGs, 2 strong/long POA defenders, Wemby at center
At the beginning of the season:
Jeremiah Fears, Castle, Markannen, Sochan, Wemby
Fears and Castle to pressure the rim, Wemby and Lauri as your jumbo shooting wings, Sochan as your mobile center
I still think this is the optimal configuration, but now with more information and the Fox trade, we can adjust this a little bit:
Fox, Castle, McNeeley, Collin Murray-Boyles, Wemby
Fox and Castle to pressure the rim, Wemby and McNeeley as your jumbo shooting wings, CMB as your mobile center and second POA defender after Castle
If McNeeley and CMB are who their numbers and tape suggest they are, this has the potential to be a monster lineup. Fox is basically Fears' 80th percentile outcome, while McNeeley's shooting numbers suggest he can pull off a reasonable poor man's impression of Lauri offensively while not giving up as much defensively (defensive BPR 2.4 for McNeeley vs 1.1 for Lauri, age 19 season). As for CMB, I will go into detail later in the year, but based on both film and numbers so far (combination of body type, 'feel' stats, other metrics), this is the closest any prospect has come to Draymond's archetype since Draymond. I envision him acting as a DHO hub, constantly setting illegal Bam-style screens to either free up shooters or get guards to the rim while playmaking out of the short roll, and bodying smaller guys switched onto him.
Best part of this lineup? Don't even need a top 4 pick in the lottery. Just a little bit of luck with the Hawks losing the play-in and maybe a few bad McNeeley performances to tank his stock a little bit, and you can reasonable see these guys attainable at 9 and 12.
Looking forward to your CMB report.
I'm pretty sold on McNeeley in our range. I don't think he's plug-and-play ready, but I don't think anyone is in our range. I'd expect whoever we pick around #10 to get the same kind of rookie treatment that Vassell did (as opposed to Sochan), and I think that is both okay and appropriate.
I liked the way McNeeley moved off the ball when I saw him live in Maui. He's grown a lot as a player since then.
Maybe with our second round pick we get 7'1" center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Good shot blocker/rebounder and has potential to stretch the floor.
Rocco Zikarsky
7'3"
Spurs had the best scouts during our golden years
Hope they can unearth some jewels again....
George Felton has been head of college scouting for the Spurs since 2006.
He was instrumental in drafting Castle after assessing his insane level of coachability and mental toughness. I trust his read on this bunch of college players.
It will be interesting to see if the Spurs go foreign or domestic with their higher picks.
Many here would have drafed Castle at 4. That wasn't so hard to figure. Who was responsible for drafting Primo?
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