BREAKING: Spurs Select F Carter Bryant 14th Overall in the 2025 NBA Draft

[ginobilized]

What a great personality and obviously a bright kid. His game will develop, but, he's got the quintessential Spurs qualities.
Tremendous amount of positive energy.

Psyched to watch him learn the game.

[TimmyBuckets]

Another perfect draft for the Spurs and another great player fell in our lap. He'll get minutes on his defense and off-ball vision alone. Plus he can shoot!

[cutewizard]

Salivating on the defensive capability of the trio >> Wemby-Castle-Carter Bryant........

[cutewizard]

Predicting that Carter Bryant will win one of those community service/community recognition awards in the future........

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[PhantomDashCam]

Salivating on the defensive capability of the trio >> Wemby-Castle-Carter Bryant........

What about the Quartet of Wemby-Sochan-Castle-CB? Or you out on Sochan?

[cutewizard]

What about the Quartet of Wemby-Sochan-Castle-CB? Or you out on Sochan?

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Sochan is yet to prove he can be in the regular rotation moving forward, hmmmm....

but yes, and imagine if we obtain Kornet......

Kornet, Wemby, Sochan, Castle and Bryant ...........

[Kawhi Duncan]

hope we play him at SF instead of PF...small ball doesn't win...big teams have been the overwhelming majority of NBA champions even in the modern era...we need an actual big at PF, but one that can shoot...size and versatility is what wins....not small ball...

[Ice009]

Thanks for the information JMarkJohns. Not loving the sounds of him needing to work on his "lateral agility" that you mentioned, but hopefully he can improve on that to stay with players and not rely on length and recovery the whole time. He's got all the other tools to be a good defender. Just needs to learn positioning a bit better too from the sounds of it and not jump as often/get sucked into a foul.

[mudyez]

So he is more of a Matisse Thybulle than a lock down defender?

[Dejounte]

Thanks for the information JMarkJohns. Not loving the sounds of him needing to work on his "lateral agility" that you mentioned, but hopefully he can improve on that to stay with players and not rely on length and recovery the whole time. He's got all the other tools to be a good defender. Just needs to learn positioning a bit better too from the sounds of it and not jump as often/get sucked into a foul.

The lack of agility is why he’s suited more for the PF role than a full time SF one. In many ways, he’s exactly like Barnes who has the same limitations. On the bright side, Bryant’s standing reach stacks up well against other PFs.

[JMarkJohns]

The lack of agility is why he’s suited more for the PF role than a full time SF one. In many ways, he’s exactly like Barnes who has the same limitations. On the bright side, Bryant’s standing reach stacks up well against other PFs.

And I should clarify. IMO, it’s not that he doesn’t have it once it gets going, but I mentioned stiff hipped and I truly feel his lateral agility is stuck in the sand for a split second or two too long. Once he’s moving, it shows up again. So it’s not that he doesn’t have it at all. But he needs some training and exercises that works past whatever stalls him initially.

He has great explosive tendencies athletically, but the quick twitch aspect in some of it needs work.

I think he can get better at it.

[JMarkJohns]

So he is more of a Matisse Thybulle than a lock down defender?

He’s definitely not a lock down defender right now, but has his moments. I said Kelly Oubre because he’s a menace with deflections and generates both steals and blocks, but also grabs rebounds at an above positional clip at SF but can swing to PF at times.

[Mugen]

Hey everyone. Spurs and Thunder were the absolute ideal fits for Carter. Let’s chat about him with some advanced good bad ugly and what I as a lifelong Arizona fan believe his upside/fit to be.

First, he is a person of outstanding character and a basketball lifer. He loves the mental side of the game, so film study and coaching up will be easy. He surrounds himself with positive influences and that mentality will benefit the entire team as he’s been a lynchpin teammate amidst success at every level of play. Incredible family and incredible people who will make Spurs org proud.

Ok, let’s talk his game.

Ideal NBA frame for SF. 6-8 in shoes, good shoulders and hips to add more strength. Long-ish reach with plus plus explosive athleticism. Averaged 2 stocks in 19 mpg. Good rebounder. Has the makings of a good defender, be it an athletic deflection generator type, or actual on-ball. His shot wavered a bit in stretches, but was consistently 34-38% all season, and his March was incredible as he found his stride while playing season high minutes per, and this came vs some of the hardest part of the Wildcats Schedule including @ISU, Houston, @KU, Big12 Tournament including Tech and Houston again, then tournament including Duke.

Where Carter must prove/improve is lateral agility. So much of his defensive upside is theoretical because he got burned off the dribble a decent bit. Length, athleticism allowed for chase down, recovery defense, but on-ball, he definitely felt stiff-hipped or heavy-footed perimeter in. Probably mostly fixable given his overall athleticism and his coach ability.

Main area of concern is just how limited he seemed to be with ball in his hands when not shooting. Was this timidity? Overly passive because he was a freshman on a veteran squad? Not sure. I really wanted to see more dribble drives attacking space, specifically off scrambling defenses. This should be a point of emphasis the first few years, IMO. His offensive upside doubles when he becomes super aggressive driving to hoop. He makes smart passes, so it could unlock some motion facilitation as well if he’s able to do some 2-3-4 dribble drives into the paint. Practice that lob for Wemby after 2-3 dribbles as a defense scrambles.

I would also stress the importance for him to have some sort of pull up J or floater for the inbetween game for when teams would rather keep the paint packed around Wemby than scramble to contest perimeter or inbetween spaces.

Not sure he’s ever going to have a bulldog mentality, but he will be a good fit as a 3/D with moments of dynamic athleticism.

All season I compared him to Kelly Oubre. I think it still fits: good sized dynamic athlete who rebounds well, generates stocks, can shoot in halfcourt and dunk hard in transition and off backcuts, but who isn’t a put the ball on the floor or shoot from the bounce type of offensive threat.

100% of Arizona Wildcat fans were excited he landed with Spurs.

Nice writeup, thanks tbh.

[Ice009]

Thanks. Appreciate the scouting report on him. Sounds like he can still improve on it which is great because he actually wants to play defense. You can't say that about a lot of player. Him wanting to play defense at a high level is half the battle IMO.

[JMarkJohns]

Thanks. Appreciate the scouting report on him. Sounds like he can still improve on it which is great because he actually wants to play defense. You can't say that about a lot of player. Him wanting to play defense at a high level is half the battle IMO.

I think it’s one of the areas focused training and agility sessions will improve. Will he hang with everyone at SF at strong levels at his best? Not sure, but Kelly Oubre with on-ball versatility is a of a defender on the wings. Most preps need it.

[Uriel]

How does Bryant compare with Patrick Williams?

[BatManu20]

Damn Carter was putting up some monster stat-lines in HS

[JMarkJohns]

How does Bryant compare with Patrick Williams?

I don’t see that comparison at all.

[TrainOfThought5]

intriguing pick, but i would not have made it. I would have gone with drake powell, as he seem a better overall defensive prospect based on numbers alone. I also struggle to see the fit with the starters, but he should be a godsend for the bench players

people forget that we need great bench players too

[Uriel]

I don’t see that comparison at all.

Aren’t they both 3-and-D wings with positional size and versatility?

[JMarkJohns]

Aren’t they both 3-and-D wings with positional size and versatility?

I’ve never associated Williams as a wing. He’s an undersized stretch PF. He definitely can shoot. Plays good D. Maybe that’s some sort of floor. I think Carter has more dynamic range to his game and more dynamic verticality. With time Carter should be a truer SF than PF, but it depends on what Spurs want from him.

As a prep Carter showed a low of secondary or transition facilitation. So he has some playmaker upside, I think it just needs structure.

[SpursBills]

https://x.com/balldontstop/status/1745310938381828547

Carter Bryant's high school highlights are actually surprising - not with respect to his stats, but just aesthetically looks like a completely different player here compared to how he was utilized at Arizona

[JMarkJohns]

https://x.com/balldontstop/status/1745310938381828547

Carter Bryant's high school highlights are actually surprising - not with respect to his stats, but just aesthetically looks like a completely different player here compared to how he was utilized at Arizona

It’s always tough to gauge prep stats as protectable, but it was a weird freshman season because the secondary and transition facilitation was just never there compared to his prep days.

I have a feeling it was an over-simplification due to Arizona entering the season as a veteran heavy team. Then they lost all 5 ranked matchups in Non-conference with Carter in a minimal role.

Once he actually started playing Arizona’s season turned around. His shots picked up, his percentage steadied and then maxed out in March, but those facilitation skills never showed up. I was looking forward to it in year 2. I’ll need ti wait longer now, but I like his upside in Spurs hands.

[TimmyBuckets]

If we don't grab a shooter, he's getting decent minutes this year for sure.

[Dejounte]

https://x.com/balldontstop/status/1745310938381828547

Carter Bryant's high school highlights are actually surprising - not with respect to his stats, but just aesthetically looks like a completely different player here compared to how he was utilized at Arizona

https://youtu.be/ejkdn1k8BI4?feature=shared

high school keldon looked different too.