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Among French players, Antoine Diot (automatically eligible) would be a heck of a second round pick. The only player I think is worth gambling a first round pick is Evan Fournier (born in 1992).
Ding ding ding ding ding!
Strong passer, good shooter, high BBIQ and good size at 6'3.
A wing might make more sense, but this guy would be a solid pick and might be the BPA when our turn comes up. Hes a senior too so no presumed upside. I hope hes an option.
Among French players, Antoine Diot (automatically eligible) would be a heck of a second round pick. The only player I think is worth gambling a first round pick is Evan Fournier (born in 1992).
Do you think Fournier would declare? Hes only 18.
Also, is he a better draft 'n stash prospect than Xavi Rabaseda?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP4fAYgioyw
http://www.marca.com/2011/01/24/balo...295871143.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSMEPos4mEM
Looks like a very good late rd pick to me...
It could take a first round promise for Fournier to enter in the draft and stay in it. Given Spurs weak first round pick and the weakness of the draft, promising the first round pick wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea.
Rabaseda is in Barcelona's net. He may be an interesting player but good luck with luring him out of Spain. When looking at European players for the draft, contract/personal situation should be closely monitored. There even have now players like Raduljica and Shved who asked not to be drafted. Barring the new CBA changes a lot the rookie salaries/contracts, spending a late first round pick, with all its financial restrictions, on a player like to the best team in Europe doesn't seem wise.
Good point about Rabaseda and Barcelona. He is Catalonian as well to top it all off making him even more valuable in league play to his team. You're right to think he might never leave.
It definitely looks like the Spurs will be drafting last this season with the 30th and 60th picks. That, coupled with an unusually weak draft crop, means that their pick will likely be spent on long-shot players. Plus they won't have a whole lot of trade value. Draft n' stash seems to make a fair amount of sense as a result.
If you're going to take a player in the draft and keep him then you'll probably needs to look at players that play to the strengths of the draft. SF's and PG's are in vogue this year with more raw ability at the wing and more refinement at the lead guard.
Demetri McCamey is very intriguing to me because of where hes slated to go and how good he looks.
At 60 it's definitely a crap shoot. It will probably have zero trade value, and you won't find anyone you're likely to keep that late, so international is only natural. Who are some of the deep options for 60?
Antoine Diot
Milan Macvan
Xavi Rabaseda - if by some miracle his contract scares all suitors away I think you pull the trigger at 60 just because
I wonder if the Spurs might consider sending future draft picks to the Toros instead of overseas? Might be a case by case basis, but I'm curious if picks they make who need developing, automatically get loaned out to overseas teams, or does it depend on what stage the player is at in terms of development?
I fully expect to see jerrels and Gist in camp next season for another shot at making the roster. Would not be bad idea to start stocking austin or international teams with possible prospects with these low end draft picks and see if any can develop.
Well they've actually been working on that for the last couple of years:
Ryan Richards
Nando de Colo
Also, Jack McClinton was an attempt at the same thing and James Gist was overseas for several years with his rights still held by the Spurs until last season when he was waived after training camp.
I was talking about trying to get more players to Austin (ie ian mahinmi) I realize the international pipeline has been open for many years. thanks though.
The thing is that the D-League is nowhere near the level of compe ion in Europe, maybe around less valuable national euro championships. So on the one hand you have the players at your disposal near you and you raise them in the mold, on the other hand the players will play against far better opponents in europe, and wil get accustomed to real compe ion. So it might depend on the skills of the players. Lowly skilled player would really benefit the Austin experience, as they won't have the required level to play in high level clubs in Europe. For highly skilled players, that should be the contrary, cause as soon as they crack the rotation in europe, they will learn far more.
Not sure Gary Neal would have been the player he is without playing in europe (the same for Manu).
Not only that, the pay is . Someone was saying in another thread that Larry Owens made more in his two 10 day contracts ($52,000 for 10 games) than he will for the total d-league season. A decent American player has no problem making a couple hundred $K per season in Europe.
That was actually me that said that. And it's true. A D-League player makes somwhere between 20k to 30k with housing expenses paid. So a 10 day contract or two is HUGE for them as it doubles or even triples their income. We did a huge solid to Garrett Temple, Curtis Jerrells, Alonzo Gee and the likes by subsidizing their living.
Also, a training camp invite pays significant cash (maybe 10k to 15k) and can significantly help a player stay "local" in the US with the D-League.
Median pay in the US for ANY job is 42k per year. The D-League will continue to remain a very weak league until its players start making more than poverty payments.
I really like Keith Benson as the last pick of the first round. I love D. Blair, but if he is a long term Spur (post Duncan) it is essential that we acquire talented 6'11" - 7' bigs to keep us from being a short team. It is really hard to find these guys without a glaring weakness (otherwise they are a top 5 pick). What I like about Benson is his defense fits in with the spurs (#1 in the NCAA in blocks) but he gets knocked for his body mass and being a finesse player. I am not saying this guy can be Pau Gasol, but if he puts on some weight he could turn into a very nice fit. It is afterall going to be the last pick in the first and i don't see very many great targets.
Benson is an interesting prospect to consider. Hes a serious lightweight though thats also pretty seriously raw. On top of that hes playing at a pretty low level at Oakland - of course, IUPUI wasn't any more significant.
Hes one to keep your eye on, but hes definitely a long-term project. He might not really contribute for a few years.
Honestly, Benson could be a workout wonder with his excellent wingspan and quality athleticism. Considering the weak big man crop this draft I could see a team reaching for him pretty easily. Hes probably not worth taking above 30, but he very well could be gone.
Benson sounds like an interesting propsect. And I agree they should probably look at an athletic big. However given the fact that they took Ryan Richards in the 2nd round last year, if your the Spurs, would they really be seeking another big this season? Of course, there are no guarantees that either player will work out.
If the spurs have Benson on top of there board when they draft 29th or 30th then they will go after him. BPA = best player available, that is the spurs motto come draftday. It seems as though the spurs have mastered the art of drafting late in the draft since they have done it so often. Part of that is being patient and keeping your hand close to the vest.
If Benson shows anything in workouts, he'll go in the lottery. Big men are always ovevalued and overdrafted. Look at Ekpi Udoh. He went in the lottery, and can barely hit the floor for a dreadful GS team. Teams "reach" more for bigs than any other position.
If we're looking for a big man, I really like JaJuan Johnson from Purdue at the 30th pick. He's got a great shot.
I don't see Johnson left on the board by pick #30. Would love to get him if he were there though.
I don't really see any desirable bigs in the draft at 30. There are several decent tall long SF's though that might be worth a long look and several guards. Although guard isn't a position of need, I'd rather get a player worthy of a spot in the rotation more than a big not even worthy of the small contract a number 30 would yield.
At 60 though the Spurs might be able to take Milan Macvan whom a number of posters were high on last year. That would give us two distinctly different kinds of bigs in the pipeline. I still would like a shotblocker project...something like Serge Ibaka. But you take whats available when you draft dead last.
It's a draft, too. Spurs may just dump their first rounder, or draft and stash. Why pay a guarantee to a room temperature talent? They still have two twenty-somethings in Splitter and JA to incorporate into the rotation next year, and Richards to develop. We literally have young talent falling out of our assholes.
Valid point. I'm just not sure who you draft n' stash. Rabaseda made sense but Bruno brought up some valid concerns regarding him. Also, the 30th pick in an otherwise weak draft won't warrant much consideration from other teams. Best case scenario might be that we get a couple million in cash for it.
With 11 players under contract next season (counting mcdyess) the spurs have many options for their late 1st rd pick. I would guess draft and stash for both picks unless a player falls to them they think very highly of. Basically, the coming draft and probably the offseason in general is going to be extremly boring for spurs fans.
What about Patric Young? He really hasn't been playing, but that's the only way I see him land to the Spurs, otherwise, he's probably gone.
From what I've seen of him play, he seems to play pretty smart and he does the little things which doesn't show up in his rather sad 3/3 line.
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