Reddit reacts to the Spurs picking SloMo at #30

[pgardn]

Sure but VIA trade. I'm saying straight up draft. I'm sure if we had lottery picks every year we'd be banking.Then again, one lottery pick is all the spurs ever need

Uhhhhh....

This is even more impressive. KL had some question marks.
Dribbling.
3's

Leonard has turned into a genius move. This kid has become so much more of a complete player.

[BatManu20]

As long are we don't overrate him, he's going to be good. Can't wait to watch SlowMo tbh. Watched him (and the whole team) closely since they play all of UCLA's games out here. Even saw him play in person last season against Oakland at Pauley Pavilion. He's going to be a good role player, even with his lack of athleticism.

[BatManu20]

Get readyyy

[xmas1997]

Get readyyy

Cool.

[Solid D]

I'm looking forward to Bill Schoening or Bill Land making the pbp call: "And Kyle drives the lane...wait for it...wait for it..."

[sexinthatsx]

The only reason I can see why you're overrating the Spurs drafting system is because you're probably still expecting a pick like Tony Parker or Ginobili to come waltzing in the door. Give credit where credit is due - TP and Gino are two players whose careers can never be replicated by any late first round / second round pick in the near future.

[sexinthatsx]

71% record as a starter in the NBA.

Blair was simply the better option as the starting center for the Spurs at the time. If a lump of coal was drafted in the second round, it'd probably end up beating Matt Bonner for the starting spot But in all honesty, Blair was good, but he's nothing spectacular

[exstatic]

The only reason I can see why you're overrating the Spurs drafting system is because you're probably still expecting a pick like Tony Parker or Ginobili to come waltzing in the door. Give credit where credit is due - TP and Gino are two players whose careers can never be replicated by any late first round / second round pick in the near future.

Spurs drafted Splitter at #27 in 2007. Spurs drafted Hill at #26 in 2008 and turned him into Kawhi (Finals MVP and NBA All D) and Bertans, who we haven't even seen yet. I think this #30 pick will be just as good.

[littlecoyotecoin]

Blair was simply the better option as the starting center for the Spurs at the time. If a lump of coal was drafted in the second round, it'd probably end up beating Matt Bonner for the starting spot But in all honesty, Blair was good, but he's nothing spectacular

No one is trying to over-state Blair's worth. The very fact that he has played at all, same goes for all the others mentioned including even Nando, is that at the positions they were drafted at, players are not likely to make an NBA roster at all. The Spurs are running at a significantly higher probability. Shooting down some on the list as mediocre or poor players misses the point that their counterparts on other teams are often detailing cars, or managing a Burger King instead of playing in the NBA at all, even poorly.

[exstatic]

Blair was simply the better option as the starting center for the Spurs at the time. If a lump of coal was drafted in the second round, it'd probably end up beating Matt Bonner for the starting spot But in all honesty, Blair was good, but he's nothing spectacular

Blair had PERs over 17 for his first 3 years, and made less than $4M for four years, TOTAL. Hardly a lump of coal, and a bargain, to boot.

[littlecoyotecoin]

The only reason I can see why you're overrating the Spurs drafting system is because you're probably still expecting a pick like Tony Parker or Ginobili to come waltzing in the door. Give credit where credit is due - TP and Gino are two players whose careers can never be replicated by any late first round / second round pick in the near future.

I may have missed something. There is a disconnect. I'm not sure where you're getting those impressions from, but the conversation really hasn't even included Tony and Manu much. It was much more focused on more recent draft years, since those two, and what a superb job the front office has done SINCE then, and continues to do, and relative to their draft position how much more likely the player has been to make an NBA roster than an average selection at those positions. There has literally been almost NO talk or NO talk about EXPECTING another Manu to be selected in the late fifties or another Parker near 30. Those are HOF players.

[littlecoyotecoin]

Blair had PERs over 17 for his first 3 years, and made less than $4M for four years, TOTAL. Hardly a lump of coal, and a bargain, to boot.

Yup. And he was quite the spark-plug and pain in the ass vs. Dallas this past year, to boot.

[Obstructed_View]

Blair was simply the better option as the starting center for the Spurs at the time. If a lump of coal was drafted in the second round, it'd probably end up beating Matt Bonner for the starting spot But in all honesty, Blair was good, but he's nothing spectacular

Bonner sucks, it's true. And Blair's no world beater, but the fact remains: He is a good rotation player in the NBA, which is simply very rare for someone picked at his spot. Probably puts him in the top 20 percent of guys picked there.

[sexinthatsx]

I may have missed something. There is a disconnect. I'm not sure where you're getting those impressions from, but the conversation really hasn't even included Tony and Manu much. It was much more focused on more recent draft years, since those two, and what a superb job the front office has done SINCE then, and continues to do, and relative to their draft position how much more likely the player has been to make an NBA roster than an average selection at those positions. There has literally been almost NO talk or NO talk about EXPECTING another Manu to be selected in the late fifties or another Parker near 30. Those are HOF players.

It's not about the lack of mentioning them in this thread as much as it is subconscious thinking that Spurs are always going to miraculously turn draft picks into high quality players. My original message was intended for g_shred. I should've been more clear though

[littlecoyotecoin]

It's not about the lack of mentioning them in this thread as much as it is subconscious thinking that Spurs are always going to miraculously turn draft picks into high quality players. My original message was intended for g_shred. I should've been more clear though

Ok, thanks. I was a participant, and I know that wasn't in my subconscious, and I don't think Exstatic or Obstructed View would agree it was in their subconscious, either. I'll admit I lost track of the conversation a bit over the last 24. Take care.

[sexinthatsx]

Bonner sucks, it's true. And Blair's no world beater, but the fact remains: He is a good rotation player in the NBA, which is simply very rare for someone picked at his spot. Probably puts him in the top 20 percent of guys picked there.

I agree, I just wanted to turn the thread into another Matt Bonner bash thread

But the spot Dejuan Blair was drafted at comes with a caveat: the guy was projected to be a top lottery draft pick until the red flags showed up about him having no ACLs. I think he would've gone no later than 15th without those red flags

[littlecoyotecoin]

I agree, I just wanted to turn the thread into another Matt Bonner bash thread

But the spot Dejuan Blair was drafted at comes with a caveat: the guy was projected to be a top lottery draft pick until the red flags showed up about him having no ACLs. I think he would've gone no later than 15th without those red flags

It is what it is. The Spurs still had the confidence to draft him where others passed. It would be nice to see how many selected before him are no longer in the NBA or never were.

[Obstructed_View]

But the spot Dejuan Blair was drafted at comes with a caveat: the guy was projected to be a top lottery draft pick until the red flags showed up about him having no ACLs. I think he would've gone no later than 15th without those red flags

Not sure how that matters. Most every other team had a shot at him and passed, much like the other players we've been discussing. They got huge value for their pick, which is becoming the norm for them.

[FireMicoHalili]

Really great value for Blair at 37, and the Spurs probably eked out the most from him than any other team will. Read somewhere that without ACLs his career doesn't project to be a long one. Spurs got him on the cheap for four years (probably the best stretch of his career). Everything else after would be diminishing returns lest he develop a jump shot, especially in an era where PFs without jump shots have little to no value.

[littlecoyotecoin]

Really great value for Blair at 37, and the Spurs probably eked out the most from him than any other team will. Read somewhere that without ACLs his career doesn't project to be a long one. Spurs got him on the cheap for four years (probably the best stretch of his career). Everything else after would be diminishing returns lest he develop a jump shot, especially in an era where PFs without jump shots have little to no value.

All excellent points wrt time-value. Exstatic quoted some dollar values earlier. The Spurs did well with him, value-wise, and you're right, it is err on the side of caution to let him go early. The muscles don't hold the joint together as well all by themselves. Over time, I imagine it like a worn out bushing, and that bone rattling around in there like an auger or pick with more mobility than normal within the space will probably chew stuff up at a faster pace.

[cd021]

But the spot Dejuan Blair was drafted at comes with a caveat: the guy was projected to be a top lottery draft pick until the red flags showed up about him having no ACLs. I think he would've gone no later than 15th without those red flags

It doesn't change the fact that he was an steal at the 37th pick. Players slide all of the time medical related or not. Perry Jones slid to 29th do to his knees being red flagged (he was projected to be a late lottery pick).

Jared Sullinger was also red flagged due to the back injured he was considered to be a late lottery pick as well.

The Spurs still took a chance in taking Blair and it worked out very well. He produced like a first round pick and was payed as a second rounder ($3.7 million for 4 season)

[RD2191]

DJB would probably still be serviceable on the Spurs if he wasn't a huge got, tbh.

[scanry]

By far the Dunk of the year. The missed dunk on Birdman should've been the one tbh.

[scanry]

DJB would probably still be serviceable on the Spurs if he wasn't a huge got, tbh.

Not really. He was an undersized, no defense/rebounding, shoot happy cancer of a player. In contrast, Banes is much much better. We've actually lacked a banger from 2007-2012 who would just body up teams like in our previous championship seasons.

1. 1999 - Ellie/J Jackson/Kersey/Rose/Purdue/David
2. 2003 - Rose/Willis/S Jackson/David
3. 2005 - Horry/T Mass/Nazr/Robinson
4. 2007 - Horry/Manu

We had a very soft team in 2007. Manu actually played very physical that post season. The Utah series got physical and Manu laid them out. The 1999 squad however was by far our scariest team. Not only were tough as nails, we were never able to replicate that defense after that. Much like this years offense.

[Sean Cagney]

Not really. He was an undersized, no defense/rebounding, shoot happy cancer of a player. In contrast, Banes is much much better. We've actually lacked a banger from 2007-2012 who would just body up teams like in our previous championship seasons.

1. 1999 - Ellie/J Jackson/Kersey/Rose/Purdue/David
2. 2003 - Rose/Willis/S Jackson/David
3. 2005 - Horry/T Mass/Nazr/Robinson
4. 2007 - Horry/Manu

We had a very soft team in 2007. Manu actually played very physical that post season. The Utah series got physical and Manu laid them out. The 1999 squad however was by far our scariest team. Not only were tough as nails, we were never able to replicate that defense after that. Much like this years offense.

That 1999 team was a defensive lovers wet dream! Man that team would shut you down! They would win games 72-65 in that team, the OLD D Spurs! YES SO BORING! LOL. I love defense personally so that team was one of my faves.