Spurs Select Sidy Cissoko with the 44th Overall Pick in the 2023 NBA Draft

[talkspurs]

Ehhh. A lot of people think he can 'turn it around' somehow.

I dont think I have seen many that have wanted just him. I have seen the assets and then if he turns it around even better but they realize that he would still be overpaid and the trade would mostly be for the assets.

[spurraider21]

Ehhh. A lot of people think he can 'turn it around' somehow.

Think the consensus right now is Brooklyn would have to pay to get rid of him. Does anybody here really think we should be paying Brooklyn for simmons?

[Maddog]

Disagree. There is definitely a pathway for Sidy to become a rotation player sooner than later. The coaches were raving about him during summer league and he has shown a lot more than someone like KBD in all the three years he was here. Sidy’s floor is KBD, IMO. And by floor, I don’t really mean they are similar in any way. I mean production-wise.

Hmmm
I'm agreeing to your disagreeing
When I watched the draft unfold, I sort of thought after they unloaded the earlier 2nd round pick they just sort of drafted someone to draft someone. While that maybe true to some extent- He's really surprised me. He's got skills that make him readily playable-feel for the game/ball handling/passing, effort on defense. Definitely has flaws (Brick and foul machine) if he didn't he'd have gone earlier. however fouls got better through summer league.

[tesseractive]

We have a ton of young guys who are more developed and who need NBA minutes right now. I'd rather keep Sidy mostly in Austin where he'll be featured and able to work every night on his shot as well as on refining his defense and reducing his number of fouls. If we have injuries and need someone, then we can call him up and see how he does on the Spurs. I love his potential, but he should have some time to develop.

[Knoxxx]

I really like how strong Cissoko is. How about a Boris Diaw comparison?

So he seems like he should be our third 2-way player, but someone posted (the rumor?) that he was getting a regular contract or has this been substantiated?

[spurraider21]

I really like how strong Cissoko is. How about a Boris Diaw comparison?

So he seems like he should be our third 2-way player, but someone posted (the rumor?) that he was getting a regular contract or has this been substantiated?

he already signed a 3 year nba contract

[rjv]

I really like how strong Cissoko is. How about a Boris Diaw comparison?

So he seems like he should be our third 2-way player, but someone posted (the rumor?) that he was getting a regular contract or has this been substantiated?

when watching cissoko in the summer league, he certainly demonstrated the sort of playmaking boris had. i hope he can eventually develop enough offensively to find a way into the rotation because he does appear to have a nice feel for the game.

[spurraider21]

i dont know that cissoko showed diaw's playmaking so much as he flashed some of that natural passing ability.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

I really like how strong Cissoko is. How about a Boris Diaw comparison?

So he seems like he should be our third 2-way player, but someone posted (the rumor?) that he was getting a regular contract or has this been substantiated?

3 year $5.23MM. Basically nothing by today's contract standards. I like him and think there's a ton of upside with this kid. Needs to cure his shooting woes and he could be a steal.

[Chinook]

I don't think Cissoko looks anything like Diaw. Folks need to update their archetypes if they think being 6-8ish with passing is a particularly rare combination nowadays. The Spurs have three such players FFS.

[rjv]

I don't think Cissoko looks anything like Diaw. Folks need to update their archetypes if they think being 6-8ish with passing is a particularly rare combination nowadays. The Spurs have three such players FFS.

while writing my post, i thought there are going to be some posters on this site that are going to equate "demonstrated the sort of playmaking (in summer league)" of diaw as an equivalency. but rather than spend any more time carefully constructing my subjective observation in such a way so as not to allow such an inference i thought "who the cares?" and here i am now spending more time than i would have had i just followed my initial instinct. even though i still don't care any more than i consider 6'8" basketball players to be rarities.

[Knoxxx]

He’s clearly a Diaw 2.0.

[Chinook]

He's basically nothing like Diaw. Boris was a fantastic offensive player who handicapped himself with streaks of passivity. Cissoko is borderline unplayable due to his offense right now. Boris, even when he was lean, always played like a big man. Cissoko plays like a perimeter player. Boris was a meticulous play-maker. Cissoko is more of a heads-up ball-mover who understands passing angles. They're basically night-and-day besides both being French and being able to pass better. Boris played far more like a smaller (and less talented) but more athletic Jokic than he did someone that Cissoko is likely to emulate.

[Seventyniner]

At this point I see a lot more Bogans/Udoka/centerpiece in Sidy than Diaw.

Sidy has room to grow beyond the centerpiece role, of course.

[Knoxxx]

He's basically nothing like Diaw. Boris was a fantastic offensive player who handicapped himself with streaks of passivity. Cissoko is borderline unplayable due to his offense right now. Boris, even when he was lean, always played like a big man. Cissoko plays like a perimeter player. Boris was a meticulous play-maker. Cissoko is more of a heads-up ball-mover who understands passing angles. They're basically night-and-day besides both being French and being able to pass better. Boris played far more like a smaller (and less talented) but more athletic Jokic than he did someone that Cissoko is likely to emulate.

Interesting takes but the comparison was superficial which I thought was obvious. Unplayable? I missed where anyone said he’d be getting minutes other than garbage time.

[Chinook]

Interesting takes but the comparison was superficial which I thought was obvious.

You weren't the only person making the comparison, so I wasn't targeting you. I actually thought your post was tongue-in-cheek. There are quite a few posters here and elsewhere who do seem to think the comparison is more apt than you do. I would love for them to end up being right, but I don't think even a Cissoko that works out would look anything like Boris.

Unplayable? I missed where anyone said he’d be getting minutes other than garbage time.

Actually there are takes in this thread suggesting he might get a rotation spot. But I'm trying to call out that kind of take. I'm saying that Boris was an extremely well-rounded offensive player -- even as a rookie. He wasn't just a tall guy who could pass. He was great at leveraging his opponents to create an advantage that he could use to score or pass. Cissoko's offensive game outside of transition is not there at all. It's weird but the "defensive forward who can't shoot but can pass for some reason" archetype has become fairly common recently. Diaw would still be unique in today's game; Cissoko is not.

[tesseractive]

He's basically nothing like Diaw. Boris was a fantastic offensive player who handicapped himself with streaks of passivity. Cissoko is borderline unplayable due to his offense right now. Boris, even when he was lean, always played like a big man. Cissoko plays like a perimeter player. Boris was a meticulous play-maker. Cissoko is more of a heads-up ball-mover who understands passing angles. They're basically night-and-day besides both being French and being able to pass better. Boris played far more like a smaller (and less talented) but more athletic Jokic than he did someone that Cissoko is likely to emulate.

I mean, all of this is dead on. But Spurs fans as much as anyone in the league feel the joy of having guys who can really see the floor and use less-obvious passing angles to their advantage. He made some clever passes in summer league. When you can put guys like that on the floor beyond just the point guard, it opens up some great options.

But yeah, he has to develop his offensive game before any of that matters.

[rjv]

Interesting takes but the comparison was superficial which I thought was obvious. Unplayable? I missed where anyone said he’d be getting minutes other than garbage time.

i thought that was rather obvious, too.

[sfernald]

I mean, all of this is dead on. But Spurs fans as much as anyone in the league feel the joy of having guys who can really see the floor and use less-obvious passing angles to their advantage. He made some clever passes in summer league. When you can put guys like that on the floor beyond just the point guard, it opens up some great options.

But yeah, he has to develop his offensive game before any of that matters.

There was this guy in the 80s who was 6'8" and could pass but couldn't shoot worth . And he played point guard with a little success, something called Showtime.

[exstatic]

There was this guy in the 80s who was 6'8" and could pass but couldn't shoot worth . And he played point guard with a little success, something called Showtime.

You’re one of the “fall behinds” who hasn’t processed how the game has changed. Comparing todays game to 40 years ago isn’t rational or smart.

[sfernald]

You’re one of the “fall behinds” who hasn’t processed how the game has changed. Comparing todays game to 40 years ago isn’t rational or smart.

So you are one of "those guys" who thinks Magic would struggle in today's nba LOL.

[tesseractive]

There was this guy in the 80s who was 6'8" and could pass but couldn't shoot worth . And he played point guard with a little success, something called Showtime.

So exactly how many guys are you saying we should put on the court that can't spread the floor? Wemby can't do it consistently yet. Sochan can't. Tre Jones can't. So is this #4 for you?

And dude, Sidy has a ton of potential, but no one (except you, apparently) is going to get him confused with Magic.

[J_Paco]

He's basically nothing like Diaw. Boris was a fantastic offensive player who handicapped himself with streaks of passivity. Cissoko is borderline unplayable due to his offense right now. Boris, even when he was lean, always played like a big man. Cissoko plays like a perimeter player. Boris was a meticulous play-maker. Cissoko is more of a heads-up ball-mover who understands passing angles. They're basically night-and-day besides both being French and being able to pass better. Boris played far more like a smaller (and less talented) but more athletic Jokic than he did someone that Cissoko is likely to emulate.

I was watching a 'Thinking Basketball' video on YouTube about Reggie Miller. Well, the narrator (Ben Taylor, the best NBA YouTuber/Blogger/Podcaster by a country mile) shortly spoke about Derrick McKey.

I had forgotten how good of a "heads up" passer (to steal your phrase) and general playmaker McKey was for Indiana. I immediately thought of Sidy and that he could conceivably fit a similar archetype for the Spurs.

Obviously, this isn't the 90's /early 2000's, so you can't play off of only defense and some playmaking. Yet, I definitely see the vision of drafting him especially if he can get his fouling under check and becomes a "stopper" on defense.

On offense I think all he needs is a 'pet move' (think Bruce Brown and his floater game) and a reliable perimeter shot to see rotation minutes. Basically, help be a pressure release valve like Brown learned how to do in Brooklyn and to an even better degree in Denver.

[sfernald]

So exactly how many guys are you saying we should put on the court that can't spread the floor? Wemby can't do it consistently yet. Sochan can't. Tre Jones can't. So is this #4 for you?

And dude, Sidy has a ton of potential, but no one (except you, apparently) is going to get him confused with Magic.

No, I agree I was just saying that archetype of player can work. There’s so many people on this board that only see absolutes and exclaim their opinion like it is the only obvious truth when it absolutely is not that it gets pretty annoying around here. There’s several dudes on here that absolutely have to win every argument on here and will revert to calling names such as idiot inevitably (you know who you are).

Anyways, no actually I think Wemby is probably best surrounded by vet three point shooters. Luckily we picked up a few of those in trade such as Payne, Bullock and Osman. Throw Doug out there too. Ideally I would like Wemby out there with four other 40%+ three point shooters who are also excellent defenders. Hopefully that is where they are headed with all these trades and player movement. I love Sochan and I like Sidy (don’t care about the others) but these guys are going to need to learn to shoot if we want to have a chance against the big boys! I like their defense already so at least they have a chance.

[Knoxxx]

i thought that was rather obvious, too.

No worries/hard feelings. He cleared it up but quoting me as a catch all to reply to was confusing at best.

Sidy is obviously raw but I think we mostly all like his passing skills shown to date and his attacking mentality. Subject to not committing a foul a minute of course…