2024 NBA Draft Thread

[Ariel]

Starts, but when Dillingham is in, Dilly runs the offense. I suppose because Reed is a good spot-up shooter.

He's not nearly as explosive nor the ball handler Dillingham is, he can't beat anyone off the dribble, he's a great passer (extremely smart and accurate) but would work better off ball. He'd be a great shooting guard if he was 4 inches taller. I'd like him next to a taller lead guard, like Lamelo in Charlotte or Cade in Detroit, that could work.

[Mr. Body]

To me, my target is 100% Dillingham. I don't care about some defensive issues. The guy knows how to play and is only getting coached now. Like I said, he was OTE last year and Donda Academy before, so flashier , but he's completely different now, plays within the system. I think a lot of the defensive can be taught. Clearly size is an issue and he's slow-footed man-to-man, but maybe that can be worked on.

But the guy is fearless and not even streaky. Like, he'll hit threes in a row and then not get a look until later and hit that one, too. Mostly I like his demeanor. In interviews he says he likes to watch film. He's my guy even if he's always a bench guy, which he's used to right now. I just don't know if the team wants a player like him. His usage is high and questions about whether it scales down. Questions of whether he can play a system. Defense will be a problem but he works hard there and his positioning can be improved.

Ultimately... this draft sucks so much, I want to clear the table and see if I can get a one or two players who can possibly be plus players in the future. I'm unsure about nearly everyone mentioned in the top 10-15 so far.

I'm more certain about Dillingham's potential and, it, right now I'm saying Ryan Dunn.

[alfahdlan]

He's very smart, moves his feet well and has very active hands, all of which help him on defense at the College level but I don't think it will work quite as well against bigger, better athletes in the NBA. The main problem I have with Sheppard is that he can hardly beat anyone off the dribble and I don't see him as a lead guard long term, which is what the Spurs need and why he's behind Dillingham and Topic as far as pont guards go in my board. He can be a nice piece for the right team, but I'd take Sarr, Dillingham, Topic, Cody Williams, Buzelis easily before him.

Rondo has 87 steals in UK went on with 4 all-NBA defense team honors.

[Ariel]

Rondo has 87 steals in UK went on with 4 all-NBA defense team honors.

Rondo has better lateral quickness and a ridiculous 6'9" wingspan, I'd be surprised if Sheppard's wingspan is over 6'2"/6'4". Completely different ballpark in terms of physical tools.

[alfahdlan]

Rondo has better lateral quickness and a ridiculous 6'9" wingspan, I'd be surprised if Sheppard's wingspan is over 6'2"/6'4". Completely different ballpark in terms of physical tools.

Thanks. I'm just concerned. I got John Stockton vibes on him. Who is 6'1" with 6'0" wingspan. I can be wrong.

[scott]

I’d like to see the Spurs take advantage of how FRPs get overvalued and just try to move this year’s pick for a young guy still on his rookie deal who is impressing or the Spurs had a high scouting report on. Would Indiana send us Jarace Walker for pick #7? Orlando for Black? If we are pick #4, how does that change things? Will Detroit take #4 for Ivey?

Maybe, maybe not… but this are the kind of things I’d explore with our pick if a bigger deal isn’t materializing.

[Mr. Body]

I’d like to see the Spurs take advantage of how FRPs get overvalued and just try to move this year’s pick for a young guy still on his rookie deal who is impressing or the Spurs had a high scouting report on. Would Indiana send us Jarace Walker for pick #7? Orlando for Black? If we are pick #4, how does that change things? Will Detroit take #4 for Ivey?

Maybe, maybe not… but this are the kind of things I’d explore with our pick if a bigger deal isn’t materializing.

Absolutely none of those are happening.

[scott]

The team that has developed multiple very late first round draft picks into career NBA players at worst?

ST is hilariously abysmal in recognizing what their team is and does.

That’s precisely spurraider21’s point. Exstatic claimed “The worst place in the world for a NBA project is with a contender” to which SR21 is pointing out that the the Spurs (contenders at the time multiple projects developed not only into career NBA players, but HOFers) dispel that notion.

ST may in fact be hilariously abysmal in recognizing what their team is and does… but only as hilariously abysmal as your reading comprehension. Both slightly less disturbing that your fantasies of guzzling hot loads of piss. Your reading problems are sad. The fetishes are weird. Not sure which one you should seek help for first.

[onechance87]

if dill keeps this up,We may have to take a serious look at taking him.,Seems very bad at d.So gonna see
how consistent he is at offense.Last thing is we need is another inconsistent shooter.

[Spursfanfromafar]

Rondo has better lateral quickness and a ridiculous 6'9" wingspan, I'd be surprised if Sheppard's wingspan is over 6'2"/6'4". Completely different ballpark in terms of physical tools.

He might not be Rondo. But there are other successful prototypes in the past. In terms of shooting - the 6'4'' but 6'3'' wingspan JJ Re .. more recently, 6'4'' but 6'3'' wingspan Tyler Herro.. and of course the greatest shooter of all time -Steph Curry, 6'2'' and 6'4''. In terms of defense: Kyle Lowry, 6'0''; 6'2'' wingspan, Fred Van Vleet - 6'0, 6'2'' wingspan.. In terms of slightly taller players who are very good defenders without bigger wingspans - we have Alex Caruso - 6'5'', 6'6'' wingspan and Jimmy Butler - 6'6', 6'7''.

I dont think the Spurs should just go by physical measurements *alone* to judge Sheppard's worth if he is available at No 7/8th pick. Feel for the game, active hands, good shooting are all useful attributes and he seems to excel in all these three aspects as a freshman.

[Dejounte]

He might not be Rondo. But there are other successful prototypes in the past. In terms of shooting - the 6'4'' but 6'3'' wingspan JJ Re .. more recently, 6'4'' but 6'3'' wingspan Tyler Herro.. and of course the greatest shooter of all time -Steph Curry, 6'2'' and 6'4''. In terms of defense: Kyle Lowry, 6'0''; 6'2'' wingspan, Fred Van Vleet - 6'0, 6'2'' wingspan.. In terms of slightly taller players who are very good defenders without bigger wingspans - we have Alex Caruso - 6'5'', 6'6'' wingspan and Jimmy Butler - 6'6', 6'7''.

I dont think the Spurs should just go by physical measurements *alone* to judge Sheppard's worth if he is available at No 7/8th pick. Feel for the game, active hands, good shooting are all useful attributes and he seems to excel in all these three aspects as a freshman.

Desmond Bane May Be The Prime Example Of This

[exstatic]

Rondo has 87 steals in UK went on with 4 all-NBA defense team honors.

Rondo also had like a huge wingspan.

[CorrectCrusader]

I’d like to see the Spurs take advantage of how FRPs get overvalued and just try to move this year’s pick for a young guy still on his rookie deal who is impressing or the Spurs had a high scouting report on. Would Indiana send us Jarace Walker for pick #7? Orlando for Black? If we are pick #4, how does that change things? Will Detroit take #4 for Ivey?

Maybe, maybe not… but this are the kind of things I’d explore with our pick if a bigger deal isn’t materializing.

The problem is that FRP aren't really getting overvalued right now. Since most of the picks are owned by a few teams (one being the spurs, and ofc OKC) they aren't worth nearly as much because teams know we're unwilling to have that many rookies.

[mo7888]

Watched UK game.

Reed Sheppard.
Prepared for the Spurs to take a hard look... weird player, would never guess his efficiency is that high or how impactful he is just by watching him play, although his hands are extremely good. He hits threes at a very high percentage, picks up steals, gets blocks, but isn't a good man-to-man defender... very good defending the break or help side. Starts, but when Dillingham is in, Dilly runs the offense. I suppose because Reed is a good spot-up shooter. Like, I'd be happy to have him, he'd keep mistakes down and make plays, but he doesn't pass the eye test as great or seems like he's more than a good role-playing college player. To me it seems his efficiency is in these narrow categories where he does extremely well but isn't the big impact guy you want in the lottery.

Rob Dillingham
Dude's been on fire lately, his confidence sky high and has the green light... still, a very willing passer, great processing of the floor, absolutely not selfish but takes his shots... weak at the rim due to size but puts pressure there, should get better... threw a lot of accurate lobs... doesn't shy from contact... shifty handles, very quick with advanced space-making moves that will definitely work in the League. Makes a lot of mistakes on defense like not knowing switches. I've seen him blow baseline plays where a big screens down on his man, he hesitates, then runs to cover his man on the perimeter leaving a bad dunk. To me, though, this is coaching. He's coming from Overtime Elite and still needs work, but seems very coachable. Pulled Ivisic aside when he was down on a foul, shows some leadership.

They are kind of the poster childs for

High Floor

High ceiling

At least as it relates to this draft..

[TD 21]

The Spurs "floor" odds with the natural pick should improve post trade deadline . . .

Trail Blazers: Probably out of reach anyway, but basically remained status quo by not trading Grant or Brogdon.

Hornets: Hayward was mostly injured and Washington Jr. is overrated and close to a wash with Williams, so just adding four additional, if minimal NBA players in Micic, Mann and if retained, Curry and Bertans, to a team more bereft of those than any other should slightly upgrade them.

Wizards: Replacing Gafford with Holmes should slightly downgrade them, but not nearly as much as if they had traded some combination of Kuzma, Jones and Wright.

Pistons: Replacing Bogdanovic, Burks, Morris and Hayes with Grimes, Fontecchio, Sasser (rotation) and probably Fournier balances the rotation better, which probably slightly upgrade them.

[SOMA Spur]

Wondering if Dalton Knecht should be our target with our first pick. Is that crazy? SF - 3 level scorer. Gives a on defense (says thats why he transferred to Tennessee to improve on that side of the ball). Bouncy athlete, strong. Can drive and finish with both hands. Has put up some crazy numbers recently, pretty consistent. Even on his off days, he's scoring 16+ and his team is kicking the out of top compe ion (Kentucky). Seems like a Spursy kind of pick, with his story of rising up through Jucos (reminds me of White). If there's ever a Jaime Jaquez kind of pick this year, it's this guy. He just cracked No Ceilings top 10 at #10. How high could he go? Spurs at #3?

[Mr. Body]

Wondering if Dalton Knecht should be our target with our first pick. Is that crazy? SF - 3 level scorer. Gives a on defense (says thats why he transferred to Tennessee to improve on that side of the ball). Bouncy athlete, strong. Can drive and finish with both hands. Has put up some crazy numbers recently, pretty consistent. Even on his off days, he's scoring 16+ and his team is kicking the out of top compe ion (Kentucky). Seems like a Spursy kind of pick, with his story of rising up through Jucos (reminds me of White). If there's ever a Jaime Jaquez kind of pick this year, it's this guy. He just cracked No Ceilings top 10 at #10. How high could he go? Spurs at #3?

I've been coming to like him a ton. Despite his advanced age, I see him as clearly a lottery pick and, in this draft, definitely a top 10 guy - agreeing with No Ceilings. I don't think he'll go top 5. Feel like his age is an impermeable barrier where teams want upside. But I absolutely have him on my list if the Raptors pick comes our way. Absolutely. His age/experience may even help, since he's past the 'learning how to dribble a basketball' stage, unlike our recent picks.

[onechance87]

Wondering if Dalton Knecht should be our target with our first pick. Is that crazy? SF - 3 level scorer. Gives a on defense (says thats why he transferred to Tennessee to improve on that side of the ball). Bouncy athlete, strong. Can drive and finish with both hands. Has put up some crazy numbers recently, pretty consistent. Even on his off days, he's scoring 16+ and his team is kicking the out of top compe ion (Kentucky). Seems like a Spursy kind of pick, with his story of rising up through Jucos (reminds me of White). If there's ever a Jaime Jaquez kind of pick this year, it's this guy. He just cracked No Ceilings top 10 at #10. How high could he go? Spurs at #3?

wont be mad at that..Man makes happen with offense.Kinda like luka,You dont know whats
he gonna do and breaks down the opponents d.Would be an a immediate upgrade over champ and
maybe even keldon.

[Mr. Body]

It's crazy. A generation ago, a player his age wouldn't cause any problems. All top picks were seasoned college guys or from elsewhere, with some high school guys sprinkled in. Now, teams only want raw materials. Players even reclassify to get to the draft faster in order to get that bag, but it takes years for most of them to start panning out. Dalton Knecht is old style. He learned the game in JuCo and then a weaker NCAA program before going nuclear this year for Tennessee. He's carrying their offense, which can get stagnant, and is a massive compe or in tight games. He's fast, strong, uses his body well. And, as mentioned above, he doesn't slack on defense entirely. He's legitimately everything you want. He's just old for a rookie nowadays. Ancient, even.

[spurraider21]

i'd be very reluctant to draft a non-shooter with either pick, and especially so if we only get 1 pick. you'd have to be very convinced that the guy you are taking (whether its Topic, Castle, or Collier, or otherwise) is really that special where you just want him regardless of the shooting

this team absolutely needs shooting. and i dont mean having glass cannon types like mcnuggets. we need our core rotation players to be able to shoot. once again, we are the worst shooting team in the league. to put it into perspective, the Pelicans have the best 3pt defense in the league this year, allowing only 34.4% to opponents. the spurs for the season are shooting 34.1%

the only rotation players right now shooting higher than 35% are champagnie, osman, and vassell

im also mad at myself for temporarily believing in sochan ... early in the season i was brushing off his % as a small sample size, because his shot still looked pretty busted, and his % came back down to earth in december. then for much of january he started hitting them again and i thought ok, whatever his shot looks like, its falling, and the sample size isnt as alarming anymore. now he's crashing and burning again. consistently inconsistent does not a good shooter make

[spurraider21]

also yeah, Knecht is pretty fascinating. these days theres a stigma about NOT being a 1-and-done, almost like it means something has to be wrong with them

but he's been flying up draft boards and looks pretty NBA ready. dude is strong and contact doesnt seem to phase him. his athleticism is like the reverse of blake wesley ... wesley has that tony parker thing where he's lightning fast on the ground but not nearly as explosive vertically. knecht is a great leaper but not blazingly fast, not that he needs to be for his style of play.

[exstatic]

I distrust fifth year seniors who come out of nowhere. Their success can be attributed to being 23 or even 24, playing against 18 year olds.

[CGD]

SI’s latest (post trade deadline) mock: https://www.si.com/nba/draft/mock-dr...trade-deadline

Has us taking Cody and Matas

[Dejounte]

Spurs-centric Big Board (accounts for needs)
Tier 1
-Collier
-Topic
-Dillingham

Tier 2
-Buzelis
-Cody

Tier 3
-Risacher
-Holland

Tier 4
-Reed
-Walter

…everybody else

[ginobilized]

I would not be mad at Cody and Buzelis. Two solid wing prospects would really help.