Spurs Planning On Drafting F Livio Jean-Charles?

[BatManu20]

Alex’s Notebook: Livio Jean-Charles cracked my first round for the first time this week because I’ve heard rumblings that the San Antonio Spurs will draft him at No. 29 and stash him overseas for at least one year. This makes a lot of sense, considering the Spurs have done this before and they have some of the best international scouts in the league. At 19 years old, Jean-Charles has a lot of potential and he could fit right in alongside fellow French players Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nando de Colo.


http://www.hoopsworld.com/2013-nba-m...sensus-ver-8-0









Here's his Draft Express Profile: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...-Charles-6125/


Project Spurs reports:

With the NBA Finals over (as well as the San Antonio Spurs' season), it's hard to remember the NBA Draft is just a few days away. While the San Antonio Spurs are now preparing for next season, there have obviously been other things keeping Gregg Popovich, and to a lesser extent, R.C. Buford's attention.

Aside from a handful of workouts, it feels like very little has come out about prospects the Spurs are targeting. Finally, something close to concrete is starting to come out about what the C.I.A. Spurs are planning. According to Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld, San Antonio has their eye on French forward Livio Jean-Charles and he and Steve Kyler both have them taking him with their first round pick.

Here's what you need to know about Jean-Charles, besides the fact that he has a really cool name. He was born in French Guiana and moved to France at 14 to start his basketball career there. He's spent the last two seasons playing for Asvel in France, the team Tony Parker owns a minority stake in. The 6'9" Jean-Charles plays both forward positions for the team and sports a very impressive 7'2" wingspan. However, he doesn't play a ton of minutes. This season he averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in just 13.8 minutes per game.

So why, given his minimal role overseas, would a team be so high on this guy that they're willing to spend a first round pick on him? The buzz around Jean-Charles started back at the Nike Hoop Summit in April when he picked up MVP honors by torching the USA Junior Select Team for 27 points and 13 rebounds. Jean-Charles told DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony he feels like there's a lot he can still improve on, specifically his ball handling and exchanging the range on what is already a decent mid-range jumper. What he excels at is running the floor and cutting to the basket off the ball. He's shown to be a willing defender and provide weakside help.

Jean-Charles' potential is everything the Spurs have been looking for. An athletic forward that can guard both positions and provide rim protection. If he can get stronger and learn to hit a mid-range jumper consistently, we're talking about a Darrell Arthur type player. As Kennedy notes, the plan would be to keep Jean-Charles in France for at least another year. However, given the team's current ownership, it doesn't seem like negotiating a buyout for him will be too difficult.

This pick makes perfect sense for the Spurs if it does indeed happen. If they draft him and keep him overseas for a year, he won't affect their salary cap space for the coming year and they'll be able to develop him in a program they're very familiar with. Still, it's best not to be too hasty with these predictions. The Spurs have shown us for pretty much the past 14 years that they're a tad bit unpredictable when it comes to the draft. Here's some video of Livio Jean-Charles to get you familiar with his skillset.

http://www.projectspurs.com/2013-art...urs-radar.html

[BatManu20]

NBADraft.net Profile

Strengths: Livio is a very long (7'2 wingspan) and fluid athlete who plays with high intensity and energy ... Excels in the role of garbage man, slashing to the basket and scoring on put backs ... Very agile player showing excellent speed in the open floor ... A strong defender doing an excellent job of crowding opponents using his great length, reflexes and quick feet ... A scorer more than a shooter, but shows the ability to knock down mid-range jumpers with solid form ... Crafty around the basket and shows the ability to face up and get by his man and to the rim ... Good at ude. Hard working kid who shows the desire to improve ... Fits the role well of an energy role player, providing a spark with effort, defense and some scoring, without needing plays called for him ...

Weaknesses: A tweener for the NBA. Has the size/length to play the PF position, but is more of a finesse guy who plays well in space instead of banging in the paint ... Lacks upper body strength to be able to withstand contact against NBA bigs ... Should improve upon post game .. Narrow shoulders, thin bone structure, and therefore doesn't appear to be the type that can add much upper body muscle mass. Will likely peak at 225-230 lbs ... Needs to add more range and consistency to his shot ... Not an incredibly explosive athlete, but solid and is very fluid and quick ...

[Thomas82]

No thank you.....we need some size.

[smaka]

Not another undersized big man

[chapnis]

No more soft as Frenchies please.

[Baam]

Pretty sure he's gonna play SF in the nba so he's big enough and could be a nice backup for Kawhi.

[Marcus Bryant]

Gotta go back to the well for the next generation.

[TrainOfThought5]

I think this guy has that "Great role player" potential that we will desperately need to surround Parker Kawhi and Baynes with a couple years from now.

[dallasmaverickslose]

No more soft as Frenchies please.

Diaw isn't what I'd consider "soft." With that in mind, I think we'd be better off signing Paul Millsap this offseason and drafting a SG/SF prospect instead.

Our bigs next season with this proposal:

C: Duncan, Baynes
PF: Millsap, Diaw, Bonner

Not bad.

[Marcus Bryant]

Which French Spur is "soft"?

[hyhy]

Seems like a Kawhi-type of player. cutting without the ball, tip-ins on offensive rebounds, 3 point spotting up, driving right handed to the hoop directly, not that tall, but lengthy, athletic. Pop deciding that playing small is the way to go?

[exstatic]

NBAdn with the bads, per usual. We draft at 28, not 29.

[Johnny RIngo]

No more internationals please. Manu, Splitter, DeColo, Mills all sucked this year and Parker choked in the Finals.

[dallasmaverickslose]

No more internationals please. Manu, Splitter, DeColo, Mills all sucked this year and Parker choked in the Finals.

Parker got injured. you.

[exstatic]

No more internationals please. Manu, Splitter, DeColo, Mills all sucked this year and Parker choked in the Finals.

A) what team have you even been following?

B) Pop quote

[TimmehC]

Good option to backup Kawhi, IMO. He'll never be as good as Kawhi, but he has size and defensive chops.

[BatManu20]

He's only 19, and he's already 6'9", so if we do end up drafting and stashing him, there's a good chance he could still grow over the next couple years. A lot of guys don't stop growing until 21 or 22. He could top out at 6'10" or even 6'11". Who knows.

[dbreiden83080]

Draft a big out of college..

Enough of this European pussies..

[palangi]

what if he comes over and has good skills. could kawhi get moved to the 2 and charles the 3? that would make us pretty athletic, long, and tall on the wings. and charles has a good shot as well. and chip would only make it better.

[T Park]

No more soft as Frenchies please.

Stop being a fan of this team please.

[DrunkTXLabrat]

NBADraft.net Profile

Strengths: Livio is a very long (7'2 wingspan) and fluid athlete who plays with high intensity and energy ... Excels in the role of garbage man, slashing to the basket and scoring on put backs ... Very agile player showing excellent speed in the open floor ... A strong defender doing an excellent job of crowding opponents using his great length, reflexes and quick feet ... A scorer more than a shooter, but shows the ability to knock down mid-range jumpers with solid form ... Crafty around the basket and shows the ability to face up and get by his man and to the rim ... Good at ude. Hard working kid who shows the desire to improve ... Fits the role well of an energy role player, providing a spark with effort, defense and some scoring, without needing plays called for him ...

Weaknesses: A tweener for the NBA. Has the size/length to play the PF position, but is more of a finesse guy who plays well in space instead of banging in the paint ... Lacks upper body strength to be able to withstand contact against NBA bigs ... Should improve upon post game .. Narrow shoulders, thin bone structure, and therefore doesn't appear to be the type that can add much upper body muscle mass. Will likely peak at 225-230 lbs ... Needs to add more range and consistency to his shot ... Not an incredibly explosive athlete, but solid and is very fluid and quick ...

that's the part that concerns me. but his strengths are soo good.

[palangi]

that's the part that concerns me. but his strengths are soo good.

that would be plenty big enough to play the 3 position. it's the same height and weight as wilson chandler and luol deng

[AFBlue]

Hoopsworld? Aren't they one step up from Bleacher Report as far as credibility is concerned? Spurs have mostly worked out players with one skill they really covet...shooting. It could be that Jean-Charles is a target, but it could also be people reaching a conclusion based on his nationality and who he plays for in Europe (Tony's team).

They probably have the best scouting report on him, so it's possible...but their workouts to-date signal a different priority.

[RD2191]

Any news on that denmon kid? Lil undersized but a good shooter.

[BackHome]

We have Neal you want another one?