This is Vecenie's (The Athletic) current mock draft up to the Spurs:
1. Detroit Pistons - Cade Cunningham
Fit: Cunningham is perfectly positioned to be the straw that stirs the drink as the elite player who pushes everyone down one slot in the pecking order. He fits with Hayes well as the primary ballhandler next to Hayes in the secondary role, although I think the team will need to go out and get an explosive, creative athlete to pair with those two in the backcourt as a trio just to consistently pressure the defense.
2. Houston Rockets - Jalen Green
Draft Intel: To this point, I do not believe any decision has been made with Houston. The sense I get is that the Rockets will call the Pistons about the No. 1 overall pick, but they’re unlikely to gain much traction.
Fit: The Rockets desperately need explosive talent, regardless of how it “fits.” There is no discussion of “fit” when you don’t have the guy already on the roster.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers - Evan Mobley
Fit: They really need defensive ability, and Mobley has a higher defensive upside than anybody in this class. Even if he wouldn’t be my pick, I still like the pick for Cleveland. His upside is real.
4. Toronto Raptors - Jalen Suggs
Draft Intel: Sources certainly believe the Raptors are indeed considering Scottie Barnes in addition to the consensus top-four names.
Fit: His mixture in between Fred VanVleet in the backcourt and OG Anunoby on the wing would be tremendous due to his athleticism and creativity.
5. Orlando Magic - Scottie Barnes
Draft Intel: Multiple teams I’ve spoken with actually have Barnes as a top-four prospect in this class, ahead of Suggs, Green or Mobley...don’t be surprised if Orlando tries to move up on draft night, as the team is thought to like Jalen Suggs.
Fit: Barnes fits everything this front office has looked for in the past to a T. He has great positional size, he’s strong, he’s a great teammate, he plays with infectious energy, he’s an awesome defender and he has real ball skills for his position.
6. Oklahoma City Thunder - Jonathan Kuminga
Draft Intel: The Thunder are notoriously secretive, but the name that has come up most as a potential party-crasher in the top-six is James Bouknight. A Bouknight choice would particularly create some confusion down the order, as there is some uncertainty regarding how teams below this level feel about Kuminga.
Fit: The Thunder can afford to take a flier, given that they have one of the best developmental programs in the NBA. I’m going for Kuminga for now, but there is a real chance this adjusts with more information.
7. Golden State Warriors (via MIN) - James Bouknight
Draft Intel: As always, a lot of information seems to emanate from their front office. Bouknight, Moses Moody, and Josh Giddey are the three names I’ve gotten most consistently for them.
Fit: [Bouknight, Moody, Giddey] fit a combination of what the front office wants to do (maximize the asset value) and what the coaching staff/players want (compete now and get players who can help them do that sooner rather than later).
8. Orlando Magic (via CHI) - Alperen Sengun
Draft Intel: Given the presence of two picks, the Magic are also thought to be a potential trade partner for teams.
Fit: The Magic are one of the few teams that will have Sengun in for a workout and are thought to be interested in the high-scoring Turkish star as a potential replacement for Nikola Vucevic
9. Sacramento Kings - Franz Wagner
Draft Intel: Three things have consistently come up when discussing what the Kings are thinking with sources around the league. First, that they would love to take a bigger wing/forward. Second, that defense is important to them in this pick. And third, that analytics will play a bigger role here than in other situations league-wide, given Monte McNair’s background and ownership’s emphasis on being data-driven...This pick is also thought to have come up in trade discussions as the Kings look to compete for a playoff spot next year.
Fit: Wagner is the guy that ticks all the boxes there as a 6-foot-9 player with real defensive a en who is actually younger than quite a few of the one-and-dones in this class.
10. New Orleans Pelicans - Josh Giddey
Draft Intel: One other note on Giddey: he has a lot of fans in ranges of the draft that aren’t his projected range, including Toronto — one of the few teams to send personnel to see him live this year in Australia. Don’t be surprised to see a team target him in a trade situation.
Fit: Plus, their backcourt of the future could use a bit more size. I’ve gone Giddey here, who would be a pretty great replacement for Lonzo Ball, given that Ball is a free agent and no guarantee to re-sign in New Orleans.
11. Charlotte Hornets - Moses Moody
Draft Intel: The Hornets desperately need a long-term answer at center with Cody Zeller entering free agency this offseason. Having said that, they have an awful lot of cap space they can use this summer to fill that need...Sources around the league believe they are likely to target a center when using that space to try to take another leap up the Eastern Conference hierarchy.
Fit: The Hornets desperately need a long-term answer at center with Cody Zeller entering free agency this offseason. Having said that, they have an awful lot of cap space they can use this summer to fill that need...he was a productive college player that fills a genuine 3-and-D need next to LaMelo Ball long-term.
12. San Antonio Spurs - Jalen Johnson
Draft Intel: I’ve spent more time digging into Johnson’s draft standing than any other player this year. I’ve talked to a couple of executives for teams in the teens that have told me their team will not be selecting him. I’ve also talked to four different sources that seem to think Johnson is a lock in the lottery. Honestly, I’m not sure what to think. What I do know is that teams have some real questions about Johnson’s intel report that they’re still working through.
Fit: He fits really well with the Spurs as a point forward, though, as they need further playmaking in the frontcourt.
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I don't really understand Giddey to New Orleans. They need shooting badly and were terrible guarding the perimeter. And I think Jalen Johnson to the Spurs is just flat out stupid. Especially considering his 'rationale,' it just shows he shouldn't be getting paid to write articles like this.
But this sort of thing shows a worst case scenario, when (IMO) the top possibilities for the Spurs are off the board by the time they pick.
One of the reasons I was so high on Jonathan Isaac as a FA target-- before he signed his extension-- was because I thought he was one of the younger guys in the league with a shot at following Giannis defensively, being able to guard 1 thru 5, and being able to hang defensively with Giannis himself. He's one of the players I'm most looking forward to watching next year.
Last edited by R. DeMurre; 07-21-2021 at 08:21 PM.
Thanks for sharing this. In Australia, I tried to sign up for The Athletic and they wouldn't allow it.
(Bloody Chuz-wazzahs).
Yeah Giddey to N.O doesn't make sense especially after reports leaked that coaching talks broke down between Vaughn and GM Griffin as he wanted to influence coaching decisions,
one being advocating starting Kira Lewis and NAW in the back court.
They are in a "win-now" mode (as far as convincing Zion that staying is in his best interests), so taking Giddey I feel just wouldn't move the needle enough in that direction next season.
If Jalen Johnson is the Spurs target and then subsequent pick at #12, it'd have be one of the FO's greatest draft deceptions of all time.
It's not simply great deception on SA's part, it would be completely and utterly against very well established character of the franchise. This is clearly not a team that would draft a Jalen Johnson.
Oh, I agree. The available evidence suggests as much.
But what if the first-hand character references, intel. suggests there's a lot more to Jalen than what we are aware (granted, it's doubtful - but some other posters have already posited the Q)...
Perhaps somehow the Spurs are helping fan the flames behind the scenes... (again, very unlikely).
I mean the Klutch trio of Moody, Kai Jones and Jalen Johnson have attended a few w/o together during the pre-draft process, not inconceivable they worked him out...
Again, you go with the smart money that says No.
Just wanted to clarify my statement.
Last edited by PhantomDashCam; 07-21-2021 at 07:38 PM.
If we assume Keldon's future with the Spurs is secure... I mean, he's becoming a fan favorite and it would be weird as to trade him after his Olympic stint. Then...
We can look at the line-ups he is playing with in the Olympics (assuming it continues) and I don't think it would be a stretch to say that Pop's experimented with different line-ups to see what kind of guys Keldon would play with to make him most effective.
Let's see the line-ups:
Perimeter: Lilliard
Perimeter: Tatum
Perimeter/Inside: Keldon
Perimeter/Inside: Draymond
Inside: Bam
Perimeter: Lilliard
Perimeter: Tatum
Perimeter: Durant
Perimeter/Inside: Keldon
Perimeter/Inside: Draymond
Perimeter: Lillard
Perimeter: LaVine
Perimeter: Durant
Perimeter/Inside: Keldon
Perimeter/Inside: Draymond
My takeaway from this is if they're going to optimize line-ups with Keldon, they'll target a high volume shooting wing and a stretch big who's not necessarily tall, but can bang inside.
For comparison:
2020-2021 Spurs SL:
Perimeter: Dejounte
Perimeter: White
Perimeter: DeMar
Perimeter/Inside: Keldon
Inside: Poeltl
Random thoughts:
How do people feel about Moody vs Kispert? If the choice came down between the two.
There's a chance that Giddey and Sengun are already gone. Or maybe it's down to: Moody, Wagner, or Kispert.
Jalen Johnson: being with Klutch should be the final nail in the coffin, but DJM and LWIV are both Klutch (I think), so maybe that's not a factor. Still, he feels like a dark horse candidate for us. Athletic, playmaking combo forward. That's exactly what we need, but I'd lean towards Wagner, I think. I mean, I love the idea of swinging for the fences, and I'd take Jalen over Kai, and taking on too many role players if we aren't ever going to trade to bring sanity to the roster kind of has it's own logic...but the bad vibe surrounding Jalen seems too much for me. It almost makes me just want to take Kispert and his bandana, look foward to HEB commercials with him with cameos of the existing Bruise Brothers, and tell myself, "well, at least DDR isn't on the team anymore."
Highly doubt the Spurs go from watching a great, unselfish, humble guy like Giannis win it all and then turn around and draft Jalen Johnson. But ya never know. Not that Giannis made their mind up, but probably the guy who wore 21 did.
One of the great things about the team right now is team chemistry. Drafting a me-first lazy maladjusted quitter like Jalen Johnson takes a big squirty all over what they have. Plenty of indication he only cares about himself, plus signing with the me-first Klutch ain't a good sign -- he'll get funnelled to LA or whatever city LBJ is in at the time. He couldn't bear playing for Coach K and no franchise is closer to Duke in build than San Antonio. It's sheer misguided optimism to believe he'd suddenly give a crap. He's an 'absolutely not' in my eyes. You have to pretend the San Antonio Spurs franchise is something completely different than what it is to consider him.
Moody vs. Kispert?
There's something about Moody that I don't completely buy into him. But that's on me. I think his ceiling is a bit higher than Kispert but don't know how high. And he's a better defender, to be sure. Something about Kispert being hard-ass and a banger and shot nearly 10% better from three than Moody. I'd pick Moody, but have doubts about him.
Since recent mocks say Bouk is gone @ 12, I’m amenable at trading down for 2 picks let’s get Butler and Jackson.
One point I’ll make about Moody is that Arkansas didn’t have a true point guard and their ball movement wasn’t great. Somehow they made it far into the tourney but I’m willing to bet Moody’s 3pt% will go up a bit in the NBA.
nbadraft.net continues its practice of bizarre drafts, although the site looks great. They have Jaden Springer and Jared Butler falling into the 2nd round. The non-lottery first round is like an explosion of confetti -- who knows who goes where -- but they have the Spurs picking Davion Mitc and then Jericho Sims. That's close to the worst possible draft we could have, lol.
With Moody he seems too close to Vassel. Slightly bigger, sure, and maybe eventually better, but the roles feel too similar, and at some point that’s bad for chemistry, especially in the absence of alpha leadership from DDR, to keep everyone feeling young and inexperienced, so to speak.
I think Kispert is probably wildly overrated, but fills such an obvious need, and he could play right away. He’s probably the most helpful player for year one, which seems awful to consider.
Jalen Johnson—don’t mistake me trying to predict the FO vs my own views on him. He feels like a modern Walter Berry. Huge talent, little desire. He is more likely to take us to our nadir than pull us back to relevancy.
More late 80s comparisons:
Moody: Alvin Robertson with a jumpshot and no felonies.
Wagner: Larry Krystowiak on adderall.
Kispert: a much taller Jon Sunvold
Davion Mitc : a rich man’s Wes Mathews
Sengun: Frank Brickowski on LSD
Bouknight: Willie Anderson
Joking...
Kind of surprised by Giddey’s rise in some mocks. At best I have seen comparisons to D’Angelo Russell. I may need to watch him more since my initial reaction to him going to the Spurs in that mock was disappointment. Maybe this is why I have stopped caring so much about the draft before it happens. Lol What do I know? Nothing much about him… but I kind of get the feeling he’s overrated.
D’Lo was a better shooter and scorer at that stage. Imagine drafting a worse D’Lo that can’t shoot or score as well. What have you got? Bust potential is high. I am interested bc maybe I am wrong.
Edit and I also wonder whether whoever drafts him will play him as a wing or as a PG. maybe he can’t be the PG lacking athleticism to be the main ballhandler and needs to play some off the ball at least half the time. Can he do that? Does he keep value off the ball?
Last edited by SAGirl; 07-21-2021 at 10:35 PM.
That pass at the :41 second mark…
This is why I've tried to call Giddey and Sengun potentially 'transformational' players if drafted. The team is really mechanical in its offense. Murray has learned the way Parker did. Neither is a natural playmaker for others, but they know where everybody is in the team's sets. Otherwise, everybody is into straight-line drives or kicks and moving it around the horn. That's it. Only Derrick White has any next order ability to see the floor and develop other points of attack.
So, maybe I'm nostalgic for Manu, but I like how both of these players suggest a more dynamic offense and one that is harder to stop. Both seem to be very smart basketball-wise at a remarkably young age.
Agreed. Not sure how anyone can watch all of last season and not think that the team needs a jolt of creativity and players who can make high IQ reads, whether on offense or defense.
Watched some bspn vids on Johnson's 2/16 departure from Duke and looks like it was mainly to protect his stock for this draft vs not getting along with Mike K. He played in 11 games vs BCS compe ion and even put up some nice stats in a few. Maybe Pop can mold him like he once did with Stephen Jackson 20 years ago.
I keep going back to Josh Giddey being one of the main guys I’d really like for the spurs to get! One of the weakness the spurs have had since Manu/Tony left is having a guy who gets others easy shots. Imagine Giddey setting up Keldon on some dimes, swinging it to an open Vassell on the wing!
I like passing a lot, so much so that Anderson was my favorite draftee of the younger crop and still enjoy watching him in the Grizzlies a good amount, but I’ve learned things while fanning him like, that can’t be your only value to a team because unless you are the star you will play off the ball a lot. Anderson still playmakes a lot for his current team but he’s not the main ballhandler and it took him years to get good enough in the NBA to be effective with his slow pace… and this is important, passing wasn’t the main value he provided for his two teams before he was trusted to be on the floor long enough to even make use of that skill. He had to get good at other things first and frankly he always needed to shoot more and better to stick in a regular rotation. It wasn’t until he became a better shooter/scorer that the rest of his game was able to help. Unless a playmaker is the star, that’s usually how it works. Just being honest here. Passing without some gravity is less useful.
Another slower wing like Joe Ingles has been a reference. Ingles provided a lot of value right away because he came in already developed overseas with great shooting, and good defensive fundamentals, maybe even better physical tools too?
But I like both Anderson and Ingles so someone in between I am likely to fan hard, but when I saw comparisons online to DLo that’s when I grew restless bc DLo was a terrific prospect at the same age, so much so that he was taken second in the lottery. On top of talented passing, which DLo has, he could shoot very young and be an efficient scorer IIRC… but he was hopeless on defense. A worse shooting DLo is going to disappoint. I think he’s more athletic than Slowmo for example (that’s an easy hurdle, doesn’t mean guy is above average). But Kyle wasn’t the negative on defense he was expected to be, due to the go go gadget arms he has and Giddey doesn’t.
I think should Giddey pan out he’ll be fantastic but bust potential is there specially when taken high in the lottery as no one expected Kyle to save any franchise and he had years to develop. If the Spurs draft him I expect he’ll need time to work on his body and shot, and I’ll trust they know what they are doing but … I’ll shut up bc I need to watch some of him.
I’m not sure where he’ll land in the draft, but Davion Mitc ’s game resembles Lillard’s. Not to mention he’s built like a running back. He’ll be 23 before the end of the year and the Spurs don’t need another point guard, but I wouldn’t mind taking him assuming one of Murray or White is actually traded.
My guess is K wanted to actually coach him -- Johnson can be extremely passive (lazy, disinterested) on defense, as in giving absolutely no effort and letting guys go buy him instead of helping out, plus is undisciplined on offense, shooting terrible shots and slinging the ball out of bounds -- and didn't want to deal with it. If you watch enough videos, the pattern becomes clear.
The comparison to Jackson doesn't work. Jackson was a compe or and ultimately did what it took to win. There's nothing about Jalen Johnson that says 'winner' whatsoever. And if he couldn't get along with Coach K, how the would he get along with Pop?
totally agree, that's why they are my top 2 targets in this draft since a long time.
Then i have Moody, for the debate vs Kispert, i go straight to Moses ; he can really shoot but he is a better defender than Kispert, younger and with much potential imo.
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