Spurs Mock Draft 1.0: Picking at 9, 20, 25 and 38 for the Spurs

[rascal]

Sites are taking Jovic for the Spurs because of the Spurs past of taking foreign players.

[Drom John]

Fansided NBA | 2022 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Who gets the star big men at the top?
Ian Levy, 13 seconds ago, AKA 18 May 2022

9
Jalen Duren
Big, San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs

Duren is the centerpiece of an impressive draft haul for the Spurs, with the selections of E.J. Liddell and Ousmane Dieng later in the first round. Dieng is a play for the future and Liddell is player who can contribute right away. Duren is a potentially transformational defensive piece that bridges the gap between the two.

20
E.J. Liddell
Forward, San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs

Liddell was a primary scorer in college but his skill set should translate nicely as a high-level role player. He can shoot and defend multiple positions and has a solid face-up game that will let him exploit certain mismatches. There’s a lot of P.J. Washington to his game.

25
Ousmane Dieng
Wing, San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio Spurs

Dieng is projected much higher in some mocks and he’d be an absolute steal if he fell to the Spurs here. He’s young and raw, particularly as an outside shooter, but he’s a 6-foot-10 wing with smooth ball-handling and passing ability and plenty of defensive upside.

[rascal]

Replace Duren with Sochan, and we'd get a likely starter at PF, a longterm project in Dieng and then Kendall Brown as a defensive stopper with some upside. But I don't see Dieng and Brown both still available. But to be able to get Dieng at 20 would be amazing.

I think the Spurs take Sochan if he's there at 9. Pop is more into defensive players.

[BatManu20]

Gonna laugh at the meltdown on this site when Dyson Daniels and Mathurin go 7 & 8 and Spurs wind up taking AJ Griffin

[Thomas82]

Oh, and Mark Williams at 9 would ing suck tbh.

Yeah it would....I wouldn't touch any of those Duke players anyway.

[BackHome]

I think the Spurs take Sochan if he's there at 9. Pop is more into defensive players.

Forbes says "HI"....

[BackHome]

Gonna laugh at the meltdown on this site when Dyson Daniels and Mathurin go 7 & 8 and Spurs wind up taking AJ Griffin

[rascal]

I'm the only one on here who doesn't want Sochan at 9. Rather have Duren, Williams if Duren is gone and trade away Poeltl to Charlotte for 13 and take Daniels or Ogbaji (move Primo to the bench) with the Charlotte pick.

[rascal]

I'm starting to really like Mathurin a lot at #9 once again. He has tremendous potential and his deficiencies aren't terrible. A potential star that teams will have to miss on to drop.

I don't like Jovic. Just sucks at defense, truly terrible.

And I guess they just threw a point guard in there because no one pays attention to the Spurs.

I like Mathurin but likely to be gone by pick 9. Jovic has a nice perimeter game but what else does he bring. Not quick enough defensively.

[Thomas82]

Sporting News | NBA Mock Draft 2022: Magic select Paolo Banchero with No. 1 pick; Thunder, Kings make biggest lottery jumps
Kyle Irving, 9 hours ago, AKA 18 May 2022

I would be very happy with this draft haul.

[Mr. Body]

Forbes says "HI"....

When did the Spurs draft Forbes?

[objective]

Mathurin would be incredible. He's the only guy I see that could have a Booker / LaVine level rise to a premium scorer from a later lottery pick.

I would rank that Spurs range for now:

Mathurin
Sochan
Duren
Dyson
Keegan
AJ Griffin
Johnny Davis

[rascal]

Mathurin would be incredible. He's the only guy I see that could have a Booker / LaVine level rise to a premium scorer from a later lottery pick.

I would rank that Spurs range for now:

Mathurin
Sochan
Duren
Dyson
Keegan
AJ Griffin
Johnny Davis

Most likely four of Sochan, Daniels, Griffin, Davis, Duren will be there from your list.

[MultiTroll]

Will there be prized for whomever pics 9,20,25 and 38 for the Spurs?

[TD 21]

The Spurs have been asking for a ton in return for Poeltl. My guess is that the Spurs will be much more willing to trade him at the trade deadline than at the draft. Doing a trade during the draft involving Poeltl is doable but it'd be difficult to get all those moving parts in order.

Is the preference to extend him unless blown away or to trade him but hold out until up the trade deadline if necessary to procure the perceived best value?

If it's the latter, I don't get it. As strong as his metrics annually are, he's a role playing center and the position is oversaturated. The few with holes will fill them in the meantime and in the process the Spurs will risk injury.

G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels official measurements at the NBA Combine: 6'7.5 in shoes, 6'10.5 wingspan, 8'9 standing reach, 195 pounds, 4.9% body fat.

Not uncommon for projections to fall short, but this probably eliminates the "he might be able to guard 1-4" notion.

In the Spurs' minds, they expected to be hoping for a chance to draft a Primo who stayed in college another year. They'd have to decide between guys like him, Mathurin, Murray etc. Unless their evaluation has changed quite a bit since then, they shouldn't be looking to draft another SG. If they had the 8th- and 9th-overall picks this year and drafted Primo and Mathurin, they'd be insane. So drafting Mathurin would suggest either they think he's finally the star wing they've been aiming for, or that they're just going to keep taking those shots no matter how crowded the room gets.

What does that have to do with Williams? Because to me, if they are willing to just fill up on another SG, then they probably intend to just do that with center, and draft a guy who will be fighting with Jock Landale for gameday activations. I wouldn't be happy with them spending two picks on guys like that while they continue to have no forwards with size on their roster. Taking Williams at 9 would suggest they think he'll be their starting center within a year or so. It might let them trade Poeltl in an impact deal.

They're attempting to develop Primo into a combo guard offensively, whereas Mathurin projects as more of a wing. The former is also a project and none of him, Johnson or Vassell are good enough to pass up perceived BPA.

If they draft Williams, it'll probably only be in a scenario where Poeltl is traded to the Hornets, the 15th pick is part of the package and the pick is utilized on him.

[Ariel]

Gonna laugh at the meltdown on this site when Dyson Daniels and Mathurin go 7 & 8 and Spurs wind up taking AJ Griffin

It's quite possible... but with Johnny Davis or Sochan on the board, I sure as hope we don't take a guy that has more injuries than hairs.

[T Park]

There’s an outside possibility you could get the fourth pick for Poeltl Richardson and 2 picks. Outside.

[slick'81]

There’s an outside possibility you could get the fourth pick for Poeltl Richardson and 2 picks. Outside.

nope

[SAGirl]

I'm pretty down on Duren, but even he seems like a better prospect than Williams from Duke. I thought Williams had challenges defending in space. To me, how is Williams much better than Kessler at 20 or 25? Obviously, people must think there is some upside to Williams playing on a crowded roster et cetera, but even still I'm hesitant to let a good scrimmage at the Combine erase all that is already known about him. Anyway, sort of rambling here, but very underwhelmed with picking a dinosaur center with our #9 pick.

A good scrimmage at the combine opens minds and changes hearts...

[SAGirl]

if the spurs really are high on mathurin, i'd have to think that sounds the death knell for walker.

Walker probably has rung his own death knell.

[Chinook]

They're attempting to develop Primo into a combo guard offensively, whereas Mathurin projects as more of a wing.

It's not about whether the two can play together. In a vacuum, they certainly could. It's that even with that, they wouldn't draft them both in a year. So if they do it this time, it means they have no plan for rebuilding other than draft SGs until they get a star. That's ridiculously bad, especially given how they seem to view developing players nowadays.

The former is also a project and none of him, Johnson or Vassell are good enough to pass up perceived BPA.

I think a lot of people have a misconception on how BPA works. It almost never means to take the absolute best prospect all the time. It usually means making a board and sticking to it if you make a pick but to use that board to inform you when to move around the draft. If the Spurs needed a PF, but an SG was the best player on the board, they don't have to take him. They can move around until the BPA IS a PF. Also, being BPA doesn't mean to just have more talent. Positional need is certainly part of setting the board. So if Mathurin is the best player on the board, and the Spurs can't or won't find a workable trade, then so be it. But him merely having talent doesn't make him the obvious pick, especially considering that the Spurs keep finding ways to feel that way about guards while other teams to be able to find talent players at other positions just fine.

[lebomb]

Watch..............it will be Duren.

If Im wrong, oh well. No one fuggin knows anyhow............

[SAGirl]

Agreed. He’s the guy I’m most confident we won’t be taking.

I think we’d take Williams over him at 9 if we were to go the C route, which I don’t believe we will either.

Do you mind if I ask why? I am legit curious.

[Ariel]

if the spurs really are high on mathurin, i'd have to think that sounds the death knell for walker.

Not necessarily, Richardson is probably on the way out, and Primo is still very raw. You could definitely slot Mathurin in there, with him and Vassell sharing minutes at 2/3
If we take Blake Wesley or Hardy, however, that does spell doom for Lonnie. But in all honesty, I think he's doomed regardless...

[Ariel]

A good scrimmage at the combine opens minds and changes hearts...

True. Which is why we might end up using the no. 9 pick on Orlando Robinson
Joking... but kind of worried also