Draft projects to watch besides Wembanyama & Henderson

[Mr. Body]

We stole him because he had undergone foot surgery. 3/$21M with only half guaranteed.

Yep, a nifty bit of business.

[duncan2150]

To change a little bit as we talk a lot about our first choice in this draft, i'll talk about 2-3 guys by positon for a late first ( trading up both secound or something else) or our secounds.


Guards ( not the best position for a late first- secound round)

Sidy Cissoko G League Ignite (France) – HT: 6-7 – WT: 220 – WING: 6-9 1/2
Stats: 11.3 pts 3.1 ast 2.7 rbs 1.1 stl 43 %2pt 33%3pt

Long guard who can do a little bit of everything. Pretty athletic, Good passer, Good defender and who is better and better in G League.


Colby Jones– Xavier – HT: 6-6 – WT: 203
Stats: 15.2pts 5.4 rbs 4.3 ast 1.4 stl 52% 38%3pt ( 3 3pt/g) 67% ft

Third year guard Jones is not the most flashy player but he is a complete player with a good IQ.



Julian Strawther-Gonzaga – HT: 6-7 – WT: 200 – WING: 6-9
Stats: 15.1 pts 5.9 rbs 1.3 stl 0.9 stl 48% 42.6 3pt( 5 3pt/g) 78% ft

Also a third year player at Gonzaga, really good shooter, good scorer.



Brandin Podziemski- Santa Clara 6-5, 200lbs
Stats: 19.9 pts 8.8 rbs 3.5 ast 1.8 stl 48% 43.6 3pt ( 5.8 3pt/g) 77%ft

My wild card, Sop re Brandin Podziemski : Good scorer, can really shoot, pass the ball and not a bad defender. He's having a good year at Santa Clara.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc01zfaynKw ( just the link here)

Mentions : Judah Mintz(Syracuse), Amari Bailey(UCLA), Jordan Hawkins(Uconn).

I'll make the same about fowards next days .

[ace3g]

[Ariel]

The centers in this draft seem a bit underwhelming. Here are comparisons among them and to Kessler and Duren. I didn't really 'scout' Kessler last year. His advanced numbers are absurd.

https://www.tankathon.com/players/co...walker-kessler

I'm pretty ok with my 2022 class pre-draft assessment, other than Kessler. He's been able to translate much better and way faster than I anticipated. Really missed that one. For all the hype about Duren, he's the center I'd rather have.

[Gagnrath]

Was watching LAC MEM this week and the Grizz couldn't get past Clippers. Guess who was not suiting up due to off court issues? Look at the standings, do you think MEM can afford that loss? As Spurs fans we know how crucial seeding and path and home court advantage is.

So do I think Spurs leadership still has Miller on the board? No. I don't care if the draft pick is a genetic super soldier with the genes of Jesus Christ and Micheal Jordan. If they jump on the hood of a car in a strip club parking lot and negligently discharge a firearm, they are gonna get suspended and won't be on the court with all their talents to help your team win games. That sucks then, to lose 50 ing games, tank a whole season, and all you have to show for it is a guy banned from the court?

No way am I taking that risk. At this point, it would literally require the ALA DA saying "whoops, entirely wrong Brandon Miller alltogether then" for Spurs to reconsider. For those saying isolated incident, his at ude after the news broke shows he is doubling down on the arrogance. Someone died, y'all.

Someone died, and that matters why? Someone died isn't a bad thing in a world with 7 billion someone's it probably should be considered a good thing.

[exstatic]

Someone died, and that matters why? Someone died isn't a bad thing in a world with 7 billion someone's it probably should be considered a good thing.

They didn't 'die'. That's too generic of a term. They were murdered, and yes, that matters.

[Mr. Body]

Someone died, and that matters why? Someone died isn't a bad thing in a world with 7 billion someone's it probably should be considered a good thing.

Now you're thinking like a basketball shoe representative or Klutch agent! You're going places.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

The Spurs need to draft Jarace Walker. That guy is so freaking good, it's scary. His potential offensive ceiling is high, fantastic work ethic, athleticism, strength, and ball handling. Has ok 3pt% and a concerning 67% FT percentage, but he shot 85% on his free throws in AAU and has tremendous touch on his shot. I feel like he's going to be a multi-year DPOY and a potential MVP candidate with good coaching.

Imagine playing Walker, Schoan, and Vessell together? I also think that Walker is a 3.5 in the NBA. I think you can play Walker, Schoan, and a legit rim protecting 5 in 3 years or less. That's a championship level core I think.

[heyheymymy]

Someone died, and that matters why? Someone died isn't a bad thing in a world with 7 billion someone's it probably should be considered a good thing.

Man what the is this?

[heyheymymy]

Julian Strawther-Gonzaga – HT: 6-7 – WT: 200 – WING: 6-9
Stats: 15.1 pts 5.9 rbs 1.3 stl 0.9 stl 48% 42.6 3pt( 5 3pt/g) 78% ft

Also a third year player at Gonzaga, really good shooter, good scorer.

Shhh don't tell anyone about Straw Im hoping he falls lol

[heyheymymy]

Pacers are going to steal Straw at 29 and I will be devastated

[BackHome]

I think they going to take home talent Trayce Jackson Davis he would fit good with them

[The Truth #6]

The Spurs need to draft Jarace Walker. That guy is so freaking good, it's scary. His potential offensive ceiling is high, fantastic work ethic, athleticism, strength, and ball handling. Has ok 3pt% and a concerning 67% FT percentage, but he shot 85% on his free throws in AAU and has tremendous touch on his shot. I feel like he's going to be a multi-year DPOY and a potential MVP candidate with good coaching.

Imagine playing Walker, Schoan, and Vessell together? I also think that Walker is a 3.5 in the NBA. I think you can play Walker, Schoan, and a legit rim protecting 5 in 3 years or less. That's a championship level core I think.

I like the enthusiasm. I can’t co-sign to all of this but I’m definitely intrigued by him and can easily see us picking him if we’re outside the top 3. Yes, we need a ball dominant star but Wemby is the only sure thing for that. Walker doesn’t seem to have high bust potential. And he has potential for a Julius Randle type career, meaning a lower level star. If we’re outside the top 3, I’m looking at Walker first then Anthony Black. Want to learn more about Cam Whitmore, he could also be in the mix.

But we’ll see…

[Mr. Body]

If we are looking for two rookies in this draft, then who is that second player? With a logjam of young bigs, we may be looking for a SG bucket-getter type.

I ran a comparison among Nick Smith Jr., Keyonte George, and Kobe Bufkin, who plays for Michigan. I added Terquavion Smith, who has gone under the radar after leaving the draft last year and not really improving his stock much.

Bufkin has been mostly ignored by draft pundits until recently. Michigan is mediocre at best and Jett Howard has taken most of the draft attention.

I see no reason, at least by (some) eye test and looking at basic and advanced stats, why Bufkin isn't good value compared to Smith and George, who are in top 10 talk. Given how the draft gets kind of sludgy and players often get stuck in certain ranges, KB might not move up a ton (lottery is a possibility, though).

Kobe Bufkin is a young sop re, only a bit older than NSJ and George. He's slight of build, which is a concern. Stats-wise, he doesn't get up as many 3pters as the others, only half as many per 36, and so this makes his overall shooting percentage much better, but his 2pt% is .546%! Keyonte George's 2pt% is a full 12% worse. That seems crazy. Bufkin takes fewer free throws, but hits .849%. His 3pt% is a decent .355, highest among all four players.

All three others hover around a 30% usage rate. General opinion of this board is that a high usage rate isn't desirable on this team. Kobe Bufkin's is 21.8%. And his advanced stats are ALL better than the others, including what appears to be a MUCH better defender.

https://www.tankathon.com/players/co...-nick-smith-jr

tl;dr Kobe Bufkin may be an incredible value if he doesn't rise due to inertia and the Spurs can manage to get into the late first round. But... will we stand to have a player named Kobe?

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

I like the enthusiasm. I can’t co-sign to all of this but I’m definitely intrigued by him and can easily see us picking him if we’re outside the top 3. Yes, we need a ball dominant star but Wemby is the only sure thing for that. Walker doesn’t seem to have high bust potential. And he has potential for a Julius Randle type career, meaning a lower level star. If we’re outside the top 3, I’m looking at Walker first then Anthony Black. Want to learn more about Cam Whitmore, he could also be in the mix.

But we’ll see…

I've seen a lot of comparisons between Walker and Randle, but don't see it at all - same body type, sure, but their games are completely different.

I like Walker if the Spurs don't land a top 2 pick and trade down. He's malleable.

[mo7888]

I've seen a lot of comparisons between Walker and Randle, but don't see it at all - same body type, sure, but their games are completely different.

I like Walker if the Spurs don't land a top 2 pick and trade down. He's malleable.

I don't see the JR comparison either, but I do like Walker alot. He's firmly in my 2nd tier behind Wembanyama. I see Walker closer to nephew than I do Randle...not saying he's nephew, but just closer on the arc to him than JR..

[rankingtear]

Keyonte George is the one to watch he moves like a star and he is the Primo archetype. Jarace and Whitmore needs a little imagination and trust in spurs development but they can just barrel into people and score a lot points.

[K...]

man it would be so easy for the spurs to get a late first by trading their second and a future second. playoffs teams will gladly trade back for the salary flexibility. Depends how badly wright wants to shape the team and whether anyone catches their eye/ With the second RP glut they kind of half to start spending almost immediately and be pick buyers.

[RobinsontoDuncan]

I don't see the JR comparison either, but I do like Walker alot. He's firmly in my 2nd tier behind Wembanyama. I see Walker closer to nephew than I do Randle...not saying he's nephew, but just closer on the arc to him than JR..

I’m a Syracuse basketball fan and I watched a lot of Carmelo play when he was there. Melo played as a 4 in college, just like Kawhi, and he had a similar skill set to Walker.

[exstatic]

Keyonte George is the one to watch he moves like a star and he is the Primo archetype. Jarace and Whitmore needs a little imagination and trust in spurs development but they can just barrel into people and score a lot points.

I don't care how he moves, he's a 6'4" SG who shoots 35% from long. I'm about done with short SGs, and he's in NO WAY a point.

[rankingtear]

I don't care how he moves, he's a 6'4" SG who shoots 35% from long. I'm about done with short SGs, and he's in NO WAY a point.

He has the volume though. You miss out on Donovan and Beal if you don't consider volume with percentage.

[Mr. Body]

man it would be so easy for the spurs to get a late first by trading their second and a future second. playoffs teams will gladly trade back for the salary flexibility. Depends how badly wright wants to shape the team and whether anyone catches their eye/ With the second RP glut they kind of half to start spending almost immediately and be pick buyers.

Like, literally none of those playoff teams in the late first own their picks. They traded them away. Take a look.

https://www.tankathon.com/

Cleveland
Denver
Philly
Boston
Milwaukee

Their picks belong to Indiana, Charlotte, Utah, etc.

Memphis and Sacramento have their own picks but I don't know if they'd want to trade out of the round.

[Mr. Body]

He has the volume though. You miss out on Donovan and Beal if you don't consider volume with percentage.

"He misses a lot of shots, but at least he shoots a ton of them!"

[exstatic]

He has the volume though. You miss out on Donovan and Beal if you don't consider volume with percentage.

Neither of those players is a franchise guy. Beal has never even taken the Wiz to the playoffs as The Guy.

If you put me on the clock with Keyonte and Anthony Black still on the board, I take Black 100 times out of 100. He's bigger, has a MUCH better asst/TO ratio, smokes Keyonte on the efficiency stats like TS% and EF FG%, and gets assists, rebounds and steals at a good rate. With a USG% of 21, he has plenty of room, and with his efficiency, the expectation of increased scoring.

[Mr. Body]

Anthony Black is Jeremy Sochan. I'm telling you guys. Different bodies, different positions, but he's the same player.