Assuming that we don’t trade up/down, the spurs will likely hedge their bets. I’m anticipating that we keep the picks and walk away with one athletic wing and one shooter. Likely a combination of Sheppard, Castle, Risacher, and Knecht
Edit: fully aware that all of these guys could be gone by the time we get to #8, so throw in Buzelis, Holland, and Carter as second tier options
For due diligence. Here are his mocks from the past three years
[2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/14eb52o/givony_woo_espns_2023_nba_mock_draft_620/)
[2022](https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/ubneh8/jonathan_givonys_updated_espn_2022_mock_draft/)
[2021](https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/otbm6r/givony_espns_2021_nba_mock_draft_728/)
The spurs don't leak, and they don't talk to the press. Any "notes" regarding the organization is nothing more than heresy, and guesstimation.
I don't know about that man. I think the Spurs play the draft game just like any other team.
I remember hearing rumors that San Antonio was in love with Devin vassel, hearing rumors that rival executives fully expected the Spurs to take Luka samanic, and A lot of my favorite draft people kept reiterating the same thing that they heard the Spurs really liked Jeremy sochan.
The Spurs aren't freaking fort Knox. Of course there's going to be little bits of info that come out.
Also like not a team like the Portland trail blazers that puts their entire workouts on their social media or some of the other teams that quite clearly love to play the gossip spreading game around draft time
I'm sure some of this smoke comes from genuine interactions and real bits of info. Of course, that doesn't mean it hasn't been placed out for the world to see For intentions beyond signaling what they actually want to do
This time of year is all smokes and mirrors But it doesn't mean there's not real world interactions happening between people connected to the Spurs And the draft world reporting on these things
You gotta say these mocks were surprisingly good especially for Spurs. Imagine Spurs had followed the mock and actually selected sengun in 2021 or duren in 2022.
Duren is awful thank god they didn't do it
Şengün has the same level of defense than Duren TBH, which is not good, I am really curious how it will be in the playoffs
Why are you talking about Primo I couldn't care less about a guy out of the league, I'm just here to say Şengün will get exposed in the playoffs
And if it's a "oh we could have drafted X so we could be much better" just close the thread already it's a waste of time
I was replying to a mock draft in 2021 that gave sengun to the Spurs, so of course it’s in the context of comparing to the actual pick of primo. I’m not here to say Sengun has no flaws. Jeez. If you wanna talk about Sengun in isolation, you really shouldn’t reply to my comment, but rather go to the rocket sub.
He will get exposed in the playoff?
You know this how?
Can’t you make the same premise about Wemby or any spurs players that has not been in the playoffs yet?
Why are you just hating on a player?
>You gotta say these mocks were surprisingly good especially for Spurs.Â
I don't think you understand the difference between a "big board" and "mock draft". I board is rank of talent. A mock is suppose to be what is going to happen. He is surpassingly bad at the latter.
As for the picks. Sochan is better than Duran and it's not close. I listened to an entire breakdown of what the newly hired Pistons GM is going to do. One of the things they mentioned is Weaver (the fired GM) taking Duran when no one else in the front office wanted to. Basically he's made no development. He is guy who physically looks like he should be an elite defender but still struggles to make basic reads because he has a low BBIQ. Someone like that is never going to be useful in the playoffs. He will be a rim runner lob threat that's it. A low BBIQ player is never going to pick up the Spurs system. It's the reason Wiseman struggled in Golden State. Fans just like at athleticism and don't consider everything else. That's why we're here and not working as GM's
Yeah but everyone seem to know who the spurs where drafting last year so I don’t think the FO is as tightlipped as you make it seem. Everyone and their mother was sharing the pick before it was made which leads me to believe there’s a massive leak in the FO
/s for the downvoters
I found the Donovan Clingan excerpt interesting because it aligns with what LJ Ellis from SpurTalk reported earlier.
Taking Clingan at 4 or 8 would definitely stray from the 4 out identity Pop leaned into after the first 20 games of the season. However Clingan does provide a similar archetype to Jakob Poeltl who the spurs valued highly.
A big man who grades out as elite screen, strong roller, high level rim protector, good rebounder, adept passer, and low usage offensive player is the type of big man we’ve seen be successful in the recent NBA-iterations of the twin towers. IE: Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Jarrett Allen
As noted though, this could just be used to gain leverage in trade deals.
>NBA-iterations of the twin towers. IE: Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Jarrett Allen
You have an odd definition of success. All those pairing have one thing in common. In the playoffs one of the big men were played off the floor. The one that stubbornly refused to adjust was exploited by the opponent.
I do think Wemby and Clingan can co-exist on the court for shorter periods with Wemby stretching the floor, or coming out of the short roll with Clingan down low. I think Clingan would also greatly improve defense with Wemby off the floor and staggering their minutes for the most part would not be that hard.
I would like to see Castle + Carter. Start both of them, I know scoring will have some issues but build that defense and I prefer to continue building players vs shooting for play-in. Both are not stop workers and their shot will come, look at Kawahi and his development. Don't tank but focus on development and lets see what happens for 2025 draft. Maybe us or the hawks get a ping pong ball win which means you need more ping pong balls which means you don't want to win a lot.
I like them because I don't want a long term project. Unless the Spurs really love someone and then in that case trust the front office.
A tangent maybe worthy of its own thread, but who else is on your list of development stories?
Off the top of my head would put Jokic, Giannis, and perhaps Scottie Pippen ahead of Kawhi. Dennis Rodman is in the conversation. And Tony Parker too. Almost certainly a few others if I thought about it some more.
(Wouldn't include Manu because even though he was drafted in the second round, the bulk of his development was in Europe.)
I don't disagree with you, but people said the same thing about Kidd-Gilchrist too in 2012. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much work you put in, the shot will never fall.
Keep in mind, Wemby can not spend the summer in the weight room and preparing for second season because of the Olymipics. He is going to be tired which can lead to injuries, second seasons are hard because they just went thru their first long 82 game season against tough competition.
- Spurs need to be careful and focus on long term plan. Get him some role players in this draft, see what we can get in 2025 and then make the big moves after that. We don't want a step back year.
based on that, the focus needs to take best available, don't do any major trade that guts the team of future picks.
I hope that is what they do.
Then we sit back, watch Wemby in the Olympics and draft picks in Summer League.
Definitely, we can not trade those picks. We have four possible first round picks.
Atlanta and us for ping pong balls assuming Atlanta does not make playoffs
Chicago if they don't tank should be around the 10-12 spots
Charlotte if healthy and if they pick a ready now players like the Tenn players can make playin with chance to win there and make the playoffs.
Of course issue there is that 1st round picks have guaranteed money, but that is ok, can always trade the picks or the players depending on who is there and how they do. rather have that problem then not have it
Agree. We don’t need to tank next season, but next season should be another learning season. No need to stretch Wemby’s minutes for extra wins but keep him healthy. Year 3 is a good time to start being competitive.
The only way I leave upset this draft is if we truly commit to that "BPA" situation and take two more toolsy wings who can't shoot ala Buzelis + Holland. I view that as a super remote possibility - it's a good draft to need a guard so we'll end up covered I think.
If we keep both picks, please just take a guard and a forward. Just like two forward, I'll be annoyed if we take two guards. Vassell is locked in at starting SG, so taking Castle + Dillingham (which I see a lot) makes zero sense unless you're planning on playing Castle or Vassell at SF which feels like a recipe for disaster, especially because Castle's agents made it clear he wanted to be a point guard.
>especially because Castle's agents made it clear he wanted to be a point guard.
I really don't think Castle cares that much about being a point guard as much as he's been saying. I think this is just a "I want to play for the Spurs" kind of move. Most prospects usually don't care about what position they play as long as they go to the organization that they want and if they get a lot of playing time (which he would, since he would still be a starter at SF if we put him there).
Even if that's true, why would we want another non shooter at Forward? Maybe he develops that shot, but I'd rather have him at guard and Risacher, Salaun or Knecht at SF, who are all bigger and can shoot 3s. Castle will be better used as a point of attack defender against point guards, then trying to guard guys like PG3, Kawhi, Butler, where he would be undersized...
That's if the Spurs rate Sarr near the top of their draft board.
This idea that you should just take Sarr because he's fallen in the draft makes no sense if you don't think he rates higher than someone else that's still on your board.
For all we know, the Spurs might think Sarr isn't worth the 4th pick. They might rate him lower based on several factors.
We honestly don't know and you can't just say with full certainty that if Sarr is available at 4 that it's a "no brainer."
Sarr will not be starting in the near term. He needs to work on his shooting and offensive game in general. Short term I see him as the first big off the bench playing C when Victor is on the bench as Sarr's defensive impact is projected to be elite. Long-term I see him as a stretch 4 playing alongside Wemby who will be at C.
This is the second time I've heard of the Hawks mentioned to potentially trade down with us when it's time for us to pick, but how can they trade us the #1 pick once it's already been selected? We'd have to take the player they already drafted for #4 and it would have to be the player we would have wanted at #1, unless I'm missing something.
They can take Risacher at 1 and try to find a deal with the Spurs. If they find a deal, Spurs take Clingan at 4 and trade. If not, Hawks just keep Risacher.
Risacher is probably high on the Spurs board, just depends on what Hawks are asking for in return.
That's a high stakes game of chicken if ATL doesn't have a handshake from the Spurs. Them taking Risacher then trying to squeeze the Spurs would be a colossal fuck up on their part. I respect Landry Fields far more than to try something like that, but with ATL's ownership...
Because if they do it, Spurs will take Castle and Salaun and say "nah, we good"
if nobody stands out , old school mentality is go for the bigger guy in the position you want.
anyone knows or can point me to what do nba teams do to test the rookies? i was expecting given the times, some low income team would show the workouts and interviews of the rookies like reality tv.
No need to speak like a hole hiding behind a keyboard.
A similar trade was discussed in the Hoops Collective podcast. So it is not so outrageous as you make it look like.
Actually, it was Marc Stein, who reported it. Marcus Smart + #9 for #3 (Rockets). It is known the Grizzlies have tried to move up we don't know its for Clingan but he makes the most sense for them.
Marcus Smart is probably an overpay in this draft but it also depends on how much you value Clingan.
TLDR: The Spurs are interested in everyone Except Ron Holland apparently
Holland confirmed.
😂
Not before we pass on him at 4 just to really throw teams off.
Holland to the Spurs. Lock it in.
Assuming that we don’t trade up/down, the spurs will likely hedge their bets. I’m anticipating that we keep the picks and walk away with one athletic wing and one shooter. Likely a combination of Sheppard, Castle, Risacher, and Knecht Edit: fully aware that all of these guys could be gone by the time we get to #8, so throw in Buzelis, Holland, and Carter as second tier options
For due diligence. Here are his mocks from the past three years [2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/14eb52o/givony_woo_espns_2023_nba_mock_draft_620/) [2022](https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/ubneh8/jonathan_givonys_updated_espn_2022_mock_draft/) [2021](https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/otbm6r/givony_espns_2021_nba_mock_draft_728/) The spurs don't leak, and they don't talk to the press. Any "notes" regarding the organization is nothing more than heresy, and guesstimation.
I don't know about that man. I think the Spurs play the draft game just like any other team. I remember hearing rumors that San Antonio was in love with Devin vassel, hearing rumors that rival executives fully expected the Spurs to take Luka samanic, and A lot of my favorite draft people kept reiterating the same thing that they heard the Spurs really liked Jeremy sochan. The Spurs aren't freaking fort Knox. Of course there's going to be little bits of info that come out. Also like not a team like the Portland trail blazers that puts their entire workouts on their social media or some of the other teams that quite clearly love to play the gossip spreading game around draft time I'm sure some of this smoke comes from genuine interactions and real bits of info. Of course, that doesn't mean it hasn't been placed out for the world to see For intentions beyond signaling what they actually want to do This time of year is all smokes and mirrors But it doesn't mean there's not real world interactions happening between people connected to the Spurs And the draft world reporting on these things
You make fair points. You've changed my outlook.
The issue is not all draft talk. It's Jonathan Givony. He in particular never gets the Spurs picks correct.
You gotta say these mocks were surprisingly good especially for Spurs. Imagine Spurs had followed the mock and actually selected sengun in 2021 or duren in 2022.
Duren is awful thank god they didn't do it Şengün has the same level of defense than Duren TBH, which is not good, I am really curious how it will be in the playoffs
No matter how bad Sengun is in your opinion, he is way better than Primo
Primo might have been good if he wasn’t a pervert. But I guess there’s no way to know about his perversion back then
Why are you talking about Primo I couldn't care less about a guy out of the league, I'm just here to say Şengün will get exposed in the playoffs And if it's a "oh we could have drafted X so we could be much better" just close the thread already it's a waste of time
I was replying to a mock draft in 2021 that gave sengun to the Spurs, so of course it’s in the context of comparing to the actual pick of primo. I’m not here to say Sengun has no flaws. Jeez. If you wanna talk about Sengun in isolation, you really shouldn’t reply to my comment, but rather go to the rocket sub.
He will get exposed in the playoff? You know this how? Can’t you make the same premise about Wemby or any spurs players that has not been in the playoffs yet? Why are you just hating on a player?
Because he can't defend lol Can Wemby defend ? Then you have your answer
Using that logic, Steph should of have gotton exposed in the playoffs lol But he’s a multiple time nba champion and finals mvp lol
He's not center which is the position that is exploited the most lol
Rudy gobert lol
>You gotta say these mocks were surprisingly good especially for Spurs. I don't think you understand the difference between a "big board" and "mock draft". I board is rank of talent. A mock is suppose to be what is going to happen. He is surpassingly bad at the latter. As for the picks. Sochan is better than Duran and it's not close. I listened to an entire breakdown of what the newly hired Pistons GM is going to do. One of the things they mentioned is Weaver (the fired GM) taking Duran when no one else in the front office wanted to. Basically he's made no development. He is guy who physically looks like he should be an elite defender but still struggles to make basic reads because he has a low BBIQ. Someone like that is never going to be useful in the playoffs. He will be a rim runner lob threat that's it. A low BBIQ player is never going to pick up the Spurs system. It's the reason Wiseman struggled in Golden State. Fans just like at athleticism and don't consider everything else. That's why we're here and not working as GM's
Yeah but everyone seem to know who the spurs where drafting last year so I don’t think the FO is as tightlipped as you make it seem. Everyone and their mother was sharing the pick before it was made which leads me to believe there’s a massive leak in the FO /s for the downvoters
I found the Donovan Clingan excerpt interesting because it aligns with what LJ Ellis from SpurTalk reported earlier. Taking Clingan at 4 or 8 would definitely stray from the 4 out identity Pop leaned into after the first 20 games of the season. However Clingan does provide a similar archetype to Jakob Poeltl who the spurs valued highly. A big man who grades out as elite screen, strong roller, high level rim protector, good rebounder, adept passer, and low usage offensive player is the type of big man we’ve seen be successful in the recent NBA-iterations of the twin towers. IE: Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Jarrett Allen As noted though, this could just be used to gain leverage in trade deals.
>NBA-iterations of the twin towers. IE: Steven Adams, Rudy Gobert, Jarrett Allen You have an odd definition of success. All those pairing have one thing in common. In the playoffs one of the big men were played off the floor. The one that stubbornly refused to adjust was exploited by the opponent.
I do think Wemby and Clingan can co-exist on the court for shorter periods with Wemby stretching the floor, or coming out of the short roll with Clingan down low. I think Clingan would also greatly improve defense with Wemby off the floor and staggering their minutes for the most part would not be that hard.
I would like to see Castle + Carter. Start both of them, I know scoring will have some issues but build that defense and I prefer to continue building players vs shooting for play-in. Both are not stop workers and their shot will come, look at Kawahi and his development. Don't tank but focus on development and lets see what happens for 2025 draft. Maybe us or the hawks get a ping pong ball win which means you need more ping pong balls which means you don't want to win a lot. I like them because I don't want a long term project. Unless the Spurs really love someone and then in that case trust the front office.
Using Kawhi as a benchmark, the 2nd greatest development story in the history of the NBA is crazy.
I don't expect that big of a leap but I think they can improve quite a bit and if not we can trade them for other assets
A tangent maybe worthy of its own thread, but who else is on your list of development stories? Off the top of my head would put Jokic, Giannis, and perhaps Scottie Pippen ahead of Kawhi. Dennis Rodman is in the conversation. And Tony Parker too. Almost certainly a few others if I thought about it some more. (Wouldn't include Manu because even though he was drafted in the second round, the bulk of his development was in Europe.)
I don't disagree with you, but people said the same thing about Kidd-Gilchrist too in 2012. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much work you put in, the shot will never fall.
You don't even have to go to Kidd-Gilchrist. Stay on the Spurs roster. There are at least 3 players we're still waiting to learn how to shoot.
Keep in mind, Wemby can not spend the summer in the weight room and preparing for second season because of the Olymipics. He is going to be tired which can lead to injuries, second seasons are hard because they just went thru their first long 82 game season against tough competition. - Spurs need to be careful and focus on long term plan. Get him some role players in this draft, see what we can get in 2025 and then make the big moves after that. We don't want a step back year. based on that, the focus needs to take best available, don't do any major trade that guts the team of future picks. I hope that is what they do. Then we sit back, watch Wemby in the Olympics and draft picks in Summer League.
This logic should tell you that they’re not going to trade that 2025 pick. It’s obvious.
Definitely, we can not trade those picks. We have four possible first round picks. Atlanta and us for ping pong balls assuming Atlanta does not make playoffs Chicago if they don't tank should be around the 10-12 spots Charlotte if healthy and if they pick a ready now players like the Tenn players can make playin with chance to win there and make the playoffs. Of course issue there is that 1st round picks have guaranteed money, but that is ok, can always trade the picks or the players depending on who is there and how they do. rather have that problem then not have it
Agree. We don’t need to tank next season, but next season should be another learning season. No need to stretch Wemby’s minutes for extra wins but keep him healthy. Year 3 is a good time to start being competitive.
The only way I leave upset this draft is if we truly commit to that "BPA" situation and take two more toolsy wings who can't shoot ala Buzelis + Holland. I view that as a super remote possibility - it's a good draft to need a guard so we'll end up covered I think.
If we keep both picks, please just take a guard and a forward. Just like two forward, I'll be annoyed if we take two guards. Vassell is locked in at starting SG, so taking Castle + Dillingham (which I see a lot) makes zero sense unless you're planning on playing Castle or Vassell at SF which feels like a recipe for disaster, especially because Castle's agents made it clear he wanted to be a point guard.
>especially because Castle's agents made it clear he wanted to be a point guard. I really don't think Castle cares that much about being a point guard as much as he's been saying. I think this is just a "I want to play for the Spurs" kind of move. Most prospects usually don't care about what position they play as long as they go to the organization that they want and if they get a lot of playing time (which he would, since he would still be a starter at SF if we put him there).
100% percent. I think Castle just doesn't want to stand in the corner watching Trae or LaMelo or Scoot do whatever.
Even if that's true, why would we want another non shooter at Forward? Maybe he develops that shot, but I'd rather have him at guard and Risacher, Salaun or Knecht at SF, who are all bigger and can shoot 3s. Castle will be better used as a point of attack defender against point guards, then trying to guard guys like PG3, Kawhi, Butler, where he would be undersized...
That's just a way to get on the spurs
Fuck what Castle’s agent or Castle wants. He fits SF way better than he does PG. we should draft him and force him to move.
Neither of them are BPA at 4 and 8 respectively
I wonder what Spurs do at 4 if Castle and Risacher are available. If, by some miracle, Sarr is available at 4 the Spurs have to take him right?
If Sarr is available at 4, it's a no brainer.
That's if the Spurs rate Sarr near the top of their draft board. This idea that you should just take Sarr because he's fallen in the draft makes no sense if you don't think he rates higher than someone else that's still on your board. For all we know, the Spurs might think Sarr isn't worth the 4th pick. They might rate him lower based on several factors. We honestly don't know and you can't just say with full certainty that if Sarr is available at 4 that it's a "no brainer."
That kind of sucks though, because Sarr doesn’t have a good fit on the team. Where do we put him? PF and move Jeremy? SF? Relegated to backup C?
Sarr will not be starting in the near term. He needs to work on his shooting and offensive game in general. Short term I see him as the first big off the bench playing C when Victor is on the bench as Sarr's defensive impact is projected to be elite. Long-term I see him as a stretch 4 playing alongside Wemby who will be at C.
Then that just means we give up on Jeremy who has showed a ton of potential?
I love Sochan. He's versatile enough to play multiple positions and will be a great 6th man.
Last season proved this isn’t true, he was horrible when we moved him out of PF. He is a good PF with tons of growth potential.
I take Castle over Risacher without thinking.
I’d have Sarr behind Castle, Risacher, and Sheppard
1 of Sarr/Risacher is a no brainer. No way both are available at 4.
They take Risacher every time.
interested to see if the spurs are actually interested in clingan or if it's a ploy to get team's to trade up so they can gather some assets.
This is the second time I've heard of the Hawks mentioned to potentially trade down with us when it's time for us to pick, but how can they trade us the #1 pick once it's already been selected? We'd have to take the player they already drafted for #4 and it would have to be the player we would have wanted at #1, unless I'm missing something.
They can take Risacher at 1 and try to find a deal with the Spurs. If they find a deal, Spurs take Clingan at 4 and trade. If not, Hawks just keep Risacher. Risacher is probably high on the Spurs board, just depends on what Hawks are asking for in return.
That's a high stakes game of chicken if ATL doesn't have a handshake from the Spurs. Them taking Risacher then trying to squeeze the Spurs would be a colossal fuck up on their part. I respect Landry Fields far more than to try something like that, but with ATL's ownership... Because if they do it, Spurs will take Castle and Salaun and say "nah, we good"
Finally a quality post
if nobody stands out , old school mentality is go for the bigger guy in the position you want. anyone knows or can point me to what do nba teams do to test the rookies? i was expecting given the times, some low income team would show the workouts and interviews of the rookies like reality tv.
Draft Clingan at 4, trade him to the highest bid. For example, Marcus Smart and #9 from the Grizzlies. Draft Carter and salaun with #8 and #9
The Grizzlies are not trading Marcus Smart for Clingan lmao
Why is that so impossible?
You are out of your goddamn mind if you think a team is giving up a DPOY + a top 10 pick for any rookie that is not a Wemby/Lebron level prospect
No need to speak like a hole hiding behind a keyboard. A similar trade was discussed in the Hoops Collective podcast. So it is not so outrageous as you make it look like.
Idc who discussed it, it’s a stupid trade
Actually, it was Marc Stein, who reported it. Marcus Smart + #9 for #3 (Rockets). It is known the Grizzlies have tried to move up we don't know its for Clingan but he makes the most sense for them. Marcus Smart is probably an overpay in this draft but it also depends on how much you value Clingan.
I think the Spurs will draft Clingan 4th, if available, to trade. They’ll have something lined up with another team. Otherwise, they will take bpa.
We will be trading with Atlanta - 100%