Spurscast Ep. 744: The Annual Pre-Draft Episode

This is the Spurs cast with your host, Paul Garcia.

And welcome back to another episode of the Spurs cast.

In today's episode, I'll be joined by Project Spurs writer, Benjamin Bornstein,

to discuss the NBA draft for the San Antonio Spurs next Wednesday and Thursday.

Let's go to jump right into this episode.

Ben, how are you doing?

I am great. How are you doing?

I'm doing very well, man. Hey, you know what it is? It's time for the draft.

It's less than a week away now. You and I are recording this on Thursday.

Afternoon for me, Thursday evening from where you're at.

So let's jump right into here.

So let's first talk. We're going to go in sections here.

We're going to talk about prospects kind of in that fourth pick range.

We'll talk about some prospects in the eighth pick range.

And then for the second round, because there's so many players all over the place in the second round,

we'll just kind of just pinpoint some players that interest us.

Okay, so let's first begin with the fourth pick.

So the Spurs do have the fourth pick in the opening round.

The Atlanta Hawks are first.

The Washington Wizards are second, and the Houston Rockets are third.

So that's something to keep in mind as we talk about some of these players.

Let's first begin with Zachary.

Zachary, Risa Shea from France.

He's 6'9", from JL Borg.

He's going to be 19 when next season starts.

Right now, almost every mock has him as first.

He's kind of moved up ahead of Alexander Saar.

But there's still some questions about whether or not Atlanta is going to take him there.

We do know that the Spurs do have interest with him.

He's actually supposed to work out with San Antonio on Friday,

despite them being in the fourth slot.

So there's been different reporting here of maybe the Spurs want to trade up,

maybe trade four and eight to try to get number one,

or maybe trade four and Atlanta's.

2025 first round pick to get number one,

or even just hope that he falls to four.

Out of those three categories,

what do you think they should do if they really want Risa Shea?

Which option would you pick, A, B, or C there?

This is, this isn't, I've said this,

I feel like everywhere, anyone who's ever asked me about this draft.

This is not a draft where you trade away future assets

or even trade away assets in this draft to go up and get anybody.

There is nobody worth.

Go.

Going up and trying to get at the one, two, or three pick.

The Spurs should probably just hope he falls to four.

See what happens.

If he doesn't follow for, okay.

There are other guys at four that will fit what they need.

You know, they don't, the Spurs being as bad as they were,

don't need just one kind of player.

So they'll have plenty of options as to who they can grab in this draft.

Okay.

Personally, for me,

if I'm the Spurs and I made that DeJounte Murray trade

and I got all those picks from Atlanta,

there is no way I'm giving those picks back to Atlanta

without getting something much heftier in return.

You don't give a team it's, it's picks back.

You don't reward a team for making bad decisions.

I mean, this,

this first we're going to find a way to trade DeJounte Murray one way or another.

They were going to get something for him,

but.

What Atlanta gave the Spurs was probably the best,

the best package they were going to see.

So to give the Hawks back one picks and to any sort of hope after an abysmal

one or two seasons.

No, thanks.

I'm good.

I'm not going to help the Hawks out in any way whatsoever for any reason.

This, this will not be a Kevin Costner draft day scenario.

I refuse to,

I refuse to allow that to happen.

Okay.

So I'm with you there where unless you're,

unless you're absolutely,

absolutely sold on,

on what Zachary research is going to turn into.

Then maybe I look at that four and eight,

but again,

I'm right now from what I've seen,

I'm not sold.

I wouldn't do it either.

I wouldn't trade up to try to get him.

I've definitely,

the biggest one I'm staying away from is that one where Atlanta wants their

own pickback.

Of course they want their own pickback.

Like you just said there.

No,

I would,

I would definitely not do that one either if having to give them their

2025.

And so like you,

I agree here.

Maybe just,

just hope he falls to four.

If you're really interested in him,

just hope he falls to four because like,

like we've kind of talked about with these,

all of these prospects in the,

in these,

you know,

in the lottery range,

they all,

you know,

yes,

they all have one really good skillset,

but then there's also a drawback on almost every single one of these

prospects.

No one's just like an all around really,

really good player in this,

in these top,

you know,

14,

10,

10 kind of players.

All right,

let's move on to the next player.

Reach shepherd,

six,

two point guard out of Kentucky.

He's going to be 20 when the season starts right now.

He's most mocks have him going third to Houston.

So his mock average is about 3.6.

We do know that the Spurs have interest in him.

They did work him out.

You know,

which shepherd same thing.

Should they just,

should they try to move up or should they just try to hope that he falls

to four?

What is your thoughts on him?

That's I mean,

yeah,

you're talking about,

he's probably going to get taken at three at the earliest.

Let him try and see if he'll drop,

especially if you're saying his average is at 3.6 across mock draft

boards.

He's a great player.

I,

I think the fit with Houston is weird because they got one of the

top ones to try and be a point guard.

Maybe in Reed shepherd is very much a point guard.

He's not big enough to play shooting guard,

although he does shoot the ball very well.

He,

he runs an offense very well.

And there were times when,

you know,

Kentucky was out there last season.

Just they,

they looked completely lost when he was off the court.

Yes.

They had no idea how to run sets.

They had no idea what they were,

what they were doing.

The second he steps on the court,

something good happened.

He just,

he makes good things happen,

whether that's offensively or defensively and,

and defensively,

I think he'll be okay.

He might be a little JJ Redick ask in that when he comes into the

league,

he might be a step slow,

but I think he can get there.

I don't think it'll take as long for him to get out of a doghouse

because I don't know if you remember,

but when Stan Van Gundy was the coach of the Orlando magic,

JJ Redick played very sparingly as that first,

first year or so.

And once he finally caught up,

got a little faster,

was able to not be a total black hole on defense,

got a lot more playing time.

He looked very good.

So I think Reed Shepard has the opportunity to do that.

I don't think it'll take him as long to figure it out.

I think I'm,

his shooting may not be as good,

although he does have great shooting splits on what I would call semi

volume.

And he was playing in,

basically a system list on a system list team that coach Cal,

I've said this before many times,

coach Calipari,

great recruiting talent develops talent very well,

not great with X's and O's on the court.

I'm convinced of that.

And so I think that hampers his players at times.

And I think Reed Shepard,

even despite kind of being held back by no real system to play it or no

real set plays to run,

you know,

made that offense move.

And I think that you have to give him a lot of credit for that.

Okay.

You know,

I'm high on him as well,

but again,

I'm like you were,

I wouldn't trade,

you know,

two firsts to go and get him.

So maybe if,

if Houston looked at something like maybe like four in like 30,

35 or four and 48,

maybe it's something like that.

A first and a second,

maybe that if the Spurs are really sold on Shepard,

then maybe they do that.

But again,

I think the best hope for San Antonio just hopes that he falls there to

four for them.

Next player.

In that same vein,

if,

if they do,

go up and do that and they say,

we'll give you the four and we'll give you our second round pick this

year.

I think that also signals that the Spurs are interested in really going

after someone in free agency.

Cause they're going to,

they're,

they're then saying,

we're not interested in filling more roster spots.

We're going to give up two spots for one and we'll keep the eight.

So we,

you know,

we've given up one roster spot.

Yes.

It's a second round pick and yes,

you don't have to guarantee their contract,

but I think it's still possibly a signal that,

okay,

the Spurs want to get serious.

It's about finding someone in free agency and surround that young talent

with a proven player.

Okay.

Next player is Stefan Castle out of Yukon.

Six,

six age 19.

When he's on his NBA season starts,

his mock average is almost perfect to the Spurs.

It's at 4.5.

I mean,

you look at the,

at the,

at the mock board and almost everybody has them going number four to San

Antonio.

He's basically the favorite of the mock,

the mock makers,

I guess,

to,

to go to San Antonio.

We do know that the Spurs are very high on him,

according to a lot of the reports that have come out and also that they did

work him out as well.

So Stefan,

Castle really good defensive guard.

We know that,

you know,

he does have a,

a,

an issue with it,

with shooting the ball from the outside,

but can kind of play may create a for himself and others.

What are your thoughts on him?

You know,

here they wouldn't have to trade up.

I think that should they take him at four?

If he's there,

what do you think?

Yes,

absolutely.

He's,

he's a big six guard.

He's talked about,

he wants to get back to his point guard roots.

I think he played some in high school.

Yeah.

I think,

I don't know if the,

the shooting splits in college are totally reflective of,

of how good or bad of a shooter is.

I think he's a little better than what his percentages say.

He did have some games where he got really hot.

And I think if you go back and look at some of his high school tape,

you'll see that he shot the ball fairly well from what I remember,

but he is phenomenal on defense.

He's going to give you 110% effort.

He's he's a winner.

He is just a winner.

He will do whatever is required of him to win basketball games.

He was,

this was a guy he could have got.

He was,

he was,

you know,

top 10 recruit in his high school recruiting class.

He could have gone anywhere he wanted.

And he went to UConn knowing that they have other guards,

knowing that they have other guys who are going to be competing with him

for playing time.

And he said,

I understand that.

I don't care.

I want to win games.

I will win games if I play for Dan Hurley and UConn.

So I think that cannot be understated and should not be the shooting.

I think you can,

you can come around on,

you can certainly,

it may take you a couple of years,

but you can improve on that,

but he's going to be doing everything else exactly the way you want it.

And he's going to be,

it's going to have a great work ethic about it.

I would say I,

he was working on things even when he was at UConn.

He never really got down about playing time.

He never,

you know,

there was never sniping with coach or anything like that.

You know,

he just worked harder and he said,

if I want to get more playing time,

I got to do these other things.

He goes out,

he rebounds the ball.

He defends,

he defends hard.

So I think he will take that up to the NBA level.

And I think that's something that the Spurs and coach Bob,

which will really appreciate if they drafted it for him.

I would just add one more thing too,

for just being a nine-year-old kid.

I mean,

at UConn,

I would say too,

that he's very composed.

Like he doesn't get rattled.

Like you just see this very,

like,

like I was trying to do a conference.

I saw some different ones going around and one,

like,

cause he doesn't play exactly the same position,

but he just reminded me a lot of Jimmy Butler.

Jimmy Butler is very cool.

Collected.

Doesn't really force anything.

Kind of moves the ball around,

gets really into it on defense.

So that's kind of the vibes that I got from him when I was,

when I was watching him,

Stefan Castle.

So again,

right now it looks like he should be there for the Spurs at four.

And like I said,

a lot,

everybody who makes mocks day,

I'm pretty much almost everyone has him as a lock to go there to the

Spurs.

So we'll kind of see what happens there.

All right.

The next player is modest Boozalis six,

nine out of G league ignite.

He's going to be 19 years old when the season starts right now,

his mock average is about fifth.

Almost everybody has him going to Detroit at fifth.

So again,

he should be there for the Spurs.

If you know,

if,

if when four comes around and if he hasn't got picked yet,

what are your thoughts on him?

Should,

should they look at him or still stick to castle or maybe shepherd

before?

What are your thoughts?

Yeah.

If it's between those three,

I'm sticking with castle,

but I do like what was Boozalis can bring.

I mean,

talking six,

nine,

pretty athletic jumps very well.

I think the shooting has to come around a bit.

Because,

and there were times where he's,

he looked a little lost on the court.

And I think part of that was just,

the G league Ignite team was very bad.

And I don't think they were,

they were coached all that.

Well,

I mean,

they,

I would,

they won what?

Maybe 10 games in the G league.

We're not very good.

I mean,

the team got disbanded.

Yeah.

For this.

That's,

that's how bad that program has been.

And yes,

it's produced a couple of lottery guys,

but at the same time,

it's felt like those guys have been wholly unprepared to play in the

league.

So that scares me a little bit.

And I,

again,

with the shooting and I think there were times where he shrank in

some moments and that's concerning as well.

So I,

I would not have him.

I mean,

if,

if Stefan castle and read shepherd are both somehow taken already.

Yeah.

You got it.

You got to really look at it and figure out as a team,

what is it we are looking for?

What is it?

What is it that the Spurs want to draft as far as what are our

what are our skill needs?

What are positional needs?

What are,

you know,

kind of intangible needs?

Does Booz Ellis fit any of that?

Yeah,

no,

for sure.

And like,

like he's too much of like a project to terms of like,

could he like immediately step in and be the four percent?

I don't think so.

Not yet.

It's so,

so it's probably still going to start just the fact that he has more

experience.

So again,

that's why I would,

you know,

unless he,

unless he falls to eighth and yes,

you take it.

But again,

I would hold off on fourth if castle and shepherd are still there.

I didn't mention these two players,

but they should go in the top five.

Um,

Alex or top,

you know,

top eight,

Alexander starts,

um,

it's supposed to go second and then Donovan clean.

It's supposed to go six.

I stayed away from them just cause I don't think the Spurs are

targeting,

uh,

another big right now.

I think they really liked what Wemby did as the five.

I think that's what they want to do going forward.

And you know,

you could try out like the,

like the Minnesota model of like one traditional big,

uh,

and then Wemby,

or you could just have that big play off the bench,

but then you have Zach Collins there.

There's all these issues,

right?

Would you agree?

They should probably stay away from clinging and sorry for now.

I,

I don't hate the prospect of either of them.

Well,

Alexander SARS athletic enough.

He can go out on the perimeter and guard a couple of guys.

If needed.

I don't hit that at all.

Clinging,

not as much,

but clinging is just so big.

I mean,

he said he's seven,

two,

he moves pretty decently at his size,

but he's seven,

two.

He defended really well at Yukon too.

I wouldn't hate that pick,

but I think at four,

it's a reach that you can't,

uh,

afford to take in this draft.

If,

if he fell to eight,

I'd feel more comfortable with that at four.

Not as much.

Okay.

Yeah.

I agree with you there again.

Like if the options are at eight,

maybe you do take one of those two players that they fall out,

which I don't think they are going to fall up that far,

but,

um,

yeah,

so that's why I didn't really mention them in our first discussion.

Okay.

Now let's go to the eighth pick.

Uh,

the second pick that the Spurs have in this first round.

So after San Antonio drafts at four,

then it's Detroit at five,

Charlotte at six,

and then Portland at seven.

So then here comes the Spurs today.

There's a bunch of different players.

There's a bunch of different players here in these ranges.

So let's first talk about Cody Williams,

six,

seven wing out of Colorado.

He's going to be 19 when the season starts right now,

his mock average is about 7.8.

So he can go like as early as seven,

or even as late as like 12 or 13 on some different mocks.

We do know,

I do know that the Spurs have interest in him in terms of,

um,

just seeing that they've,

they've scouted him before and things like that.

Uh,

what are your thoughts on,

on,

on Cody Williams at eight?

Cody Williams is,

I would say similar to a modest,

but zealous in that he's fairly raw.

Uh,

he showed really nice flashes of Colorado and he was a big reason why they

got to the NCAA tournament.

I would also argue Colorado had a few other players on that team that were

huge.

Tristan De Silva,

Eddie Lampkin,

Eddie Lampkin was literally huge,

but,

um,

that is,

that would be kind of an odd pick.

I don't think his timeline necessarily lines up with what the Spurs are

looking for.

But he is an athletic wing who I don't know if he would,

he certainly wouldn't start right away,

but he could find some time in the rotation,

I think.

But he's,

he's a bit raw for,

for my liking.

That's me too.

I just think he's too raw right now.

Um,

you know,

his skillset too is like,

he's more of a slashing kind of wing.

That's what he likes to do again.

And like,

he reminds me a lot of Karis Laver kind of play style,

but like,

and defensively,

it looks like he has the tools there,

but he doesn't know,

like he hasn't really quite developed how to use them yet.

Like his,

his wingspan and his,

just his length,

things like that.

So yeah,

I mean,

at eight,

maybe you can take a little bit of a gamble on a player who's

wrong,

who needs to develop off the bench,

maybe play some games in Austin,

but,

but again,

there's other options out there that are more ready to go

players.

So let's talk about one of those ready to go players.

And that is Dalton connect six,

five at a Tennessee age.

He's going to be,

he's a little bit older compared to these other prospects.

He's going to be 23 when the season starts.

His mock average right now is kind of right there in the

Spurs range at 8.5.

So eighth there's been,

so this is interesting to me.

So like,

we're getting all these different rumors,

but Oh,

this person worked out this guy,

this guy and this guy.

And then all of a sudden,

sometimes San Antonio does this.

They'll draft a guy where it stayed quiet that they even

worked him out.

Like they just kept that out of the press.

Like,

you know,

so there's been no reported workout yet.

The Spurs have worked out connect.

So he's just a player that I'm monitoring.

I know that when you came on here a few months ago,

you mentioned professional shooter,

just really good.

You know,

outside shooter reminds me a lot of like,

kind of like JJ Redick,

a little bit of clay Thompson kind of vibes from him.

Those kinds of things.

What is,

what are your thoughts on connect?

Maybe at eight.

More athletic than JJ Redick.

That's for sure.

Connect.

I can get up there and Duncan he'll drive and he can

create his own shot.

Like you said,

I still believe he's a professional shooter.

He's.

He's going to make some team very happy and yes,

he's older,

but I also believe that his,

his experiences have been similar to Derek white.

And that I think he started at a Juco.

He transferred up to Northern Colorado.

And then he transferred up another level to sec,

you know,

top tier sec,

sec team playing for Tennessee.

So he,

I think he understands what it takes to get to that next level,

which is big.

And if he does follow a very Derek white trajectory,

that bodes pretty well for him.

I think he's a little bit of the opposite though.

And that his offense is farther along than his defense.

I think when Derek white was coming out,

his defense was farther along than his office.

Although obviously much better as an offensive player with connect.

It's very much.

If you,

if you need a shooter,

that's your guy.

And I,

I think it will depend on who they take it for.

If they take a big man,

if they decide and Alex,

if Alexander's sorry,

it's still there and they take him.

So they will probably be more inclined to take a guy like connect

because they say,

okay,

we've taken two different positions at four and eight.

We have,

we have good balance here.

Yeah.

And I just,

regarding the comment,

one thing that I saw when I was watching tape on him is that he's one

of these,

these few prospects who knows how to navigate off ball screens.

Like getting flare screens,

that kind of,

that's where he really reminded me of JJ.

He just knows how to get himself open.

Even though we know that,

you know,

everyone was focused on him.

He was the go-to player for Tennessee.

And then one thing I like about him too,

is he's very confident.

Like he,

you know,

he's obviously he's not at the stature of a player like Kevin

Durant,

but he said like,

you know,

he models his game after players like Kevin Durant,

after Devin Booker,

those are some of his favorite players,

you know,

growing up and watching how the,

how they play the game.

He likes to model his himself like that as well.

I would just say too,

if the Spurs are looking out at the free agent market in the

wings or even trade market,

it's just too much,

you know,

KCP,

all these different players,

Clay Thompson,

they're going to earn 25 million plus,

you know,

if they don't want to spend that kind of cap space on a

shooter who's ready to go,

maybe they could look at connect again at number eight.

He's like,

you said he's a veteran.

He's he's,

he has more experience under his belt.

He knows how to play.

I think you could even start him there right at the three

right away.

And he'll provide you some outside shooting for San Antonio.

So again,

I don't think connects a bad option either.

If the Spurs take him at eight.

Next player.

With connect.

Sorry with connect.

You get.

I like,

I like the clay Thompson vibes.

And especially if.

You know,

you look in free agency and you say.

It would be nice to have clay Thompson,

but also clay Thompson's a little on the older side.

And if he's going to demand 20 million a year,

I'm good.

We'll we'll pass this time.

And,

you know,

obviously if you're going to have a guy who you think could be a

clay Thompson or a JJ,

right.

I can,

you can get him on a rookie scale contract.

Probably do that.

Yeah,

no,

totally agree there.

So let's go on to the next player.

This guy has really shot up mock boards.

This is to John salon from overseas.

He's from France.

He has six,

nine out of Chalet.

He's barely 18 right now.

As we speak,

he's going to turn 19 before the season.

So the season starts in August though.

Right now,

his mock average is tense.

So he should be there right now at eight.

We know that the Spurs have interest in him.

They have worked him out.

He actually got hurt in a workout with the Spurs or at the Spurs,

wherever they worked him out here.

He hurt his ankle,

but he should be okay by the time the next season starts.

What are your thoughts on,

on salon at,

at,

at a number eight?

He is.

He's a tough one to figure out because he was not playing.

He wasn't playing in really a top tier week,

but he was playing over,

you know,

overseas style of basketball.

He's,

he's show good mechanics on his shooting.

The numbers aren't quite there.

They're right now.

But he has a smooth looking stroke.

I think there's some upside as a ball handler in transition,

but he does play hard.

And from what I've seen and read,

I think his coaches liked him and made,

they really like him as a person,

which obviously will go a long way with the Spurs.

He's got great motor.

I think,

again,

I think it's going to come down.

You have to make sure that shooting checks out and that he's going to be

able to do some of these other things.

I don't,

I don't know what his weight is.

I think he's maybe six,

92,

20.

We may need to put on some weight,

get a little stronger.

If he's going to play on the wing or if he's going to play some four,

probably play on the wing.

So that,

that would be my one concern,

but that's,

I don't think that's a guy we consider at eight,

maybe late lottery,

maybe 12.

Okay.

So with him,

I'm a little intrigued by him because like I said,

he's,

he's really young.

He's barely going to turn 19 in August.

He he's basically like the body of a four,

but he plays like you said,

as a three,

he plays more like just like a small forward out on the wing.

His,

his go-to shot is his spot up three.

That's what he really likes to do.

Or like,

that's like his main go-to skill.

He's pretty good about,

you know,

they close out on him.

He kind of attacks and conduct the ball.

He's very athletic in that way,

but it's not always consistent.

You know,

he has defensive tools as well,

but he doesn't,

he's kind of trying to figure out how to use them.

So I think with him,

if they really took a,

they took him at eight,

it would be because they're going to probably let him be that backup power

forward for now.

And then see what he kind of turns into later on down the road.

Can he,

can he be a more consistent,

you know,

player on,

on both ends of the court.

And I think even offensively,

even though we say yes to his,

his shot is his go-to thing.

He didn't shoot an efficient percentage,

even at the,

at the international level.

And we know the NBA three is going to be further.

So again,

I would still probably want to go connect over him,

but if the Spurs are more so interested of a prospect who can play right

now off the bench,

you know,

who knows what a ceiling could be,

then maybe that's why you,

you do give your,

you use the eight pick on him where he has a lot,

he has a lot more potential down the road.

If you're the Spurs.

All right.

The next player is Devin Carter,

six,

two guard out of Providence.

He's 22 years old right now.

So almost like connect a little bit older in this draft mock average right

now is about 11th.

So we do know that the Spurs reporting reportedly like him.

And he,

he also has worked out for San Antonio.

What are your,

I'm right now I'm in the midst of writing about him and kind of watching

some tape on him.

So I haven't kind of got my,

my full understanding of him,

but what are your thoughts on,

on Carter at eight?

I think from what I've heard,

he's another high character guy,

which is great.

He does.

I think he does a little bit of everything,

but he's a very good defender from what I understand.

He likes to get under people's skin,

which is nice.

A little,

maybe like a little Jose Alvarado in that sense.

Yes.

You know,

he's the,

the,

the concern is he's not,

he's not very big.

He's six to he's not,

he's super strong.

I think he's fairly well built,

but he's at eight.

I just,

I don't know if I feel super comfortable at eight,

although the defense really is great.

I think he has to,

he has to improve the shooting or he has to show that he has the

potential to improve the shooting,

but

just,

I wish he was,

I wish he was taller.

I wish.

Yeah.

I wish he was a baller.

No,

um,

but he's,

he,

he would be okay.

Again,

later in the lottery.

I think,

I think a lot of people are getting high on him after watching some of what he

did.

Cause that Providence was just kind of an okay team.

They had some nice upset wins and he was the reason they won those games.

Right.

Overall,

they were kind of a hard team to watch.

So I don't think a lot of people were watching it during the season,

but,

but now that people have had time to review tape and look at those games,

they realize,

oh,

he is a difference maker and he can,

you know,

he'll that,

that defense will translate in the NBA.

Um,

the shooting,

the shooting will be okay.

I think he needs to show he can be a little better shooting,

but,

um,

it's funny that there's reportedly a lot of interest from the Spurs on

him because I mean,

he does seem like a very Spurs guy,

but I don't think,

you know,

I don't think he's going to be a very Spurs guy.

Um,

and it may also depend on who they take it for.

If they take a big at four,

they're probably looking at,

they're looking at a wing or they're looking at a guard at eight would be

my guess.

Cause I know they like Trey Jones,

but I imagine they don't want him being the starter for the next few

years.

They really like him as the backup option and kind of a little bit of

a fire starter off the bench.

Um,

so if they don't,

if they don't take anyone in the draft,

that the Spurs are going to take a look at some free agent point

guards this off season.

Yes.

So with me,

I,

again,

I haven't finished.

I do my full,

my full ride up on him and,

and,

you know,

watching tape on him.

So right now he hasn't,

he hasn't pushed himself over like Dalton connect,

or maybe like to John salon.

I'm still more sold on them than,

than him right now,

just cause more.

So it comes down to a size,

but again,

I'll continue watching.

Maybe my mind will change before next week.

Next player is Ron Holland.

I'm six,

seven out of the G league ignite as well.

He's going to be 19 when the season starts right now,

his mock average is 12.

He's going to be 18.

This one is tough.

He was,

I mean,

this was the guy.

He was the,

before the season started,

he was the top pick.

Everybody said,

Oh,

it's going to be.

Wow.

It's not,

I I'm pretty,

there were a lot of people who said Ron Holland will be the

number one pick.

And then I think as the season went on,

people realized,

Oh,

this is not what we thought.

Partly.

Cause I think he had some injury issues.

But he is very,

when he's not injured,

he is very athletic.

I think.

There were questions about his motor at one point.

I don't know if that has been answered.

But.

He looked if,

if was Ellis looked lost.

During the Julie during the ignite season,

he might've looked more lost.

There were,

there were times where you're just wondering,

what are you doing?

Nothing,

you know,

just.

He overhandling the ball,

taking bad shots here and there.

Is it because the team was bad and he felt he had to.

Yeah.

I think it was a bit of a,

I think it was a,

I think it was a big,

like a,

you know,

I think it was a big thing.

He didn't know if he was getting the shots.

Was it because he just wanted to take the shots?

We're not,

you know,

you're not really sure.

But that was the guy who's.

At one point.

The number,

you know,

the projected number one pick in this draft.

And he will.

I don't think he will be taken there.

I'm not.

I'm not sure if he will be taking top 10,

to be honest.

And I think it's going to depend on how some of the medical

stuff comes out and.

How workout.

I mean,

it always comes down to how workouts go,

rest and workouts yeah i played in more so like that cody williams kind of range where even even

williams i would have ahead of him but just very raw player i mean very inconsistent i mean yeah

he's learning i mean especially like you said the g-league night program wasn't really um top tier

so again i would if i was a spurs i'd probably stay away from drafting holland there at eight

next player is a player who got injured recently uh nicola topich um six six out of a red star

um overseas um he's 19 years old right now he's fallen off the boards i mean he was he was

basically like in that reed shepherd rob dillingham um uh kind of range for a long time and then once

he had that injury recently he's pretty much fallen down to 12th now uh we also know that we

don't know that the the extent of his injury in terms of like after he has surgery is he going

to need to sit out for a full season right now that's kind of what's been heard is that he might

have to redshirt next season like chet hongren had to do his first rookie year so there's a

chance you what you may not even see him next year if you draft him so what are your thoughts

on topich um there at eight i was i was really high on topich before the injury i i can't remember

if they said it was a full tear if it was a partial tear

um

but it wasn't good and i think that is unfortunately injuries do that they're

going to cost him quite a actually if you i could see with with the season he had and some of some

of the the peaks and valleys that he had this past season playing overseas i could see i could

see him taking a tumble because teams are really unsure i don't i don't wish that upon anyone but

i could see it

topich a guy pretty solid defender could be a solid defender but a very a tall guard six six

who was running an offense efficiently who was he looked good doing that i think again with him

with him as with many other guys we've talked about shooting was an issue um so i i i wouldn't

in good conscious consider him at eight it's just it's such a reach especially knowing that

he's sitting out at least some of the season and then when he does come back he's going to need

more of the season to get himself back in shape to get himself back playing getting getting his

feel back a little bit i mean you can throw him in austin and stuff but i'm not sure you know if

you're the number eight pick i don't think you expect to play in austin a whole lot and that

that could be contentious yeah just based on what we've seen in terms of like we've seen that hey

the spurs want to be better next year they want to be better next year they want to be better next year

they want to start winning that kind of thing those if those if that's supposed to be mentioned

that's where the front office is headed then i don't think they can wait on a player to wait

first of all like yes you know you hope that he gets back to 100 of where he was but then also

you don't know he's don't need to go through his experience as a rookie in the nba where he's going

to struggle you know they're gonna you know he's got to have his flaws and he's going to miss that

whole opportunity if he has to miss half a year or a full year so i would say yes they unfortunately

because of his injury situation they probably should stay away from topich next player who

has also fallen off draft boards also similar to because the injury is a rob dillingham six so six

uh age 19 right now his he was like i said he was in that topich reed shepherd kind of range early

early on before you know the combine and things like that and he was but now he's falling all

the way down to 13th um so he's definitely falling on the mocks uh what really hurt him was that he

had to sit out the entire combine in chicago uh due to an i think it was an ankle injury so he

wasn't able to work out for teams he's barely started to he's starting to work out for teams

he finally finished his testing his combine testing but i think one of the things that hurt

him as well is a lot of the measurement stuff came in on him and a lot of teams got you know

they got really worried because of his size he just really he's really

small for that position and then there was even a a um a report from bleach report um jonathan

wasterman who kind of does their mock drafts he wrote that um that that the spurs have reportedly

signaled to agents that they're looking for a bigger bigger positional prospects there at that

point guard position so again a six one player um like dillingham i think even though yes he's an

explosive um kind of scoring guard combo guard i think that they they're going to probably stay

away from what are your thoughts on dillingham yeah i would imagine they they will i mean he's

he measured at six one hit the the combine did not do him any

favors unfortunately even though he had he really did have a great college freshman season i mean

he shot 47 and a half percent from the field almost 80 from the free throw line and um you

know he was shooting on on four and a half threes a game he was shooting 44 i mean he played really

well and he was a guy when when the offense truly broke down and reed shepherd couldn't get anyone

open he was able to create his own shot he did that on

many occasions and he he created buckets out of thin air out of absolutely nothing out of you

know five seconds on the shot clock and nothing is working he he manufactured buckets and good

looks for himself and you know that is a skill that is very needed in the nba and uh unfortunately

i think like his size is a problem for that yeah so i think that's why we see him that he's fallen

again i think if you're the spurs you probably stay away um from dillingham there at number eight

next player who i'm going to talk about is a guy who i think is going to be a big part of the

season i'm going to talk about is a guy who i think is going to be a big part of the season

a little bit more your help i haven't got to look at any film on this player or even looked at his

stats or anything is that jacoby walter six four at a baylor and um he's going to be 20 years old

when the season starts the reason why i stayed away from him is because his mock average has

kind of been in that that like um late teens range like right now it's it's his mock average is 15th

but the spurs did reportedly work him out that's why i'm like oh okay so san Antonio has some

interest in him uh who is he and like you know what do you think well with i mean i don't know

if they would they would they want him with eight or would maybe like the idea of trading back is on

the table i don't know what are your thoughts on with walter he's

it's funny he's he had he kind of had a keontae george season when keontae george also at baylor

the year prior he's known as a shooter his percentages were not very good but i think a

lot of it was because he had to create shots for himself he was playing with some other guys who

non-shooters so he felt he felt the onus was on him to get to create and make a lot of shots and

he didn't always necessarily do that but he's a solid defender you can't you can't play at baylor

if you don't play decent defense so he's a solid defender he is similar in size to keontae george

um and you know i think the inefficiencies might scare people but if you i think if you look at

the tape and you look at a lot of the situations you i'm willing to bet you would find a fair

amount of times when he was taking shots for five seconds or less on the shot clock and that's why

very good that would be my bet but he's a he's a solid player but he's not a he's not a guy you go

and get at eight okay so maybe just something to watch in terms of if they trade back like i said

maybe you know again very very kind of similar half that keontae george also took because keontae

george when he went to baylor he was known as a shooter and jacoby walter when he went to baylor

was known more as a shooter and both of them struggled to shoot

their loan season at baylor but you know keontae george had a pretty solid rookie season yeah he

did and you know that's it's possible that um jacoby walter does the same okay and then another

player who again i'm kind of keeping an eye on in case the spurs do trade back is tyler cole

colec the spurs reportedly worked him out um he's a six one point guard out of marquette

uh again his mock average is like like late first round 23rd right now so um what are your thoughts

on him and just kind of keeping keeping on him in case he they he falls to like the second

round or or they trade back oh yeah he falls to if he falls to second round and and they haven't

really gotten a point guard spurs should take a shot why not he's measuring at six one is brutal

because i mean everywhere else i saw he was i think the um the team's official website had him

six three marquette's website had him at six three it's like oh that's a solid size this is good but

i mean if you're telling me you measure at six one at the combine i mean

that's brutal because he's really i think he's a really good point guard he is he he runs the

offense at his own pace you cannot speed him up you cannot slow him down he will do what he wants

he he was very good for marquette at times when they needed a bucket he would go out and get it

for him or he would create for someone else he was very good at that um and i think one of the

reasons he's not really in lottery talk right now and i when i was looking around much earlier

he was kind of in that 28

34 range and you know i kind of got excited about the prospect of the spurs maybe grabbing

him with their second rounder um but if he's i mean if he's six one you're talking about another

small point guard yeah i think it's pick and roll i did also like you when i saw him in that second

round range kind of range i did watch some tape on him and i was a little intrigued in terms of his

his pick and roll play um that would help out but again i think he's gonna he's gonna probably get

taken the first round so i'm looking at i just put up the combine information so they have him at

height without shoes six one point guard and he's six one point guard and he's six one point guard

so that's why yeah i so i mean i don't know like we talked about before recording why do they

measure these guys without shoes i don't understand right again so why bother measuring these dudes

without shoes when their entire nba existence is in shoes yes unless you're mike miller and

your shoe comes off in a final scheme exactly so yeah so colic again colic and um and uh who is

this uh walter interesting to watch just in case you know you never know if the spurs um either

maybe trade back or if they uh you know that maybe those two players i mean

or at least colic falls second round all right so now for the 35th and 48th picks that the spurs have

these could be all over the place so i'm not going to really um ask you to look at every single one

of these prospects just kind of give me a a few names that kind of stick that that are that are

interesting to you either at 35 or 48 who do you want to start with where do we want to start a lot

of names you got here i mean i personally love baylor shireman that is that kid is the epitome

of an irrationally confident shooter

although he has the rationale to be confident because he's i mean he just hits shots he gets

him deep he gets him off the dribble he's great i love i love watching baylor shireman play

basketball you got that lefty kind of shot that really quick release that is a lefty

that quick lefty release it's beautiful i love it so like baylor shireman

um at at the end the second round would be phenomenal at 35 i think would be great

um i think an intriguing pick might be justin edwards just because i don't think we even saw

close to what he's capable of doing when he was at kentucky he was again you're talking about

you know he was in a he was playing in like in no real system he was kind of going out there and

trying to do whatever there was no structure i think he would benefit from some structure

i mean he's

measured at six six ridiculous i thought he was six eight but you know again without shoes

so you know he's uh he's a wing and he was in high school he was known as more of a shooter

i think he had some injury issues at kentucky so i i'd like to see i'd like to see someone

take a shot at him just to see what happens i think he could i think he could surprise some

teams um you know if you're looking for kind of a a bigger player you know you don't really

have a whole lot of guys out here and if somehow he lasts to the second round i'd love to see zach

edie just because that would be incredible the international twin towers would be phenomenal

uh canada and france unite we got that we got quebec in the house they're basically french right

um

i

you know i don't know if that'll actually happen that would be fantastic though um

a guy who i really liked actually is jalen bridges out of baylor again a guy who's listed at six

seven without shoes probably six nine in shoes he rebounds the ball very well in his size you know

i don't know if the spurs necessarily need that but i liked watching him play he plays with great

energy good defender i liked him um you know you got a cam cam spencer is a guy he's listed at

six three he's you'd probably slot him in as a point guard but you could probably play him a little

bit as a combo or a shooting guard even he's on the older side he'd be ready to contribute right

away i think he's fearless i mean he he played big time ball at rutgers and then transferred to

uconn again another kid you can say it after the fact of course oh he's a guy who wanted to win but

you know i think if you're if you're attracted to playing for a guy like dan hurley who is

incredibly intense and he's a guy who's going to win i think he's going to win i think he's going to

and and expects 110 110 of the time then i think you can kind of play for anybody i'm convinced of

that so kim and cam spencer made a lot of huge plays during that run in march not just shooting

not even necessarily rebounding but a lot of you know gritty grindy plays he's on the floor he's

getting extra possessions because he's he's giving up his body at times

i really i like him i think he would be just even if it's just as a locker room guy as a you know as

a guy who challenges people and says you know you're better than that you're stronger than that

you i know you can play better than that i feel like he would be a rookie was not afraid to do

that to other guys but what do you think here's here's two names that i i want to i want to see

what your thoughts are um one of the guys who i would like maybe at 35 if he's there is a cam

christie minnesota very raw you know length uh a long wing kind of player um you know athletic

little bit that's kind of where he's developing skill set what do you think about him just for the

fact maybe you just basically make him play in austin see what he turns into but you know because

that's the thing about these second round picks they're either going to get two-way contracts or

they're going to get that second round pick exception which could be like you know a one

to four year deal and the spurs don't have a lot of roster spots right now what do you think about

him um as maybe like a project that you kind of just see what he turns into down the road

yeah i mean another guy who plays really hard and i think he's he's a pretty good defender

i honestly did not watch a lot of minnesota this year because minnesota is generally bad

but he was i mean he was probably the lone one of the few bright spots on that team so kudos to him

um but yeah i mean and here's the thing with the second round guys you're always you're generally

always going to throw them to austin unless you really just found a diamond in the rough

you're talking about a first round guy you fell for no reason or fell for some stupid reason

whatever and you say okay you are very clearly ready we have to give you time we have to give

you real playing time um i don't think cam christie is going to be a good player for minnesota

is that guy no no no yeah i agree with you um i think the shot making is there for him i'll go

again i've won little i've seen but um good hard-nosed defender i think spurs fan will like

him just because of that and uh you know a guy actually a lot of a lot of these picks right now

in the second round i kind of look at i see that way in terms of they're going to probably end up

in austin on a two-way contract kind of situation one of the guys that's interesting the guy you

mentioned was a baylor shireman i'm i feel like there is a backup four spot there a hole right

now on the roster and i feel like if he can kind of just they could see what he turns into early

get some some minutes there so that's that he's like one of the one of the few players uh two

other players i did want to ask you on um ryan dunn six six six out of virginia is he he's probably

would have to they would have to get him with the 35th pick if he's still there right now it looks

like the knicks are going to get him in the first round so he may not may not even be there just you

know can't shoot right now but really good defensive um kind of kind of big slash wing

and then also a player who you mentioned a few months ago was pella larson i still like him

maybe for the 48th pick what are your thoughts on on dunn and pella larson so ryan done like you

i'm pretty sure he was the acc uh defensive player of the year

phenomenal defender just disrupts everything around him you know cuts off passing lanes

makes life hard for ball handlers just you you hate as an offensive player you hate playing

against him but absolutely just there is not enough there on offense yeah this is much worse

than d when deon

was coming out of virginia in his draft there there's just there's almost nothing and it's

infuriating because you're like this is a kid who plays really hard he's an excellent defender

he kind of you know he embodies everything you love to watch about college basketball

it's not a shoot and if you're the spurs you need a shoot yeah especially that size i would say you

need you need a wing you need someone other than devin vassell to go out and make

shots and he's just not gonna be that guy for you what about uh pella larson from arizona right

pella larson he's he's so funny to me he's i went i shouldn't say funny but he's he's very

middle of the road kind of jack of all trades master of none yeah his size passes pretty

decently at his size shoots okay um is was never the focal point of the offense at arizona

i think he had a couple big games here and there for the most part but didn't you know he wasn't

the main reason games were impacted in the box score but he did other things that maybe don't

show up that help you win games he's very steady i think he has a good demeanor about him as well

which is you know said that helps as a rookie um but if you got him at the 48th pick i certainly

wouldn't be mad about it yeah okay okay that's where it kind of

here here's the last wild idea which of course is not going to happen um if you notice here

brawny james is on there he's he's pretty much almost every mock has him 55 to the lakers i

mean that's kind of in the consensus but it's weird how uh nba draft room put him at 50 uh at

35 to the spurs and i was like when he popped up there because i didn't have him on my list and i

was like he's going to lakers i mean come on and then they put up there so like you know just that

they're gonna offer lebron the cap space or what 21 no i'm just kidding 21 million it would be it

would actually be amazing if somebody swooped in and said we're gonna take brawny james because

we know the lakers are going to want to trade for him because lebron wants to play with his son one

year we're gonna make you give us something stupid like we're gonna make you give us something

absolutely stupid for the second round pick we just chose because you are desperate to have him

play with lebron and keep lebron in la we're gonna do that too and we don't care i would love to see

that yeah this league needs to be way more spiteful yeah so again i'm not of course i'm not

thinking that they're going to do that spurs but uh it was just funny to me how like i had i had

looked at brawny james but until like some one of the mocks that i follow they put him on there at

35 i was like oh you know and then everybody else has him 55 so anyway uh yeah so thank you ben for

joining me for this episode of spurs cast i think we really got um you know we dug into a lot of

the prospects here from four eight and then also in the second round so again um the nba draft will

be next wednesday spurs cast listeners um it'll be a two-day event now this is the new change for

for um for the spurs so or for the nba so uh day one is on uh round one is on on next wednesday

and then round two is on next thursday so kind of we'll kind of see what happens with spurs if they

keep those picks and they draft somebody if they trade those picks we'll kind of see what happens

so um if you like what you heard on this episode the spurs cast please subscribe rate and review

on youtube and your favorite podcast apps this episode was written recorded and produced by

paul garcia from all of us at project spurs stay safe and have a great day