RealGM

Let's say Tiago Splitter was a year younger and is automatically eligible for this year's draft and has no buyout issues.

Where do you think he would be picked?
Are there any comparable players to him in this draft?

Top 15 probably

But it remains to be seen whether he has enough athletic abilities to play downlow at NBA level or not...

No buyout issues? He's gotta be top 10... for chrissake, Brook Lopez is the consensus best big man..

Splitter's criminally underrated... But I hope he hasn't had a down year, my interested dropped in him considerably when he was drafted to SA... they really take their time with their prospects, right Ian Manhimi?

510Reggae wrote:No buyout issues? He's gotta be top 10... for chrissake, Brook Lopez is the consensus best big man..

Splitter's criminally underrated... But I hope he hasn't had a down year, my interested dropped in him considerably when he was drafted to SA... they really take their time with their prospects, right Ian Manhimi?

Far from it, he's been one of the better players in Europe this year, a first team all Euroleaguer and in the top ten in whatever the all-powerful space monolith stat it is that the Euroleague uses to rate its players.

And yeah, the Spurs do take things a little slow with their prospects, as they can afford to. But Tiago and Ian aren't exactly birds of a feather. If I remember right Ian was buried on a bench in the french second league when he was drafted, wasn't even in the NBA media guide for the draft. Tiago's situation much more closely resembles Luis Scola's coming into this past season with the Rockets.

To actually answer the thread's original question, he'd be somewhere in the lottery. At this point only brother Lopez sans moptop has been productive in any comparable way amongst the draft's skyscrapers (had Roy Hibbert managed a better year that might not be true), and while Brook might have youth on his side, Tiago wins out with regard to quality of competition.

I like Splitter but I think a lot of his upside is gone. He really hasn't improved the past year and is looking more and more like a role player in the NBA.

15-20 would be his probable draft range.

lottery, he's far better than the Lopez twins.

Being spanish and watchim him i think he is a borderline lottery pick. He has develop some muscle this season.

Top 15 pick without question.

Would be the second international player off the board.

I think his lack of strength will be a major liability in the NBA. He is great offensively and very smart, but he can't bang down low, more of a finesse player really. He has a lot of trouble in tough, physical games, as evidenced in the recent Euroleague Final Four semifinal. Maybe he'll improve in that department. I know that if i was the Spurs' GM, i wouldn't be that interested to bring him over right now.

Apollo64 wrote:I think his lack of strength will be a major liability in the NBA. He is great offensively and very smart, but he can't bang down low, more of a finesse player really. He has a lot of trouble in tough, physical games, as evidenced in the recent Euroleague Final Four semifinal. Maybe he'll improve in that department. I know that if i was the Spurs' GM, i wouldn't be that interested to bring him over right now.

Yes, in the post offensively, his core and lower body strength leaves something to be desired but his positional defensive techniques are top notch and when combined with his length, make him a potential lock down defender.....I like to compare him to PJ Brown....he is not there yet but if he continues to work hard, I see no problem with him getting there

Apollo64 wrote:I think his lack of strength will be a major liability in the NBA. He is great offensively and very smart, but he can't bang down low, more of a finesse player really. He has a lot of trouble in tough, physical games, as evidenced in the recent Euroleague Final Four semifinal. Maybe he'll improve in that department. I know that if i was the Spurs' GM, i wouldn't be that interested to bring him over right now.

If my information is correct, it is almost a certainty he comes over this summer, due to his buyout situation. His buyout is a minimum this summer (<=1 Million US), and skyrockets afterwards...The Spurs can put 500K (CBA limit) towards the buyout this summer... You do the math.

He will be a solid rotation player for the Spurs. For starters, he's much quicker than Oberto, runs the floor, and defends the post extremely well.

It's kind of funny when people say a 22 year old player is out of upside. IMHO good comparison might be Biedrins, although Splitter has a better jump shot (but may lack Biedrins' mean streak).

There's plenty of 'upside'... the problem is the buzzword 'upside', which by college standards, means a physical specimen without much knowledge how to play the game.

In Splitter's case, its the opposite.. he knows exactly how to play the game but needs to get better lower body strength to be combined with his amazing balance and footwork... leg strength would also improve his jumping and explosiveness... basically if you add lower body mass to the guy, you have a helluva player... there's plenty of upside left with Tiago... its a damn shame the Spurs get to cash in on it (they wont be pulling a Scola trade again).