Tournament Watch: Players the Spurs would draft

SPURt · Post #1 » by **SPURt** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 6:10 am

As the NCAA Tournament got kicked off today, I was wondering if there are any players y'all would want to add to the wish list of potential draftees. Obviously there are sure fire lottery picks any team would take. I am asking more about potential sleepers the Spurs could find.

For instance, tonight Adreian Payne dropped 41. I've seen some of his games but tonight was insane. I know he isn't much of a sleeper, and has probably played himself into a higher pick than where draft express currently has him (pick 24):
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Adreian-Payne-5286/

I think a 6'9/6'10 guy that is as athletic as Adreian would be a huge piece for the Spurs. He also isn't a bad shooter: 55% from the field/42% from downtown. This is the only type of player we lack. Luckily Boris and Kawhi can defend those types of athletes.

Post #2 » by **Nolan** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 2:58 pm

I'm a big fan of Payne and he'd be a perfect fit here. He's a longer more athletic Patrick Patterson.

imagump1313 · Post #3 » by **imagump1313** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 7:43 pm

I've seen Payne in person a few times. He is a nice player but has a bad habit of playing soft some nights for some reason. He needs to work a bit more on some post moves because he will not be able to simply jump over people in the NBA like he's done in college. He is pretty athletic and can run the floor well, and also has a decent outside game so he should stick in the League. His 41 point game was nice but don't read too much into it. Delaware just had no one that could match him physically so he could do whatever he wanted.

With all that said, I still like him on the Spurs. He's a good kid who's personality would fit in well in SA.

SPURt · Post #4 » by **SPURt** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:02 pm

imagump1313 wrote:I've seen Payne in person a few times. He is a nice player but has a bad habit of playing soft some nights for some reason. He needs to work a bit more on some post moves because he will not be able to simply jump over people in the NBA like he's done in college. He is pretty athletic and can run the floor well, and also has a decent outside game so he should stick in the League. His 41 point game was nice but don't read too much into it. Delaware just had no one that could match him physically so he could do whatever he wanted.

With all that said, I still like him on the Spurs. He's a good kid who's personality would fit in well in SA.

Thanks for the info! I agree the nba has the defenders that can match his athleticism, but if he is willing to stay humble and work he'd be awesome.

Jabari Parker with the bads today. After going 4-14 he is flirting with the idea of staying 1 more season. I don't understand college sports enforcing age limits for pros. European Soccer has no age limits and a good club wouldn't throw a 14 yr old out on the pitch when they would be injured or overwhelmed. Jabari needs to move on and go the the league. What the ncaa needs to do is figure out how to pay their athletes based on some sort of salary cap to give them incentive to stay and make the college ranks more competitive. That way schools like Kentucky can't stock pile recruits.

SPURt · Post #5 » by **SPURt** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:38 am

Cleanthony Early is balling tonight, though the competition isn't that good. He is the last pick in the most recent draftexpress mock.

Post #6 » by **Nolan** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:36 pm

SPURt wrote:Cleanthony Early is balling tonight, though the competition isn't that good. He is the last pick in the most recent draftexpress mock.

Draftexpress just moved him to 30 and i'd be pretty happy if we picked him. He could be a Jimmy Butler type.

UDRIH14 · Post #7 » by **UDRIH14** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:39 am

either backup SF or is daye the answer

concentrate on a big?

imagump1313 · Post #8 » by **imagump1313** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 11:23 am

UDRIH14 wrote:either backup SF or is daye the answer

concentrate on a big?

Daye is not the answer, trust me.

The Spurs drafting a SF would depend on how they are feeling about Deshaun Thomas' progression I would guess.

Post #9 » by **Nolan** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:16 pm

Another guy that's really impressed me is Melvin Ejim. He'll probably be a 2nd rounder but he really reminds me of Draymond Green.

His teammate DeAndre Kane is also an interestng player. He's kinda old (25) but he's got a great first step and he's so so good at getting to the hoop.

karkinos · Post #10 » by **karkinos** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:11 pm

players i'd like to see on the spurs would be early, cory jefferson, or deandre kane
i think they have the skill sets that the spurs are looking for

SPURt · Post #11 » by **SPURt** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:21 am

cancer wrote:players i'd like to see on the spurs would be early, cory jefferson, or deandre kane
i think they have the skill sets that the spurs are looking for

Cory Jefferson could be great, especially in the late 2nd round. Early I think will rise even higher than 29 or wherever he is now on draftexpress.

Payne is great too and I think he will climb more, he's so NBA ready.

I really like Kane but even if the Spurs can't resign Mills I don't think Kane would get many minutes.

I also noticed McBuckets is sliding down a lot of boards. How does everyone feel about him? I think his skill matches the hype. D will be a problem at the next level.

karkinos · Post #12 » by **karkinos** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 3:52 am

good point about mills
he has been solid. not sure what would happen if mills did leave...

mcbuckets has no chance with pops if he doesn't play D imo.

imagump1313 · Post #13 » by **imagump1313** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 1:14 pm

I'm not sure if he is big enough for the 3 in the NBA but Glenn Robinson III could be someone to look at near the end of the first round. He definitely has NBA talent and is generally a good kid. He does have problems with being assertive and he would need to shoot a bit better from outside. His game is more of a cutter and slasher which he could benefit from in this offense. He is a freak athletically but his size is a concern (6'6", 210lbs.). If he can handle the 3 he could make it in the League but his size might force him to the 2. If that happens he wont be much of a pro.

This video is from before this season and he's improved a little bit, but still needs some work:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tjGoZ71reQ[/youtube]

Post #14 » by **Nolan** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:35 am

Frank Kaminsky just dominated Zona's very talented front court. I've been following him since his 43 point outburst and if he declare's he'd be a perfect fit. He's a 7 footer that can do it all, think Kofous with range.

SPURt · Post #15 » by **SPURt** » Sat Apr 5, 2014 3:55 pm

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2017589-whichita-states-cleanthony-earlys-dunk-fail-deserves-to-be-set-to-music?utm_campaign=tsipad&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com?is_shared=true

Poor Cleanthony Early...

Looking forward to seeing tonight's games

SPURt · Post #16 » by **SPURt** » Sun Apr 6, 2014 12:31 am

I like Patric Young looked good tonight as well as Shabazz Napier. Both should be around when the Spurs pick. If we end up with the Clippers pick this draft is looking pretty strong.

Post #17 » by **Nolan** » Sun Apr 6, 2014 1:31 am

SPURt wrote:I like Patric Young looked good tonight as well as Shabazz Napier. Both should be around when the Spurs pick. If we end up with the Clippers pick this draft is looking pretty strong.

Shabazz's defense on those very talented Florida guards was extremely impressive. I'm still not sold on him yet but i'm getting there.

SPURt · Post #18 » by **SPURt** » Sun Apr 6, 2014 4:01 am

I'm just not all that impressed with Randle. Kaminsky really was shut down. Kentucky has a bunch of athletes but not great basketball players and Winsconsin was the opposite. Good game though.

Post #19 » by **Nolan** » Sun Apr 6, 2014 4:34 pm

SPURt wrote:I'm just not all that impressed with Randle. Kaminsky really was shut down. Kentucky has a bunch of athletes but not great basketball players and Winsconsin was the opposite. Good game though.

Really? Last night wasn't his best showing but I really like him. Defense might an issue for him at the next level but on offense he's basically a Z-Bo clone with better range.

Agree with you on Kaminsky though, Kentucky's length and athleticism took him out of the game.

SPURt · Post #20 » by **SPURt** » Sun Apr 6, 2014 11:50 pm

Don't get me wrong, Randle will be a good pro but I don't see him as the franchise savior teams are tanking for this year. He's strong defensively, but grading NCAA talent is so hard because the competition is so inferior. I feel like he would get eaten alive by Blake Griffin, Lebron, Z Bo, Timmy, etc.