Moderator: G R E Y
Alexis Ajinca
Ajinca has a lot of hype around him right now and has even been mentioned as a possible late lottery pick. But his skill level is about even with some of the rawest freshmen in this year's class. Averaging less than 5 points per game in the French league is no way to prove that your game is NBA ready. Ajinca has put some weight on, but is he more than upside?
Multiple teams reached out to us today wondering whether we have gotten a hold of Nicolas Batum’s physical yet. Batum underwent a series of heart tests in Cleveland on Monday and was cleared for workouts immediately afterwards, but still his physical is nowhere to be found. Batum traveled to San Antonio immediately after and was supposed to work out for Cleveland today. Some teams openly are wondering whether San Antonio gave Batum a promise and asked him to not distribute his physical around the league, which would make him very likely to slip to 26.
Batum is obviously a great fit in San Antonio, as the team already has two French players on their roster (Tony Parker and Ian Mahinmi) and sport a very aging perimeter with wing players such as Michael Finley (35 years old), Brent Barry (36 years old) and Bruce Bowen (37 years old) who will soon be clearing up plenty of playing time for an athletic, unselfish, defensive minded prospect such as Batum. He appears to be fully healthy, but it appears that only the Spurs and the Cavs currently have his physical. Multiple calls to Batum’s agent Bouna Ndiaye were not returned.
Ryan Anderson
Teams love Anderson's shooting ability and NBA readiness, despite being just a sophomore. Anderson is an inside outside guy who could surprise in his rookie year, and could help spread the floor playing alongside Timmay.
Note: Serge Ibaka's agent sent an e-mail to teams explaining that he had a four-year deal with two-year NBA out, meaning it would be difficult to come to the league if restricted to first-round salary scale. If he's taken in the second round he could sign for a higher amount and afford the buyout.
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San Antonio
Nicolas Batum
Position: SF
Height: 6-8
Weight: 210
Age: 19
Country: France
The skinny: Batum went into a workout with the Spurs on Wednesday and then disappeared off the grid. His medical reports never came out. His agent didn't return calls. I think the Spurs may have wrapped him up. If the Spurs’ wish list is exhausted early, they haven’t ruled out trading out of the first round. Team officials, however, remain optimistic that this year’s draft is deep enough to leave them a player worth selecting at No. 26.
That player might even — gasp! — be another foreigner.
One of the Spurs’ favorite draft-day ploys has been to take a foreign-born player with lottery talent and an overseas contract, and then stashing him in Europe until he’s ready for the NBA.
High-profile struggles in getting draft picks Luis Scola and, more recently, Tiago Splitter into a Spurs jersey apparently have not made the team skittish about going that route again.
“It’s better to have someone baking in the oven than to take somebody who you know can’t play,” Popovich said.
Among the available college players believed to have worked out for the Spurs are Maryland forward James Gist, IUPUI guard George Hill, UNC-Greensboro forward Kyle Hines, California center DeVon Hardin, Tennessee-Martin guard Lester Hudson, Arkansas guard Sonny Weems, Houston forward Dion Dowell and Alabama forward Richard Hendrix.
A handful of overseas prospects are also believed to be on the Spurs’ radar, including French forwards Nicolas Batum and Alexis Ajinca, as well as Serge Ibaka, a 6-foot-10, 18-year-old forward from the Congo.
If the Spurs are looking for the next Tony Parker in that group, an immediate impact player, chances are they aren’t going to find him.
“Nobody we pick at that position is going to help us immediately,” Popovich said. “Maybe he helps you two or three years down the road, maybe he can be a sub. But you’re not going to get an impact player right off the bat.”
lukeridenour wrote:batum! batum! batum! batum!
-Nicolas Batum will almost certainly get drafted by San Antonio if he’s there, as we reported last night. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Spurs are still the only teams that have his physical, and the two are reportedly in cahoots with each other to help keep it away from the rest of the league. The top of Cleveland’s front office is made up of two former Spurs execs—Danny Ferry and Lance Blanks, so the connection here is pretty obvious.
Updated: June 26 -- 4:01 p.m. ET
The Spurs sent an e-mail to every team in the league at 3:30 p.m. saying that they were willing to move the 26th pick. The e-mail asked league executives to "E-mail us your interest and your offers to 26."
That's the first time I've heard of something like this in all of my years covering the draft. Make your Spurs pitch below in our comments section.
