M.C. Swag said:

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I seriously don't understand the Topic love. He screams back end lottery at best. Clingan would be by 2nd pick just based on his floor being ridiculously high and his ceiling being Jarrett Allen. Like I don't understand how there's more than 1 prospect id feel better about taking than Clingan.

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I think there are two things at play with Topic:

1. Luka Effect
2. Tallest Midget.

1. He's tall for a PG, he gets to the basket and finishes well and is a decent passer. And Slovenia and Serbia are basically the same place, right? He must be the next Luka.

2. There isn't a good PG in the class and multiple teams need a PG.

I've seen some Spurs guys say you draft Clingan because he is the #2 prospect after Sarr and you hope he can play well with Wemby like Mamu did and if not, you have an elite backup center to keep the defense from falling off. And if he is that good and doesn't mesh well, you will easily get good value for a great rim protector like him.

haha ya he's fantastic at finishing around the rim...against overweight polish dudes. I just don't buy that he'll be able to consistently beat his man and attack the cup against NBA size and athletes. He seems like "Killian Hayes" but less shooting or far less defense (and i have no idea if he'll have a nose for rebounding).

One NBA General Manager to me:

“This is an absolutely awful draft. There’s no guy that projects as a franchise player, no one that even stands out as the No. 1 pick. This is the type of draft that gets someone fired if they get the No. 1 pick.”

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 19, 2024

Sounds promising. Brian Wright saying his prayers that the 1st pick doesn't fall to us.

Enzo The Baker said:

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Sounds promising. Brian Wright saying his prayers that the 1st pick doesn't fall to us.

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Landing 7 taking Castle, Shep, or Williams is great with me.

I don't see why Sarr couldn't become Evan Mobley, though.

Hawks hired Onsi Saleh (formerly with SA and GSW) as assistant GM. Landry Fields is definitely in the hot seat.

Spurs 2024 Offseason Cap Sheet:

🎽 Barring trades/waives, SA will have 14 players when free agency starts.

💰 Available cap space depends largely on where picks land and if they get TOR pick.

🔗 Follow @PaulGarciaNBA & find his cap sheet here: https://t.co/xaenXo1cEh pic.twitter.com/sawTylsqVI

— Josh Paredes (@Josh810) April 20, 2024

West Texan said:

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Spurs 2024 Offseason Cap Sheet:

🎽 Barring trades/waives, SA will have 14 players when free agency starts.

💰 Available cap space depends largely on where picks land and if they get TOR pick.

🔗 Follow @PaulGarciaNBA & find his cap sheet here: https://t.co/xaenXo1cEh pic.twitter.com/sawTylsqVI

— Josh Paredes (@Josh810) April 20, 2024

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Cedi, Barlow, and Mamu are free agents.

Graham is <3m guaranteed out of ~13M and won't be kept.

Spurs have 12 roster slots filled now and it will be 11 when Graham is cut

I think I am going to take a break from thinking about the draft for a few days. I change my mind every 2 hours about what I hope the Spurs do. First I want Castle, then I think Holland might be best in the long run. Then I think if Sarr is available when we pick, he might just be worth a shot. But Kentucky guards do well in the league so can you really pass up that opportunity?
Oh who am I kidding. I might take a 30 minute break and then browse through every mock draft available, even those that I've seen everyday for the past month.

Pre draft workouts and the combine will separate some people. Not much to speculate until then.

Sher Thing said:

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Pre draft workouts and the combine will separate some people. Not much to speculate until then.

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I hate waiting.

get paid, my man

The Chicago Bulls recently proposed a two-year contract to DeMar DeRozan, valued at $40 million PER SEASON, per @KCJHoop

(Via https://t.co/YM1ItZR7aw) pic.twitter.com/pL4traWZAV

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 21, 2024

Wemby finalist for ROY and DPOY.

FTAG 2000 said:

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Wemby finalist for ROY and DPOY.

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It is a shame so many assets like John Hollinger wouldn't even give him a vote in top 3 for DPOY.

Guitarsoup said:

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Players know what is up.

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Shows that the media votes can be crap. Most of these guys don't watch players on a night to night basis, even Victor. I will say though that players just straight up hate Gobert, so there is some major bias there probably.

Enzo The Baker said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Players know what is up.

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Shows that the media votes can be crap. Most of these guys don't watch players on a night to night basis, even Victor. I will say though that players just straight up hate Gobert, so there is some major bias there probably.

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I totally get that people will put Gobert #1. Lots of idiots just vote for best player on best team and I understand that.

But guys like Hollinger completely leaving Wemby off the ballot for DPOY is not defensible.

I think Bontemps will probably do that too. That guy's bias against the spurs is something else. And when he gives a compliment, it's usually conditional or backhanded.

Could be a few of them realize Wemby will be the odds on favorite to win it for the rest of his career, and this is their last chance to vote for someone else without taking a ton of flack for it.

I don't agree with it, but I could see it.

FTAG 2000 said:

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Could be a few of them realize Wemby will be the odds on favorite to win it for the rest of his career, and this is their last chance to vote for someone else without taking a ton of flack for it.

I don't agree with it, but I could see it.

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They made the same excuse about not voting for Duncan.

In 2002, Duncan won MVP, Spurs had the #2 defense in the NBA (0.2 behind the #1 team), and Duncan didn't get a single DPOY vote. DPOY came from #8 team (about 3 behind the Spurs). Duncan was still All-Defense 1st team.


In 2000, Duncan led the Spurs to the #2 defense (.2 behind #1) and a player from the 7th best defense got it. Duncan was 1st team all Defense, but didn't get a single DPOY vote. Kendall Gill, Bo Outlaw, Anthony Mason and Clifford Robinson all got DPOY votes.

Lakers pick lands at #17. New Orleans can take it at #17 this year or they get whatever it is next year.

If I am NOLA, I defer to 2025. I don't count on the Lakers being as healthy as they were this year, and even then, they barely made the play in.

Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

I had to do a double take. I thought that was a spurs game with all the empty seats. You could hear a pin drop in that arena.

West Texan said:

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Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

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Lots of unrealized assists there. He certainly has really nice vision and is able to quickly pass.

His drop for me isn't about the injury as much as:

* He's an awful defender and just kind of gives up when screened
* He's useless on offense without the ball.
* His jump shot is slow and low, and probably needs to be completely reworked

I think he is just overrated because there aren't any premium PGs in this class.

The lack of playing for 3 months was lack of time to develop and prove those things wrong.

Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

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Lots of unrealized assists there. He certainly has really nice vision and is able to quickly pass.

His drop for me isn't about the injury as much as:

* He's an awful defender and just kind of gives up when screened
* He's useless on offense without the ball.
* His jump shot is slow and low, and probably needs to be completely reworked

I think he is just overrated because there aren't any premium PGs in this class.

The lack of playing for 3 months was lack of time to develop and prove those things wrong.

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Some sort-of positive comments on his defense:

I was really impressed with Nikola Topic's first game back from injury.
🏀Playmaking still popped
🏀Shot well
🏀Showed versatility playing on and off ball
🏀Team DEF was much better
🏀Got downhill easier than his first few games with Red Star but was blocked a few times at the… pic.twitter.com/GbWeycmzRx

— Tyler Metcalf (@tmetcalf11) April 22, 2024

Fine. Topic is back in my top 5.

West Texan said:

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Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

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Man that is not a great highlight package for his teammates. Brutally bad finishing after being setup pretty nicely.

Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

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Lots of unrealized assists there. He certainly has really nice vision and is able to quickly pass.

His drop for me isn't about the injury as much as:

* He's an awful defender and just kind of gives up when screened
* He's useless on offense without the ball.
* His jump shot is slow and low, and probably needs to be completely reworked

I think he is just overrated because there aren't any premium PGs in this class.

The lack of playing for 3 months was lack of time to develop and prove those things wrong.

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Weak draft with a bunch of flawed prospects, I think you want to try and find guys that have skills that will directly translate. His vision, passing, and pick and roll play making paired with his size is already an NBA level skill.

Your concerns are definitely valid, and not playing and having more tape to be evaluated doesn't help his cause either. I'm not going to pretend to have watched enough tape on him (or any of the top prospects at this point) to really evaluate his entire game. But jumbo playmakers with positional size have a definite roll in this league, which is why I still like him as our potential pick.

West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

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Lots of unrealized assists there. He certainly has really nice vision and is able to quickly pass.

His drop for me isn't about the injury as much as:

* He's an awful defender and just kind of gives up when screened
* He's useless on offense without the ball.
* His jump shot is slow and low, and probably needs to be completely reworked

I think he is just overrated because there aren't any premium PGs in this class.

The lack of playing for 3 months was lack of time to develop and prove those things wrong.

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Weak draft with a bunch of flawed prospects, I think you want to try and find guys that have skills that will directly translate. His vision, passing, and pick and roll play making paired with his size is already an NBA level skill.

Your concerns are definitely valid, and not playing and having more tape to be evaluated doesn't help his cause either. I'm not going to pretend to have watched enough tape on him (or any of the top prospects at this point) to really evaluate his entire game. But jumbo playmakers with positional size have a definite roll in this league, which is why I still like him as our potential pick.

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Wemby was talking about being a Jokic-like focal point of the offense going forward just a few days ago. Drafting a guy that is 100% useless without the ball in his hands doesn't fit with that type of offense. Reed Shepherd, Cody Williams, Ron Holland, Alex Sarr, and Castle all make way more sense and fill more needs.

Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Nikola Topic picked up where he left off in his return to action dropping 8 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST in 16 minutes. Knocked down two threes and continued to show his ability to make high level reads out of the P&R pic.twitter.com/TAqcUOfWOs

— NBA Draft Dude 🤙 (@CoreyTulaba) April 22, 2024

I know he's dropped down most people's overall draft board due to his injury, but his upside as a jumbo pick and roll savant is still very intriguing.

---

Lots of unrealized assists there. He certainly has really nice vision and is able to quickly pass.

His drop for me isn't about the injury as much as:

* He's an awful defender and just kind of gives up when screened
* He's useless on offense without the ball.
* His jump shot is slow and low, and probably needs to be completely reworked

I think he is just overrated because there aren't any premium PGs in this class.

The lack of playing for 3 months was lack of time to develop and prove those things wrong.

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Weak draft with a bunch of flawed prospects, I think you want to try and find guys that have skills that will directly translate. His vision, passing, and pick and roll play making paired with his size is already an NBA level skill.

Your concerns are definitely valid, and not playing and having more tape to be evaluated doesn't help his cause either. I'm not going to pretend to have watched enough tape on him (or any of the top prospects at this point) to really evaluate his entire game. But jumbo playmakers with positional size have a definite roll in this league, which is why I still like him as our potential pick.

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Wemby was talking about being a Jokic-like focal point of the offense going forward just a few days ago. Drafting a guy that is 100% useless without the ball in his hands doesn't fit with that type of offense. Reed Shepherd, Cody Williams, Ron Holland, Alex Sarr, and Castle all make way more sense and fill more needs.

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I tend to agree. However, we have to be careful evaluating these guys and assuming their current tendencies can't be tweaked by NBA coaching. Topic has some ability that can't be coached.