I'd take Trae Young. He's ready to go, no developing.

Aggie Class of 2026 said:

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I'd take Trae Young. He's ready to go, no developing.

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Atlanta wants a ransom for him and he is the worst defender in the NBA. If you give all your assets for him, you don't have enough to fill out the team to make up for his massive liabilities.

I don't recall what's rumored in the hypothetical trade. If it's over the top, I'd pass on him. It's very intriguing because he can score really well, he's young and paired with Wemby would be dangerous

Since Atlanta won the lottery, they have reason to keep Trae with the excitement of a new 18yo lob partner in Sarr.

They are going to want all their picks back, plus some more at the very minimum. Plus they likely push for Devin to pair in the backcourt with DJM.

I thought we could make something work earlier in the season, but with them winning the lottery, it became significantly more difficult and there is no real reason for us to do that right now.

We are much better off seeing if Sarr can actually play, them doing a lot of trial and error and being a play in or worse team so we get better shot at the lottery. Even better if Sarr looks bad to start the season and Trae gets really grumpy and atlanta starts to panic.

Guitarsoup said:

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KOC's new mock on The Ringah has Spurs taking Matas at 4 then Topic at 8.

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Buzelis at 4 would be awful. At 8 he'd be alright, but I don't think he's an immediate rotational player nor do I think he has significant upside.

I can live with Topic at 8, because you're taking a swing on his upside. We've discussed the flaws in his game a lot, but he's one of the few prospects in this draft that I think has more than just being a rotational piece upside.

West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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KOC's new mock on The Ringah has Spurs taking Matas at 4 then Topic at 8.

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Buzelis at 4 would be awful. At 8 he'd be alright, but I don't think he's an immediate rotational player nor do I think he has significant upside.

I can live with Topic at 8, because you're taking a swing on his upside. We've discussed the flaws in his game a lot, but he's one of the few prospects in this draft that I think has more than just being a rotational piece upside.

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I just think there are a lot of guys that have high upside that include playing well on both sides of the ball. I would take Matas over Topic, because I just do not believe Topic will ever be an adequate defender and if we go to a motion offense around Wemby, we don't need and really don't want a ball dominant pick and roll point guard

Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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KOC's new mock on The Ringah has Spurs taking Matas at 4 then Topic at 8.

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Buzelis at 4 would be awful. At 8 he'd be alright, but I don't think he's an immediate rotational player nor do I think he has significant upside.

I can live with Topic at 8, because you're taking a swing on his upside. We've discussed the flaws in his game a lot, but he's one of the few prospects in this draft that I think has more than just being a rotational piece upside.

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I just think there are a lot of guys that have high upside that include playing well on both sides of the ball. I would take Matas over Topic, because I just do not believe Topic will ever be an adequate defender and if we go to a motion offense around Wemby, we don't need and really don't want a ball dominant pick and roll point guard

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I'm not going to get too upset over our number 8 pick one way or the other, but I think Topic has a better chance of sticking on a roster with the potential to be pretty good because of his high level vision and passing. No, not the greatest fit with Wemby but guys who are really good in the pick and roll can almost always find a way to be positive contributors on the offensive end.

I think I'd rather take a swing on Tidjane Salaun over Buzelis. He's a major project, but I think he has the athleticism and defensive potential to be a difference maker on that end.

West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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West Texan said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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KOC's new mock on The Ringah has Spurs taking Matas at 4 then Topic at 8.

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Buzelis at 4 would be awful. At 8 he'd be alright, but I don't think he's an immediate rotational player nor do I think he has significant upside.

I can live with Topic at 8, because you're taking a swing on his upside. We've discussed the flaws in his game a lot, but he's one of the few prospects in this draft that I think has more than just being a rotational piece upside.

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I just think there are a lot of guys that have high upside that include playing well on both sides of the ball. I would take Matas over Topic, because I just do not believe Topic will ever be an adequate defender and if we go to a motion offense around Wemby, we don't need and really don't want a ball dominant pick and roll point guard

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I'm not going to get too upset over our number 8 pick one way or the other, but I think Topic has a better chance of sticking on a roster with the potential to be pretty good because of his high level vision and passing. No, not the greatest fit with Wemby but guys who are really good in the pick and roll can almost always find a way to be positive contributors on the offensive end.

I think I'd rather take a swing on Tidjane Salaun over Buzelis. He's a major project, but I think he has the athleticism and defensive potential to be a difference maker on that end.

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I think Topic becomes a guy that plays a lot of years in the NBA for bad teams, because you don't win a title with a PG like that. If he learns to shoot, maybe he can reach a ceiling of tall Kemba Walker. No defense, put up some good numbers on teams that won under 40 games, have a solid overall career and even some AS selections.

I agree with Salaun over Matas.

I'm framing all my picks based on where I see a player's role on a championship team. I don't see a role for a no-defense PnR PG on a championship team. So in that mindset, Devin Carter or Tre Jones have more value to me, even if when looking at numbers, Kemba Walker is a better player overall.

I think that Matas could play an actual role on a championship team if he learns to shoot and progresses with his other skills. He is kind of a jack of all trades, but master of none. If he can be just a little above average across the board, he could be a solid connective piece that could come off the bench, kind of like Diaw did with us or Odom did with the Lakers.

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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Guitarsoup said:

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KOC's new mock on The Ringah has Spurs taking Matas at 4 then Topic at 8.

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Buzelis at 4 would be awful. At 8 he'd be alright, but I don't think he's an immediate rotational player nor do I think he has significant upside.

I can live with Topic at 8, because you're taking a swing on his upside. We've discussed the flaws in his game a lot, but he's one of the few prospects in this draft that I think has more than just being a rotational piece upside.

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I just think there are a lot of guys that have high upside that include playing well on both sides of the ball. I would take Matas over Topic, because I just do not believe Topic will ever be an adequate defender and if we go to a motion offense around Wemby, we don't need and really don't want a ball dominant pick and roll point guard

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I'm not going to get too upset over our number 8 pick one way or the other, but I think Topic has a better chance of sticking on a roster with the potential to be pretty good because of his high level vision and passing. No, not the greatest fit with Wemby but guys who are really good in the pick and roll can almost always find a way to be positive contributors on the offensive end.

I think I'd rather take a swing on Tidjane Salaun over Buzelis. He's a major project, but I think he has the athleticism and defensive potential to be a difference maker on that end.

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I think Topic becomes a guy that plays a lot of years in the NBA for bad teams, because you don't win a title with a PG like that. If he learns to shoot, maybe he can reach a ceiling of tall Kemba Walker. No defense, put up some good numbers on teams that won under 40 games, have a solid overall career and even some AS selections.

I agree with Salaun over Matas.

I'm framing all my picks based on where I see a player's role on a championship team. I don't see a role for a no-defense PnR PG on a championship team. So in that mindset, Devin Carter or Tre Jones have more value to me, even if when looking at numbers, Kemba Walker is a better player overall.

I think that Matas could play an actual role on a championship team if he learns to shoot and progresses with his other skills. He is kind of a jack of all trades, but master of none. If he can be just a little above average across the board, he could be a solid connective piece that could come off the bench, kind of like Diaw did with us or Odom did with the Lakers.

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I like viewing prospects (draft or free agent/trade targets) through the lens of how do they fit on a contender. With that said, because we have Wemby, you can get away with some guys that are much better offensively than defensively. Now, you can't have guys that are traffic cones, but if they can at least get down basic rotations and not be continually exploited by opposing offenses, we can hide them with the leagues best rim protector behind them. Topic clearly has a very good feel out on the court and has decent size, maybe he's capable of Luka level defense. That's not great, but the Mavs are playing some pretty damn good defense with Luka and Kyrie on the court.

I also think him being an empty stats guy on bad teams is a completely fair assessment as well.

Buzelis has a lot of skills and good BBIQ, but he's a master of none. Maybe he grows into Slo-Mo 2.0 or maybe he's Luka Samanic.

The only guys that I have any confidence in becoming solid NBA players (most likely role players) are Sarr, Risacher, Clingan, Sheppard, and Castle. Anyone else it wouldn't surprise me if they flame out of the league in 4 years.

Being able to hide players is much less likely now than ever before. Look at Dallas' run. They played Westbrick off the court. Then they played Giddey off the court. When McDaniels was on Luka, he would bully him down with Luka's size and then they would make Gobert switch to the perimeter so Luka could get a favorable matchup or take advantage of Gobert being out of position and use that to feed Lively/Gafford. And Lively and Gafford combined to shoot 40/48 for the series. Jason Kidd just destroyed the DPOY by hunting him out of position then feeding those two easy baskets.

So if the plan is "we will hide him" or "Wemby can make up for him sucking ass" then I would rather go a different direction. I just don't think that works the way it did when the last time we were competitive.

I've never understood if the mocks were from the perspective of "who they should pick" or "who I think they'll pick based intel". Sometimes I don't think THEY know what they're trying to. Even KOC, who I love, I'll catch him in one analysis saying "this is what I'd do" and then in another citing reports that the Spurs really want size.

So based on my observation of how Wright seems to operate. I'd be shocked if he took Dilly or traded for Trae. I'd be mildly shocked if he took a 5 (Sarr or Klingan). I'd personally love a Shepard or Carter especially at 8 but I'd be a little surprised due to their height.

We know the organization thinks they can fix shooting. So that puts pretty much everyone on the table who has some size and basketball IQ.

Ag Natural said:

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I've never understood if the mocks were from the perspective of "who they should pick" or "who I think they'll pick based intel". Sometimes I don't think THEY know what they're trying to. Even KOC, who I love, I'll catch him in one analysis saying "this is what I'd do" and then in another citing reports that the Spurs really want size.

So based on my observation of how Wright seems to operate. I'd be shocked if he took Dilly or traded for Trae. I'd be mildly shocked if he took a 5 (Sarr or Klingan). I'd personally love a Shepard or Carter especially at 8 but I'd be a little surprised due to their height.

We know the organization thinks they can fix shooting. So that puts pretty much everyone on the table who has some size and basketball IQ.

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Yeah, I think their #1 thing is BBIQ. Pop created a Wunderlic-type test back in the 90s to test BBIQ of players. Duncan aced it and wrote notes about how to improve it.

I absolutely, positively agree with the notion the Spurs want size and length. We can all see that through their drafting history. But I think BBIQ of a guy like Reed Sheppard trumps the lack of size. And we saw that while Reed won't be a stopper at all, he will be active and a huge pest on defense. I think the Spurs would take Reed 4 and Castle 8 or trade the Charlotte pick to Charlotte to move up to 6 to take Castle. Sheppard will get taken by Detroit at 5 if he lasts there.

I would be shocked if Sarr was available at 4. But I wouldn't be shocked if we took Clingan at 8 at all. I think he has a high BBIQ and will be a better Jakob Poeltl.

I agree with you on Carter. My only hang up is that we have Tre Jones, and I feel like Carter (or McClain) would be a slight upgrade to Tre, but not enough to use that pick. I do think Carter could play either guard spot. All that just hurts, because we need a SF/PF so much more than backup PG/SG.

Isn't Markkanen potentially getting traded? Thoughts?

I feel like he plays the same position as Wemby and likely wouldn't be a good use of salary cap space

Aggie Class of 2026 said:

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Isn't Markkanen potentially getting traded? Thoughts?

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He would be an incredible fit but Utah apparently turned down 4 firsts for him.

This may be a knee-jerk reaction and unpopular opinion on this board but the WCF has me rethinking the draft. The top defensive team in the league almost got swept by Dallas. Although the Mavs have been playing better defense lately, they aren't a great defensive team.

I still think Dillingham has the highest upside in this draft and the best offensive player overall. It definitely wouldn't hurt for the Spurs to take an offensive player for a change.

There, I finally said it out loud and it didn't hurt that much.

Meh. The Mavericks had the top defense to end the year. And they have played outstanding defense in the playoffs. The Celtics are a very good defensive team. The Wolves obviously are. That's 3/4 of the final 4 teams that play high level defense. The Pacers are an outlier due to a weak East and injuries.

Edit: Also, Luka, a notoriously bad defender before this season, always had size to fall back on.

I didn't catch this yesterday but the rockets have been in talks with both Brooklyn (for bridges) and Memphis (to move back) for #3. I think Memphis would take Clingan but Brooklyn would be a wild card. Maybe a Castle team which would be no bueno.

jteagle said:

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This may be a knee-jerk reaction and unpopular opinion on this board but the WCF has me rethinking the draft. The top defensive team in the league almost got swept by Dallas. Although the Mavs have been playing better defense lately, they aren't a great defensive team.

I still think Dillingham has the highest upside in this draft and the best offensive player overall. It definitely wouldn't hurt for the Spurs to take an offensive player for a change.

There, I finally said it out loud and it didn't hurt that much.

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The Mavs have been very good since the trades. MC Swag can post more relevant stats.

The big thing is that the Mavs don't have a weak spot. Luka used to be it, but he has been shutting guys down in the playoffs and has played plus defense for a couple months now.

What you do see in the Finals is neither the Mavs nor the Celtics have a weak spot on defense in the starting lineups. Both have 5 guys that are at the very least average, but really all have been above above average.

That's your arguement against Rob. Teams with giant black holes on defense in their starting lineup aren't making the Championship.

The last team in the Finals with a giant black hole on defense at PG was the Dwight Howard Magic team with Rafer Alston. That's 15 years ago now.

Dillingham is never going to be more than a player on a bad team or a bench role player.

Enzo The Baker said:

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I didn't catch this yesterday but the rockets have been in talks with both Brooklyn (for bridges) and Memphis (to move back) for #3. I think Memphis would take Clingan but Brooklyn would be a wild card. Maybe a Castle team which would be no bueno.

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Brooklyn is a wild card, but they want more picks back than Bridges is worth.

I prefer Castle, but if we end up taking Reed Sheppard at 4, I'm happy so I'm not sweating it.

Sarr
Risacher
Castle
Sheppard

One of those guys will be there at 4, so I'm not overly concerned with how it shakes out.

Full ringer updated mock draft up. McCain and Carter in the top 8.
https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

jteagle said:

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This may be a knee-jerk reaction and unpopular opinion on this board but the WCF has me rethinking the draft. The top defensive team in the league almost got swept by Dallas. Although the Mavs have been playing better defense lately, they aren't a great defensive team.

I still think Dillingham has the highest upside in this draft and the best offensive player overall. It definitely wouldn't hurt for the Spurs to take an offensive player for a change.

There, I finally said it out loud and it didn't hurt that much.

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I think offense needs to be a priority for sure and I see what you're saying about Dallas and the gentleman's sweep of the Wolves but i think part of that is Minnesota seems like it was built specifically for the Nuggets. It pains me to compliment Dallas in any way but I think having a bunch of pretty good guys (not counting Luka and Kyrie who are obviously great) who aren't great or terrible in any one part of the game is where they are and where I hope the Spurs are soon.

And then there's this.

Rumor Mill: Spurs possibly exploring packaging first-round picks for Hawks' No. 1 overall pickhttps://t.co/2UQe8czI17 #porvida #nba #sanantonio #gospursgo

— JeffGSpursKENS5 (@JeffGSpursZone) June 4, 2024

Enzo The Baker said:

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Full ringer updated mock draft up. McCain and Carter in the top 8.
https://nbadraft.theringer.com/

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Interesting to see Dillingham fall all the way to 15 in his mock.


Then he says we take Jamal Shead at 35 over Ryan Dunn because Tre Jones is going to be a FA. I just don't see that happening. I think Shead will be an UDFA.

Then he has us taking Melvin Ajinca at 48, which I think is solid, but I might like Jalen Bridges more.

superunknown said:

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jteagle said:

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This may be a knee-jerk reaction and unpopular opinion on this board but the WCF has me rethinking the draft. The top defensive team in the league almost got swept by Dallas. Although the Mavs have been playing better defense lately, they aren't a great defensive team.

I still think Dillingham has the highest upside in this draft and the best offensive player overall. It definitely wouldn't hurt for the Spurs to take an offensive player for a change.

There, I finally said it out loud and it didn't hurt that much.

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I think offense needs to be a priority for sure and I see what you're saying about Dallas and the gentleman's sweep of the Wolves but i think part of that is Minnesota seems like it was built specifically for the Nuggets. It pains me to compliment Dallas in any way but I think having a bunch of pretty good guys (not counting Luka and Kyrie who are obviously great) who aren't great or terrible in any one part of the game is where they are and where I hope the Spurs are soon.

And then there's this.

Rumor Mill: Spurs possibly exploring packaging first-round picks for Hawks' No. 1 overall pickhttps://t.co/2UQe8czI17 #porvida #nba #sanantonio #gospursgo

— JeffGSpursKENS5 (@JeffGSpursZone) June 4, 2024

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I don't buy a 4+8 for 1 trade. Hawks also don't have open roster spots.

I agree with you on the need to have players that are plus on both sides of the ball and to eliminate weaknesses that can be exploited.

Yeah I'd guess it be either 4 or 8 plus a future pick? I still like keeping 4 and 8 more than getting 1 in this draft.

Dallas's run has me thinking Wemby and a bunch of slightly above average dudes (I do think Devin is better than that) is a playoff team quicker than we realize and that also gives us fungible parts to swap out and package together to get a co-pilot for Wemby so Devin can be our super solid #3. 2025 and beyond draft picks are going to pay off in finding our #2 (via trade or draft) and if 4 or 8 or a combo of both lift us up into that 6-8 playoff seed range then that makes it a whole lot easier.

Tl;dr version: I don't think the fences are as high or as far away as we think. We'll have several really good swings at them.

Guitarsoup said:

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superunknown said:

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jteagle said:

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This may be a knee-jerk reaction and unpopular opinion on this board but the WCF has me rethinking the draft. The top defensive team in the league almost got swept by Dallas. Although the Mavs have been playing better defense lately, they aren't a great defensive team.

I still think Dillingham has the highest upside in this draft and the best offensive player overall. It definitely wouldn't hurt for the Spurs to take an offensive player for a change.

There, I finally said it out loud and it didn't hurt that much.

---

I think offense needs to be a priority for sure and I see what you're saying about Dallas and the gentleman's sweep of the Wolves but i think part of that is Minnesota seems like it was built specifically for the Nuggets. It pains me to compliment Dallas in any way but I think having a bunch of pretty good guys (not counting Luka and Kyrie who are obviously great) who aren't great or terrible in any one part of the game is where they are and where I hope the Spurs are soon.

And then there's this.

Rumor Mill: Spurs possibly exploring packaging first-round picks for Hawks' No. 1 overall pickhttps://t.co/2UQe8czI17 #porvida #nba #sanantonio #gospursgo

— JeffGSpursKENS5 (@JeffGSpursZone) June 4, 2024

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I don't buy a 4+8 for 1 trade. Hawks also don't have open roster spots.

I agree with you on the need to have players that are plus on both sides of the ball and to eliminate weaknesses that can be exploited.

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Yea. I'm not so sure Risacher is worth that. He's risky. I'd rather keep 4+8 and get a rotational player and a swing on someone else. If we can trade 4 or 8 + a future protected pick + taking on Capela, I might consider it.

Although it would be hilarious if Atlanta once again trades back to double up on players and the #1 turns into a perennial all star. All the while we keep the Atlanta picks.

We just have so many holes to fill. Sochan is still backup wing level. Tre is a backup PG. I'd much rather take swings on Castle+Salaun than move around for Risacher or Sarr.

The only thing I would really want would be to use 4+8+maybe chicago to move to 2 AND get Deni for Keldon.

We have to fill up those playoff roster spots. I just don't really want to give up much to move to 1 or 2 in this draft. Next year is a different story.

On the bright side, Topic said he hasn't had any contact with the Spurs yet.

Edit: Spurs did request his medical records.

Salaun did have communication however.

Spurs worked out Devin Carter according to Garcia.

Enzo The Baker said:

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On the bright side, Topic said he hasn't had any contact with the Spurs yet.

Edit: Spurs did request his medical records.

Salaun did have communication however.

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Me, clicking on risky af links on reddit: "hmm how bad could it be?"

My opinion is Wemby should get whatever Wemby wants. If Wemby wants Rissacher, and he is as good or better than the prospects at 4 and 8, then you trade up to get Rissacher.

I think the last thing the Spurs need is if Wemby expresses he wants Rissacher, they don't trade up, and the Spurs watch Rissacher be a perennial all star.