The draft is upon us and the Spurs have been linked to several prospects. A lot of them, like Patrick Williams or Saddiq Bey, have been small forwards, which suggests the team is looking to permanently fill the hole left by the departure of Kawhi Leonard.
At the same time, San Antonio has also appeared interested in a few lead guards who could potentially be available to them with the 11th pick despite having plenty of depth in the backcourt.
Should the Spurs go for the best player available regardless of position, or draft for need and look for forwards and maybe even centers?
Marilyn Dubinski: You can never argue with going for the best player available, especially as a rebuilding team in the lottery, but in a draft that’s relatively deep in quality forwards, I wouldn’t mind seeing them try to address that area of need. (Plus, the sentimental side of me wants to see all the young guards succeed and stay, although if they do, it might be impossible to financially keep them all, but that’s a topic for another day.)
Mark Barrington: Always get the best player available. They need bigs, but the real difference makers in the NBA are wings that are versatile on offense and quick enough to make defensive plays. If the team gets overloaded in the backcourt, they can trade one of their guards for someone with size. Is Boban available?
Bruno Passos: I certainly don’t think they should go out of their way to add to their cluttered backcourt, but I’m also of the opinion that the group of guys they have shouldn’t stop them from chasing better talent. If they happen upon a chance at, say, a Killian Hayes or Isaac Okoro at 11, I’m of the mind that they should take them, because they could pan out as the best player on the team within a few years.
Jesus Gomez: It really depends on the difference in talent and ceiling between this hypothetical guard and a forward or center. In general I prefer to think of prospects in terms of tiers instead of normal rankings. If two players are on the same tier, I’m hoping the Spurs go for a forward. If there is a guard available that is clearly a tier above all the wings available, they should definitely go for the guard.
The best case scenario is that they somehow get two picks in the top half of the draft, likely by trading one or both of their older stars and get to add two prospects. In that case — and provided they can get one of Tyrese Haliburton or Killian Hayes — it could actually be good for the Spurs to get a guard who projects to be a better shot creator than Dejounte Murray.
J.R. Wilco: The first two words that come to mind when I consider this question are: Sam Bowie. Of course, the conventional wisdom on the 2020 NBA Draft is that it’s not loaded with generational talent, so it’s unlikely that PATFO will risk missing out on this-year’s-Michael-Jordan. So I don’t think there will be much chance they’ll have to stress over passing on a no-brainer talent staring them in the face because they want to draft for need.
Which means it could be fit, the whole fit, and nothing but the fit so help us God. And considering that Pop found it hard enough last season to find playing time for the guards he already has, I’m really not looking forward to having yet another small clogging up the guard rotation. With the draft happening so close to Thanksgiving, I’m thinking about asking for an early Christmas present of a forward who won’t have to play in Austin his first year in the league.
