Spurs Draft Recap - 2022
Jul 1, 2022 18:09:13 GMT
Andrei Kirilenko, Glenn Robinson, and 2 more like this
Post by George Gervin on Jul 1, 2022 18:09:13 GMT
Another year in the books for the Spurs, and the team made enormous strides in 2021-22. The regular season was a bit of a roller coaster, at one point dealing with massive injuries and outside of the Play-In Tournament picture, but a late season surge and playoff run led to a Western Conference Finals appearance and competitive showing versus the defending Conference champion Golden State Warriors. With Paul George and Luka Doncic already signed, and Anthony Davis hopefully returning once his free agency has been settled, the Spurs are firmly in contention for deep playoff runs. Last year in the 2021 draft, we nailed a second round selection at #42 with Herb Jones. 'Not On Herb' became a rallying cry amongst the fans, and more importantly he stepped up in a real way as a serious contender for All Defense as a rookie and cracking the All Rookie Second Team in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.
For the 2022 draft, the Spurs entered with just a late second round selection at #49 and left the draft with three rookies and a future 2nd rounder in 2023 from the Knicks via Cleveland after making moves all over the board. The background on our latest rookie haul, which features three players-- one at each level of the court -- who all fit a core theme of upside, basketball IQ, and production at the college level:
For the 2022 draft, the Spurs entered with just a late second round selection at #49 and left the draft with three rookies and a future 2nd rounder in 2023 from the Knicks via Cleveland after making moves all over the board. The background on our latest rookie haul, which features three players-- one at each level of the court -- who all fit a core theme of upside, basketball IQ, and production at the college level:
- 25th Selection (via POR): Ryan Rollins, G, University of Toledo. Trading the future HOU 2025 1st round pick we acquired as part of the Moses Moody to Indiana trade straight up for #25, the Spurs selected a small school guard who had long been a desired target of our organization: Ryan Rollins of Toledo. A teenager in his second year at Toledo, he was one of two players (lottery pick Johnny Davis of Wisconsin the other) who averaged at least 19 PPG, 6 APG, and 4 RPG as a teenager in D1. Rollins calling cards at the moment are his handle, three level scoring, and supreme length for a smaller guard (6'10" wingspan on a 6'3" frame) allowing him to play up in size and not get abused on switches in today's game. For our roster, we saw a player who will start off the bench and learn from the likes of TJ McConnell, Goran Dragic, and Luka Doncic on how to succeed as an NBA guard while hopefully growing into an eventual starting role in the backcourt opposite Luka Doncic as a tertiary creator. Rollins will need to spend a lot of time working on his strength, as he is a bit lithe at 180 LBs for an NBA guard, as well as ensuring defensively he is continually maximizing his effort and utilizing that length and quickness to the best of his ability. However, we have time to shore up those weaknesses with our coaching staff and prep him to step into an eventual role down the line as a starter.
- 33rd Selection (via DAL): Christian Koloko, C, University of Arizona. Trading Usman Garuba netted us picks #33 and #50, which we used this selection on an up and coming big man out of Arizona by way of Cameroon: Christian Koloko. Koloko's immediate traits are his defensive IQ, shot blocking prowess, and immense size at a legit 7'1". Paired with Anthony Davis on the back end, we hope Christian will grow into another intimidator to ensure opposing drivers think twice about coming to the rack with all the length and shot blocking acumen. Given Christian only picked up basketball at 15, he still has a lot of room to improve -- this is most evident in his offensive game, which is a bit rudimentary at this time. However, that's where elite coaching and playing with elite playmakers like Luka Doncic and Paul George make Koloko's initial transition much easier as he builds up that skill base. Hopefully in time, Christian scales into a legit backup center who can provide spot starts where necessary and ensure, irrespective of whether AD is on the court or not, an elite shot blocker is anchoring our defense.
- 41st Selection (via CLE): Vince Williams Jr., F, Virginia Commonwealth University. Packaging our original selection at #49 with #50 and our 2026 2nd rounder netted this selection plus the Knicks 2023 2nd round pick held by the Cavaliers. Having already tackled the backcourt and frontcourt with our first two selections, we focused on grabbing another versatile wing to add to our existing corps -- in this day and age, you can never have enough quality wings. Vince Williams Jr. was long a small school target -- similar to Rollins -- for the Spurs, as we recognized early his potential as a high level connector and clear template as a 3 and D+ player. In his four years at VCU, Williams Jr. hit several key marks -- 2.5% or greater Block and Steal Percentages, 36% career from 3, and a 15% AST rate in one player as only been achieved across a four year career in college eight previous times. Amongst those eight prior players are some elite level role talent, such as Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Danny Green, and we hope those statistical indicators for Vince portend a similar level of production and outcome at the NBA level. We expect him to learn the ropes his first year in the League from the likes of Jae Crowder, Herb Jones, and Paul George, while in time if he can become a clear top 8 rotation player and primary bench 3 and D wing, that would provide immense depth to our team.