Brian Wright and the Spurs front office should start to see the bigger picture now that the NBA draft is almost a week away. With the Spurs holding the fourth and eighth overall picks in 2017 draft, there are outstanding players on this young team, but there are also a lot of faults that need to be fixed.
Even if the Spurs can now take care of some of the sore thumbs, the arrival of new players will drastically reduce the responsibilities that some current players have. Three Spurs will see a decrease in playing time as a result of the NBA draft. We’ll assume, for the sake of simplicity and in spite of speculations, that every player with a contract stays on the team into the following season.
3. Champagnie Julian
In order to provide Keldon Johnson a scoring leader off the bench during the previous season, the third-year forward started 59 games; nevertheless, neither of these roles was successful for either player. Champagnie was essentially in the lineup to just give spacing and outside shooting, which he didn’t do well. Johnson struggled to lead the second unit.
The largest need for the Spurs is either a long 3-and-D wing or a dynamic point guard, and with two high lottery picks, both can be filled. This has sparked a great debate among the fan base. A forward from the extremely excellent wing class that includes Zaccharie Risacher, Matas Buzelis, Ron Holland, Cody Williams, Dalton Knecht, and Tidjane Salaun may be available to San Antonio. If any of these players were drafted, Julian’s role might conceivably become completely irrelevant.
All of the former players—possibly with the exception of Risacher—should be available by the time the Spurs have played. Although G-League Ignite forward Ron Holland has the biggest ceiling of these men, we know the Spurs are interested in Tidjane Salaun, a French native.
Whatever the outcome, adding a top prospect to a squad where wing talent is at its lowest point in recent memory means that player will start right away. This takes away Julian Champagnie’s minutes and gives Keldon the freedom to take the lead once more in what is a “prove it year” for the sixth-year striker.
2. Jones, Tre
It’s highly likely that the Spurs will select a guard in the next draft. They’ve declared their desire to get a legitimate starting point guard for the future and are ‘huge supporters’ of Stephon Castle of UConn. Rob Dillingham of Kentucky has been vocally promoting himself as a potential Spur.
Tre Jones is not suited to be the standout point guard of the future, no offense intended. He is, however, the ideal backup because of his uncanny ability to handle the basketball and his relentlessness on every play—qualities that every team values.
The former Duke Blue Devil has improved greatly since joining the 2-1-0, but his major weakness is that he has never become proficient outside of the area or has the mindset of a prolific scorer. He’s not going to force opponents to dribble away from him or open up shots, but he’s a guard who can run the pick-and-roll, play off the principles, and spread the floor.
Nevertheless, San Antonio hopes to acquire one of Jones’ deficiencies—Castle, Dillingham, Nikola Topic, or Devin Carter—and use Jones as their backup point guard. By choosing one of these guys, the guard depth would be greatly increased, and Tre would be moved to the second unit, giving that group a player who has been a starter for a few years and has experience running an offense and closing out games.
1. Branham Malaki
The third-year Ohioan started his career with high expectations after showing glimpses of his youthful talent by scoring from all three levels of the court, maybe making him look like one of the draft’s steals. Unfortunately, he would continue to travel in the wrong direction in his second season, finishing as one of the league’s worst defenders and constantly struggling to score points.
Even though he still has the raw potential to score, it hasn’t developed into a consistent aspect of his game, and some of the box scores he was showing were too high for the amount of minutes he was playing.
Not only was his previous season one to forget, but in his sophomore year, Blake Wesley, another rookie guard, began making big progress. The former guard for Notre Dame displayed glimpses of a player who might have reminded fans of the legendary Dejounte Murray—a youthful guard with a fiery defensive instinct who created havoc and scored points.
Even though he still has a ways to go in terms of developing his offensive game, he has the basic mechanics down pat and his explosiveness off the dribble is something to watch. His rookie season wasn’t the best.
Branham’s role might completely vanish if San Antonio chooses to select Rob Dillingham, the most dynamic scorer available in the draft.
Dilly’s variety in scoring the ball is incredible, even if he and the other player have comparable defensive shortcomings. He is a skilled pick-and-roll scorer who can finish over larger defenders off the dribble, go one-on-one with them, and show off his dexterity and skill with the ball in his hands.
Tre Jones’s addition to the second unit would also result in Branham’s loss of playing time, setting off a cascade of events. It’s feasible to convert him to shooting guard, which would be a good fit for his style of play. On the other hand, Wesley’s continued improvement and the addition of a skilled scorer might make Branham regress.
Though it’s still unclear where the Spurs are going, all of our questions will be addressed in the next week or so, when the draft takes place.
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