Spurs' 2011 draft report card
Thursday’s draft was one of the most active drafts in recent memory. Rumors swirled of San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker being offered for a lottery pick along with Richard Jefferson, to guard George Hill being offered solely for a lottery pick.
After all the speculation and the dust settled, the night ended with Spurs General Manager R.C. Buford saying the team made one of the toughest decisions since he’s been there:
“To move a player like George Hill, who has meant so much to our team, to our culture, to our locker room,” Buford said of Hill who had been traded to Indiana, “was one of the most difficult decisions that we’ve made.”
Yes, after all the rumors were over, the Spurs did trade combo guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for the rights to Indiana’s No. 15, and 42 pick, and their No. 46 pick from 2005.
The players the Spurs obtained through the deal were San Diego State’s Kawhi Leonard, Lithuanian forward Davis Bertans, and the rights to Slovenian Erazem Lorbek.
The team also used their No. 29 and 59 picks to select point guard Cory Joseph from Texas and guard Adam Hanga from Hungary.
After the team acquired five new players and lost their sixth man, did they get better or worse? What type of grade would one give Thursday’s draft? I’ve devised some questions to try and give the team a fair grade from all aspects of the draft.
Will these players make an immediate impact?
Yes: Kawhi Leonard is a very athletic small forward who prides himself on defense. He can have an immediate impact as General Manger R.C. Buford hopes to see him in the rotation next season.
“That’s going to be up to Pop and the coaches and how things go in training camp, but he’s a good player. The expectation level is, I hope he would.”
With Hill being dealt to Indiana, the Spurs knew they needed a point guard, and they chose Texas’ Cory Joseph. Now with Hill gone, Joseph may be Tony Parker’s backup. The Spurs saw something in Joseph that most of us did not, it’s why Buford said they wanted him from the beginning,
“We knew we had the 29th pick and the guy we were focused on was Cory and to have that play out is exciting for us.”
The last player who could have an impact is Erazem Larbek. He’s spent the last two seasons playing in the Spanish League with FC Barcelona. Buford described the strides and accomplishments Larbek has made overseas and hopes to see him in a Spurs uniform.
“He’s a very-very effective player and one that we have hope for getting into San Antonio at some point in the future.”
Even if Larbek can’t make the rotation with the Spurs, he’d be a great piece to send to the Austin Toros to work on the terminology and routine of the Spurs’ system.
What do these players bring to the future of the organization?
They bring something this aging Spurs roster is lacking, youth.
Leonard and Joseph are both only 19-years old. Davis Bertans is only 18-years old. Adam Hanga is also very young. With two potential young players in the rotation next season, the Spurs will be able to allow the young players to grow with leadership from veterans like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Then, when Duncan and Ginobili are both gone, the two players will have the maturity and concept of what it means to be a Spur ingrained in them and ready to carry into the future.
Bertans and Hanga are two pieces that the Spurs intend to draft-and-stash.
“I would envision that to be the case, I don’t know whether it’s one year? Whether it’s two years? I can’t tell you,” said Buford.
Bertans has a very high ceiling and Buford said he would argue that Bertans was the best shooter in the draft. Others see Bertans potential very high when he polishes his game over seas and eventually makes his way across the pond.
Was there a benefit to losing George Hill?
Yes, by trading Hill, the Spurs were able to make their roster younger, more defensive minded, athletic, and the move helped to build for the future all in one deal. Not to mention help financially for their cap-structure if Hill wanted to sign a long-term deal.
How does losing Hill hurt the team?
Losing Hill means the team has lost its sixth man off of the bench, and they have lost their best perimeter defender. Hill was relied upon to come in and score points off of the bench.
Now who does that? Who is the teams go-to sixth man?
Could it be Gary Neal, James Anderson, Da’Sean Butler, or even the newly acquired Leonard?
Remember in late December when Hill had a highlight-game by stepping up to Kobe Bryant’s face and did not shy away from Bryant? Well, who is that physical, quick, defensive guard on the perimeter that will be able to defend and not back down from the better point and shooting guards in the league? Parker and Neal seem too small. This would me the freshman Joseph would have to become the go to guard defender.
Did the trade and draft fill a need?
Yes, the moves created size and athleticism on the wing, two things the Spurs were lacking. They got two defensive-minded players on the perimeter as well.
Project Spurs Co-Founder Jeff Garcia spoke with Leonard after the draft and Leonard told him of his defensive pride.
"I take pride in defense, myself, I like my men to score the ball. I'm just going to go in, do the same thing I did in college, get some rebounds and help my teammates find ways to win games."
Buford also reiterated the team liked Joseph because of his defense.
“We think he’s got terrific defensive qualities, terrific Spur qualities.”
Did the trade and draft open a new hole?
Possibly: With Hill now gone, the Spurs don’t have an established sixth man and if Joseph doesn’t work out as a rookie, then the Spurs will be missing a back up point guard as well. Neal plays the role of a shooting guard and if Ginobili has to play the back up point, he’ll put even more mileage on his already aging body.
What’s the grade?
After analyzing all aspects of the trade and draft, I’m going to say the Spurs deserve a B for their draft report card. They did partially add what they needed in terms of youth, athleticism, defense and the future. At the same time, by trading Hill they may have opened new holes by potentially not having an established sixth man or legitimate backup point guard.
It wasn’t easy having to trade George Hill, as Buford said Thursday night.
“Pop talked to him tonight. Danny’s talked to him tonight and it’s difficult for us all to get a way to get to him but, a very difficult conversation, but a very sincere one.”
With the team moving forward into next season, into the future, Buford made sure Hill knew he was always appreciated in San Antonio,
“The thing we made George aware of, he’s always a Spur.”
(Photos: DayLife.com, Bleacherreport.com, BlogSpot.com)
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All in all we've gotten better but still not good enough to be a champion calibar team. Need a primary big man, Tiago is good and will get better but still not enough especially in West.
I don't know much about Joeseph. I woudl have thought Selby or even Mack woudl be a better back up to TP with Hill being traded. I think we shoudl invite David Lighty to the free agent camp as well
In fact I think they made a pretty smart move. I will give them an big A if they let TP go as well.
The Spurs model is defensive, athletic, rebounding wing players (Sean Elliott, Bruce Bowen, Glenn Robinson, Stephen Jackson, etc) that does the dirty work while allowing TP, Manu and TD (now Splitter) to score. They're back to that. Losing GHill is the price to pay but was less of a price than losing TP. Since he was gone, getting a backup PG was necessary.
As far as the rest of the picks, my opinion is that anyone in the 2nd round is GRAVY if they even make the team. Splitter was a stash, Ryan Richards and de Colo are still stashed and Bertans and Co. are about to enter the stash. Development of projects w/o paying anything - brilliant.
The Spurs have had good to excellent drafts for the past 5-10 years now and this one just one more example of that.
this was a BAD DRAFT for the spurs first of all what about the BIG MEN did anyone forget that this is still our problem even after this draft i don't see leornard gaurding guys over 7feet tall we still have not address that inteiror was hoping we could have picked up a big even if he was a work in progress to develope in austin that didn't happen and i remember joseph who couldn't inboud the ball that cost texas the game in in ncaa tournament i am not sold on him this is a BIG F no bigs we could have had Jermey Tyler he is not great but at least he has some talent but well see what happens
@soto1ncrtol ummm, that's why there's still free agency and more trading, that is if the lockout doesn't occur. the Spurs were lacking more than just a big man. we needed a SF who can defend and some athleticism, as Paul mentioned. we were able to get those two needs by getting Leonard and Joseph. so what if Joseph messed up in that game. everyone makes mistakes. R.C. knew about the guy and probably saw a lot more than what we see. plus we get Bertans, who Ford projected us to get w/ the 29th pick, w/ the 42nd pick. of course, i was upset with Hill being traded and i'll definitely miss him, but after looking it over, i agree w/ Paul and give it a B grade.
@RG8907 @soto1ncrtol I see both you guys points no matter how good Lenard may be defensively if you don't have bigs to protect the rim it's not going to matter.That's what made Bruce Bowen so good he could count on Tim&David being there and what's up with Ryan Richards he could be an impact player next season if they needed a defensive small forward wasn't Honeycutt from UCLA there at 29 from what I saw and read he was put in the same light as Tayshaun Prince so there's your defensive player RG8907 your right free agency and trading are still there so let's hope for the best but i kinda agree with SOTO getting some bigs was key for me.Just can't see giving up one of my key players and six man.
@ZILLA @RG8907 @soto1ncrtol Ryan Richards still needs more development - being big is good enough. Ian Mahinmi was big but fouled so often, he wasn't worthy anything. Give Richards some time. As far as Honeycutt, he's not as good as Leonard. Most if not all draft analysts/experts had Leonard as a lottery pick to high 20s - Honeycutt was projected to go far later. Now, they all could be wrong, but it's not likely. As far as Prince - the Spurs can't afford him. They owe RJ $30 million over the next 3 years and he's basically untradeable (they tried to by packaging w/ TP but got no interest) and Prince won't take the MLE.
Basically, the Spurs did the best they could w/ the salaries they're paying. Next year, TD's $21 million falls off the books...
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I honestly think every team, including the Spurs, should get an "I" because we'll never know how much or little the players end up contributing. Kwame Brown, Hasheem Thabeet, anyone?
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Why not start JA or D Butler, or D Green at SG and bring MG off the bench ? Problem solved if any of the newer guys can step up. More defense, more rebounding, etc.
@jojo707 That's been a recommendation of mine all along. My $s on JA as he's a good defender as well. He should get about 18-24 mins a game w/ Manu getting about 20-26 (and closing out the game) while coming off the bench.
