Report: Spurs worked out Xavier's Holloway
According to Los Angeles Lakers ESPN beat writer Dave McMenamin, the San Antonio Spurs recently worked out Xavier point guard Tu Holloway.
Holloway stands as a 6'0 guard who averaged 17.5 points, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 1.5 steals, shot 43% from the field, shot 35% from 3-point range, and got to the free throw line 7.4 times per game where he shot 86% from the charity stripe this past season.
The first thing you could like about this kid is that he's an attacking type of guard, someone the Spurs could use off of their bench. Two things that stand out against him is his height, and outside shooting. Holloway made just 45 of his 130 three pointers this past season at Xavier, the outside shot is something most Spurs guards need.
According to ESPN, his player traits are penetrating, speed, and court vision. His positives are: high scoring combo guard, super quick first step, excellent perpetrator and finisher, good court vision, can play the point full time, and good defender. His negatives according to ESPN are: over dribbler, inconsistent jump shot, undersized.
ESPN projects him as a second round pick or going undrafted. Draft Express projects him also to be drafted in the second round with the 30th pick. Draft Express has his best case player projection as a D.J. Augustin and his worst case as a Jerome Randle.
My take: Though I'll admit I never saw this kid play due to being fully obligated to the Spurs this past lockout season, Holloway has a lot of the physical traits of Eric Bledsoe of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Spurs needed a player like this who could routinely attack the basket and get to the free throw line after the Oklahoma City Thunder made the proper adjustments of limiting Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili's penetration into the paint.
Unfortunately, I feel Holloway's size will be his biggest disadvantage of the Spurs not selecting him with their second round 59th pick, because they already have a small guard off the bench in Gary Neal. Neal and Holloway coming off the bench together for the Spurs' second unit would be a defensive disaster. Though they both could put up points in spurts, defensively it's too much of a liability.
The NBA draft is just five days away, it'll be interesting to see who the Spurs select with their 59th pick, or if they try to move up in the draft like they did last year.
What do you think Spurs fans, should the Spurs draft Holloway if he's available at slot 59?
Tu Holloway is a GEM in this years draft. Pure all around PG, he can shoot and pass with good efficiency. I got the chance to watch most of Xavier's games during the 4 years Holloway was with them and he was spectacular. Ever since his sweet 16 match-up with Kansas State, I've been preaching that this is the guy the Spurs need. I hope we trade up to get him or he slides to our spot. Phenomenal player, could have similar impact that Isiah Thomas had on the Kings.
@XMisnumero1 Curious to hear your thoughts on his mental toughness. Its well know physically he is strong, but Pop wants a PG that attacks! attacks! attacks! i.e. tony parker and the PG has to be able to penetrate-take a hit-and make the shot or make the assits and do it all game long. Not too many PGs (or players for that matter) are mentally able to do that. I have not seen him as much as you have but the times I have I walked away certain that the fall away jumper he shoots in the paint will not cut it in the NBA. He will need to learn the tear drop shot.
From the long conversation below, I assume you are both Septic Tanks by your lack of geography skills? "2 of our 3 best players are European". Last time I checked I thought Argentina was in Americas? Same goes for Brazil.
@Plumblbw Yes I am aware that Argentina is in South America. I meant played European basketball. Good catch.
I've read that Andray Blatche is going to get amnestied with the right environment he could be pretty good. It turned out good for JaVale McGee and the Nuggets.
@24writer His best-case scenario, according to DX, is D.J. Augustin. I'd take that at 59. His worst case scenario is Jerome Randle (who?).
@AirAlamo yeah I put that in my article last night. From looking at numbers, he reminds me of Bledsoe. No idea who Randle is either? Haha
It 's five days away till draft day. What are the Spurs coaching staff, coach Pop, GM Buford and Mr. Holt thinking? They are. by now familiar with the weakness of the team. What are their plans? It is bruited that the Bobcats are ready to trade their ist round draft. Are the Spurs ready to ship out Splitter, bonner and anderson? Maybe the Bobcats would draft Drummond and send him to the Spurs.It would mean savings for the them. If Drummond will sign for $2.5m, it means savings for them. What about Jackson, will he be traded, or his salary structured? If traded, maybe a team out there is ready to receive a veteran leader who can guard, rebound, pass and shoot the ball. He is projected to receive $10m next season. It is ridiculously high! Maybe a trade with Raptors for its 8th pick, plus compensation and draft Terrence Ross. If Ross will sign for $2m, it means a savings of $8m and if TD is willing to re-sign for a reduced contract of $12m, it means a savings of $9m. The savings in the Drummond draft maybe $7m plus $8m in the Jackson trade and $9m in the TD contract is $24m, enough to sign free agents like Kaman or Humphries and even Illyasova. Are the Celtics interested in Green? They hold the #21-22 draft picks. Why not think about it? Maybe the Celtics draft Jeffrey Taylor and send him to the Spurs, plus compensation. What about Blair? He is too short to play center. Maybe he is good enough for a 2nd round draft like Henry Sims, Kyle O'Quinn or Tony Wroten. Am sure it takes a lot of imagination and planning. Of course Jackson maybe willing to have his salary restructured in which case he will be retained. Its good to have the Europeans, but we have seen what Spliitter can do. The U.S.A. brand of basketall seems superior to the European. Coach Pop, GM Buford and Mr. Holt, if you want the Spurs to contend next season, please consider the suggestions. Am sure you can do it. You have done in the past, you can do it again. Go Spurs!
Hardly. If you are timid with your changes, why change at all? The Spurs need to reload! You are a living witness to what happened when they played the Thunder. Would you rather have a status quo?
We must be talking about a different guy. Dannie Green not a Spurs? Now you have lost me!
@rtesoro440 and if you see $0 it does not mean he is playing for no money " for the the good of the team".
K@rtesoro440 ok genius please amuse me for a second and answer me this. Since in your mind Green is a spur, how much does he contract say the spurs pay him next season?
@Tjaramil @rtesoro440 @Tjaramil
The compensations presented were just illustrations, MORON! You must be out of your mind, Green not a Spur, where are you coming from, Pluto? Yeah, sign and trade anderson which is commonly done in the nba, nitwit!
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@rtesoro440 @Tjaramil Let me explain the stupidity in your argument. You want to trade S. Jackson to the raptors for the #8th pick and compensation, because in your mind he is a veteran leader who can guard, pass and rebound. A 34 yr old guy who averaged 2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the playoffs and who has publicly aired his differences with every team he has played with. Oh and this is the type of guy who would be open to revolutionizing the NBA by being the first to restruct his contract for as you put it "the good of the team". Ridiculous! Then you want to undercut spur draft pick salaries even though the new CBA clear states what their salaries should be so that you can sign Humphries? Ridiculous! Then you want to trade a current free agent who is not a spur to the Celtics for draft picks and compensation. Ridiculous! Then you want to sign Anderson who played less than 4 min a game in the playoffs because he is a future trading chip. Ridiculous! Please for the good of mankind and every real NBA fan SHUT THE F' UP!
Bonehead! They lost 4 straight games to the thunder. Nitwit, if this does not show anything you must be an idiot!
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@rtesoro440 @ljharris They were 2 games from the finals and you think they need to rebuild. Your moronic.
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@rtesoro440 First, Anderson is a free agent so he can't be traded. So your suggested trade for the number two pick overall would be splitter and bonner for the 2nd pick. I can guarantee that the bobcats don't take that deal. Also, rookies chosen in the first round have set salaries that they can receive, and the second pick's salary will be about 3.8 million, so we wouldn't be able to get Drummond to sign below that. Second, I don't believe that Jackson would want to go to the raptors to MAYBE make the playoffs. He would demand to be traded as he did in Milwaukee this year. So, I am sure the raptors wouldn't give up the eighth pick for a player who doesn't want to be there. You are, however, close to the mark on what a 8th pick would be paid according to the rookie salary scale, which is about 2.1 million. Since neither of those deals will go through, the spurs won't have the savings you spoke of and then won't be able to sign Kaman or Humphries or Ilyasova. Third, the celtics may be interested in Green, but they are interested in SIGNING him since he is a free agent, so he cannot be traded. So, green WILL NOT be traded for any picks since he is not under contract. I do agree with you on the Blair trade as I would hope the Spurs would at least think of pulling the trigger on a trade to get Kyle O'Quinn, Henry Sims or Bernard James. I'd imagine we will go into next year with Jackson still on the team WITHOUT a restructured deal. Lastly, it seems your branding European basketball as inferior just because of how Splitter played against the Thunder. I'm sure you haven't forgotten, but two of our three best players are European and helped lead The Spurs to three championships. I highly doubt we go into next season with the drastically different roster you've suggested. I don't think I'd want to trust a team full of rookies while trading current rotation players. That may be a better lineup for the future, but I don't think it would help the Spurs chances of winning a championship now before Duncan retires. But, I'm glad your thinking proactively and thinking of ways to try and make the spurs better.
Anderson may be traded after the Spurs signs him and traded later. It is not for Jackson to demand where he will go. It is for the Spurs to decide. As to a restructured salary, it is just a suggestion for the good of the team. Really, the salary is ridiculously high. The Spurs may decide to exercise to amnesty Jackson, if necessary. The salary scales givern are just illustrations, subject to adjustment. Well, if 3 Europeans helped the Spurs win championships, they must be very good compared to Splitter. As to the chances of the Spurs "contending" next season NOT winning, changes in the lineup NOW while the players have value is far better than waiting for another time. If Splitter and Jackson are traded, is it not advantageous to the Spurs? If the sole reason for players' movement so that TD wings another ring, change has to be NOW! You saw what happened against the Thunder? Is this not enough reason to change?
@rtesoro440 @Zedekiel In Splitter's defense he was supposed to get 25-30 minutes. He's young and the current system fits his style of play. They farted around with Blair getting tons of minutes again and what did that serve? Play the man so he can fully develop an NBA game.
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Every yr ridiculous trades and acquisitions are suggested. It's sad that there are not more intelligent NBA fans out there.
@rtesoro440 I definitely think some changes need to be made, but I don't think a complete overhaul is needed for a team 2 wins from the finals And yes it is for the spurs to decide where Jackson goes, but it would also be up to the team taking him. I just have a hard time believing the raptors would take on a player who would not want to be there and give up a top ten pick in return. And Anderson is probably not worth much on the trade market since he hasn't played much and didn't really perform while he was here. I am just skeptical that the spurs could trade splitter, bonner and Anderson (players who you called NPA's, and I agree with you two of them) and receive the number 2 pick in return. Bonner is nothing more than a 3 point shooter, splitter is a good rotation player and Anderson is an unknown really. The number 2 pick has a chance to be a star player, and why would the bobcats give that up for our three? Personally, I would rather hold onto a known playoff performer (Jackson) then trade him for some one who might turn out to be good. I agree with you that change has to happen, the amount of change is where we differ. Who knows, though. All of your suggested moves may even be the answer to a championship, I just believe you will be disappointed come draft night when most or all of these moves don't happen. I do appreciate our debate though!
