With three picks in the 2019 NBA Draft and a strong guard core, the San Antonio Spurs have a chance to fill out the rest of their roster. Here are three players they could possibly target with their first selection, the 19th pick.
Year One of the DeMar DeRozan Era in San Antonio saw the Spurs immediately stumble out of the gate due to an unfortunate injury bug inflicted on All-Defensive guard Dejounte Murray (torn ACL, out for the year) and rookie guard Lonnie Walker IV (torn meniscus, out for a few months), making it even tougher for the team’s newest additions to acclimate to the offensive and defensive system.
Although the Spurs extended their streak of playoff appearances to 22 years (!) in a row after landing in the seventh seed with 48 wings, it never felt like they were truly the Spurs of old, a team whose disciplined offense and defense could wear down opposing teams and threaten peace in the Western Conference, with coach Gregg Popovich capable of coaching his experienced roster deep into the spring months and into the early summer. Those Spurs weren’t here this year.
Perhaps it was the new team, led by DeMar DeRozan’s fetishization of the mid-range, mid-post jumper and total allergic reaction to taking shots from beyond the arc, which, when combined with the mid-range adoration of LaMarcus Aldridge and a host of other Spurs, led the team to sporting the highest share of points scored on mid-range field goals (19.3 percent) and the least three-pointers attempted per game (25.3), nearly 20 short of the league-leading Houston Rockets.
Perhaps it was the culture change that saw offensive specialists (if we’re being generous) infused into the lineup, giving the Spurs a heightened emphasis on scoring than ever before, with San Antonio routinely having to work harder to outscore their opponents (112.2 ORTG, sixth) due to how subpar a once-stout Popovichian defense became (110.5 DRTG, 20th).
Perhaps it was the fact that both Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard, two long-tenured Spurs and the team’s two best perimeter defenders and potent scorers (in their own right), were shipped off to Toronto without getting premier assets in return besides the aforementioned DeRozan, a fine backup center in Jakob Poeltl, and what is now the 29th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. No OG Anunoby, no Pascal Siakam, no one with enough tangible upside to turn into a true difference-maker on both ends of the court.
How unfortunate.
Things aren’t so bleak, though. Although the team is rather uninspiring and bland, second-year point guard Derrick White (9.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.9 APG) burst onto the scene as a savvy pick-and-roll navigator and scrappy on-ball menace, posting some of the best advanced stats (2.0 D-PIPM, first among guards; 1.46 DRPM, 79th out of 514 players) among guards on the defensive end.
Once healthy, Walker showed some flashes of functional athleticism in limited minutes, and Bryn Forbes evolved into a viable rotation player thanks to his elite shooting (.456/.426/.885) from the perimeter and efficiency at the line. Davis Bertans contributed in a similar fashion, improving his efficiency from beyond the arc (42.9 3P%) and free throw line (88.3 FT%) tremendously while playing respectable defense as well. And, lest we forget, Murray is set to return to the fold, combining with White to make for one of the stingiest defensive backcourts in the league if his health holds up.
Heading into the offseason, the Spurs could use an infusion of youth into the rotation — the ousting of 38-year-old Pau Gasol helped, but the wing and frontcourt is largely made up of older, slower players who pose as significant weaknesses on the defensive end. Finding younger options at the ‘3’ spot and either frontcourt spot would be ideal with San Antonio’s three draft picks — their own at No. 19, Toronto’s at No. 29, and their own second-rounder at No. 49.
Three selections grant them three chances to fill out the margins of the rotation, which may be even more important depending on what happens to Rudy Gay, Dante Cunningham, and Quincy Pondexter, three forwards that spent a notable amount of time manning the forward spots for San Antonio. Getting talented players at those positions in the 2019 NBA Draft is preferable for the Spurs, who aren’t projected to have any real means of improving the roster through the free agent market due to a lack of cap space. The draft is their best bet to improve the roster, for both the short-term and long-term, depending on how well their (historically acute) scouting department pinpoints prospects of significant worth to the franchise.
With that said, here’s three players that the San Antonio Spurs could target with the 19th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft.