2019 NBA Draft: Top 3 players for San Antonio Spurs to select with 29th pick
By Trevor Marks
1. Jontay Porter, 6-11 center – Missouri
Of all players in the 2019 NBA Draft, no other has a range of outcomes as wide and as uncertain as the oft-injured Jontay Porter, the 6-11 center out of Missouri who re-tore his ACL after resuming physical/basketball activities long before he was ready. He wasn’t a great athlete by any means previously, and a major injury and re-injury could potentially doom his prospects as a professional basketball player. Yet, his talent should be enough to gamble on, especially for an organization with multiple draft picks and a strong developmental culture and training staff employed.
In his lone season at Missouri (2017-18), Porter averaged 16.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.7 blocks per 40 minutes on an impressive 43.7-36.4-75 shooting split. The 19-year-old big man is incredibly skilled at his age (he doesn’t turn 20 until mid-November), with preternatural IQ on both offense and defense, with such a potent package of on-ball and off-ball skill that combine to make him an ideal modern-day center in the NBA.
He’s a gifted shooter with great touch, a great passer and ball-handler at his position with the ability to hit players out of the post and short-roll, has some physical upside (entered college doughy, and apparently has lost both weight and fat between the 2018 and 2019 Draft Combines), and is a solid defender because of acute awareness as a team defender. He is truly a tantalizing prospect that so many teams could use at the center position.
His unselfishness and ability to do whatever is asked for the sake of the team is special and rare for a player of his size and age, and his fundamentally-sound game, polished skillset, and lack of exciting athleticism are all what make him an ideal draftee for the San Antonio Spurs. Outside of Tennessee’s Grant Williams, who was discussed previously with the 19th pick, Porter is another quintessential Spur, possessing mental and stylistic elements that Gregg Popovich has grown to love in his many years as a championship-winning head coach.
Next. Who should the Spurs draft with the 19th pick?. dark
Jontay Porter is a risky pick anywhere in the first round, but considering that he’d be a top-10 pick if healthy, his upside is simply too high to pass up on for an organization with picks to spare and the exact organizational assets required to nurse a player back to health.
The Spursiest thing that Popovich and R.C. Buford can do with the 29th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft is select Jontay Porter — not only is it extremely “on brand,” but it’s simply the right call to make, too.