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 final selection, the 49th pick.
A first-round exit at the hands of the Denver Nuggets sent the San Antonio Spurs packing early in the postseason, giving them a chance to get a head-start on the final pre-NBA draft preparations as June 20 inches ever so closer. Already, the draft is merely three weeks away, and it’s arguably the largest part of the Spurs’ offseason without significant cap space and a majority of the team’s rotation players returning.
With the a young backcourt corps of Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV and Bryn Forbes confidently pieced together, and a few longterm role players performing well in the front-court (Davis Bertans, Jakob Poeltl), the Spurs have a decent base of young talent moving forward, but are still largely built around the offensive production of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, two players are deep into their careers with play styles that aren’t necessarily fit for the modern NBA.
With three picks in the 2019 NBA Draft — their own first-rounder (19), the Raptors’ first-rounder (29), and their own second-rounder (49) — the Spurs have three shots at adding youth to the franchise, whether it’s in the form of rookies that will be signed right away or international prospects that will be stashed for the foreseeable future.
Mentioned time and time again every draft cycle, the front office duo of Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford have built up quite the rotation as draft gurus, consistently proving to be far more adept at scouting and pinpointing talent late in the draft and finding prospects who are capable of contributing in the NBA for several years. Their ability to find valuable players late in the first round is well known, as is their ability to find gems late in the second round: DeJuan Blair (2009), Goran Dragic (2008), Luis Scola (2002), and Manu Ginóbili (1999) are the best examples of this, and they’ll look to showcase their prowess as astute executives this summer as well.
The 49th pick in a subpar draft would seem daunting for some franchises, but it’s arguable that this particular organization is as calm as can be and well-equipped to find talent, especially on the international landscape.
With this last pick, we’ll look at three international prospects who could be available at this spot on draft night. The Spurs love to draft international players to either groom for a year or two or simply stow away longterm, so using one of their three picks on a stash candidate is likely, and given their deft scouting department, it’s likely that they’ll find someone enticing enough to use a pick on.
With that said, who all could the San Antonio Spurs target with the 49th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft?