Very Good Analysis of the Rockets and Spurs

http://www.draftexpress.com/blogs.php?blogid=12&aid=200704

Here's a very detailed analysis of the Rockets and Spurs. Probably one of the better ones I've ever read. Worth noting because it was written before the Scola trade. As for Jackie Butler, here's what DraftExpress has to say about him.

Butler, who never played a minute of college basketball and went undrafted is a talented big man with excellent hands and legit post moves, but struggles with conditioning issues and poor defensive fundamentals—two cardinal sins as far as Gregg Popovich is concerned. White played 5 years of college basketball on the other hand, but has always relied too much on his outstanding athleticism rather than developing a real feel for the game. He’s too unpredictable and inconsistent to get minutes in San Antonio’s rotation, but has a chance to provide help on the defensive end at the very least down the road if the light bulb ever comes on.

 

http://www.draftexpress.com/blogs.php?blogid=12&aid=200704

NBA Market Watch: Houston Rockets

by: Eric Weiss
April 27, 2007
The Rockets enjoyed a turnaround season at a time where the franchise was under critical scrutiny to perform up to expectations. Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming still haven’t spent significant time on the court together, so team chemistry is still a work in progress in terms of where this duo’s ceiling may be. But there was enough health and continuity this year to take many of the question marks away.

GM Carol Dawson’s swan-song season has culminated in yet another playoff berth, with a legitimate shot at advancing beyond the first or second round. Heir-apparent Daryl Morey has used sound business principles and solid performance analysis to put together the makings of a team that can seriously contend for a championship going forward.

The trade to acquire Shane Battier was as sound a basketball decision as there was during last season’s trade season. Although Rudy Gay performed exceptionally well during the latter half of this season, he was a gamble to even produce this year and is a few seasons away from contributing to winning basketball.

The development of Luther Head and the stabilization of Rafer Alston, as well as the softening of head coach Jeff Van Gundy, has helped Houston maximize their roster strength despite being relatively thin in a couple of areas in terms of high-end skill. Patience, continuity, and the chemistry it creates have played a vital role in the construct of this current unit, a tribute to quality team management.

The main concern going into this offseason for the franchise will surely involve finding some type of solid frontcourt talent to bolster an aging line. The team has some more options at the swing positions, but could pick up a quality talent there to mitigate some of the burden an oft-injured McGrady now carries.

Roster and Financial Breakdown:




(Salary Cap projections were created taking the average increase over the past 5 seasons)


Record/ Overview:

52-30, 3rd place Southwest Division, 5th seed Western Conference

The first area of interest with the Rockets has to be how effectively veterans Dikembe Mutombo and Juwan Howard held down the fort when Yao suffered a leg injury and was gone for nearly half the season. Both players have been major contributors to winning teams in the past, but they haven’t been called into a role like that for some time.

Mutombo is a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer, but at his age, it was highly unlikely that he’d be able to fill-in for Yao and keep this team on an even-keel. It certainly helped that McGrady found his team identity during this stretch, but there is no mistaking how much of a contribution both Mutombo and Howard made in facilitating that process.

Howard has played heavy minutes most of the season and his presence has been ideal for the Rockets system in terms of intelligence and execution. Howard doesn’t make many mistakes, and he’s completely comfortable in the half court sets that allow him to utilize his face-up game and find open spots.

The team’s three point shooting has also gone a long way toward solidifying the Rockets attack, as their offense is essentially funneled through the post and relies on the two-man game played between Ming and McGrady.

Battier, Head, and Alston have been timely and consistent with their perimeter shooting, which is what makes this unit functional. Giving McGrady freedom to create, and allowing the team to get into transition opportunistically has really gotten Alston on track specifically. Van Gundy’s willingness to adapt, even if just slightly, has given this team an edge this season.


Current Assets:

The team has a number of assets on its roster and will have to make some key personnel decisions going forward. The theory behind acquiring Bonzi Wells was a good one in terms of theoretical performance, but the team misjudged the personality variables in play and ultimately lost out on the opportunity to add a piece that could have really had this team talking title.

There is some young talent on this roster that has the ability to produce in areas of need. Chuck Hayes has established himself as the all-purpose clean-up forward, once again displaying the utility of hard-working “tweeners” who get overlooked because they fail to hit the performance metrics teams utilize most frequently.

Waiting in the wings for his turn is the #44 pick in last year’s draft, athletic Israeli SF/PF Lior Eliyahu. The Rockets watched with plenty of intrigue this season as he moved from a small team in Israel to one of the powerhouses of European basketball in Maccabi Tel Aviv and barely missed a beat. Although streaky, Eliyahu had a season that would have made him worthy of being a first round pick in this year’s draft, so Houston did a good job snatching him up in the middle of the second round last year in a substantially weaker draft. It’s questionable that he can play under Jeff Van Gundy right due to his poor defensive fundamentals and skinny frame, but he looks like a prospect very much worth keeping track of.

Although the Rockets have played with a very short rotation all season, there are some young players that certainly could provide meaningful minutes in the future.

Expiring Contracts:

The Rockets have a few contracts of value coming off the books after next season that they could use as trade currency during the regular season. Luther Head, Vassilis Spanoulis, Kirk Snyder, John Lucas III and Steve Novak all have options coming up that are controlled by the team.

Head is the only player amongst the five that is a current rotation player, and his developmental progress suggests that the club will retain him. Still, if the team feels that there are better options at Head’s position, he could be an attractive pick-up for another team who’s looking more toward the future than the present.

Spanoulis is an interesting case to consider due to his outstanding performance in the World Games and subsequent exile to the Houston bench. Spanoulis clearly has some shot-creating skills and decision making ability that are NBA caliber, but his defensive ability, 3-point shooting and physical attributes are somewhat below Van Gundy standards. It’s surprising that the team didn’t communicate on these points before signing Spanoulis, as this was clearly going to be an issue coming into camp.

Steve Novak would probably fall into this category as well. The 6’10 wing is an absolute dead-eye shooter and can do so in motion as well as simple set shooting. Novak could certainly help bolster the Houston offensive attack and serve as an apt replacement for any of the wings when it comes to maintaining effective perimeter accuracy. But Novak doesn’t have the natural physical gifts for defense and will most likely never excel as a one-on-one defender, which makes his fit in Houston very much questionable as long as Van Gundy is still in charge.

Lucas III also falls into the “defensively deficient” category because of his diminutive stature. But Lucas has really developed his game in terms of his own scoring and his ability to run a team. His and Novak’s performance in the Summer League and preseason showed that they are two players that can help someone, somewhere down the road.

Kirk Snyder is probably the biggest enigma of this group. In two parts of past seasons Snyder has shown streaks of quality play. The former 16th pick of the Jazz has moved around quite a bit in his three seasons in the NBA, so its not out of the realm of possibility that a bit of stability could help him harness his skill set an become at least a contributing player in the NBA. It’s on the mental side that he is the biggest question mark, though.

As it stands now, none of these players have a tremendous amount of market value beyond their expiring money, but each is a player that has some skill and could interest another club looking to unload a longer contract.

Total Cost: $6,900,000


Rotation Players:

There are only three “untouchable” players on the Rockets roster as far as projecting a core that the team would build around going forward. Yao, McGrady, and Shane Battier make up the foundation of the Houston attack because of their offensive/defensive prowess and overall basketball smarts.

Rafer Alston and Luther Head are most likely in a slightly lower tier than the aforementioned three, simply due to the relative ease at which either could be replaced compared with the others. When looking at the trade market of available players and the value that each of them represents in their own right, it is not difficult to project scenarios where either could be considered valuable to another club.

While it’s unlikely that either would be traded, if the Rockets felt that they wanted to make a solid push toward an upgrade there are some names on the trade market front that could be worth the exchange. Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups are the two most prominent names on the list, though Houston may not have the requisite assets to exchange for contracts of that volume.

However, the Rockets could look into sign-and-trade options for a player of Mike Bibby’s caliber. Bibby’s stock is down after a rather apathetic performance this season. But Bibby is still relatively young and one could easily assume that his drop in production was a byproduct of a certain staleness that’s associated with being on a team for too long and simply needing and change of scenery. Sacramento will be looking to reshuffle their cards this year and a player with Bibby’s experience and outside shooting touch would be a welcome addition, especially considering the scoring burden he’d help alleviate.

Juwan Howard has been an extremely solid contributor for Houston this season, but he’s more efficient than productive these days and his contract value could make him a key chip in processing any type of major trade for the Rockets. The team is going to have to address their frontcourt needs regardless, whether it’s via trade, mid-level signing, or through the draft. Howard is certainly a player the franchise would prefer to retain because of his experience and the chemistry he has with the team, but he certainly provides a possible option.

Total Cost: $50,800,000


Prospects:

The five key prospects the Rockets posses also happen to be the five players the team has coming off the books after next season. Chuck Hayes is already an unrestricted free agent, but Houston will probably value his services enough to retain him if the price is right.

Of the previously mentioned prospects, Steve Novak is probably the most noteworthy. Novak is more than just a set shooter and with experience he should be able to develop into a very nice scoring option for some team down the line. His ability to move off of screens as well as shot-fake, dribble, an pull-up with accuracy make him substantially more versatile offensively than a player that requires set-up time to fire effectively.

Novak is extremely long and tall, with a quick release. He’s not quite as fluid as Kyle Korver, but he certainly has the ability to score at that level and projects to be more consistent with his shots and smarter with his shot selection based off of what we’ve seen in college, private workouts, the pre-draft camps, and summer league.

As it stands now, there is probably no market for Novak because he’s not had the opportunity to put his skills into play. However, there are a dozen teams in the NBA that could use a perimeter threat with the deadly accuracy of Novak-a skill that rivals Jason Kapono or any other sharp-shooter in the league.

Total Cost: $6,900,000


Free Agency:

The Rockets won’t have any real free agent money beyond the mid-level exception, but the quality of the team and its proximity to title contention should help Houston sell itself to prospective free agents. If a player such as Bonzi Wells can be convinced of the value that playing in Houston represents, there are certainly others.

One particular player that should certainly be on the Rockets radar screen is Antonio McDyess. McDyess has a player option for this upcoming season, but the Pistons are going to be in somewhat of a personnel evaluation mode themselves, and have a veritable glut of frontcourt players vying for playing time.

McDyess can’t be considered young at 33, but he’s younger than Howard and is used to playing a supporting role. If Howard is put into play to acquire another player, Mcdyess could be an attractive option.

Both Gerald Wallace and Darko Milicic are attractive options from a skill and positional standpoint, though both have some mitigating variables that should help depress their value to some extent. Both Charlotte and Orlando have needs that Houston could address with some of its current trade assets.

In Orlando’s case, Novak’s outside shooting and Howard’s veteran stability could be an attractive alternative to losing Milicic outright if his asking price is too high. Houston won’t get a better talent at their draft slot, so enticing the Magic with a pick, a veteran, and a prospect could be enough to get it done.

Gerald Wallace is in the mold of Bonzi Wells as he is a powerful small forward who can fill in as a power forward on occasion. Wallace seems set to leave the Bobcats, so compensation in a sign-and-trade may be substantially less than a pure trade.

NBA Draft:

There are a number of prospects that could be intriguing to Houston available around pick 26. Though most of the elite big men should be off the board, Josh McRoberts, Nick Fazekas, and Jason Smith could all be available. Each has latent ability to play the high-post opposite Yao Ming and all are solid offensive players that could help ease the pressure on Yao and McGrady.

Of the three, McRoberts would be a huge coup for the Rockets if he slipped that far. McRoberts had a forgettable season at Duke, but he is extremely talented and seems to care about winning, if not always scoring himself. A playmaker out of the high post with great athleticism would really add an infusion of youth and explosiveness to the Rockets frontcourt, something they tried to do when they acquired Stromile Swift a couple of seasons ago.

Getting a feel for where McRoberts’ head is at and measuring how he fits in with the current Rockets personnel and coaching staff would go a long way toward determining his value at this selection.

If the swing positions are what the Rockets value most, there should be few good options available here as well. Aaron Afflalo, Brandon Rush and Morris Almond all have the perimeter shooting that Houston covets. Rush and Afflalo’s defensive ability are superior to Almond’s, but Almond should have enough raw physical gifts to live up to Van Gundy’s standard for earning PT.

Some of the higher-end possible sliders include Marcus Williams, Javaris Crittenton, and Thadeus Young. These three players all posses lottery-level potential, but haven’t necessarily exhibited the type of prudent decision making in terms of gauging their current level of ability against the talent pool they’re competing against for selection. It is feasible to consider that these players purposely came out with the intention of going later in the first round with the intent of landing on a playoff team with solid foundations that they could learn from.

In the case of Young especially, considering his intelligence and overall physical attributes, it may be best for him to improve his perimeter shooting and ball-handling by sitting behind more seasoned professionals. Young is built in the mold of Wells in that he is extremely physical and to an extent is a “tweener” forward with the developmental potential to be a power 3 in the NBA, using post up skills to complement his face up game.

Feedback for this article may be sent to eric.weiss@gmail.com

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NBA Market Watch: San Antonio Spurs

by: Eric Weiss
April 26, 2007
The San Antonio Spurs powered through their early season struggles and came on strong to finish out the season, putting a tremendous amount of pressure on Phoenix in an attempt to wrest away the second seed in the Western Conference.

The Spurs boast perhaps the best roster continuity of any team in the NBA, with stalwarts Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, and Bowen being a fixture in the San Antonio lineup for the past 5 seasons. The continuity and chemistry this team has should serve as an example of what is best in basketball, as the team has successfully implemented a series of well-seasoned veteran role players over the years to bolster the strength of the team’s main core.

While the Spurs remain one of the favorites to win the title this season, there is little doubt that the team is reaching a point where an infusion of new talent is needed. The Spurs can extend out their championship competitive years by making some moves in the next two off seasons by drafting well and spending wisely, something they’ve been historically prudent at doing in the past.

With close to 8.5 million in projected cap space coming up in ’08 and only the “Big three” under contract out of the significant rotation players, the face of the Spurs franchise is sure to change to some degree. How those changes transpire will determine whether Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker enjoy the latter years of their partnership playing at the level they’ve grown accustom to.

Roster and Financial Breakdown:




(Salary Cap projections were created taking the average increase over the past 5 seasons)


Record/ Overview:

58-24, 2nd place Southwest Division, 3rd seed Western Conference

The Spurs run virtually everything they do through Tim Duncan. Duncan anchors the defensive interior, which allows Parker and Ginobili to be more liberal with their perimeter decision making. On the offensive end of the court, Duncan’s ability to operate out of the high and low post enables San Antonio to cycle in different looks off the bench. Duncan’s playmaking also alleviates a substantial burden from Tony Parker’s shoulders, allowing him to focus more on scoring the ball by taking advantage of off-ball movement and the defensive imbalances created by Duncan’s presence on the interior.

Parker isn’t as pure a playmaker as some of his title-contending counterparts, but his ability to impact the opponent’s defensive sets by dribble-penetration is as good as there is in the league. Parker has never been a consistent perimeter threat, but he made substantial strides in that area this season, and his ability to hit the open shot coupled with the defensive attention Duncan draws allows him to create opportunities in the lane for himself and others.

Manu Ginobili has also continued to increase his perimeter effectiveness, raising his 3 point accuracy to all time highs, while significantly increasing the volume of those shots overall. He plays off of the other two stars so well, moving around the court and providing himself as a secondary option off of the action of that’s created in the offensive movement.

Outside these main three players, though, production has been done in a piecemeal fashion. Swing men Michael Finley and Brent Barry combined for solid production, as did centers Fabricio Oberto and Francisco Elson. But these positions are rife with age and a decreasing level of execution that will have to be addressed soon enough. Bruce Bowen would probably fall into this category as well, as his defensive footwork and ability to cover his assignment will soon be reaching its critical mass.

All of these support players are successful veterans who have a history of winning basketball, so it isn’t surprising that they’ve come together and are prepared to push into the playoffs with strength. But, this Spurs team is going to need to make some tough decisions in the immediate future, because the core of the team is reaching an age where it’s critical to pass on their knowledge while they still have the physical ability to execute it.

Current Assets:

As rich as the Spurs are in experience and execution, the team is extremely asset-poor when it comes to young talent or solid veterans with quality market value that could be used to acquire younger, more talented replacements. Re-constituting the Spurs roster is going to be a process of drafting and smart free agent expenditure.

The two players that might qualify here are 22 year old Jackie Butler and 24 year old James White, who have both been glued to the IR for most of the season. Butler, who never played a minute of college basketball and went undrafted is a talented big man with excellent hands and legit post moves, but struggles with conditioning issues and poor defensive fundamentals—two cardinal sins as far as Gregg Popovich is concerned. White played 5 years of college basketball on the other hand, but has always relied too much on his outstanding athleticism rather than developing a real feel for the game. He’s too unpredictable and inconsistent to get minutes in San Antonio’s rotation, but has a chance to provide help on the defensive end at the very least down the road if the light bulb ever comes on.

2005 late 1st round draft pick Ian Mahinmi continues to be stashed in France, this year joining a Euroleague team in Pau Orthez that didn’t seem to be as committed to developing him as the Spurs may have hoped. Mahinmi wasn’t ready for the Euroleague level, averaging under 4 points and 3 rebounds in 11 minutes per game. Still, Mahinmi shows flashes of great potential at times, excellent athletic ability and a real nose for the ball. With that said, his skinny frame is still slowly filling out, and it’s quite clear that another year in Europe is in order for the French/African prospect, preferably on a smaller team.

The team does have a sizable chunk of expiring contracts to negotiate with, but the players available are more attractive for their potential cap relief than for any expected in-game contribution they’d provide at this point in their careers.

Expiring Contracts-

The one thing the Spurs are rich in is expiring deals. If the team is looking to make any type of substantial upgrade to its roster next season, they could feasibly look into moving some of these deals in exchange for a younger player who could possibly fill a more long-term role.

The team has over 22 million coming off the books in ‘08/’09, with the fortune of having six contracts with values all ranging below 5.5 million, (Brent Barry.) These smaller, manageable contracts should be much easier to move if the team is so inclined because they cover a much wider range of salaries in return. The ability to mix-and-match these salaries should enable them to have a voice in any talks with teams who are looking to rid themselves of a player that may have more years on an unfavorable deal.

The key to remember in this situation of course is the word “unfavorable”. Even though the Spurs have the lose contracts to consummate a deal, the field of available talent may be limited in terms of acquisitions the team would actually desire to obtain. There are a few lower priced acquisitions that could bear fruit however, such as Charlotte’s Primo Brezec and Walter Herrmann. The Spurs already established a working connection with the Bobcats via the Melvin Ely deal, and Charlotte could certainly use some players with playoff experience to help mold their young core.

Brezec has skill and a solid resume of effective play out of the pivot and would instantly become Duncan’s best frontcourt mate since David Robinson retired. Herrmann turned in a solid showing toward the end of the season after being released from bench obscurity and was an impact European player only a few years prior before a tragic family accident robbed him of his fire. His ability to hit the NBA three-ball would certainly fit into the Spurs system and he has a level a familiarity with both Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, both Argentinean National Team teammates. The major question mark here is whether the Bobcats would be interested in trading him, though.

On the higher end of the spectrum, there are other options to consider. The Seattle Supersonics team is rich in frontcourt talent, albeit inexperienced and unproven in the types of pressure situations the Spurs look to thrive in. But the Spurs have unsuccessfully attempted to couple Tim Duncan up with a productive frontcourt teammate for years, and the team itself is in desperate need of some developmental talent with a future to couple with Tony Parker.

There is an array of possibilities that the Spurs can look into, but any trade of substance is going to require value in return. San Antonio will have to look long and hard at the value of each player they choose to analyze and determine if it is worth relinquishing draft picks for these players. Once the Spurs look past the peripheral roster players and undesirables around the league, their market currency really begins to run thin.

Regardless of what avenues San Antonio decides to explore, there is no questioning that father time is catching up to a number of their key contributors. Brent Barry and Bruce Bowen are both 36 years old, while Michael Finley will be 35 next season. These three players log the most minutes of any of the Spurs outside the team’s top three.

In the frontcourt, sage veteran Robert Horry is closer to being a key bench coach than a key player off the bench at age 38. Younger contributors like Francisco Elson and Melvin Ely have limited upside, which the team is well-aware of. These are players that can round out a roster and give key minutes as specialists, but outside of Ely, none have shown any evidence of ever being able to take their games up to a level that will be necessary to complement Tim Duncan as he advances past his prime and needs more support.

Total Cost: $22,300,000


Rotation Players-

All but three of the team’s rotation players expire after next season, though Michael Finley and Fabricio Oberto both have player options that they’re expected to pick up. This is an ideal situation for the Spurs based off the age and production level of most of these core players in terms of freeing up money quickly to pursue more potent replacements.

As mentioned in the above section, none of these players has a tremendous amount of market value beyond Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker. If the team feels that it can adequately re-constitute the roster around these three, there is little likelihood that any will be available on the open market any time soon. If any of those three were to be made available, it would most certainly be Ginobili, a big game performer whose penchant for the spectacular might outweigh his actual nightly contributions.

Still, Ginobili isn’t likely to be moved or improved upon via trade when considering the level of familiarity he enjoys with the San Antonio system and is probably there to stay for the long hall. If the team is committed to these core three going forward, it is unlikely that either Finley or Oberto bring anything of value in return on their own.

Total Cost: $58,200,000


Prospects:

When James White, Jackie Butler and Beno Udrih comprise the bulk of the team’s youthful talent, there are clearly issues going forward. The Spurs haven’t positioned themselves well to develop home-grown talent over the past few years. The one critical exception would be Tau Ceramica star Luis Scola, who has driven his team into the Euroleague finals, is still only 26, and has proven over and over that he could step into the Spurs lineup next season and play a significant role. The only question is whether the Spurs are willing to pawn up the type of money it will take to bring him over.

Scola is a power forward all the way, so the team would have to commit to moving Duncan to the pivot on more of a full time basis, something that is bound to happen eventually as Duncan’s footspeed decreases. Bringing Scola over would also put three Argentinean nationals on the team, which could help ease the transition and synthesize chemistry above and beyond what would be expected from an incoming player.

As a trade chip, a player of Scola’s stature could fetch a nice return depending on what the Spurs asking price would be and how closely the other team scouts international talent. A player like Scola would be an ideal pickup for a younger team looking to acquire veteran-level experience while still maintaining room for future growth. Teams like the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics may be interested in gaining the frontcourt experience and post savvy of Scola in exchange for some of the excess youth that they posses. Don’t be surprised to see the Spurs dangle their first-round pick combined with Scola’s rights to see how far they can move up in the draft this June.

Total Cost: $2,100,000


Free Agency

The Spurs’ best chance at adding a player of impact may rest in their reputation and ability to draw in high level veteran free agents with the lure of championship contention. This approach could yield a positive return in the form of a quality mid-level acquisition, but any mid-level player of stature is going to be on the other side of 30 years old in all likelihood, so long-term viability may be lacking.

However, the Spurs could get creative with their assets and orchestrate a sign-and-trade for a higher level player by combining some of their loose salaries in conjunction with the rights to Scola or Mahinmi together with a couple of draft picks thrown in. A team like Charlotte may entertain a sign-and-trade for Gerald Wallace, for instance, in exchange for veteran stabilizers who could teach the other young Bobcats how to win. Wallace is set to walk right now, but may give pause to entertain a trade that puts him on a team such as the Spurs. Charlotte is significantly below the salary cap, so taking an extra year worth of contract money may be acceptable if sweetened by draft picks.

This line of thought is purely theoretic, but represents a mindset this team will have to take if they hope to aggressively approach this offseason.

NBA Draft:

The sheer depth of this years draft bodes well for the Spurs chances of adding a player who can grow into a prominent role in the future. The Spurs have three picks overall, #28, #33, and #58. San Antonio’s early second round pick was acquired shrewdly from Milwaukee, in exchange for a late 2nd round pick in last year’s much weaker draft.

San Antonio’s scouting department is known throughout the league as one of the most thorough around, and it got even deeper this past year when they decided to add former head and assistant college coach George Felton as their Director Of College Player Personnel. Felton will team up with the highly respected R.C. Buford, Dell Demps, and Sam Presti.

The Spurs could look to address the wing position with their first round pick by taking collegiate All-American Alando Tucker. Tucker may be an excellent replacement for Michael Finley, another Badger alum who was underrated coming out of college after finishing off his final college season with less success than anticipated.

Tucker’s jumper is still somewhat suspect, but it’s hard to question his intensity or relentless approach to the game. Coming out of a defensively oriented program like Wisconsin could help Tucker to fit right into The Spurs defensive structure.

Fresno State’s Dominic McGuire is also in this category, though his resume isn’t as long as Tucker’s. McGuire is a very intriguing talent because of his positional versatility and two-way skills. McGuire’s perimeter shooting isn’t fully developed and he may suffer from the new workout schedule which could limit his opportunities to display his range of abilities, but he’s a talent worth watching.

Brandon Rush is a player the Spurs will have to look at, as he has excellent length, athleticism, and the type of defensive and perimeter shooting ability the team will need to replace once Bruce Bowen decides to hang them up.

There are a number of other intriguing wing players who could be available to San Antonio in their draft range, including Derrick Byars, Arron Afflalo, Morris Almond and perhaps even Marcus Williams. Herbert Hill possesses a skill level in the post that’s potentially superior to any of the Spurs current frontcourt players not named Duncan, so he may be an intriguing selection in the early stages of the second round as well.

All in all, this is a good draft to be looking for a wing player in the late first round, so San Antonio should have a few intriguing options to choose from.

Feedback for this article may be sent to eric.weiss@gmail.com

 

Ya, that is why I posted it. We have filled our holes nicely. Dealt Juwan Howard away and taken Scola away from the Spurs. Brought Steve Francis on board. On top of that, after this year, we will have 5 expiring contracts. Not thinking after reading this that Butler will do much of anything. Very nicely done overall though