Who should the Spurs draft with their 2024 draft picks?
Who should the San Antonio Spurs draft in the first and second round with their draft picks?
Friday, I held a live mock draft on Bleacher Report in which I gave my input on who I thought the San Antonio Spurs should draft with the 4th pick, 8th pick, 35th pick, and 48th pick.
Here were my picks as of Friday 05/17/2024:
4th pick
Zaccharie Risacher (if available) - Right now there’s a good chance Risacher isn’t available at 4th, with his mock average being 3rd. If he is available however, I think the Spurs should draft Risacher with the 4th pick.
At 6’9”, Risacher would bring a skill set the Spurs currently need in outside shooting. He knows how to get open and with the amount of attention Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell draw in the starting group, he could be seeing more spot-up looks early on in his career. He has length and is still developing his defensive skill set at 19, but he has potential on that end, as I wrote in my scouting report a few weeks ago.
What if Risacher is selected before 4th?
Reed Sheppard - In the event Risacher is selected before 4th, I currently have Sheppard as the point guard the Spurs should select with the 4th pick. I’ve gone back and forth between Sheppard, Nikola Topic, and Rob Dillingham, and I think in the coming weeks before the draft, I may shift the order of the three point guards.
For now though, I’ve got Sheppard as the player the Spurs should draft. As I wrote in the scouting report of Sheppard, he has textbook form on his jump shot and he could try starting at the point early on to see how he would fit with the starters. The defense wouldn’t want to leave him open if he shoots like he did in college. If he still needed more time to learn to run the offense, the Spurs could continue to have Tre Jones start at the point and have Sheppard come off the bench. Defensively, Sheppard is a bit undersized at 6’3”, but he showed how he can make plays on the defensive end, especially staying active and jumping into passing lanes.
8th Pick
Dalton Knecht - This is in the event Risacher was drafted 1st to 3rd, and the Spurs took Sheppard, Topic, or Dillingham at 4th. From here, the Spurs would still need a wing who can shoot from outside, and though he’s a bit older at 23, I think Knecht would be a good pick with the 8th pick.
Similar to Risacher, Knecht will bring outside shooting to the team, and one area where he stands out in the shooting department, is his ability to navigate off-ball screens to get open for jumpers. With the Spurs’ motion offense, this could be a good advantage for Knecht to try to find open looks.
Plus, if he starts at the 3, he wouldn’t be tasked to do too much on offense starting alongside Wemby and Vassell. While he may not have the upside defensively as some of the other wings in this draft, he can still try to stay with his matchup and make the right rotations, knowing that he’ll have Wemby at the rim in the event his opponent gets by him.
35th pick in Second Round
Cam Christie - Christie is a 6’6” wing from Minnesota, who has a lot of length and is still young, with a lot of upside. His most ready-skill right now is outside shooting, but at 18, he could be a player the Spurs draft in the second round to develop on both ends of the court. The Spurs could try to sign him to a two-year, two-way contract and have him develop in Austin for the next two seasons, or they could use the second round pick exception to give him up to a four-year deal and use the same approach of giving him time to develop in Austin. Christie’s mock average right now is 36th.
48th pick in Second Round
Ryan Dunn - Dunn is a 6’8” forward from Virginia, who has NBA-ready size and makes plays both inside and outside on the defensive end. At 21, Dunn still needs to develop his jump shot, but he’s also the type of player the Spurs could sign to a two-year, two-way contract, or four-year contract using the second round pick exception, to see how much he can develop his game in the G-League first, before going to the NBA level. Dunn’s mock average is 40th, so he may be off the board before pick 48.
As I mentioned at the beginning, these are just my first initial picks I think the Spurs should make with their four picks. After we learn who the team interviews and works out in the coming weeks, I may change my mind on some of the prospects.
There’s also the chance the Spurs may not use all of these picks in the draft, in the event they include some of the picks in trades.
One thing to monitor with the second round picks is the Spurs currently have limited roster room. Unless they waive players with non-guaranteed contracts, the Spurs will have just one open roster spot if they make the picks at 4 and 8. They also have one open two-way roster spot unless they waive RaiQuan Gray or Jamaree Bouyea to open a two-way roster spot.
Leave a comment, who do you think the Spurs should draft with the 4th, 8th, 35th, and 48th pick?