Analysis: The Spurs are one of the best-drafting teams in the league, so I’m wary of criticizing them. But sometimes a team can be too clever for its own good. Hill is a nice player, but I don’t believe he’s a better point guard than Mario Chalmers.
I do like Dragic at No. 42 as a guy who could eventually find his way here to play an important role on a team. Gist is a great athlete, but I’m not sure he’s got what it takes to stick.
PG Tony Parker, 6-0, France
PF Robertas Javtokas, 6-10, Lithuania
SF Brian Bracey, 6-7, Sr., Oregon
The Spurs aren’t a young team, and they ended up getting three players from this draft, two of them from Europe. At the point, Parker could be a solution fast. The last first-round pick, Parker needs to prove himself on the NBA level, but the Spurs are willing to take a look and will pay first-round money to see it. Javtokas actually played eight games for Arizona in 1999-00, and went to high school in Ohio and North Carolina, but he’s Lithuanian. Bracey isn’t foreign, but the final player drafted is a long shot to stay on this team. Three players, but maybe no impact this upcoming season.
The Spurs are world champions, and they landed two players from the other side of the world – dealing for Croatian guard Gordan Giricek and Italian guard Emanuel Ginobilli. We’ll admit we don’t know a whole lot about these guys because the boss won’t spring for scouting trips to Europe. [/b]
Picks: George Hill (No. 26); traded rights to Goran Dragic (No. 45) to Phoenix for rights to Malik Hairston (No. 48), a future second-round pick and cash considerations; James Gist (No. 57).
Grade: C+
San Antonio was likely blindsided after being caught trying to steal Nicolas Batum from the rest of the league, so much that they seem to have reached for George Hill, who they almost certainly could have had in the second round. Hill’s numbers are off the charts and he did play extremely well at the Orlando pre-draft camp, but learning how to play the point guard position is not going to be the easy for him.
In the second round the Spurs took Phoenix to the cleaners simply for the price of moving up three spots in the draft. They landed the better player in the deal (Malik Hairston), picked up a future second-round pick and even managed to swindle some cash out of the Suns in the process. A very nice transaction. Hairston has a great chance to make this team and may develop into a contributor down the road if he can improve his perimeter defense skills.
James Gist was someone that a number of teams had fairly high on their draft boards, but for some reason slipped all the way to the end of the second round. Nothing about his profile really jumps out at you, but he does have the athleticism to hang around for a little while.