Spurs Won't Deviate From Best Player Available NBA Draft Strategy
The San Antonio Spurs are set to make their first top 10 selection in the NBA Draft since going with Tim Duncan in 1997. However, they are set to make a lottery pick for the third consecutive draft.
There is a wide-range of possibilities for the Spurs based on reporting from NBA Draft insiders. Multiple had reported San Antonio's intention to prioritize a traditional big man while others emphasized their desire to trade up to select Keegan Murray.
On Wednesday, Spurs GM Brian Wright made it clear that going with the best player available is going to be the strategy the team deploys. Using such a philosophy ensures the long-term future is the focus.
"We're always going into the draft trying to find the best possible prospect for the long term of the organization," Spurs GM Brian Wright said during a pre-draft Zoom conference call.
The approach of taking the best player available is one that Wright explained as being appropriate and used the playoffs as a reference. The need for diverse skill-sets based on matchups that can chance from "series-to-series or game-to-game" make taking the best player available the preferred option.
"I think what you've seen throughout the league this year it's skills and how they complement each other," Wright said. "It's not just positions and size. Especially watching the playoffs. You see teams playing all guards, all wings, one big, it changes from series-to-series or game-to-game. So what we would hope to have is versatility."
Given one of the criticisms of the Spurs' roster is the lack of star talent, favoring the selection of players with the most star potential makes a lot of sense. Forcing the selection to address the need of a roster that doesn't have a championship ceiling is a naturally limiting outcome.
The increased reporting regarding the Spurs' willingness to discuss trades involving Dejounte Murray further reinforce the need to favor taking the best player available in the draft. Whether Murray was to be traded this offseason or at some point in the future, having a high upside player that can grow into shouldering a large role will have paid off significantly.
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