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Spurs Mock Draft: Brandon Miller vs. Amen Thompson?
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The San Antonio Spurs will find out their fate for the draft at the lottery in just under two weeks' time.
The Spurs will have their decision made for them if they pick No. 1 (Victor Wembanyama) or No. 2 (Scoot Henderson), but the team who picks No. 3 will actually begin the draft.
Alabama forward Brandon Miller, the best prospect in the NCAA this past season, is projected to be the No. 3 overall pick, but Yardbarker doesn't necessarily believe that to be true. In its latest mock draft, the Spurs pass on Miller and take Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson instead.
"Amen Thompson over Brandon Miller might seem like a bit of a surprise, given that Miller appears to be in the mix for the No. 2 pick, but Amen has just as high of a ceiling as Miller and seems like a San Antonio Spurs kind of player," Yardbarker writes. "Amen, whose brother Ausar will also be selected in the early lottery, is a 6-foot-7 point guard who will enter the NBA as one of the best athletes in the league. Although he took an unconventional route to the league through the Overtime Elite program and didn't face the level of competition some of the other top prospects did, it doesn't take much to envision him being a special rim-attacker in the NBA. Add in his playmaking ability and the Spurs could have a foundational piece for the next decade."
There has been speculation that the Spurs wouldn't take Miller due to his connection to the murder of 23-year-old Jamea Harris where he allegedly supplied the gun that his teammate Darius Miles used to shoot her. The Spurs could also decide that they would simply prefer to have a point guard with Tre Jones entering unrestricted free agency and power forward Keldon Johnson starting his four-year extension.
However, the Spurs should simply be looking for talent rather than fit, because if they draft a player as high as No. 3, he instantly becomes the player with the highest ceiling in San Antonio and the team should look to build around him.
You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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