San Antonio Spurs: Top 5 2021 second-round draft targets

The San Antonio Spurs can add a talented player in the second round

The San Antonio Spurs will have a serious opportunity in the first round of the upcoming draft to pick a player with significant star potential. In fact, the 2021 draft is said to be so chock-full of talent that the Spurs may even have a good selection of players to choose from well into the second round.

As the season has gone on, it has become evident that the Spurs have several potential areas for improvement they can begin to address in the draft. While the Spurs’ recent games against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons have shown flashes of the team’s potential, general consistency remains a big issue, and the Spurs’ schedule is not getting any easier.

While the Spurs’ shooting troubles could conceivably be improved with the continued development of the young core or the addition of some veteran sharpshooters in the near future, this is a bad problem to have in combination with the Spurs’ lackluster defense and rebounding.

The 2021 draft will also surely be a place where the Spurs can find some help in these areas. It is looking increasingly likely that players who would normally project as first-round picks will fall to the second round. The San Antonio Spurs will need to take advantage of this, especially if they land in the lottery.

In the second round of the draft, I will still be looking for players that are well-balanced on offense and defense with the potential to improve in one or both areas, much like in the first round. With that in mind, I think the Spurs can afford to take a risk on players with more offensive upside, given the possible departure of DeMar DeRozan in the near future, especially if they are good 3-point shooters.

That said, I am still looking for players that could help grab more rebounds and/or have playmaking upside, and who can at least hold their own on the defensive end. The following five players should be drawing attention from the San Antonio Spurs front office.

Next: No. 5

San Antonio Spurs Draft Prospect No. 5: Greg Brown (Texas)

If you can imagine a young Jerami Grant with the mentality of a bull in a china shop, you already have a decent snapshot of the kind of player Greg Brown is right now. The number nine player on ESPN’s top 100 recruits of 2020 had a mixed bag of a season but was still able to display his potential for NBA teams ahead of the draft.

Brown is a 6’9″ power forward that was the most highly-recruited player on the team, for good reason. He was far and away the most athletic player on Texas’ roster this past season, showing his ability to block shots on the defensive end and put defenders on a poster on offense. The all-around effort that Brown gave on a daily basis made him very deserving of the ‘hype man’ role on a very good Texas Longhorns team.

Brown was originally a potential one-and-done prospect that very well could have gone in the first round, if not in the lottery, but Kai Jones debatably took a lot of the spotlight with his performance this past season despite a disappointing loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Still, Brown has been progressively been moving lower and lower on draft boards. While it’s well within the realm of possibility that a team takes a risk on him in the mid-to-late first round, the consensus about Brown seems to be that he’s two years away, from being two years away, from being a quality NBA player.

If you watched the Longhorns play this season and thought that Kai Jones was raw, then you probably know that Greg Brown is very raw in more ways than one. While Brown is very aggressive on both sides of the ball, that aggressiveness led to him being particularly foul prone, averaging 3 personal fouls per game (the highest on the team) despite being only 6th highest on the team in minutes played per game. While he was able to gradually increase his 3-point percentage to 33 percent and free-throw percentage to 70 percent by the end of the season, overall he was very susceptible to hot and cold streaks

I think that Brown could at least provide some good rim-running in transition, as well as rim protection and rebounding, especially if he learns to use his aggressiveness to his advantage in the league much like how Keldon Johnson does. To reach his full potential though, he will need to improve his shot, become a much better decision-maker on both sides of the court, and learn when to take risks and when to play it safe on the defensive end.

In the end, I see Greg Brown similarly to how I saw Lonnie Walker when he came into the league in that he has most of the tools needed to succeed, but that he needs to put them all together. I think he’s much farther away from that success than Lonnie was, to the point that I would only take him near the middle of the second round if he’s still available.

Next: Player #4

San Antonio Spurs Draft Prospect #4: Ibou Dianko Badji (F.C. Barcelona)

They always say never to fall in love with a player because of their measurables, but here I am doing precisely that. Part of me cannot believe that some mock drafts have Ibou Dianko Badji going completely undrafted, but part of me can also understand the reasoning behind that.

The 7’1″ big man from Senegal currently plays for F.C. Barcelona, last weighing in at about 240 lbs with an approximate 7’8″ wingspan, giving him very similar measurements to Rudy Gobert. At the time of me writing my way-too-early list of Spurs draft prospects this past January, Badji had only just made his debut with Barcelona’s first team, as he had played most of his minutes at that point with their B Team in the LEB Plata.

Since then, not much has changed. Badji has only played a total of six games with Barcelona’s first team (three in the Euroleague and three in the ACB) as opposed to 20 total games with their B Team. In those 20 games with F.C. Barcelona II, Badji has averaged 6.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in about 18 minutes per game.

That level of production is almost definitely not sufficient to warrant a first-round pick, and because he’s seen such average to subpar usage even with Barcelona’s second team, it may not even warrant a second-round pick for many front offices, especially in such a talented draft class.

Much like with Kai Jones, who is featured in my top 5 list of first-round draft prospects for the Spurs, the 18-year-old Badji has only played organized basketball for a few years. With that in mind, he likely still has a lot of room to grow in the near future, especially with his fundamentals. I think the best example of his future potential came in his participation in the FIBA U18 African Championship Tournament several months ago, where he averaged 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game and led Senegal to a second-place finish.

In terms of how he would benefit the Spurs, Badji is incredibly mobile for his size and has very good defensive and rebounding instincts despite his inexperience. While he’s currently only shooting 48 percent from the free-throw line and 20 percent from beyond the arc, his shot mechanics are quite smooth other than a tendency to lean back and swing his feet forward in his jump shot.

He has a very ready NBA body for his age and at the very least could serve as a decent rim-runner on offense and solid defensive presence in the paint on defense. All things considered though, his potential on both sides of the floor is incredibly high and well worth a gamble in the second round.

Next: Player #3

San Antonio Spurs Draft Prospect #3: Neemias Queta (Utah State)

While players like Greg Brown and Ibou Badji would definitely be a bit of a gamble to spend a pick on, Neemias Queta would be a very safe option for the Spurs in the second round if he’s still available. This defensive-minded big man out of Utah State would make a great complementary piece to Jakob Poeltl coming off the bench and still may have some untapped potential.

The 21-year-old is now coming off his third (and best) season with the Aggies. In those three seasons, he won Mountain West Conference Rookie of the Year, 3x All-MWC, and 2x MWC Defensive Player of the Year. He stuffed the stat sheets this past season, recording 14.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, 2.7 assists, and just over one steal per game. There isn’t much to dislike about Queta’s game.

In Spurs terms, think about a traditional center that is an instinctual shot-blocker like Jakob Poeltl with the verticality of Drew Eubanks, and you more or less have Neemias Queta. He was without a doubt the best player on the Utah State roster this past season and led them to a second-place finish in the Mountain West Conference.

While Queta’s ceiling will mostly hinge on whether or not he can develop some kind of a jump shot, his high floor is what should attract attention to him, especially if he falls to the second round. He will be a big help to the Spurs bench unit that is in desperate need of a quality rebounder and defensive anchor in the paint.

Even though Drew Eubanks has stepped up in a big way taking on this role, Queta’s playmaking upside is what differentiates him from both Eubanks and Poeltl. During his time with the Utah State Aggies, Queta statistically improved his playmaking every year, making some high-level cross-court passes, passes off the short roll, bounce passes in the paint, and passes off the double team.

Queta, along with the next two picks on this list, would all more than likely at least be considered late first-round picks in a normal draft. This year, however, there is a good chance that one if not a few of them could fall into the second round. If the Spurs do manage to pick up Neemias Queta in the second round, he would be an automatic steal based on his floor and NBA-readiness alone.

Next: Player #2

San Antonio Spurs Draft Prospect #2: Vrenz Bleijenbergh (Antwerp Giants)

Vrenz Bleijenbergh seems to be quickly rising up draft boards as of late, and for very good reason. The 6’10” point-forward out of Belgium is currently playing for the Port of Antwerp Giants of the Belgian Pro Basketball League and has made some serious strides in his game compared to his previous couple of seasons.

Bleijenbergh has already been compared to the likes of Aleksej Pokusevski and a young Kristaps Porzingis for his lanky frame and shooting ability, shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc on about five attempts per game. While this is obviously already above average for a player of his size, his main draw is that he is also proving himself to be an above-average facilitator, recording just over 3 assists per game in 19 BSL games and 10 Eurocup games this season. Essentially, Bleijenbergh is a player with the length of a power forward or center that has the speed and skills of a guard.

If that last bit of information sounds a little familiar, it may be because it sounds an awful lot like scouting reports of Luka Samanic as he was entering the draft. Personally, I am a sucker for versatile players like that, and I could envision a team gambling on Bleijenbergh sometime late in the first round much like how the Spurs gambled with Samanic. If Bleijenbergh continues to put on some weight, his shooting and playmaking both translate to the NBA, and can hold his own on defense, he could have some serious upside down the line.

If the Spurs plan to play Bleijenbergh as a playmaking power forward, similarly to the role that Demar Derozan is playing now, this could potentially have some negative implications for Luka Samanic in the future. On the other hand, if the Spurs intend to play Bleijenbergh as a guard or wing, he could be a key piece of the bench unit for a long time, with the potential to eventually slide into the starting lineup if his development goes better than expected.

With whatever the Spurs decide to do with him, Bleijenbergh would immediately provide the Spurs with more shooting and playmaking, and could potentially even become a versatile defender in the future.

Next: Player #1

San Antonio Spurs Draft Prospect #1: Kessler Edwards (Pepperdine)

Of all players to land on any end-of-season draft prospect lists, I did not expect someone from Pepperdine University to make the cut, let alone top the list. But Kessler Edwards is the real deal and will likely be one of not very many to be drafted out of Pepperdine.

It is worth noting that there is a very good chance that Edwards could go in the first round if recent mock drafts are any indicator. In his last season with Pepperdine, he was among the most efficient 3-point shooters, finishers, and blockers at his position in the entire NCAA. Standing at 6’8″, he would definitely be a bit undersized at the power forward position if he were to play his minutes as the 4, but his team defense instincts and shot-blocking ability with his 7-foot wingspan should help to make up for that.

Kessler recorded 49-38-88 shooting splits this past season and would provide the Spurs with some much-needed outside shooting. He has a quick trigger when shooting, but when he’ll be forced to put the ball on the floor, he is far from helpless as he has shown an only increasing ability to create his own shot off the dribble.

Statistically, he has put up relatively similar numbers to a likely lottery pick in Franz Wagner (perhaps minus the playmaking), but in my opinion will come at a much better value, especially if he falls into the second round.

Edwards’ most eye-catching quality that the Spurs should be looking at is his off-ball defense. Not only would Edwards be an immediate defensive upgrade at his position, but he would likely be an immediate contender for the best perimeter defender on the team given how quick he is for his size and length, with probably the only other player on the team that could give him a run for his money being Devin Vassell.

Assuming the Spurs are able to find a player in the first round of the draft that can address the team’s lack of consistent playmaking and rebounding, picking Edwards in the second round could significantly help to address some of the team’s secondary issues like perimeter defense and 3-point shooting. Unless one of the players in my top 5 list of Spurs first-round prospects falls to the second round, I predict that Kessler Edwards will be the steal of the draft, no matter who manages to land him.

Their first-round pick is obviously much more important but the San Antonio Spurs have a real opportunity to land talent in the second round of this year’s NBA draft.