San Antonio Spurs: Top 4 potential franchise cornerstones

San Antonio Spurs potential cornerstones 4 and 3

4. Jack Landale

There's a reason Air Alamo, Pounding the Rock, and beyond are all so high on what Jock Landale brings to the table. Replacing Patty's departure with another Australia and Landale's new Olympic Bronze medal certainly helps but doesn't even come close to painting the full story.

Coming off Australia's National Basketball League's Grand Finals MVP award and a season where he posted 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 blocks while shooting over 54% from the field and over 38% from deep speak comes closer. But why Landale best positions the Spurs for future success is because he represents the perfect combination of winning, improvement, youth, skillset, and need the team is currently after. Need a young shooting big with some mobility, shooting, size, and interior defense? Landale is the answer.

We talk season after season, sometimes in vain, about what players need to work on to improve the following year: well Landale has been more than talk, routinely improving across the board. He is a winner. With his skill set at his position, Landale literally can play alongside anyone else on the roster and complement their game, making him an exceptional potential franchise cornerstone.

3. Devin Vassell

The Spurs' highest draft pick since Tim Duncan, Devin Vassell is a lock for a future Spurs cornerstone player. What separates him from a guy like Lonnie or Primo is even if his upside doesn't end up exceeding theirs, Devin already excels at the two essential skills every team needs to thrive in today's NBA, shooting and defense.

Devin is already arguably the team's second-best perimeter defender after Dejounte Murray, and like Dejounte, can guard positions 1-3 with ease. Devin also is not at a complete loss covering certain power forwards either.

His shooting release is high and quick, allowing him to knock down threes in volume even with the defense locked in on him. And Devin's already shown he is more than just a three and D player too, punishing opposing teams off of cuts as well as the dribble with a combination of just enough touch, size, and finishing ability to counter those that overplay his shooting ability.