Scouts give their two cents on how Spurs should approach the 2023 NBA Draft

3. Are there any upside swings that should entice the Spurs to package the 32nd and 44th picks to trade back into the first round?

Babcock: Regarding upside prospects, it depends on which players decide to stay in the draft rather than return to school. Still, a few young guys with a lot of untapped potential that come to mind are Noah Clowney from Alabama, Bilal Coulibaly from France, Dillon Mitchell from Texas, and Adem Bona from UCLA.

Barlowe: Wembanyama’s teammate Bilal Coulibaly is worth trading back into the first round for. His stock has skyrocketed over the last few weeks so it may cost more than the 32nd and 44th pick to get him, but he’s made tremendous strides over the last 18 months.

Stayman: With so many people having so many players in the 20-60 range on their boards, someone with high upside will slip. Some fun upside plays in the second round include: Brandin Podziemski, James Nnaji, Nikola Djurisic, and Judah Mintz.

Tulaba: That range is always tricky to project who will be there and who won’t, but I’d say the upside swing that could be there is Bilal Coulibaly. Coulibaly is a 6’7” smooth and athletic wing with a 7’2” wingspan that plays alongside Wembanyama for Mets 92. He’s raw but not that raw because the skills and movement patterns are pretty eye popping at times. In the right system where he hits his top end outcome, I can see him having a Jaylen Brown type ceiling.