Bobby Marks’ 2025 San Antonio Offseason Guide: No. 2 pick in the draft & more | NBA on ESPN

Bobby Marks’ 2025 San Antonio Offseason Guide: No. 2 pick in the draft & more | NBA on ESPN

All right, a happy Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully everyone is doing great out there. Uh, no, we don’t have any teams eliminated from uh current recently eliminated from the postseason to do a video on. We’re still in a holding pattern with the Final Four out there. But one of the things that uh we are going to do and we were kind of waiting until after the lottery had taken place is to do some offseason video on the teams that uh the non-playin nonplayoff type teams basically uh I would guess it’s your top eight teams that uh finished in the lottery that uh season ended on that Sunday in in early uh in early April. and we wanted to wait until after the lottery based on where everyone was going to be um positioned in the draft and then we can get rolling here. So, we are going to start with the team that has probably the a little bit of everything to make a big swing this off season from a player standpoint, draft equity, uh current roster, and that is the San Antonio Spurs. when you look at San Antonio and they are going to be um they’re going to be linked with every major superstar that could become available in the trade market whether it be Giannis whether it be Kevin Durant uh unlikely I would say um you know certainly Trey Young if he ever became available I don’t I don’t see that here but when you look at San Antonio and where they are um number two in the draft. Number 14 in the draft. I’m just pulling up their article right now. Um and number 38 in draft. Remember that that pick uh the 14th pick which is the last pick in the lottery is from Atlanta. That was part of the uh DeJonte Murray trade and San Antonio still has a lot more coming from the Hawks as relating to that trade. It certainly starts with a couple things here. The one of the big things um that when we wrote about their article back in early mid midappril was clarity, right? They needed some clarity certainly at head coach with the uncertainty as far as Greg Papovic. Um they certainly have that with Mitch Johnson. I always want to call Mitch Johnson Mitch Henderson. Mitch Henderson’s the coach at Princeton. Um I always get that those two names kind of stuck in my head, but with Mitch Johnson who was their interim coach and now there is clarity as far as who is in charge. Um, so we can re check that off the list. The other thing certainly is the health of Victor as far as where he is uh physically here and you’ve certainly have seen him out and about. We saw him this past week at a Dallas um I want to say Stars game. No, Dallas Wings game. Um certainly here. So um it looks like certainly knock on wood all things will be a go with with Victor here. And then we kind of shift to it’s kind of like a two-fold process here. We look at the draft as we mentioned moving up from eight to two and then also having that late lottery pick 14 and then 38 as far as what direction they go. The um the consensus certainly when you talk to our own Jonathan Gavone and Jeremy Woo is that Dylan Harper is going to be the the guy at number two. Um there is the questions can Harper um and Stephan Castle and Darren Fox can that group work? And I think when you’re picking at two and if there’s enough separation between what’s at two and what’s at three and what’s at three? Is it Ace Bailey? Is it VJ Edgecomb? Um is it Trey Johnson? Is it Jeremiah Fierce? I do believe there’s enough separation between number two and basically everyone else in the draft. You go the best available route. Um certainly you see how it fits. Of course, you can always move somebody down the road here, whether it be a player like Harper or maybe there’s a deal at the at the at the night of the draft or as I said, maybe the one of these all-star level um all NBA level players become available. But I do think when you’re picking at at number two and there’s clear separation um that Dylan Harper is the guy to go for. Um I had the opportunity to sit down with Dylan. Um he is a terrific young man. Um he is a terrific young man. He is driven. He is um he is loyalty to a tea. Uh, one of the big things I I sat down with him, excuse me, when we got going with the draft process as far as helping him interview uh, in the process of help when he started interviewing with teams just to kind of help him along the process and then certainly we had him on on set at ESPN during the combine. And the one thing that I admire about Dylan certainly staying in in state going to Ruckers dealing with adversity uh him and Ace certainly going in their Herald is I mean they’re going to be uh the number two and likely number three picks in the draft and it’s a team that couldn’t get out of the first round of the Big 10 tournament staying loyal, staying in the state. I think it would have been easy for him to bail at some point of this season here when he had uh he was sick during the year. lost a bunch of weight. He had some injuries. They knew this team was not going to the NCA tournament. They weren’t going to the NIT. And I think for some players, it would have been easy to bail on um on their school and on their on the locker room and basically start the draft process in early March or late February. Uh and he did not do that. So there is a lot of the intangibles from a loyalty factor. Um, so when I think when you’re looking at the draft with with Harper, he should be your guy. Um, does that mean he’s going to be in San Antonio for life or is he going to be used in a trade? I think that’s uh a TBD. I think when you’re looking at 14, I think there it is a certainly um how the roster is. Listen, if you’re at 14 and a guard is there and he’s best available on your board, I do think that is a discussion that you have within your in within your front office. us figure. Do we need another guard? Do we go center? Do we do we go bigs as far as a front court? Do we go like it’s it’s an in it’s an interesting debate and conversation when you have two picks certainly in the top 14 and you are staring best available or maybe best fit and th those are the discussions that are going to happen um in the next three weeks. It’s it’s interesting and I don’t know if it’s too rich to take him at 14. We had Max Rainard, the big from Stanford who certainly played really well and Jonathan Gavone now has him in the first round and who is best friends with Victor, right? Like they’re like chess buddies and there is a component and I said this too with Tyrese Proctor regarding Dyson Daniels as far as there is there is a a component there that won’t show up on the scattering report. the intangible intangible component here where besides the ability to play on the court, the ability to be a good teammate, to be a good locker room guy, to be um the relationships that somebody already maybe has certainly when you have a franchise player. Um I thought that was pretty interesting. So keep an eye on 14 and then certainly at 38 I would say 38 either two-way um or maybe move out of the second round here. So that is kind of a little bit of a a draft perspective and that’s why we waited till after the the um we waited till after the combine so I can give a little perspective on some of these maybe some of these draft uh lottery prospects as far as that might be available for San Antonio. The big thing too so so let’s take the draft out of it. The big thing too is certainly going to be um the San Antonio, you know, swung for the fence with De’arren Fox and still had enough equity left to go out and um go get another player if the opportunity presents itself. And when you look at what they have available, certainly with um I’m just pulling up the roster. Uh you certainly when you remove Fox and Victor from the equation here, they have a ton of these I call it sweet spot contracts. Certainly with Devin Vel at 27, Kell Johnson at 175, Harrison Barnes on 19 on an expiring, and then all these players on rookie scale contracts. Certainly Castle would be the most interesting thing player, but I it’s hard for me to think San Antonio getting away from him unless it’s a unless it’s something that you can’t turn down. Uh, and that really the only thing that you can’t turn down was if if Giannis became available. Um, I would say this and I’m giving a hypothetical here and I don’t want to be aggravated aggregated um because I’m just talking out loud. Um, if San Antonio made 214 in Castle invol and as a package and I’m not saying they would or they have or anything like that. I think that would be certainly enticing if you’re in that Milwaukee front office. So, we wait and see what happens here. But when you look at certainly from a contractual standpoint, when you look at from a financial standpoint, they’re if they keep both picks, they’re going to be right at salary cap. They’ve got so much flexibility to go out and and trade for a $54 million player if even if you have to send out $45 million in contracts, for example, there uh to be able to stay under that first apron. So, they’re well positioned below the luxury tax. They’re $27 million. they still have access to their 14.1 um non-tax mid-level exception to go out in free agency. I think the big thing you have to be careful with certainly, excuse me, where they are roster-wise, they’ve got 10 players under contract. You add the two first round picks, that’s 12. Who knows if that third second round pick um you’re getting up there as far as with your roster and just keep an eye on that as far as it’s great to have flexibility, but you also have to be um you know cautious, excuse me, cautious as far as where you are rosterized. Remember in the off season you’re allowed to carry 21 players. Um so you do have that added flexibility to make a three for one type trade or a one for three type trade and still have the flexibility to add. So roster-wise, financial wise, you are in extremely extremely good shape. I mean, draft pick-wise, listen, you gave up a ton um a first. Some of them were kind of um I call them like dummy first, really like that Charlotte first, which eventually turned into two seconds. Um you gave back Chicago their first and really it cost you your an uh 27, I believe, and that Minnesota unprotected first. that is what it cost you to get Darren Fox and certainly some salary fillers when you look at Herder and Zack Collins there. So you still have equity and that’s the most important thing to remember here. Um you have the swap rights with Atlanta in 26. Um it’s kind of like intertwined with Cleveland in there, but just focus on the Atlanta part. You’ve got an unprotected first from Atlanta in 27. That could be juicy. Who knows what happens with Trey Young. um six first in the next eight years, multiple years of pick swaps in 17 seconds. That is like ridiculous as far as what they have available. I mean 17 seconds it’s like golly gez here. Um let me just pull up. We can go through the um we have so many files. It’s like ridiculous how many files we have with information. Uh well hold on a second. So you have um six of your own seven Atlanta swap 26 unprotected Atlanta 27 swap rights with Boston and 28 intertwined with um in 28 top one protected swap rights more favorable Dallas and Mini first and 20 and 30 mini is top one protected swap rights with Sacramento and 31. Um so you are in good shape regarding your own first as far as what you can trade. remember because you owe 27 to um to Sacramento. The first of your own that you can trade is um is certainly in 29 right two years after your pick is conveyed. So you are in a good position as far as from a a tradable standpoint. So basically you could trade that Atlanta first in 20 um that Atlanta first and 27, excuse me. Um, and you can trade uh, let’s say 29 and 31 or 30 and 32. Like there are work way workable solutions as far as what you can go out and do. You’ve got some extension guys to figure out here. Um, certainly Fox is going to be the priority with uh, from an extension standpoint. Like you don’t trade for him and not extend him. You’re in a little bit of a in a little bit of a holding pattern with Fox just because of the trade. um six-month restriction as far as what you can do. Um he’s one of six players eligible. He’s eligible to um uh three four for 229 is his number. Um Sohan is another Jeremy Soan is another player. You have Julian Champagne, Harrison Barnes, Kell Johnson, Blake Wesley, Malachi Bronham. You’ve got a lot of extension guys to figure out, but certainly Fox is going to be the key guy. Uh August 3rd is the Darren Darren Fox number date to circle as far as the first day he’s eligible to sign the maximum allowed which is 44 for 2229. When you have Victor on this rookie contract um and he’s got two years left. Victor is extension eligible next off season. Um it gives you the flexibility to add some of these higher salary players. Certainly, if you add Fox and you extend him and certainly if you went out and didn’t did make a trade and you’re getting a $54 million player, as long as you have the the right whether it be roster or still draft asset, as long as you still have options to add to your roster, that’s the most important thing as far as where San Antonio is going to go. And I believe they still do. um team needs uh veteran leadership and a secondary rim protector. Really Harrison Barnes is kind of the um the lone grown-up in the room because we’ve got Chris Paul who is set to become a free agent and and Paul was certainly terrific with them here. Um 30 82 games all uh 82 games this season, most since 1415 for Chris Paul and certainly if you get a rim protector for Victor that is a priority. Um certainly when he’s on the bench um eight points per 100 worse when Victor was on the uh was when he was off the court this season. We went through the draft assets. So that is kind of it in a nutshell as far as we’re San Antonio. They listen they aren’t and whenever anyone asks me like well who’s the one team that can go out and make a big trade it’s it’s Houston and San Antonio. Um they are in a terrific they’re in a it’s amazing they are in a terrific position for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in a long time here and has kind of gone through this reset of their roster as far as do you stay put. Um, I do believe you’ve kind of got like a two-year window before you have to pay Victor. Uh, a substantial number and certainly next off seasonason when he is extension eligible, the number will be extremely big if, uh, you add that all NBA language in there and if he hits that criteria. Um, and you’ll have $100 million committed to him and Fox. It’s do you kind of go through the draft route to develop add draft your draft picks to um to Devin Vel and Kell Johnson and you’ve got those two picks here. It’s a it’s an interesting um dilemma and it’s a good dilemma that San Antonio has moving forward here. So all in all I would say the state of the roster in San Antonio is extremely healthy. Um certainly if they’re not a at least a playing team next year, I would say that’s a disappointment as far as where um where they are right now. We will talk soon. We’ll have more of these offseason video for lottery teams out in the uh in the near future. Um but have a great day. Jimmy with the heat. I’m on fire. It’s NBA on the

Bobby Marks gives his 2025 offseason guide for the San Antonio Spurs, who hold the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

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