#30 - San Antonio Spurs

Stephen Dunn/ Getty Images

What I’d Do:

Jordan Adams – UCLA

6’5” (6’10” wingspan), 209 lbs., 07/08/1994 (19 years old)

Should we really be bothering the San Antonio Spurs already? Can’t we give general manager R.C. Buford and head coach Gregg Popovich a chance to go on vacation without bothering them with trivialities like the NBA Draft?

Would you believe the Spurs have never drafted 30th in the Tim Duncan era? I thought for sure they finished with the NBA’s best record at least once in Timmy’s 17 seasons but no; the Spurs settled for one pick at #29 (guard Cory Joseph in 2011) and six times selecting 28th (including future-Finals MVP Tony Parker in ‘01).

Oh and some other names taken by Buford at #28? Leandro Barbosa, Beno Udrih, Ian Mahinmi (in back to back drafts), and Tiago Splitter. That’s a starting lineup featuring a future Hall of Famer and some solid role players, all taken with the 3rd-to-last pick in the first round. It’s how they do.

There’s almost no chance I hit on this Spurs pick and I accept that. As a New England Patriots fan I’ve worshipped at the altar of Pop’s NBA-doppelganger, Bill Belichick, since the early-aughts, and trying to predict his picks are as pointless as trying to keep Parker out of the paint. When you factor in the international element to the NBA’s draft, it just makes predictions even more of a guess.

So instead of guessing I’m going to take a different route with this 30th pick: hope.

The Spurs’ success stems from their sustained run of developing their own draft picks and talent, especially guys drafted 28th, it seems. Bill Barnwell wrote a great piece a few months ago giving us a look into Spurs coach Chip Engelland and his work in developing Kawhi Leonard’s jump shot, or at least in giving Kawhi the information he used to develop and improve his jump shot. Two assistants under Coach Pop were given head coaching jobs with other organizations this season (Brett Brown with the 76ers and Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta), showing the depth of talent on the Spurs bench. The organization especially emphasizes acquiring players who can take coaching and who will put the work in to get better.

We’ve already seen R.C. and Gregg (and Chip) target an athletic wing-stopper with a shaky jump shot who worked himself into a Finals MVP within three seasons, and I wonder what they could do with the basketball IQ and energy of Jordan Adams.

Adams is such a sneaky scorer who can get buckets from anywhere on the court, leading all draft-eligible two-guards in shooting percentage. He can step out to the 3 (35.6% from 3 at UCLA his sophomore season), score in the paint (2nd best around the rim among 2’s in this draft) or out in transition (27% of his total offense), get to the FT line (5.3 FTA’s per game in 30.1 minutes), or play the screen game. If his shot isn’t working he’ll hit the offensive glass (tops among 2’s with 1.9 offensive boards a game) and find ways to score, averaging 17.4 points on 48.5% from the field.

He needs to work on his handle, when shooting (29% while shooting off the bounce) and when using the high screen, as only 8% of his offense came from P-n-R’s or isolations. As with a few players in this draft, Adams can get too north-south on his drives, preferring to lower his head and use his strength to free up space. He’s got strength, especially for a guard, as he can use his 6’5”, 209 lb. frame and 6’10” wingspan in the post or in the paint.

If Jordan Adams was elite at one particular skill, be it shooting or athleticism, he wouldn’t be in the discussion at the end of this draft. He gets the Victor Oladipo comparisons because of his size and preference for pressuring the ball but he’s not quite the same athlete. Quickness is an issue, particularly with the ball, as he doesn’t get by his guy regularly in iso’s and is an okay dribbler. Instead he keeps moving when working off the ball, beating his defender with effort and his high motor.

Adams has some elements of the Ray Allen-screen game, running back and forth along the baselines but preferring to curl and then catch and go to the basket. He has nowhere near the Ray Allen jumper but is so versatile when using screens that he’d excel in HORN sets or the Princeton back-door offense, as he’s an excellent dive player off curls or back-cuts. Despite the lack of elite athleticism he plays the passing lanes and forces transition like ‘Dipo, actually finishing with more steals per game than assists.

He would need to adjust to the speed at the next level but especially the ball movement and offensive system in San Antonio. Playing alongside a plus-passer in Kyle Anderson enabled Adams to work more off-ball, as he wasn’t a particularly strong distributor (2.3 assists, 1.5 turnovers). Neither is incumbent shooting guard Marco Belinelli either, whose spot in the rotation could be up for grabs after losing playing time in the last two playoff series.

Jordan Adams would have a list full of adjustments to make on just his jumper if he’s drafted by San Antonio and can work with Coach Engelland. His mechanics get sloppy and inconsistent, and I’m sure Engelland would have Adams slide his hand placement on his release to finish over the top of the ball more. Strength and conditioning is another area that Adams needs to improve, with his weight fluctuating throughout the season. Pop’s discipline and yelling could help cure him of his ball-watching and lackadaisical defensive tendencies, but he won’t turn 20 until a couple of weeks after the draft and has plenty of upside to reach.

Adams is one of the players I’ve really enjoyed learning about in this draft process, as he went under my radar completely during the college season (alas, Kyle Anderson too, who I need to catch up on; you’re lucky, Chris!). I’m really hoping he can land with the right organization that can be patient and maybe teach him some fundamentals on defense and with his jumper.

The Spurs system only works when the players are able to speak the language (unselfishness, high IQ, small ego) and accept the coaching-style, which is partly why Pop likes the international players. Jordan Adams absolutely has the intelligence and personality to fit into the Spurs’ archetype, and I have hope Pop and R.C. can help Adams reach his potential in the league.

What I Think They’ll Do:

…

I could throw darts but I’ll just go with the next best draft-and-stash player. The Spurs have roster room, with nine players under contract and free agents in Boris Diaw and Patty Mills. They don’t need to conserve the space by taking a foreign player, unless they have them as the best player available, but if so that would probably be Bogdan Bogdanovic from Serbia.

Crazy Draft Day Trade:

This pick for next year’s first? Who wants some? Anybody?