San Antonio Spurs: 3 bold predictions for the 2019-20 season
2. One of the Spurs’ draftees makes the All-Rookie Second Team
We could’ve gotten bold and predicted that one of the San Antonio Spurs’ rookies would be recognized as an All-Rookie First Teamer. History considered, that’d have been quite the leap of faith.
This past scouting was done with unusual accuracy: for the first time since 1984-85, the flat-out first five selections in the 2018 NBA Draft were all named to the All-Rookie First Team.
It’s difficult to see that happening again, since prior to, it had become commonality to see a non-lottery selection sneak in, be it Kyle Kuzma in 2017-18, Willy Hernangomez in 2016-17 and so on.
So, let’s play it safe, and make a case for either first-round picks Luka Samanic and Keldon Johnson or second-rounder Quinndary Weatherspoon making the jump.
If the Spurs’ Summer League play was of any indication, Luka Samanic should be more of a work in progress. In two or three seasons, he should be a force to be reckoned with, but for now, expectations should be tempered.
Quinndary Weatherspoon was spectacular in the two Summer League showings, showcasing the ability to both score with ease (19.0 points per game on 44 percent shooting), as well as pass and rebound.
Weatherspoon has the type of tamed, mature game that looks reminiscent to say, a poor man’s Damian Lillard. He makes Spurs-like plays, such as his quick-reflex feed in to Thomas Robinson in the Summer League.
Difficult shots, difficult passes, Weatherspoon has shown he can do it all. But perhaps just as difficult is envisioning a scenario in which he carves out consistent minutes in a rotation of White, Murray, Walker, Mills, Forbes and even DeRozan when the Spurs tinker with lineups.
When he does get chances, Weatherspoon should excel, but with availability being such a huge variable, that leaves one man with a more plausible-than-most chance to sneak onto an All-Rookie Team.
At 6-foot-6, Keldon Johnson will have a chance to get playing time, especially at small forward. Of the three, he’s probably got the most “NBA ready” game, and he showed that in the Summer League, when he matched his draft selection number with 29 points and 7 rebounds.
Perhaps what stands out above all is how capable he is in off-ball situations. Per NBA.com, Johnson had 35 percent of his possessions come in the spot-up, 12 percent off screens, and 25 percent in transition.
And with nearly 1.2 points off the catch, you’ve got s steady kick-out option for slashers like DeRozan and Murray, and attention drawers like Aldridge. Johnson also has the intangible factor, as Pounding the Rock’s Noah Magaro-George points out.
Johnson, who became the first University of Kentucky player drafted by the Spurs, will also have the benefit of playing for a postseason contender right away, something that swingman (such as Washington’s Rui Hachimura or P.J. Washington of Charlotte) will have working against them.
If asked to make the choices now, the first thing to note is that Johnson won’t have the opportunities that those guys will have, but, if he can bring in eight or nine points per night and solid defense for a 50-ish win Spurs team, it’s safe to say that at the very least, he’ll gave done enough to have his name among the mentions.