Spurs draft prospects to watch in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight

Future Spurs to watch as college basketball’s best race to the Final Four.

Friday was an exciting night of hoops. The San Antonio Spurs won an overtime thriller against the New York Knicks 130-126. The Sweet Sixteen didn’t disappoint, with great wins for Duke and Tennessee coming down to the wire. Basketball fans are in heaven right now with the NBA playoffs looming, and college hoops reaching its biggest stage.

The Elite Eight is set, with surprises like NC State, Clemson and Alabama each having a chance to reach the Final Four. Heavy hitters like Duke, Purdue and UCONN are playing some of their best basketball as they look to win a national championship. As the field whittles down, the number of draft prospects does too.

In this series, Pounding the Rock will look at NBA draft prospects to watch in each round of the NCAA Tournament. The Spurs have the possibility of getting two first round picks (Toronto owes San Antonio a top-6 protected pick) and two second round picks (their own, and another belonging to the Los Angeles Lakers.)

Kyle Filipowski, 7’0” Center, Duke

Regular season stats: 16.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 51.2%/35.8%/66% (55.8% EFG)

The Duke big man, Kyle Filipowski, was crucial to their win over the number one seeded Houston Cougars. Filipowski had 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists, including some big shots down the stretch. Duke is loaded, but their best player may be the versatile big man inside.

Filipowski is a tough-minded stretch big who can finish inside. He’s shot a much higher percentage from deep in his sophomore season, and has a pretty stroke from outside. He’s a physical player on the interior who has the ability to play outside – a highly valued skillset in the NBA right now.

Filipowski is likely a mid-first round pick, making him somewhat of an unlikely candidate for the Spurs. There is always a scenario in which they trade back to get more assets, and take someone like Filipowski to bolster their front line. Tough players with a competitive gene and shooting touch are pretty good bets at the next level. Filipowski doesn’t necessarily play a position of need for San Antonio, but has the traits of an NBA player.

Stephon Castle, 6’6” guard, UCONN

Regular season stats: 10.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 46.8%/28.1%/75.6% (50.2% EFG)

I don’t typically like to cover players more than once in these series, but Stephon Castle has been so good. In UCONN’s dominant win over San Diego State, he had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Castle is a versatile player who has been asked to do a lot for UCONN in his freshman season. He has the size to play on the ball or off, which he’s had to do in the Huskies system. In a draft where a surefire star guard has yet to emerge, Castle is a good bet on a player with high upside, but also the malleability to fit within a number of schemes. San Antonio needs players with a lot of potential who can also fit around Victor Wembanyama. Castle looks like that type of player.

Mark Sears, 6’1” guard, Alabama

Regular season stats: 21.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.1 apg, 50.6%/42.9%/85.9% (59.8% EFG)

Despite being one of the best teams in the SEC, the Alabama Crimson Tide have become somewhat of a Cinderella in March. Without a big time NBA prospect, the Tide aren’t necessarily a big draw for NBA fans. They’ve reached the Elite Eight with strong shooting performances, led by their starting guard, Mark Sears.

Sears is an undersized scoring guard who can light it up from deep. He was one of the better Bama players on last year’s team with Brandon Miller. In the tournament, he’s scored 30, 28 and 18 points in his three games. In the second round against Grand Canyon, he shot 5-11 from deep, leading Alabama to the win.

Sears projects as a second round prospect due to his age and size. If San Antonio misses out on a guard in the first round, they could prioritize a scorer like Sears in the second round, or with an undrafted free agent offer to give their Summer League roster and G League squad a scoring boost. Getting someone with Sears’ talents in the developmental system, hoping they can become a rotational guard who spaces the floor could make sense for SA late in the draft.