Who the Spurs should consider after the NBA Draft Lottery

A look at the players likely to be available with the fourth and eighth picks.

This time last year, San Antonio Spurs fans were lighting candles, burning sage and praying that the basketball gods would rule in their favor. As those ping pong balls whizzed around the see-through receptacle, the fate of the franchise was at stake. We all know what happened – Victor Wembanyama is now the face of the team thanks to a little bit of lottery luck.

That luck continued for the Spurs a year later. While the stakes weren’t nearly as high on Sunday, there were still reasons to be nervous. The Spurs could have dropped to the second half of the lottery, and the Toronto Raptors could have moved into the top-6, meaning San Antonio wouldn’t get their pick. All that worry was for naught, as the Spurs not only got the fourth pick, but the eighth courtesy of Toronto.

Here is the official draft order:

The 2024 Draft class is an interesting one. It’s not filled with superstar talent or a surefire number one pick. However, it does have a big group of players who look like long-term NBA starters or high-end role players. Given the Spurs already have a generational player in Wembanyama, they’ll be looking for his supporting cast in the draft.

Spurs General Manager, Brian Wright, talked to reporters after the draft. In typical fashion, his responses were fairly vague, but allude to a potential strategy for the draft.

The fourth and eighth picks in the draft are good places to select high-end talent, but they are also good assets to include in trade discussions. Rumors of the Spurs eyeing a top-end point guard to play with Wembanyama have been rampant since the trade deadline. The Atlanta Hawks will have plenty of decisions to make after shockingly getting the first-overall-pick, but Trae Young and Dejounte Murray’s futures remain in question. The Cleveland Cavaliers will have an interesting summer with Donovan Mitchell entering the last year of his deal. San Antonio is primed with ammunition to be at the forefront of just about any major trade conversation this summer.

If the Spurs decide to keep their picks, they’ll have plenty of interesting prospects to choose from. The current roster has a major need for guards and wings who can shoot the ball. This draft’s strength, if any, is it’s depth at those positions. At four and eight, the Spurs should be able to draft one of the best available guards and wings in the draft.

A point guard will likely be a high priority. PATFO will hope that one of Nikola Topic or Rob Dillingham falls to them at number four. Topic is a strong passer and processor of the game, but hasn’t shot the ball at a high level. Dillingham is an explosive scorer who was one of the most efficient shooters in college basketball, but has defensive deficiencies. Of the teams drafting ahead of them, only the Washington Wizards really needs point guard help. Not accounting for trades, the Spurs should be able to grab a solid young guard at four.

With the eighth pick they could target a wing. The G League Ignite’s Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis are both interesting options. They scored the ball at a high level and have star upside with their blend of skills and motor, but neither of them shot the ball extremely well this season. Zaccharie Risacher may be off the board at eight, but if he falls, the Spurs will think long and hard about selecting the big wing with a sweet shooting stroke. Look out for Dalton Knecht, Stephon Castle and Reed Sheppard as potential targets who had great college seasons.

It’s a major long shot, but if the Spurs do decide to take a big man with one of their picks, keep an eye on Alex Sarr and Donovan Clingan. Sarr is likely to be a top-3 pick, but if he falls, the defensive potential next to Wembanyama is tantalizing. The fellow-Frenchman is a versatile defender who needs to develop his offensive game. Clingan is a tank of a player who protected the rim for the NCAA Champion UCONN Huskies. A big swing skill for both of these players is their shooting ability. If they show the capability of hitting threes in the pre-draft process, that may pique the interest of PATFO.

The Spurs find themselves in a position with nearly endless possibilities. On Sunday the basketball gods sent them two assets that could help them build a contender around Wembanyama. Whether that’s done patiently through the draft, or aggressively through trades, they have the assets to get it done. Now PATFO will be tasked with finding the best path forward before the 2024 NBA Draft on June 26-27.