8) Following the NBA combine, I heard a lot about how impressed the Spurs were about Branham after talking to him. In the
post-combine Big Board, I had Branham 11th and wrote the following:
“Last year, Scottie Barnes and Joshua Primo were the two players who reportedly interviewed the best at the combine. This year, Branham was one of the two players who got rave reviews for his interviews.”
9) With the Murray trade no longer being discussed, I was hoping that the Spurs would pick Wesley at 25. When Adam Silver called his name, I was thrilled. I wasn’t surprised, though, because there was a ton of talk behind the scenes that he dominated in a group workout in San Antonio.
As I
wrote last week:
“Wesley had a workout in San Antonio and his representatives are saying that the Spurs expressed a lot of interest in their client. It’s impossible to know how much truth there is in that but he’s definitely someone I could imagine the Spurs picking at 20 or 25.”
10) That group workout is already legendary. It consisted of Wesley, Branham, Dyson Daniels, Wendell Moore, Ryan Rollins and Bryce McGowens. The prospects played three-on-three and the matches were shockingly intense, I was told. In fact, I was told a couple of the players had to be separated a few times.
Of the six players, Wesley was supposedly the best of the bunch. No one could stay in front of him, not even the defense-first prospects in Daniels (who was picked eighth in the draft) and Moore (who went 26th). Following that group workout, Wesley’s agency was very confident that the Spurs were supremely interested in their client — and told me as much.
11) Brian Wright said that Wesley was within the top 20 on the Spurs front office’s board. He was 18th on our Big Board — so, again, that fits.
12) The Spurs ended up
trading the 38th pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for cash and a future second round draft pick. The Spurs then essentially used that cash to then sign Dominick Barlow to a two-way contract. Barlow was
No. 54 on our Big Board but went undrafted.
13) An international scout told me after the draft that the Spurs were planning to select Gabriele Procida at 38. Unfortunately, he went 36th. As I previously reported, the Spurs were also interested in Max Christie — but he ended up going 35th. (In an alternate universe where Branham doesn’t fall to 20, a likely outcome would have been Wesley at 20 and Christie at 25.)
14) While it’s a little bit disappointing that Procida didn’t drop to 38, I actually like how it played out. Getting a second round pick and Barlow is a win. Barlow is a 6-foot-10 center with a 7-foot-3 wingspan. He moves really well, he has a three-point stroke and he’s improving at a rapid rate.
15) Barlow played for the Overtime Elite, which is basically an alternative to the G League Ignite. The problem with the Overtime Elite in their first year of existence was that their prospects played against lowly competition. It was very difficult for NBA scouts to do their job given the circumstances.
16) The Spurs got lucky with Barlow because during the combine, his team in the scrimmage was led by Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson. Barlow wasn’t recruited much out of high school so teams struggled to get a read on him. The Spurs, though, got positive reports from Johnson and had Barlow in for two workouts. San Antonio obviously ended up liking him because they had a two-way contract ready for him to sign the moment the draft ended.
. Cause I don't see that shyt AT ALL. I never thought Kawhi would be as good as he was in San Antonio either, but at least with Kawhi by his 20th start he was already guarding the other teams best player and was a monster defensively. Them being so high on Primo is surprising. Them being so high on Primo that they would even entertain trading Dejounte after the season he had is downright bewildering. It's like Brian Wright heard spurs fans saying he aint doing enough with trades and free agency and said "oh yeah watch this"
