Spurs might be taking Flyer in decorated Toppin if he falls
As the Spurs enter next week’s draft, it is easy to look at their roster and see what they don’t need, necessarily.
The team has spent the past few drafts loading up on young guards and wings that will serve as the building blocks for the future — Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, Keldon Johnson.
It would not be surprising to see them begin to fill out the frontcourt of tomorrow in this year’s draft. If Dayton’s Obi
Toppin falls to the Spurs at No. 11, they might be able to fulfill their wish list with arguably the best player in college basketball last season.
The 22-year-old Toppin, a rubber-legged 6foot-9 forward, won both the Wooden and Naismith
National Player of the Year awards as a redshirt sophomore. He was the first player in Flyers history to earn either.
Toppin used his explosive athleticism to average 20 points and 7.4
rebounds. He also led the NCAA in dunks, for those who are into such a thing. In addition to being an efficient scorer around the rim, Toppin projects to have pick-and-pop potential in the NBA.
Most mock drafts peg Toppin as a top 10 selection, which would put him out of the Spurs’ reach, barring a trade up.
In recent days, a few mocks have seen Toppin slide due to his weakness on the defensive end of the floor. It is a part of his game Toppin says he has worked on most while preparing for the draft in New Jersey.
“Having to play some bigs, having to play some guards (has been helpful),” Toppin said. “Guarding a lot of the guards helped me a lot, because of how fast they are and how shifty they are. I have to be able to keep up, or if not I’ll be exposed. I’ve been working on it a lot. A lot of people who say I can’t play defense, I’m going to prove them wrong.”
If Toppin is still on the board at No. 11, the Spurs will likely look long and hard at him. The Spurs’ frontcourt going forward remains a bit of a question mark. Lamarcus Aldridge is expected back from April shoulder surgery, but he is 35 and getting further removed from his AllStar heyday. Rudy Gay is 34.
Jakob Poeltl, 24, has emerged as an analytics darling after four NBA seasons but is set to become a restricted free agent. The Spurs will need to pay to keep him. The Spurs spent their top draft pick last year, No. 19 overall, on 20-year-old Luka Samanic, who the club hopes will develop into the type of multiskilled big man prevalent in today’s NBA. But there are no guarantees.
Wednesday in a series of Zoom interviews, Auburn forward Isaac Okoro and Iowa State point guard Tyrese Haliburton both said they have participated in interviews with Spurs brass but no individual workouts. Vanderbilt guard Aaron Nesmith, meanwhile, listed the Spurs as one of five teams to conduct a workout with him.
It is difficult to gauge the direction the Spurs might want to go in this draft. The 19-year-old Okoro is widely regarded as perhaps the best wing defender in the class. Haliburton, 20, is considered one of the top passing and playmaking point guards. Nesmith, 21, is billed as possibly the draft’s best pure shooter.
Okoro and Haliburton have both been projected as top 10 picks, meaning the Spurs would likely need to trade up to select one of them. It might also explain why the Spurs have invested a little more in-person time with Nesmith, who said he also worked out for New Orleans, Phoenix, Miami and Detroit.
But if Toppin were to fall to the Spurs at the 11th spot, they might be able to accomplish twin goals of filling a positional need while also adding to their overall talent level. As such, Toppin remains a name worth watching next week.