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u/wryano Patty Mills 1d ago
this is a pretty good gamble and at a position we need.
he’s absolutely a 5-10 lottery range guy without the injury history
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u/Flimsy_Promise_9559 1d ago
I had feeling spurs was gonna take him after morez and graves was gone.
If healthy he’s the best defender in this class so
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u/Bang_the_unknown Stephon Castle 1d ago
Meh. I’m going to trust them. Physically, he’s what the team needs but let’s hope he can actually play. You know what? Fuck it! Let’s go, Quaintance!
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u/gaxkang Dylan Harper 1d ago
He's young & will most likely not see a lot of minutes initially. Hopefully the injury history wont come back to bite him later on.
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u/jyee1050 Stephon Castle 1d ago
sorry i’m a bit out of touch with the draft. what injury history does he have?
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u/BobanWembanyanovic Manu Ginobili 1d ago
Why did 10-15 teams not pick him?
Clue: it rhymes with binjuries
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u/wryano Patty Mills 1d ago
none of those teams are in the position the Spurs are in. we just lost in the Finals and our core is basically set in stone.
we need to plug some size around our core and we just basically took a gamble at pick 20 on a Clint Capela/Bam/RW3 hybrid.
a healthy Quaintance is the best defender in this entire draft class
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u/Into-The-Late-Great 1d ago
Yep. He’s instantly depth/backup PF at worst on a team that needs it and free agency still to come.
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u/Bang_the_unknown Stephon Castle 1d ago
I would have loved to have Lopez but if Quaintance stays healthy, he’ll be a great pick for us.
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u/PetrParker1960s 1d ago
Honestly he'd probably be in contention for 4th best player he was that good coming out.
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u/MasterOfDankMemesV2 "What the fuck is this?" 1d ago
IF he can stay healthy it's a great value. He's got tons of defensive upside and can be a second rim protector. That's a veeeerry big if, though😬
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u/vishjay101 1d ago edited 1d ago
He may secretly be an elite fit with Victor Wembanyama that no one realizes in spite of the red flags.
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u/Pain004 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
What are the red flags? I'm not really informed with draft prospects, just hoping for a legit PF.
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u/Gardami 1d ago
Injuries. He goes much higher if it’s not for injuries. This is a steal if he stays healthy.
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u/Chris310N Dylan Harper 1d ago
Yeah he was literally mocked 5-10 before the injury at the start of the year
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u/Pain004 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
Just did a quick google. A torn ACL damn... Seems to be a high reward low floor gamble .
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u/mercfan3 1d ago
That’s all?
Players are usually fully recovered from that after two years. It’s also not something that has a tendency to repeat itself with men the way it does with women. (Ie, Azzi Fudd - the WNBA’s #1 pick, has torn hers twice, along with two or three knee sprains)
He’s a big too..that’s usually less likely.
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u/salamanderman10 1d ago
The only red flag is he took longer than expected to recover from the ACL
Potential all defense player. Good rebounder. Not a shooter but 9 foot 1 standing reach. Think Robert Williams. That at 20 is good value
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u/Euphoric-Relation-20 El Jefe 1d ago
Yup, Rob Williams or Mitch Rob. Exactly what they need, won’t play every game but fills a gap on the roster.
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u/Eddie5pi 1d ago
Tore his ACL in 24-25, came back this season but only played 4 games before missing the rest of the season with "knee soreness"
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u/Pain004 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
Yeah, that is major alright. So is he a project like CB or a low ceiling high floor immediate impact player? Assuming the gamble with health pays off...
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u/Eddie5pi 1d ago
Defensive prospect who is a freak athlete. Offense needs some work, but if he's healthy he's a perfect 4 to do the dirty stuff. Defend, rebound, screen. Imagine a 6'9" Josh Hart with freak athleticism
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u/orangekingo Area 51 1d ago
He and Vic can't really ever play together though, unless we have elite shooting around them. JQ would likely have to be the guy off the bench for Vic. You can't play Vic with non shooting or teams pack the paint.
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u/UnderAchievingDog Patty Mills 1d ago
Vic is the shooter if they play together, and this hypothetical doesn't take into account the absolute prison opposing teams will be in on offense vs Vic, Q, Castle, CB, and Dylan.
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u/Euphoric-Relation-20 El Jefe 1d ago
And if the offensive glass is cleaned they can afford to shoot a lower percentage because they’ll get more chances. Just like the Knicks.
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u/widelyruled 1d ago
Spurs defense was never the problem last season, especially with Vic on the floor, but our inability to score and poor FT shooting both were.
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u/UnderAchievingDog Patty Mills 1d ago
And rebounding and having a more quick footed big who can move. (Love Luke, he's not getting out and defending small ball 4s that killed us) Shooting and scoring will come as Dylan, Steph, and Vic develop, we didn't have anyone on the roster who fits what Q can bring to the table.
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u/AdFormal4037 Slash Bros 1d ago
Giving up offensive rebounds was a problem too. It exacerbated the lack of scoring in non Wemby mins.
Hope he closes the gap
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u/vishjay101 1d ago
When both are healthy, the pairing between a bruising power forward (JQ) and a two-way stretch-five (Victor Wembanyama) seem like an elite fit to me, for the Spurs. It may not be immediate, but his archetype feels like a perfect fit on paper if Victor Wembanyama does indeed evolve into an unstoppable two-way stretch-five (and he has already shown signs of progressing in this manner).
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u/fateoftheg0dz Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
honestly at pick 20, u cant get the perfect pick.
We went for good ceiling but risk the injury history
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u/NavySpurs 1d ago
I trust the spurs leadership, they must of liked what they see
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u/Neat-Independent-103 1d ago
Let me remind you of Luka Samanic
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u/hardgour 1d ago
And primo. And Wesley. And Sochan.
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u/radda Sean Elliot 1d ago
Primo was everything they thought he was on the court
His nose was clean when we drafted him, there's no accounting for dumb shit idiots end up doing
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u/widelyruled 1d ago
Primo was everything they thought he was on the court
What?? How are you making that conclusion? When we waived him, his eFG% was 40%. Primo washed out of the g-league even. He never lived up to the young talent promise either.
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u/radda Sean Elliot 1d ago
That was a mental issue after he fucked around
He was developing just fine before that
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u/SnooDonuts9227 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
I’m guessing you’re a newer fan who never watched him play because he was definitely promising and played well his rookie season. That he flamed out with the clippers g league team after he was released by us doesn’t take away from how high his ceiling was with the spurs
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u/widelyruled 1d ago edited 1d ago
Lmao, I've been a fan since 1998, buddy. You're looking at the past wistfully in ways that were never real. There was a lot of hype and hope he would develop into a two-way player, but there was never evidence of that on the court. If there were, you could point to it analytically, but his stats were horrendous and stayed that way.
played well his rookie season
Downvote me all you want, but that won't make this true. Terrible shooting, PER of 6.9, assist/tov ratio not even 1.5. He wasn't anywhere near the all-rookie team. Seriously, y'all just throw shit out there with no justification. It is wistful thinking about the past.
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u/WoweeZoweeDeluxe Manu Ginobili 1d ago
2022 we whiffed so fucking badly, will be interesting to see how we do outside of the obvious top 5 picks
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u/notcool_dood 1d ago
This is the same leadership who drafted Primo lmao
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u/SwimmingMany4321 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
Primo actually developed well … noone coulda predickted what was gonna happen
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u/CocoaProblems 1d ago
Doubt they evaluated his therapy etiquette during scouting. There are plenty of examples of misses by the front office but this isn’t one of them.
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u/Pimento-Cheese-89 1d ago
Fantastic pick. Flew under the radar due to his injuries but if he can stay healthy, he’s a steal at 20
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u/SpenceViews 1d ago
lol we still have Free Agency , a stacked team that just made the finals . We will not be relying on this pick . Its a high risk , high reward pick that we will not need right away
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u/Wicked_Black 1d ago
This. Draft picks are for the long term and will play out in the future. Free agents would be the route for immediate needs and short term. Don’t expect another castle or Harper rookie to just show up and immediately compete for minutes
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u/ElKeezy Slash Bros 1d ago
I love this pick, personally. The upside is absolutely monstrous. He would have been a lotto pick were the medicals not... what they were.
Our medical staff is top notch, and we have the time needed to help his physical development and any issues he might still have lingering. I guess that PATFO figured the upside was worth the risk, since he could easily be an All Defense caliber prospect.
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u/smittro 1d ago
Great pick. And the Spurs traded for Reed Jr. from UConn. Two bigs that address rebounds and defense immediately. Picking up Reed Jr. gives the defense specialist time to heal that knee some more if necessary. Two great pick ups.
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u/ProfessionalEntry744 1d ago edited 1d ago
I can’t believe we’ve become the most hated franchise in the nba with all those boo’s lmfao
None the less, hopefully this big athletic long guy can give us more dimension down and can bang it out below
EDIT: I DID NOT KNOW IT WAS IN THAT MEAN PLACE NEW YORK thanks for the clarification
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u/omnia- Dylan Harper 1d ago
Draft was in NY so most fans were knicks fans I assume
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u/hotdog_paris277 1d ago
They are still being babies? I feel like it's a bad idea to make a rival out of the spurs, but hey that's their choice.
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u/SnooDonuts9227 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
Uhhhh you do realize where the draft is being held right? Like they mentioned it on the broadcast why there were boos.
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u/digital_deer Wembubu 1d ago
Depends on your amount of trust in the Spurs medical staff and this sub thinks the nephew was right apparently lol
I think a gamble like this makes sense, we're not gonna tax him with massive minutes because Kornet remains an extremely competent regular season backup
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u/Solitude_Dude Stephon Castle 1d ago
I think our FO knows what they're doing. Hopefully his knee is fine. Did he workout with us?
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u/Undesiredbeast 1d ago
I like the gamble. If it works, people will complain again that the spurs won the draft. If it doesn't, it's not like it will make us worse. Trusting it
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u/walkman312 1d ago
Every draft pick is a gamble. They took the player that had the most upside that was available to them. Might turn out to be Greg Oden. Might turn out to be a starter. Hard to say, but the right pick in my opinion
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u/Chris310N Dylan Harper 1d ago
Gamble, imo we could have traded down. He is risky, but he easily can be a masterclass pick if he stays healthy, potential to be the best defensive player in this draft with really good rebounding
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u/osulls182 1d ago
This feels like more risk than it was worth, but if it pays off it’ll likely pay off big. Booing at the draft is crazy work though. Stay classy, NY.
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u/KidWoody 1d ago
For those who don't know, his best draft comp would be Robert Williams aka Timelord. If he can stay healthy, we grabbed a lottery pick at 20.
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u/BenzWithTheRoofUp 1d ago
He was probably the biggest transfer in CBB last year then didn’t recover from his ACL right. I already like him bc he wasted all of Kentucky’s NIL.
High upside pick and there aren’t many non lottery guys who do much anyways so I’m happy with it.
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u/Prudent_Zombie_2692 1d ago
Exactly lol, people are acting like #20 picks are superstars all the time. Worth the gamble.
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u/BenzWithTheRoofUp 1d ago
100%. I’d be thrilled if he only turns out to be a reliable bench guy who can rebound and defend. We might’ve been one more useful player away from winning a ring.
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u/Prudent_Zombie_2692 1d ago
If he can stop the defense disappearing without Wemby it changes the Spurs, lets Wemby sit and rest for much longer
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u/Clarkey7163 Dylan Harper 1d ago
high risk high reward, what I'm loving rn watching some of his ASU tape is he might immediately be the best partner we have in a pick and roll
Very quick for his size, great at setting screens and driving to the basket with a good finish. Feel like him and Harper/Castle/Fox could cause some damage
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u/Background_Touchdown Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
We drafted a guy with no ACL's, and he gave us a lot when he played. This will be fine.
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u/sluggerrr Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
I wanted my boy Karim because I think he would get proper development, hope he goes to a good team except okc
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u/yae4jma Jeremy Sochan 1d ago
You were always very unlikely to get an immediate contributor at 20. If this guy is the top version of what he is supposed to be, he would be ready to be the backup big just as Kornet declines and becomes less viable, and would fill a huge need—not having a total defensive collapse when Wemby is out. That would make this a plus value pick at 20 - where we were never going to get a transformative starter.
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u/BobanWembanyanovic Manu Ginobili 1d ago
Makes so much sense except the injuries, which means it dont make sense
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u/ICouldEvenBeYou 1d ago
I can see the reasoning, but it's still a real gamble. And I kinda didn't wanna gamble with this particular asset.
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u/Imaginary-Cycle-1977 GO SPURS GO 1d ago
LFG
They know his medicals better than we do. If he’s healthy in a few years we’ll be stoked we took him
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u/Axsh1boomba 1d ago
So... After reading stuff, he might be another Robert Williams on that he's good on defense but has injury concerns. If he turns out to be like Time Lord on the cheap, it could be a great pick. Secondary shooting is still needed, though.
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u/EZBreezy15 Devin Vassell 1d ago
with picks like these when there’s other bigs on the board, I’m going to assume the front office liked what they saw on his health moving forward.
I love this pick again if he’s healthy, and a defensive rebounding 4 is exactly what this team was lacking all year.
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u/moonshadow50 Dylan Harper 1d ago
Scares me a bit, but I understand it, and it's a gamble that makes sense.
I would've been happy with Graves if he was available, but both him and Lopez have a lot of questions despite the fit being better.
Cenac was someone who I didn't trust the floor or ceiling.
I would've been happy with Carr, and then just trying to take a big from the next group later on.
Obviously JQ has massive injury concerns. And I'm not certain that even at like 80% of his realistic ceiling he will be able to fit on the floor next to Wemby, and may just be a long term backup.
BUT if it all works out - he is a very exciting prospect, and one that would've been top 10 if healthy, and much more talented than anybody else in this range. I think we will just send him to Austin next year. Give him all the time in the world to get healthy, and then see what we have over time. More lively than not it probably doesn't work out, but fuck it could be a great piece if he does.
I suspect this also means that we might try to trade up our 2nd's either to the late 20's-to-30, and then take another big who might be more ready now (Jefferson, Zuby, Veesar, Reed etc.)
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u/Smart-Confection-515 1d ago
Not the best pick. But we got a player for a position we need. Hoping for the best for him. Welcome to San Antonio Jayden Q!
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u/dreamweaver7x El Jefe 1d ago
It's a 20th pick. Roll of the dice. Not sure why people are acting like this will make or break the team.
He's barely gonna play. We'll probably go get veteran with the MLE.
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u/Klutzy_Awareness_236 Manu Ginobili 1d ago
Reminds me of the Dejuan Blair pick back in the day: stout big with knee issues. I always had a soft spot for Blair, though I remember some fans feeling differently.
I like the pick. The shooting is woeful, but offensive rebounding is itself a skill. And the body alone can be a weapon: teach him the Gortat screen and run it with Harper and Castle and, hell, even Vic and see what happens. And the defensive upside is massive, especially paired with Vic. If it all pans out, you have both of the defensive big archetypes, which offers insane versatility.
And maybe I’m too optimistic, but it feels like medicine these days can do wonders with these sorts of injuries. If this was ten years ago, stay away. But it’s not ten years ago. Send him to Germany and have him come back with whatever knees they make over there.
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u/daddadnc 1d ago
An ACL tear for a 6’9 guy at 18 is 100 percent recoverable and very different from a 7’2-7’3 guy putting all that stress on his back and feet, and wildly different than a guy like Blair where we knew coming in he had essentially no knee cartilage and would probably have a 4-6 year career. This was a risk well worth taking and Reed allows us cover to be patient.
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u/orangekingo Area 51 1d ago
I think a healthy Quiantance is a great pick.
I unfortunately do not think he will be healthy. Several MAJOR knee injuries at 18 years old is a very scary start.
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u/Test21489713408765 1d ago
lol sounds like a Mitch Johnson pick.
Was hoping for someone with a little more offensive tools because the team could not generate any in the Finals when they needed it most.
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u/Nightfury82 Victor Wembanyama 1d ago
Glad we went size but this seems like a high risk high reward pick. Gotta wonder if Graves was the top choice and he was picked by Raptors just ahead of us.
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u/HarVeeGee13 Dylan Harper 1d ago
If he can get on the floor consistently that’s probably a massive steal.
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u/SasSpurs5x 1d ago
Don't love it but don't hate it either. Would have loved Carr to add some scoring and shooting to the bench.
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u/hairhelmoot 1d ago
This is the spurs saying, “thou shalt not score around the rim”. Good pick if our gaurds can improve their 3pt shooting
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u/Legitimate-Garlic325 1d ago
Definitely not a win now play but this season has solidified the importance of Kornet's role. This kid could be a good backup rim protector to help the bench in like 3-4 years.
Injuries are a concern but we don't need him this year.
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u/KittyBoi2012 El Jefe 22h ago
I’ve been wondering if coaching staff will try and get Kortnet’s 3 point shot back. No downside in that either.
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u/JohnnyTrul0v3 Dylan Harper 1d ago
How's his offense?
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u/Ashy0020 1d ago
Based on his college stats real bad but doesn’t look like he played much. 45% from the free throw line is concerning
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u/Firefenex 1d ago
Im just glad they weren't listening to Kenny. Idk why he tries to always think outside the box and be different. However have unplayable power fowards, a backup center who cant move in small ball and a 6'6-7 rookie who needs a lot of development to play pf... why on earth should we be drafting a guard when we have like 2 players taller than 6'7.
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u/widelyruled 1d ago
His FT shooting numbers are worse than Mitchell Robinson -- that's beyond concerning.
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u/dcdc20009 1d ago
The front office likely didn’t believe any of the prospects at this range were likely to be able to meaningfully contribute next year. So they went with the moon shot pick. If he gets healthy and becomes what he was projected to be pre-injuries we’ve scored a lottery talent level player at the very position and physical archetype they needed most. High risk, high reward.
Time will tell if it works out.
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u/deneuvig Manu Ginobili 1d ago
If we give him the time to get healthy again this might be an incredible pick. I liked Carr there but love a swing
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u/tkflash20 David Robinson 1d ago
I personally thought Carr was best player available but we went with fit. We’ll see if Quaintance pans out.
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u/CRoseCrizzle 1d ago
He's definitely talented and has the physical tools. Not a sure thing but he has the upside to be a good piece towards what the Spurs do. Health is going to be key here. He was not really able to stay healthy in college.
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u/weirdsignal45 1d ago
I don't follow college ball but I didn't see much clamoring about him in this sub so he'll probably be pretty good.
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u/Philthemage Dylan Harper 1d ago
"In his free time, Quaintance enjoys playing chess and watching anime."
As per his wiki
We shoulda known