Most of you have probably heard the name Jonas Jerebko by now. He’s moving up the draft board, and there is no doubt the Spurs have a strong opinion about his game. Jerebko played last season with Angelico Biella, where he was a teammate of James Gist. The Spurs, one would assume, have scouted the Swedish small forward as thoroughly as any team in the Association. He’s currently mocked late first/early second.

Writing about his recent performance in Treviso, Jonathan Givony says:

[Jerebko] was able to make his presence felt immediately, looking impressive in both the morning drills and the actual game-giving the NBA people a very good feel for what he brings to the table. Jerebko shot the ball well throughout the day, only missing one of his seven shots in the game, while picking up 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 28 minutes. He also showed something of a back to the basket game, using his superior size to get off a pretty and very old-school sky-hook shot in the lane. He played very physical man to man defense on the perimeter, while always looking to make the proper rotation on team defense. He also showed plenty of hustle, going the length of the floor with reckless abandon at one point to come up with a loose ball, and using his length to alter plenty of shots around the paint as well, not giving his matchup anything easy. Considering the small sample size, there wasn’t a whole lot more Jerebko could have done. After seeing him a number of times in person over the past year and a half, it’s safe to say that there aren’t many players like him in this draft.

A little over 48 hours out, my optimism about this “weak draft” continues to grow. Not because I disagree that the draft is under-par in terms of talent. That assessment seems right to me. I’m encouraged by how nicely the draft sets up for San Antonio. The underwhelming amount of talent and poor economy have created a climate that could favor San Antonio on draft night. The Spurs will have legitimate opportunities to move into the first round, and the players available to them have skills sets that are in demand in San Antonio. Jerebko is one such player. If Buford wanted, he could try a hand at going all Presti/Pritchard on this draft. Jerebko may not be a homerun pick, but he’ll put a man on base.

Let me approach this from another angle. Even if the Spurs don’t move up, someone like Jerebko could fall into their lap. RealGM has posted a Spurs draft breakdown, and it includes this smart observation:

Who’s Gone Number 37th Recently?

The forecast actually doesn’t look too grim with the 37th overall pick. The Spurs lack a first-rounder, but they do have a solid history mining gems out of the second round. Someone similar to Mbah a Moute or Turiaf would be ideal for San Antonio. 2008 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee 2007 Josh McRoberts, Portland 2006 Bobby Jones, Minnesota (traded to Philadelphia) 2005 Ronny Turiaf, Los Angeles 2004 Royal Ivey, Atlanta

It’s easy to imagine a name like Jonas Jerebko or Victor Claver or Danny Green assuming a spot on that list. In terms of the 37th pick, the Spurs could get lucky.

The Painted Area is running a piece on Jerebko this morning. I loved this paragraph of their breakdown:

Another aspect that makes him enticing to NBA front offices is his defensive acumen. Primarily matched up with former Xavier standout David Hawkins in the semi-final series vs. AJ Milano. Did a very commendable job guarding the 6-3 Hawkins on the perimeter. Impressed with his lateral quickness on the defensive end, consistently changed direction pretty well. Never really got burned by the quicker Hawkins.

So the word on Jerebko is that he is a little bit of an everyman, with great size for small forward, the defensive chops to stick with perimeter players, and an emerging three point shot.

I’ll let you Google for on court highlights. The video below was shot by Givony and gives you a pretty good sense of Jerebko’s professionalism and demeanor. As an aside, Biella is known for its ability to develop players. This is one reason among many that the Spurs have struck up a friendship with the club. Givony and Jerebko talk a little about his development since joining the team. I’m curious to see if the Spurs send any more late picks to Biella, or if the Gist situation was a one year arrangement.