A quick note on Marcus Denmon

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Wanted to post something about the Spurs’ Denmon pick on Friday, but I’ve been in the trenches of moving the last few days and any posting has suffered.

On the surface, the Spurs drafting was somewhere between a “huh?” and an “eh” for me. The thing is, what do you expect the Spurs to do with only the #59 pick in the draft? After the pick was announced, RC Buford said that the Spurs looked into trading up, but felt that there wasn’t anything that they could successfully pull off that would improve the team. The cost was higher than the value, in other words.

2012 is a long way from 1999 an international scouting by NBA teams has improved to the point where the odds of pulling off a Manu Ginobili-style heist late in the second round is damn near impossible. These days, if you’re able to pick a player in the latter half of the second round who spends more than two seasons in the NBA, you’ve hit a homerun.

I wasn’t wild about the Denmon selection; it seems redundant. Personally, I had my eye on Georgetown big man Henry Sims, if only because he measured at 6’10” with a 7’4″ wingspan at the combine. I would’ve like San Antonio to take a chance on a guy with that size.

Denmon, though, is in the mold of Gary Neal. An undersized 2-guard who can slide over and play point guard in a pinch, though that’s not what you want him for. He’s a scorer, one who should be able to knock down 3-pointers for days on end.

There may be something to the similarities to Gary Neal. As we’ve said before, Neal has a very tradable contract and one that is unguaranteed at that. If for whatever reason the Spurs feel the need to get rid of Neal, there’s the slim possibility that they have a ready-made replacement available.

Again, I wasn’t wild about the Denmon pick, but I’ve been wrong plenty of times before and expect the same in the years to come. I’m pretty okay with it. That late in the draft, if the Spurs draft anyone who sniffs the floor in the NBA, they’ve done a good job.

  • K

    Denmon will be in the NBA past his rookie deal. He’s a shooter, yes, but he isn’t selfish. He should be ecstatic to have a chance to learn in the Spurs system. I envision him as a pros pro that will allow us to move one or two of our other assets to position is better in the long run.

    P.s. Henry Sims would have been an excellent choice as well but was definitely not getting drafted so he’s still a future option.

  • Tyler

    Off topic, but Ferry is already leading the pack for GM of the year….

  • ThatBigGuy

    Since Manu, there’s about an 8% chance that a late second round pick makes a meaningful contribution to a team. That’s pretty low odds for production. Oddly enough, the Spurs currently have 4 of these players on the team: Ginobili, Bonner, Green, Mills.

    Denmon has as good of a chance to join the team as any other 2nd rounder. If he shoots like Neal did in his summer league stint, Denmon will likely find a really good opportunity to join the Spurs. If he doesn’t, he’ll hit the D-League.

  • DorieStreet

    1000% Hawks fans are dancing in Centennial Olympic Park’s Fountain of Rings (triple digit temperatures here- just like half the country). Not only did the new GM for a week get rid of “Iso-Joe” and his albatross contract, but shipped out overall #2 2005 pick Marvin Williams (picked ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams) to the Jazz. After learning his craft from working in the Spurs FO, there was little doubt Ferry was going to blow up the team and start over.
    Maybe down the line he can get the Hawks to break through their 2nd round playoff ceiling and keep a South Beach dynasty from taking form.

  • andy

    yeah, i’m hoping he comes into camp, impresses, and we offer him an unguaranteed 2 or 3 year deal for the minimum or close to it.

  • andy

    sims, i meant. with denmon, the best i think we can hope for is that he replicates neal’s success and skills, but with better defense, and allows us to ship gary (sorry, i like him too) for a shinier piece.

  • DorieStreet

    @andy - That’s about how I look at it. Since game one of the playoffs, Neal’s effort on defense was half-hearted at best, and shameful at its worst. Denmon’s stats shows he takes care of the ball, in addtition to rebounding and getting steals. But Neal made it to the NBA the hard way-that may give him an edge (along with the 2 years experience) to stave off a challenge from the draftee.

  • STIJL

    All draft night I was looking for the trade that never happened and the pick that never came about for a big man.
    Granted the talent level the Spurs were looking for may not have been there…and…I’ll have to live with there selection in hopes they can manipulate the over loaded perimeter roster to success.
    I suppose the Spurs felt they could possibly land a big via trade this off season using the players on the current roster and/or this draft pick to get one of better talent than what was available on draft night?

  • STIJL

    Possibly Spurs have sights on Horford of the Hawks. I know I’ve mentioned Josh Smith. But upon closer inspection…perhaps Ferry is looking to dump long term contracts as in Johnson. Keep Smith’s expiring for better use in the nearer future?

  • Tyler

    Another off topic comment -

    I realize backup PG is an issue for this team. Ideally, Patty Mills comes back for the right price. But if not, I could be persuaded into Justin Dentmon. He was the D-League MVP this past season and led the Toros to another title while putting up huge numbers.

    I assume he’ll play for our summer league team. We should know more then.

  • STIJL

    Thought that too. Dentmon appeared to be poised to make an nba team. Also…haven’t heard much about Corey Joseph and wonder how his development has progressed.

  • DorieStreet

    Horford would be ideal for the Spurs- solid offensive game (53% FG), plays hard and hustles every night, great guy off the court- but he is the one of possibly 3 Hawks (Smith and Jeff Teague the other 2) that Ferry keeps in his overhaul of that team.

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  • ThatBigGuy

    Despite being somewhat undersized and athletically average, Denmon possesses one real NBA skill: efficient shooting. I understand Sims has a nice body, but if you’re 6’10” and only grab one more rebound per game than a 6’2″ guard, what’s your NBA skill? Denmon shot a better FG%, too. The Spurs saw that SIms was likely to go undrafted, and saw that Denmon had that real NBA skill, so they grabbed him.

    Assuming Denmon is a copy of Neal, the Spurs now have a glut of 2’s and 3’s. Specifically, we have a glut of shooters. We have 6 guys who shot 38% or better on the year, and that’s not counting Jax’s ability to hit a hot streak or Diaw’s 62% in a Spurs’ uniform. Add Denmon to that mix and you have 9 guys that are legitimate threats from deep. The Spurs are LOADED with shooting.

    With that many shooters, the FO will surely flip some combination for other team needs. Don’t forget, it’s a long time until the trade deadline.

  • grego

    Horford also plays solid D. He’s a big reason why my Bruins didn’t break through them.

  • grego

    He’s been working out with Coach Chad Forcier and James Anderson during the offseason.

  • Grego

    And that’s not a bad thing one bit. That’s actually a success story once again, if that were to happen. Neal’s lack of D hurt the team badly, especially since they needed scorers on the court.

  • andy

    sims’ elite skill might’ve been defense. he posted a 91 defensive rating in college. although it was only one season as a starter and it’s college competition (although big east is not an easy conference), that’s a great number and you’d have to imagine he’s got something to back it up that you can develop.

    i understand it would’ve been a gamble vs. a definite case in denmon, but with the 59th pick, and a discrete deficiency on your frontline, why not take that gamble when the payoff (a big capable of defending) is a rarity?

    maybe (and i hope) i’m wrong, but there’s no way of knowing. it just strikes me as a little TOO conservative (and i’d say i’m more prudent than the next guy).

  • DorieStreet

    That Gator squad was something special for those two seasons.
    3 Final Fours straight, losing to the eventual champion each time; if the team would have broke through, would Coach Holland be known as the sorcerer, or magician, of Westwood?
    Maybe I’m biased because I saw it so much in the 70’s on national tv (basketball, football) but to me that color scheme is in the top 5 all-time for sports uniforms.

  • Tim in Surrey

    You can’t judge players at Georgetown or Vanderbilt by their rebounding numbers. The systems those schools employ substantially depresses rebounding totals for their big men. Just look at Hibbert’s numbers at Georgetown. Sims was one of three guys who averaged 6 or more this year, so he didn’t need to dominate the glass-the team did it.

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