The San Antonio Spurs have reached yet another postseason and the only thing left for them to do is win their last game and hope to get as high as the sixth seed. However, you already know we are looking ahead to the NBA Draft in June.
San Antonio currently has three total picks in the draft and we are going to look at a potential second-rounder for them. He’s a big commodity but really hasn’t appeared on many mock drafts. However, he could be a fun draft-and-stash project for the team.
I am talking about none other than the incomparable Tacko Fall. The UCF standout is a monstrous 7-foot-6 and weighs 310 pounds. He could become the next Boban Marjanovic and surely Spurs fans want this.
Fall would be tough to justify taking in the middle of the second round, but if the Spurs knew they would have to stash a player or two this season then there’s no real risk there for them.
Here are some of Fall’s numbers for reference on how well he’s played this past season.
- 11.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.6 BPG
- 74.8 FG%, 36.2 FT%
- 25.6 PER, 113 ORtg, 90.7 DRtg
The Senegalese center is obviously big, has extremely long arms and protects the rim well. He would likely become a specialist should the Spurs select him in the draft.
Fall would guard the bigger and slower guys in the league. He is fairly mobile for his size, but that’s still relatively slow compared to how the modern big man can move in this day and age. His wingspan would likely make up for that though and help him recover on defense.
Some things he has going for him are that he has great hands, a large rebound and catch radius as well as some basic go-to moves in the post. With his height and arms, he should be able to get up his hook or push shot over anybody.
And if he misses the shot, he’s more than likely to scoop up his own miss and slam it back in for good measure. He finishes strong at the rim and can dunk from the restricted area semi-circle, so his radius of easy make shots is pretty big too.
The behemoth senior out of Senegal will have several aspects of his game to work on like his shooting form because it is just downright atrocious.
If he can fix that at all, then he should be on his way to extending his range. However, that looks like a big “if” going forward.
Fall will also have to work on getting quicker, improving his conditioning and strengthening himself to avoid injury. If he does those things and even bulks up a bit to 325 pounds, he could have a place in the NBA.
He is a major project, but one that might be worth the defensive upside if the Spurs are willing to wait on his development.
