The San Antonio Spurs are now fully engaged in the season and while they may have struggled at times, the expectation is to make the playoffs yet again. They should get there and that means a late pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. There will be plenty of great options and it’s my job to get you prepared for anyone they might take.
That brings us to this week’s prospect to watch and it’s another Arizona guard — I’m really trying to help out West Coasters here — in sophomore Rawle Alkins. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard plays a little bit of both guard spots for Sean Miller’s fluid and near-positionless type of game. He’ll flip over to point at times, but projects more like a shooting guard at the NBA level. Alkins is still recovering from a foot injury he suffered over the summer, none the less, here are his stats from the 2016-17 season:
- 10.9 PPG, 2.1 APG, 4.9 RPG, 1.8 TOPG
- 46.3 FG%, 37.0 3P%
- 113.2 ORtg, 99.3 DRtg
Some people might think that Alkins is undersized as a shooting guard in today’s game, but he’s not a good enough ball handler to be a point and his physical build is just fine to play the 2. He’s athletic and can score well off the dribble and he is a solid shooter at all three levels — short range, mid-range, deep — so his only issues will be improving on the defensive end.
He has the athleticism to be a good defender, but he has lapses from time to time and he doesn’t quite collect as many steals as you’d like to see (less than one a game last season). He has to show more of his athleticism by improving that statistic specifically as that is a big translator for how well he might guard at the next level. However, he rebounds the ball very well at his position, as he grabbed almost five a game last season. That number might go down this season, but that’s because he’s got a legitimate 7-footer backing him up in the paint who should be grabbing a ton of boards.
Alkins is an intriguing prospect and he is currently projected to go late in the first round or early in the second round, so he definitely falls within the range for a potential Spurs pick. He should be a fun watch along with Allonzo Trier as both are potential guys the Spurs could end up picking in June’s draft and they play on the same team.
