The San Antonio Spurs have their best weapon back in Kawhi Leonard, so they should be back to their winning ways even with a time restriction on him. They are still on pace for over 50 wins this season and that means a shot at a low pick in the first round for the 2018 draft. So now you’ve come here to see who the Spurs should be considering with that pick.
This week’s prospect is Syracuse Orange guard Tyus Battle. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard is leading his team in scoring and has had seven games this season of 20 or more points and has only failed to reach double digits once in XX games. He’s an intriguing prospect as he should be a legitimate shooter at the next level, but he still has a few question marks about his game.
Here are some of his stats:
- 19.9 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.7 SPG
- 42 FG%, 34.6 3P%
- 116.2 ORtg, 99.4 DRtg
- Per-40 stats
- 21.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.6 APG
- Per-40 stats
Battle shoots about 35 percent from beyond the arc and that could probably be even better if he didn’t have to use almost 30 percent of his team’s possessions when he’s on the floor. Only two other players average double-digit scoring so he becomes the go-to guy more often than not and that has potentially torpedoed his shooting percentage there, as he averages almost seven three-point attempts a game.
He does generate free throws fairly well though as he gets to the charity stripe five times a game and shoots above 80 percent from there. However, he’s going to have to work on his ball handling if he wants to be as versatile on offense as he is on defense. He can guard two or even three positions (in small ball lineups), but he can really only play at the 2 right now with a potential to play at 3 in small ball lineups.
Battle does play in a 2-3 zone scheme at Syracuse so playing man defense might be a concern, but that can be taught with the staff that the Spur have. His defensive rating has improved from his freshman season so he can clearly learn how to defend better.
