While most San Antonio Spurs fans are focused on the Memphis series, someone has to be looking ahead to the NBA Draft and that is why I am here. We’ve gone through some of the big names in the draft so far and now it is time to get to the potential later picks in the draft. Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon is one of those guys and he could be a nice steal for the Spurs in the second round should he drop to them. Here’s some of his measurables:
- 6’7”, 220 pounds, 6’8” wingspan
- 23.9 PPG, 2.4 APG, 5.8 RPG (all per 40 minutes)
- 45.2 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 75.4 FT%
- 28.8 minutes per game
He only played 28.8 minutes per game because FSU was honestly that deep and coach Leonard Hamilton ran with about 10 players every game (which was why I went with his per-40 stats). However, he made the most of it as you can see and posted an offensive rating of 110.3 and a solid enough defensive rating of 103.4 this past season, so he could be a nice help off the bench on both ends of the floor.
He’s able to play three different positions as a shooting guard, small forward or power forward in a small-ball lineup. His versatility is definitely something the Spurs would value and he could be a much quicker Kyle Anderson given the chance and will likely end up going to the D-League like Anderson did for a bit.
While Bacon is a sophomore, he will also be 22 years old by the time the season starts, so his lack of improvement from his freshman season is a little startling, but some of that is likely due to averaging the exact same amount of minutes each year and being held back by his coach a bit. He is a solid scorer even though he is not quite explosive going off one foot. He knows how to euro-step his way to the basket and use spin moves effectively to get where he wants as well, so he can make up for his lack of explosiveness in other ways.
While Bacon’s defensive potential is high, what he’s actually shown is not quite there and that will have to change. If there’s one team that can get him to change, it’s probably the Spurs though because he won’t see the floor if he doesn’t play any defense. His low rebounding numbers also present a problem, but some of that is due to playing with two legit 7-footers and another 6’10” guy who is going to be a lottery pick this year (Jonathan Isaac).
Bacon should be available in the second round and would not be a bad option for the Spurs. He might require a year or two of development, but the Spurs can afford to expend the energy and time on him since they are set on his position for quite some time now.
Photo: UpsideMotor.com
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
