With the draft in only a few short weeks, we have precious little time to go over some of the last remaining prospects the San Antonio Spurs could be going after. An intriguing player that could be available at the 29th pick is national champ Tony Bradley out of North Carolina. He could be a nice buddy for Danny Green to talk Tar Heel things with, but more importantly he could provide big man depth. Here are his stats and measurables from his lone year in college:
- 6’11”, 250 pounds
- 7.1 PPG, 0.6 BPG, 5.1 RPG
- 19.5 PPG (per 40), 1.6BPG (per 40), 14.1 RPG (per 40)
- 7’5” wingspan, max vert of 27.5”
- 9’4.5” standing reaching
Bradley has some great numbers and his per-40 minutes numbers suggest he could be a big help right away. His blocks per game raises some questions as someone with his height and body type should have recorded more blocks on the year. He was also only playing 14.6 minutes per game so it’s unclear if more minutes would have made him look better as well. However, his lack of athleticism is a little concerning, but there are plenty of big men who can ground and pound and still be effective defensively like Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.
The 19-year old didn’t get to show off his entire array of moves both because of the guard play from UNC as well as not really needing to. The Tar Heels were the best offensive rebounding team in the country and so a bunch of buckets were made right at the rim by the big men, especially Bradley. He does have a few go-to moves though and it would be nice to see those on display given the chance in the new G-League to start.
Bradley is a good free throw generator, but he does not convert as well as you would hope at about 62 percent. That’s alright for a big man, but it can certainly be improved and he’s not nearly as big a liability as a DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard though so that’s good. He’s active around the rim with a superb 18.7 offensive rebounding percentage and that contributes to his free throw generation as well.
Plenty of people will say they have issues with his consistency, but that’s always going to be an issue when you’re getting less than 15 minutes a game on a great team like UNC. While he is active around the basket he does struggle at times with finishing there — which is part of the consistency issue — and can even be wild at times.
Overall, Bradley would be a nice addition and not the worst risk pick at 29 in the first round. He could eventually become a contributor to the team and get some call ups from the Austin Spurs depending on the San Antonio big man situation next season. His face up game will get an upgrade at the next level with the proper coaching and could become a solid playmaker out of the post in a couple short years.
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