What needs should the Spurs target in the draft?

Point Guard

Hail Cujo. Cory Joseph appears to have stabilized the backup point guard hole that had been a thorn in our side for centuries. He's young, athletic, quick, a gritty defender, and is improving offensively. Did I mention he's young? He also is under contract through next season.

Oh, and we also have the game's best poing guard, so we're good at the 1.

Shooting Guard

This one is a little less defined. We currently start Verde and bring the Argentine super sub off the bench. The question is does PATFO believe Green is a long term starter at the two? In the next few years, our front court will no longer feature Big Fun. How do we then stay relevant? Dare we try to draft, sign, or trade for a high profile big, or do we go a potentially easier route and add an elite wing?

I see SG as a very interesting position for us in draft talks. Manu is currently showing signs of slowing down, though that is not to say he can't experience a Duncan-esque revival next year. Gary Neal is filling an important, but replaceable, role on the team, and he's been doing it cheaply. Hopefully his physical shortcomings, defensive inconsistencies, and sometimes streaky shooting will keep his price reasonable.

I like Green. He's actually one of my favorite Spurs. Ideally, I'd like to see us keep him and somehow inherit a high-end PF. With the difficulties of that fantasy actually playing out, I'm not sure if Green provides enough as Tony's running mate to keep the ship afloat minus Manu and Tim.

Small Forward

The Big Future. The Kamazing One. Attempting to set aside platitudes for a moment, Kawhi Leonard is actually a great young player. His statistical contributions have been good (not great), but that's not surprising in the role he has been asked to play. On a lesser team, he reasonably could be scoring 17-18 ppg and pulling down 7-8 boards a night. His defense is years ahead of his age, and it should only get more stifling with time. In the days ahead, we'll need him to do all that.

Behind The Dunker, we have nothing. So hopefully we'll draft someone. Unless you guys think Tracy McGrady is awesome, in which case, you're right, of course, but not so much at basketball anymore.

Power Forward

Another interesting situation. We have the game's best, and not much else. I'm not sure what position Boris Diaw plays on our team, but I'm also not sure that he'll be doing it a whole lot longer. DeJuan Blair is gone, and Matt Bonner kinda does his own stretchy-4 type thing. Tell you what, though, I loved his defense while Splitter was out. Speaking of Splitter, I've got him as a center, so I'm not including him here. Centers are hard to come by, and he had a pretty good year at the position.

We've all been keeping an eye out for Tim's replacement for the last few years, but, unless Kevin Love decides to sign for Blair-money, we don't have a lot of answers. I'd love to see us sign some young depth, like Gustavo Ayon from Milwaukee, but there is no telling how it will all shake out.

Draft here? Maybe we could find a steal in the late first round, but more likely an answer would only come through a trade up.

Center

I'm a Splitter guy. I believe he will be the long-term answer at the 5 for us. I also feel Baynes could become a valuable member of our front court rotation. He's got the athleticism, strength, and coach-ability to make it on the New Spurs, as long as he can keep up with the system.

The only way I see us doing anything here is if we move Splitter in a trade. Such a thought pains me, but I've learned to trust.

In Summary

Wing. Wing wing wing wing wing.

I see that as our draft target. Primarily a backup for The Kleon, but moving up to get a future starting shooting guard is possible. Even reaching for a future power forward could be in the works, but I ridiculously predict a reserve small forward will be grabbed by RC and Co.