A guy I was on since last season, Quinndary Weatherspoon came back better in his Senior year. The Spurs agreed he was a top 50 prospect and took him 49th overall. 

I have to give myself credit for being an early believer in Quinndary. I went to watch Mississippi State to scout his brother and he jumped off the screen to me. I was shocked to not find him on any boards but that changed soon after. I love his game and feel like he is the type of guy that can “come out of nowhere” and be a contributor, maybe even a starter, for some team down the road.

Quinndary Weatherspoon, SR, SG. Mississippi State

Key Measurements: 6’4″ 205. 6’9″ wingspan

Key stats: 18.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.7 spg

Shooting: 39.6% from 3. 80.9% from FT.

Bib’s Board Rank: 30

Thoughts on the pick

Spurs gon’ Spur. While I didn’t love the Spurs first pick, their next two were both guys I thought were being slept on. Now I get to see them both play for the Mavs’ biggest rival alongside my guy from last year, Lonnie Walker. The Spurs now have a ton of guards (DeRozan, Mills, Belinelli, Forbes, Walker, White, and Murry are all under contract) so I’m not sure where the new guys fit in. I almost feel like they may be gearing up to make some moves.

Time will tell.

What to expect from him

Offense: Q is a smooth operator on the offensive side of the ball. He’s great weaving through traffic to get to the basket. He almost looks like he’s moving in slow motion he makes it look so effortless. He’s strong and finishes through contact. He does a great job of getting his body into defenders, not just on the drive but on the perimeter as well. He uses the contact and his long strides to create separation from his man and then has a long wingspan so it’s hard to get to his shot.

He can score at all 3 levels with the ball in his hands and off the ball is a great slasher. Though he’s not tall, because of his build and length he has a very effective post game and can take advantage of guards his size or smaller.

He can also make a lot of the passes and may get some run at the point in the NBA. I believe he mentioned it in an interview during the pre-draft process and that could get very interesting. I wouldn’t call him a playmaker because his role at MSU was to score but he has the skills to become that if that’s what he’s asked to do.

Defense: Defensively Weatherspoon is going to be fine. I won’t call him a clamp artist but he has great awareness, plays good team defense and is an opportunistic thief. If a man throws a sloppy pass or dribbles loosely around him he’s likely to get his hand on the ball. I would expect him to guard both guard spots at the next level but I’m not sure how he’d fare against 3’s.

Other: Quinndary is a calm, cool, and collected guy who just wants to ball. His personality should work well in San Antonio and Pop and co will be able to mold him into whatever they need him to be. Besides that, I do like that he is a guard who hits the glass, crashing on offense and boxing out on defense.

Flaws/Areas for Improvement

I mentioned Q potentially running some point at the next level and that can only happen if he tightens up his handle. Sometimes he can be a little bit too casual with it and while this didn’t hurt him much in college, it will in the NBA.

Expectations:

I have to watch how this offseason plays out for the Spurs. As I pointed out they have about 9 guards so minutes are likely to be hard to come by. He’ll likely spend a lot of time in the G-league this year unless there are dramatic roster changes much like the guys that came before him.

Long term, as I said above, he’s a guy that I could see being a starter at the 2 for someone in a few years.

-Bibs