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[url=Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010...12:09 pm]48 Minutes of Hell[/url]
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010...12:09 pm
The NBA Draft is always surrounded by a catastrophic whirlwind of rumor. The Spurs are not immune to the dizzying swirl, and it’s often difficult to keep up with all that is supposedly happening with the team. In addition to the Tony Parker trade rumors, there is a less scintillating but more believable rumor attached to the Spurs. Thus spake Chad Ford:
[Elliot] Williams has limited his workouts to just two teams — the Spurs and Rockets. Either he has a promise in the first round or rumors about his injury being worse than realized are true.
In recent drafts, the Spurs have played the medical trump card on at least one other occasion. Back in November of 2008, I crafted a longish post detailing how the Spurs had in fact promised to select Nico Batum and George Hill at 26 in the 2008 draft. Two players with one pick isn’t easy to pull off.
Their selection of Batum was short-circuited by the Portland Trailblazers, who traded up to 25 in order to snatch Batum from San Antonio’s clutches. But the Spurs can’t be faulted for trying. As the aforementioned post chronicles, Nico Batum’s pre-draft stock was sent into a curious limbo after the discover of a supposed heart condition during a June 2008 medical exam. Batum’s camp swore he was fine, but–and here is the curious part–his medical records were only available to two teams, the Spurs and Cavs. If not for Kevin Pritchard, Nico Batum would be a Spur.
And George Hill? He might still be a Spur, but as another unexpected second round gem.
Would the Spurs make a promise to a guy and then bury his talent under a cloud of medical scrutiny? Sure. They’re clever like that.
