NBA Mock Draft: Wolves move up, Lakers get All-American

The San Antonio Spurs pretty much only draft good players. That said, Kai Jones would be a monumental risk at this stage in the draft.

While Jones generally showed flashes at Texas this past season, the overall volume at which he showed those flashes vs. when he looked like a work-in-progress isn’t a great ratio – averaging nine points five rebounds, one steal, and one block per game.

Kai Jones is an uber-athletic big man that can run in transition and hit the occasional three. He moves fairly well on defense but was pretty poor when having to protect the rim.

NBA Mock Draft: Spurs bet on Kai Jones’s upside

Jones has the potential to become the complete offensive center – someone that can score inside and from range – with the athleticism to switch defensively – and that is really, really appealing.

The risks, as I mentioned, are really big though. There is a non-zero chance he falls out of the league within a few years – what he does is extremely raw and will need time to develop. But if he hits… well… then the Spurs got another one.

San Antonio is likely going to lose their best player this coming offseason in DeMar DeRozan – which could lead them to enter into a rebuilding process. Jones wouldn’t necessarily kickstart that – but he would certainly signal to other teams that this would be the direction that the Spurs are going – because he simply is not going to affect winning as a rookie.