Three Potential Landing Spots for Ray Spalding

With the NBA Draft just a few days away, and prospect workouts happening nearly every day, we take a look at three spots where former Louisville basketball star forward Ray Spalding may land.

Shortly after the Louisville basketball’s season ended in a disappointing loss to Mississippi State, junior big man Ray Spalding announced that he would be headed off the 2018 NBA Draft, which wasn’t shocking to anyone.

Spalding had just completed a career season for the Cards, where he was the team’s second leading scorer, and the leading rebounder. He showed much improved tenacity, and fearlessness around the rim, as well as the ability to rebound at an extremely high rate, and score when given the opportunity.

While Spalding didn’t initially hire an agent, just a few weeks after new head coach Chris Mack was introduced, the 6’10 big man announced his intentions to hire an agent – therefore removing any chances of returning for his senior season.

Since then Spalding has attended the combine, where he was widely regarded as one of the best performing big men and measured in at 6’10 with a 7’4.5″ wingspan.

During his combine interviews, Spalding talked about what type of player he could be at the next level, and why that necessarily wasn’t the player scouts and GM’s saw during his time at Louisville. Spalding said;

"“That’s what I had to do at Louisville. I didn’t have to shoot tons of threes. I didn’t have to shoot a bunch of jumpers. I didn’t have to put the ball on the deck. I just did what the team asked me to do. My guys are kinda sending out film to different people and letting ‘em know what I’m capable of doing.”"

Many believe that Spalding could still add a lot more to his game, with skills that haven’t quite been seen yet. In college he was asked to be a monster on the glass, protect the rim, and score off those opportunities. Not to mention, Spalding’s development was a bit compromised during his junior season when Rick Pitino was let go, and Interim Head Coach David Padgett took over.

At this point in time it seems that Spalding will be a mid-to-late second round pick. His value will lie in his ability to rebound in bunches, and protect the rim, while growing into the ability to score when given the opportunity. Team’s late in the second round will value his size, length, and athleticism, as well as his potential. Though he played three years at Louisville, Spalding’s potential is still widely believed to be “untapped.”

Spalding will need to develop into a niche player, who’s role will strictly be to the dirty work when limited minutes. With that being said, I’ve identified three teams who could potentially spend a second round pick on Spalding.

Utah Jazz

Picks: 52

Besides the fact that the Jazz drafting Ray Spalding would reunite him with his former teammate Donovan Mitchell, this is probably the best fit out of all of the five teams listed. The Jazz could have a huge opening at power forward, as their starter Derrick Favors is an unrestricted free agent come July 1st, and could demand more money than Utah wants to pay. They recently had Spalding in for a predraft workout, signaling there could be mutual interest.

While Utah played their way into the fifth seed, and a playoff victory in 2018, they are still a young team who’s number one goal should be to develop their talent. Adding Spalding to the end of their bench, would give head coach Quin Snyder another young, developing big who could spend a year or two in the G-League, and eventually play a role in the Utah Jazz’s run to the playoffs.

If Spalding goes to Utah, get used to seeing a bunch of Jazz jerseys around town.

OKC Thunder

Picks: 53, 57

Another team who could be looking for a power forward this summer is the Oklahoma City Thunder. Currently without a first round selection in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Thunder will need to make a splash with their second round pick, as they have several holes to fill before next season.

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We all know that the team could potentially lose star forward Paul George, as the unrestricted free agent is one of the biggest names on the market and could be a target of the Los Angeles Lakers. However, it’s reserve forward Jerami Grant, who plays a very similar game to Spalding, who could leave a open void for the Thunder in their front court next season. Not to mention the team already lost veteran forward Nick Collison to retirement.

Adding a player like Spalding would give the Thunder another good, young, developmental rebounder and inside presence who could help provide spot minutes behind emerging big man Steven Adams.

The Thunder have two late second round picks, and could target Spalding with either of those selections – as they fit the range of where the Louisville big man could be grabbed.

If the Thunder were to draft Spalding, he would likely spend some time with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s NBA G-League Affiliate, who has been notoriously good with developing big men.

Philadelphia 76ers

Picks: 38, 39, 56, 60

While it is HIGHLY unlikely that the Philadelphia 76ers, aka the Process Trusters, keep all four of their second round picks (they also have the 10th pick in the first round), they will most likely hang on to at least one or maybe even two of them.

Having four picks out of the final 22 selections makes the odds of the 76ers drafting Spalding significantly higher than most teams. While that’s not typically how the draft works, it may end up playing out that way, as the Sixers will have all four of their true power forwards entering free agency at once.

It’s likely that they retain at least two out of the four of those guys, but drafting Spalding as insurance makes sense nonetheless. Spalding would be a great fit for Philly because of his versatility. The Sixers have truly embraced “positionless” basketball, as the rest of the NBA tries to navigate through what that looks like for their respective team.

Spalding is a player who can play both the four, and even the five in a “small lineup” and is a guy who could develop into a modern day center, due to his ability to protect the rim, rebound, and switch onto smaller offensive players in pick-in-roll situations.

Just like with the other teams mentioned, Spalding would need to spend some time with a G-League Affiliate, and the Delaware 87ers would provide a great fit. A big plus in being drafted by the Sixers and being assigned to the 87ers, is the priviledge to don the faboulous Spongebob jerseys.

76ers G-League team’s jerseys for Spongebob Night pic.twitter.com/IvGVuBWaWf
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) January 4, 2018

Spalding is sure to have several more workouts over the next 9 days leading up to the 2018 NBA Draft, which could begin to show which teams might be likely to select him or target him via free agency if he were to go unselected.

I don’t see the latter happening, as I fully expect someone in the 35-60 range to bring him in. As you may or may not know, second round picks are guaranteed anything more than a chance to make a roster, so from there Spalding will have to prove why a team should keep him around.

Next: Louisville vs Kentucky Basketball Rivalry Will Be Just As Intense Under Chris Mack

With his great length, knack for crashing the glass, and admirable potential, Spalding is a potential steal in the back half of the second round and could provide tremendous value for one lucky NBA team.

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