How the New Orleans Pelicans’ division rivals fared in the 2020 NBA Draft

The San Antonio Spurs were quiet as usual but as long as Gregg Popovich commands them from the sidelines, they’re a threat to the New Orleans Pelicans

San Antonio Spurs

• Selected Devin Vassell with the 11th pick
• Selected Tre Jones with the 41st pick

Despite some predraft rumors suggesting that the San Antonio Spurs were planning something big, the Spurs came out of the 2020 Draft with a typical Spurs class.

They selected two high character guys in Devin Vassell and Tre Jones to add to their program both of whom have enough upside that Gregg Popovich and his staff could make them stars.

My only concern is what did these picks actually do for the Spurs? San Antonio showed last season that they’re a team stuck with a foot in the past and a foot in the future. They played poorly all season when relying on veterans DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge, and showed some flashes in the bubble when their young players got to step in.

Overall though, I’m still confused about how the Spurs are attempting to build their roster. They already have plenty of young backcourt and wing depth with Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, and Keldon Johnson on the roster. It feels to me like the Spurs will have to sort out some kind of rotation for all of these overlapping favors.

But hey, I’m not complaining because while the Spurs struggle to configure a rotation and continue to put the Aldridge-DeRozan combo on the court, the Pelicans should be able to run all over them in the fastbreak.

So there it is, the Southwest division definitely got interesting after the draft. Two teams got better and two teams failed to move the needle. Of course, the New Orleans Pelicans still have to figure out what they’ll do with their own clutter roster, but there’s still a chance they can rise into this division’s elite to make some noise in the Western Conference.