With the picture becoming clearer on what the San Antonio Spurs need in terms of this upcoming draft, there’s definitely one point guard to consider. USC’s Isaiah Collier can provide the kind of toughness and playmaking that this team needs outside of Tre Jones and Jeremy Sochan. He can get downhill, is incredibly tough, and has an NBA-ready body at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds.
Collier has been quite impressive in his team’s first seven games of the season. He’s shown that he cannot only get to the rim with relative ease, but he’s a consistent shooter outside of the paint too. The freshman plays a little older than his age, but will have to cut down on turnovers as the season goes on if he wants consideration for the top spot in the draft in 2024. Here are his stats from his first eight games so far.
- 17.3 PPG, 1.1 SPG, 4.5 APG, 3.0 RPG, 4.6 TOPG
- 52.2 FG%, 40.0 3P%, 73.5 FT%
- 18.9 PER, 105.9 ORtg, 105.3 DRtg
Isaiah Collier Breakdown
Isaiah Collier is the kind of point guard you can trust to bend a defense and break down his defender. The Spurs are sorely lacking a one-on-one creator outside of Devin Vassell. Collier could give them major help there and open up the floor for his teammates. It would also likely spell the end of the Jeremy Sochan-at-point experiment once and for all.
While Collier’s defensive rating doesn’t show it, he can be a tough defender. He is physical and doesn’t let smaller guards get by him easily, but he will likely have to work on some lateral movement to keep the quicker guards from blowing by on him. He has good instincts, but will have to learn how to play more consistently in a team defense setting.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The offense is very much the calling card for Collier as he’s shown he’s a fantastic passer and facilitator. However, the turnovers are concerning and part of the reason his number is so high is because he has a 30% usage rate for this team. If he can get the turnovers under better control in conference play, that should go a long way in alleviating concerns. However, there’s one issue he seems to have already fixed and that’s the consistency in his shot. His shooting splits are great, although he could be better at the charity stripe. The biggest issue for some scouting Collier was how well he would shoot away from the rim. It’s safe to say he’s doing that well right now as he’s shooting over 40% from three on almost three attempts a game.
Cleaning up turnovers, continuing to shoot well, and showing off his passing skills will be key in staying a top-3 selection come draft time. These are all skills the Spurs could use and picking a player like Collier will certainly make this team tougher and he could easily grow into a leader for this squad.
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