NBA Draft
San Antonio Spurs Select Kyle Anderson at No. 30
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
With the 30th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft the San Antonio Spurs selected Kyle Anderson, a 6’8 forward from UCLA.
Anderson was by far the most unique player in college basketball last year as he primarily ran the point guard position for the Bruins. He was a regular triple-double threat and an absolute match up nightmare. His high basketball IQ was probably one of the things that attracted the Spurs to him the most.
Coincidentally, the player who Anderson is compared to the most is Spurs forward Boris Diaw, who possesses a similar combination of size and playmaking ability. Diaw was absolutely phenomenal during the Spurs’ run to the 2014 NBA Championship, but is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. His strong play could lead to his price tag being too high for the Spurs to match. If that is the case, there’s no better replacement on the planet than Anderson.
Anderson’s jump shot has come a long way over the course of the last year, but what is really going to make or break his chance at playing for the Spurs is his defense. He played a lot of zone at UCLA last year and is not known as a particularly strong defender. It’s hard to play for Gregg Popovich when that is the case, but Anderson’s defense should benefit immediately just from being under his tutelage and in the Spurs’ system.
