The Spurs are anticipated to be gamers within the free company large man market, after deciding on a guard and a wing within the draft. Rival executives count on Luke Kornet to be one among their targets, in keeping with The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer($).
Kornet is a journeyman heart who discovered a house with the Celtics in 2022 after bouncing across the league and enjoying for six different groups since beginning his profession, together with a brief stint in Boston. For some time, he was extra well-known for the Kornet Kontest than his play, however previously two years, he turned a staple of Joe Mazzulla’s rotation. The numbers aren’t spectacular, as he averaged simply six factors, 5.3 rebounds, and a block a recreation final season on 18.6 minutes an evening in arguably his finest season. However he was a stable defender who stepped up each time he was wanted to fill in for an injured large man. His influence went past the field rating, with the Celtics outscoring opponents by 14.9 factors per 100 possessions with Kornet on the ground within the common season.
The attraction of Kornet is his stable, conventional large man play. He’s listed at 7’1 and he makes use of his dimension properly inside. He’s not an outdoor menace and hasn’t tried to be one in years, fortunately accepting that he’s at his finest within the paint. He’ll seize offensive boards and end across the rim on offense, and he’ll finish possessions and defend the rim on protection. Kornet is a workhorse who doesn’t want touches and is joyful to make use of his practical passing to maintain the ball shifting. His screens are stable, and his exercise stage is excessive, as he contests a ton of pictures. There’s nothing flashy about his recreation, however he has proved he may give a superb workforce 15-20 minutes of productive, mistake-averse two-way play on the heart place. With Victor Wembanyama coming off a protracted interval of inactivity, having somebody to eat up minutes with out harming the workforce can be invaluable for San Antonio.
The query with Kornet is how a lot he’s hoping to get in free company. Fischer factors out that the soon-to-be 30-year-old large by no means had an enormous payday and might be on the lookout for one within the mid-level exception market. He’s unquestionably a stable participant, but when he’s hoping to get the complete exception, that would give groups pause. He’s at his finest as a backup, and he doesn’t appear to have quite a lot of upside left, except the surface capturing flashes he confirmed earlier in his profession flip into a brand new dependable weapon. For the Spurs, he’s somebody they may solely pair with Victor Wembanyama in choose matchups and who would probably battle to share the ground with Jeremy Sochan, except Sochan makes a serious leap as a shooter. The screening might massively assist the guards, however utilizing the perfect software left so as to add expertise heading into the season on somebody who would possibly log quarter-hour a recreation might really feel wasteful.
Kornet might positively assist the Spurs, who’ve struggled each time Wembanyama has sat. The query is whether or not the remainder of the roster is nice sufficient that prioritizing signing a doubtlessly expensive backup heart is sensible.
Free company will kick off on Monday, June 30, at 5 p.m. CST.
