Tiago Splitter

[...] With one exception: the date becomes Jan. 15 if the player is a Larry Bird or Early Bird free agent who re-signed with his over-the-cap team and received a raise greater than 20% in the first season of his new deal in the process. This applies only to Brandan Wright, Timofey Mozgov, Tony Allen, Nikola Pekovic, Chase Budinger, J.R. Smith and Tiago Splitter.

More teams should play the long game with international players, but they don't. While first rounders contracts are bound by the terms of the rookie salary scale, the rules states that if a player does not sign in the NBA for over three years after being drafted in the first round, then they are no longer bound by the scale. Everyone knows this rule, but no one does anything about it, which is why we see players like Tiago Splitter and Nikola Pekovic fall so far every year. But the Spurs, who picked Splitter, have the self-confidence to work with the rule in mind. Most executives are on short term contracts, which is why they make short sighted moves; they're trying to keep their jobs. But R.C. Buford of the Spurs surely knows of his job security, and drafts accordingly. And it's for that reason, plus a healthy dollop of common sense, that the Spurs are able to draft so well. It's a simple formula that so few others follow.

- Tiago Splitter

Spurs draft pick Splitter is, as always, with Caja Laboral (the artists formerly known as Tau Ceramica). He is averaging 27.7 minutes, 16.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, shooting 60% from the field and 79% from the free throw line. His PER in the ACB is a whopping 26.9, best in the ACB. Considering the ACB is the second best league in the world, second only to the NBA, then you can see what that means. Splitter is arguably the best player not in the NBA.

(By the way, second in the ACB in PER is former Warriors draft pick Richard Hendrix, and third is former Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll. Hendrix should also be in the NBA. Carroll should stay where he is.)

The rule regarding rookie scale contracts is that if a player does not sign his within three seasons of being drafted, he is no longer bound by it. This will mean that in the summer, the Spurs can use their mid-level exception to sign him, which they will need to do to outbid Vitoria. (The same rule also applies to Frederic Weis, who therefore is a candidate for the Rockets' MLE this summer. Sort of.) San Antonio knew this would be the case when they drafted him, which is why they took him anyway, knowing that a low 20's pick's salary would not be sufficient to sign him. It looks like it's going to pay off.