Cory Joseph

Cory Joseph
PG, 6’3, 193lbs, 25 years old, 6 years of experience

Joseph improved slightly on all his numbers from last season, small but measurable improvements across the board that speak to the solid job he did filling in for an injured Lowry. Without any one clear-cut strength, Joseph made for a good back-up option by virtue of his all-around game, headiness and discipline. Driving to the basket, finishing well for his size, shooting a good two-point pull-up, occasionally catching and shooting from three, aggressively trying to keep tabs defensively with those both bigger and faster than him, and working the offence without thriving in it, Joseph has become a plenty solid back-up point guard, further buoyed here by being Canadian.

Player Plan: Two years and a combined $14,575,000 remaining, with a player option for the final year. Despite his very solid play and Canadianness, it might be worth dealing him if Lowry re-signs, partly because the money might be needed elsewhere and partly because, if he opts out, he’s likely walking, thus a decent asset walks with him.

[...] DeMarre Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas are not drawing much defensive respect outside of the paint, while Patrick Patterson is not making enough shots this season to capitalise. Although somewhat effective, backup point guard Cory Joseph is not the scoring counterpart of DeRozan in the same way Lowry is, while Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet are not NBA calibre primary playmakers at this time. And while Serge Ibaka has become one of the better stretch bigs in the game, he is not creating looks with or without the ball so much as just taking what crops up. DeRozan is at his best as the first or second scoring option in a two-option line-up, but without Lowry, Toronto has thus far only had one.[...]

Cory Joseph, San Antonio Spurs

As the penultimate pick in 2011, Joseph is certainly cheap enough at only $2,023,261 in his fourth season. However, his own team has twice placed players ahead of him with Nando de Colo and Patrick Mills, and thus Joseph fits no obvious role with the Spurs.

Working in his favor are strong performances in the D-League last season and in the FIBA America tournament this summer. Joseph has talent and has demonstrated that at levels close to the NBA one. However, given that the Spurs have plenty of competition for the only role Joseph can fit, it seems unnecessary to guarantee him NBA salary if they can't guarantee him NBA minutes.

Pick 29: San Antonio, seeking to replace George Hill, make a selection reminiscent of the one that got them Hill in the first place. In a fairly shocking pick, they select Cory Joseph out of Texas, a man who was a legitimate threat to go undrafted tonight. Joseph is not a talentless player by any stretch, and having completed only one year at Texas before declaring, he has plenty of time left to prosper. But he's also not really any better than Curtis Jerrells.

Joseph's decision to declare was pretty shocking, given that he wasn't certain to get picked at all, let alone in the first round. And yet now he's gone in the first round to a team within the same state. Perhaps he had a hunch.

Cory Joseph - Joseph shouldn't really be here. He is this season's you-probably-shouldn't-have-declared point guard, and it's not as if he's riding the crest of momentum off the back of a deep tournament run, for Texas once again faded late. That said, he is not this year's Tommy Mason-Griffin or Courtney Fortson, for he is at least a good player. Joseph is a smooth, versatile and talented corer, if unspectacular and undersized. Juan Dixon turned a similar skillset into some NBA years. But Juan Dixon had a hell of a lot more legacy in his favour.