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NBA draft: Potent picks past No. 50

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Late draft picks who made good

Bucks’ Anthony Mason, left (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Drazen Petrovic of the Nets. (Tim DeFrisco/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Knicks’ general manager Isaiah Thomas, right. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Bulls’ Kyle Korver. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Rockets’ Luis Scola. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Suns’ Marcin Gortat, left. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Spurs’ Mario Elie. (EXPRESS-NEWS/JERRY LARA)

Spurs’ Patty Mills, right. (EDWARD A. ORNELAS/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS)

Timberwolves’ Sam Mitchell, left. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Sarunas Marciulionis of the Warriors. (Mike Powell/Getty Images)

Anthony (Spud) Webb of the Hawks (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Spurs’ Steve Kerr. (JERRY LARA/Express-News)

Owning only the No. 59 pick in Thursday’s NBA draft, the Spurs aren’t expecting to add an immediate impact rookie. In reality, odds are good whoever’s name deputy commissioner Adam Silver calls second-to-last in Newark, N.J., will struggle simply to make the Spurs’ roster.

Yet the late second round is not always fallow ground, and the Spurs need only to look at their own draft history for proof. In 1999, they drafted an unknown Argentine guard named Emanuel Ginobili at No. 57. Express-News staff writer Jeff McDonald combs the archives for other “50-and-over” players who might offer the Spurs a bit of draft-night hope:

Anthony Mason

Selected: 53rd overall (third round) by Portland in 1988

The payoff: Bruising forward eventually developed into a key component of playoff teams in New York, Charlotte and Miami, winning NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 1993-94, making the All-Star team in 2001 and being named third-team All-NBA in 1996-97.

Michael Adams

Selected: 66th overall (third round) by Sacramento in 1985

The payoff: Diminutive guard went on to become one of NBA’s most lethal scorers in Denver, averaging a career high of 26.5 points in 1990-91. Twice led the NBA in 3-pointers and made one All-Star team in 1992.

Mark Eaton

Selected: 72nd overall (fourth round) by Utah in 1982

The payoff: The 7-foot-4 center led the league in blocked shots in four of his 10 seasons, won two NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards and made one All-Star appearance.

Drazen Petrovic

Selected: 60th overall (third round) by Portland in 1986

The payoff: In a prelude to the overseas invasion to come, Petrovic enjoyed his best years in New Jersey, where he averaged 20-plus points in back-to-back seasons and earned All-NBA recognition in 1992-93 before his death in a car accident.

Steve Kerr

Selected: 50th overall by Phoenix in 1988

The payoff: The NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter in history had a hand in five championships, including two with the Spurs.

Mario Elie

Selected: 160th overall (seventh round) by Milwaukee in 1985

The payoff: Pugnacious swingman lasted 11 NBA seasons and won three NBA titles, two with Houston and one with the Spurs.

Luis Scola

Selected: 55th overall by Spurs in 2002

The payoff: Long considered the one who got away for Spurs fans, Ginobili’s teammate on the Argentine national team developed into a steady starter in Houston. In 2010-11, averaged 20.2 points and nine rebounds.

Marcin Gortat

Selected: 57th by Phoenix in 2005

The payoff: Traded on draft day to Orlando, where he spent three seasons backing up Dwight Howard. Broke out after return to Suns in 2010, averaging a double-double (15.4 points, 10 rebounds) this past season.

Isaiah Thomas

Selected: 60th by Sacramento in 2011

The payoff: Last year’s Mr. Irrelevant was anything but, averaging 14.2 points and 5.2 assists for the Kings after the All-Star break to garner a second-team All-Rookie mention.

Sarunas Marciulionis

Selected: 127th overall (sixth round) by Golden State in 1987

The payoff: Became sixth man for high-scoring Warriors teams of the early 1990s, averaging a career high of 18.9 points in 1991-92.

Sam Mitchell

Selected: 54th overall (third round) by Houston in 1985

The payoff: Forward spent 10 of 13 NBA seasons with the Timberwolves, averaging 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 1990-91.

Spud Webb

Selected: 87th overall (fourth round) by Detroit in 1985

The payoff: The 5-6 Lilliputian lasted 13 seasons, averaging a high of 16 points with Sacramento in 1991-92. Memorably won 1986 slam dunk contest while with the Hawks.

Kyle Korver

Selected: 51st overall by New Jersey in 2003

The payoff: Has long been one of league’s deadliest 3-point shooters, leading NBA in long balls made in 2004-05 and percentage in 2009-10.

Patty Mills

Selected: 55th overall by Portland in 2009

The payoff: Still to come, perhaps. Hooked on with Spurs as backup point guard late in 2011-12 and finished with 61 points in final two regular-season games.

NBA notebook: James dismisses Ibaka comment

James dismisses Ibaka comment

Does Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka really think the Heat’s LeBron James is a poor defender?

That’s what he said Monday, injecting some trash talk into the middle of the NBA Finals.

Ibaka was quoted as saying: “LeBron is not a good defender. He can play defense for two to three minutes but not 48 minutes. LeBron can’t play (Kevin Durant) one on one.”

James, the leading vote-getter on the All-Defensive team, has already said it’s impossible to stop a player such as Durant for an entire game, so perhaps that’s what Ibaka meant.

“I don’t really care what he said. Stupid,” James said. “Everyone says something to me every series. You guys keep trying to get a quote from me.”

Wade deals with custody issue: Miami guard Dwyane Wade asked a Chicago judge to suspend his ex-wife’s right to visitation with their two children after a weekend incident that delayed the boys’ return to his custody and led to her arrest.

Siohvaughn Funches-Wade was charged with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference and one count of resisting arrest, Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman Frank Bilecki said.

According to the filing, Funches-Wade “barricaded herself” at her home for several hours Saturday and refused to allow Wade’s sister inside to pick the boys up for their flight to Miami.

Riley wins award: Heat president Pat Riley is this year’s recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the fifth to receive it, joining Tommy Heinsohn in 2009, Jack Ramsay and Tex Winter in 2010 and Lenny Wilkens in 2011.

Associated Press

Parker returning to U.S. to have eye examined

By Mike Monroe

Tony Parker, the Spurs’ All-NBA point guard, will return to the United States from France on July 5 to have his injured left eye examined by a specialist in New York.

Parker’s participation in this summer’s Olympic basketball tournament in London will remain in question until the team clears him to play.

The 30-year-old suffered the injury when struck by flying glass during a brawl at a New York City nightclub June 14.

Parker wasn’t directly involved in the bottle-hurling melee, which involved hip-hop performers Drake and Chris Brown.

The Spurs, who signed Parker to a four-year contract extension worth $50 million before the 2010-11 season, insist they be involved in determining both the severity of Parker’s injury and his recovery.

“Trust that we’re going to take advantage of the remedies that are available to us through the NBA’s agreement with FIBA (the international basketball governing body) to understand the severity of the injury and be involved in Tony’s prescription for recovery from any injury,” general manager R.C. Buford said.

Parker posted in French on his official website, TP9.net, that he is to fly from Paris to New York, where his eye is to be re-examined by a specialist.

Buford said details of the exam have yet to be confirmed.

The posting on Parker’s website said the Spurs’ star underwent surgery last week in Paris to remove a shard of glass from the damaged eye. Parker asserted that the glass had penetrated 99 percent of the eye.

“I can say today, I almost lost my eye,” the posting said. “So I had surgery on Sunday morning (June 17) under general anesthesia.”

Parker said his participation in the Olympic tournament in London is in the Spurs’ hands.

“The Spurs are very worried,” he said. “Based on the result, it will be determined whether I have to miss the Olympics. The decision is no longer mine. It is in the hands of the physician and San Antonio.”

If he is cleared for the London competition, Parker said, he will wear protective goggles.

Parker was not involved in the fight that took place at the club, W.i.P., which is in the SoHo district of Manhattan.

He recently filed a $20 million lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Manhattan against the club and its operators.

The club has since been shut down because of code violations and could lose its liquor license, according to New York state officials.

Parker led the Spurs in scoring (18.3 points per game) and assists (7.7 per game) as they compiled a 50-16 record in the post-lockout 2011-12 season.

mikemonroe@express-news.net