With the San Antonio Spurs slipping in the standings, fans could pay some attention to this week’s ACC Tournament featuring some of the top prospects in the NBA Draft.

For the first time since 1997, the San Antonio Spurs are on pace to be major players in the NBA Draft lottery this coming May. With a 0.419 win percentage, San Antonio is clinging onto the 12th seed in the Western Conference, which projects to land them the 11th pick in the 2020 draft. With this being the case, they need to start scouting early first-round talent to see who might benefit their roster the most, and there’s no place better to begin their search than the ACC.

Short for the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC hosts 15 of the nation’s premier college basketball programs including four teams in the Associated Press’ Top 25, as of March 9, 2020. Only the Big Ten had more selections (six programs) but only had two in the top 15 compared to three from the ACC.

On March 10, the 2020 ACC Tournament tips off with a meeting between Spurs franchise star Tim Duncan‘s alma mater, #12 Wake Forest, and #13 Pittsburgh. This is the first of 13 games to decide who earns the title of 2020 ACC Champion just ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

March Madness is the best time to gauge the talent of some of the players we’ve been discussing all year long, including some players who could land in San Antonio via the draft. Usually, this isn’t as pressing a matter for the Spurs, but a playoff berth is a long shot at this point in the year and the most important thing to emphasize is taking that next step in building a young core.

Most of the Spurs’ needs come in the frontcourt, but on the off chance that the Spurs jump into the top four with the increased lottery odds implemented last year, they may want to look to a top guard talent like North Carolina’s Cole Anthony.

Not every player is going to have their talent in college translate directly to the pros, but the ACC tends to pump out legitimate NBA players with powerhouses like Duke, Virginia and Louisville being examples of elite college programs that empower their player’s futures.

With a lot of draft prospects coming from leagues overseas, it seems like the ACC is home to the juiciest prospect pool in college basketball this year.