San Antonio Spurs: Top 10 NBA Draft picks in franchise history

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7. Alvin Robertson (SG) — No. 7 pick in 1984 NBA Draft

Career stats (with the Spurs): 389 GP, 16.2 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.4 RPG, 2.9 SPG, 48.2 FG%, 75.4 FT%

Alvin Robertson was the first step toward the future for the San Antonio Spurs. He was their first top-10 pick since joining the league from the ABA in 1976. The team made it to the postseason in each of its first seven years in the NBA, until the 1983-84 season. That year, San Antonio finished with its first losing record, and wound up with the seventh pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.

Robertson had just come off a season averaging 15.5 points, 6.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game at Arkansas and had the makings of an elite defender, averaging nearly three steals a night. He came to a veteran team after just three years of college and made an impact right away, averaging 9.2 points, 3.5 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 21.3 minutes per contest.

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After coming off the bench as a rookie, Robertson became a full-time starter in year two. His numbers reflected the increase in minutes, jumping to 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and a whopping 3.7 steals per game. Those numbers earned him an All-Star bid, All-NBA and All-Defensive Second team honors, the Most Improved Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards. For his career Robertson made it to three more All-Star games and was named to five more All-Defensive teams (including two First Teams).

Unfortunately for Robertson, his prime was spent in the growing pain years for the Spurs. From his rookie year in 1984-85 through his final year with the team in 1988-89, the team went to three out of five possible postseasons and never made it out of the first round. He did not play in his team’s first postseason as a rookie, and under-performed in his breakout 1985-86 regular season. He did, however, show out in the playoffs two years later in 1987-88 with 23.3 points, 9.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 steals in three games.

Even more unfortunate for Robertson, the team started finding consistent success after he was traded in the summer of 1989. Like Dawkins, Robertson was traded for a veteran the team brought on to play with incoming rookie David Robinson. That veteran was Terry Cummings from the Milwaukee Bucks, who ended up averaging 19.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in his first three years with the Spurs before turning the corner at age 30.

Robertson was a leader and top player for the young Spurs in the mid-80s. His play at both ends gave a model of consistency for a young and struggling squad. He went on to have a solid career, but started to hit his decline after leaving San Antonio.

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