San Antonio Spurs: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks
The San Antonio Spurs have a rich history of acquiring solid players in the NBA Draft. How have their last ten picks fared in the Alamo?
More than perhaps any other franchise in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs are a model of consistency year after year. That’s true across the organization, particularly in the NBA Draft.
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Some of the team’s most important players have come via the draft, starting with David Robinson being selected first overall in 1987. Tim Duncan was the first overall pick by the franchise exactly one decade later. Tony Parker was selected near the end of the first round in 2001. Manu Ginobili was taken near the end of the second round in 1999.
Ironically, the team’s two biggest current stars were not drafted by the Spurs; DeMar DeRozan was a Toronto Raptors draft pick before coming over in the Kawhi Leonard trade, while LaMarcus Aldridge was selected by the Chicago Bulls (though he never played for them) and signed with the Spurs after the 2014-15 season.
Nevertheless, the reputation of being a solid evaluator of draft talent remains ever-present for the Spurs. It’s arguably the biggest reason why the team hasn’t missed the playoffs since the 1996-97 season, directly before Duncan arrived and developed into one of the greatest players in NBA history.
That was over two decades ago, though. How have the Spurs fared recently in the NBA Draft? Here’s a ranking of the 10 most recent first-round picks for San Antonio, starting with somebody who has never played a game for the team.