San Antonio Spurs: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks
10. Nikola Milutinov
The Spurs are no stranger to the draft-and-stash credo, happy to let international players develop abroad before bringing them into the fold in the United States. That’s likely what the Spurs had in mind when they selected center Nikola Milutinov with the 26th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Five years later, Milutinov has yet to make the trip over the Atlantic and to Texas to play for the Spurs. The same year he was drafted by the Spurs, he signed a three-year deal with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, where he has played ever since. He has won one Greek League title, made two appearances in the league’s All-Star Game and part of the league’s Best Five (an All-NBA equivalent) twice.
The Serbian is now 25 years old but doesn’t appear to be any closer to coming over to the states. In fact, Sportando reported in April that Milutinov was signing a three-year contract with Russian squad CSKA Moscow, keeping him out of the NBA even longer.
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Nikola Milutinov will sign a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow in the range of €3 million per season, a source told @Sportando.
— Emiliano Carchia (@Carchia) April 11, 2020
Barcelona was also pursuing Milutinov and put on the table around €7 million in three years
At this point, it may be nothing more than a pipe dream to believe Milutinov is ever going to play for the Spurs. Then again, maybe the Spurs just want to lull the rest of the league into a false sense of security before unleashing the 7-footer on the masses.