San Antonio Spurs: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks

5. Lonnie Walker

Seeing Lonnie Walker declare for the NBA after one season with the Miami Hurricanes was a bit of a surprise, as it seemed like he had a long way to go in his development. The Spurs are starting to see the fruits of their developmental labors with Walker, though.

Walker was selected 18th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. After playing with the team in the Summer League, he started the year in the G League, not making his NBA debut until the calendar turned to 2019. He eventually played in 17 games, averaging just 2.6 points per game.

The shooting guard has looked better during his second season, playing in 53 games and averaging 5.6 points per contest. Some of the individual contests have shown where Walker could be heading.

In an early December victory over the Rockets – a tight one, at that – Walker had the best game of his career, scoring a career-high 28 games in a double-overtime victory. That included 19 points in the fourth quarter – in one quarter alone, he scored more points than he had ever scored in a single game up to that point (and up to now, still).

Consistency has been hard for Walker to come by, but he has plenty of potential on both ends of the court. He should be a Spurs mainstay for years to come.