San Antonio Spurs: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks
4. Cory Joseph
Cory Joseph may have been little more than a solid backup point guard for the Spurs over the course of his four seasons with the franchise. But unlike anybody else on this list, he has the ability to hold his head up high as an NBA champion.
Joseph was selected towards the end of the first round in 2011, picked 29th overall in the draft. As a rookie, he shuttled often between San Antonio and Austin, playing 29 games with the former and averaging 2.0 points per game. That was largely true during his second season as well, playing in 28 games with San Antonio, although his scoring jumped to 4.5 points per game.
The Canadian’s NBA role began to emerge in 2013-14, when he played in 68 games, starting 19 of them. He averaged 5.0 points and 1.7 assists per game, and while he wasn’t a major factor in the playoff rotation, he did walk away with a championship ring.
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Joseph averaging 6.8 points per game during his fourth and final season with the team, hitting career-high marks in field goal percentage (50.4 percent) and 3-point percentage (36.4). The Spurs extended a qualifying offer to Joseph after the season, but ultimately pulled it. He’s now with the Sacramento Kings, his fourth NBA team.