San Antonio Spurs fans react to trade of top draft pick for ‘a literal 12-year-old’

SAN ANTONIO – Spurs fans are hoping a controversial swap of a top draft pick for better spots in the 2030 and 2031 drafts proves to be worth it.

San Antonio selected Connecticut guard Stephon Castle with the No. 4 overall pick of the NBA Draft Wednesday night. Moments later, the Spurs took Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham with the No. 8 pick.

However, Dillingham won’t ever wear the silver and black on the court. The Spurs traded their draft rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for a first-round pick swap in 2030 and Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2031.

As one fan saw it, the six or seven-year wait to cash in on the deal means the Spurs traded for “a literal 12-year-old.”

“Fire Brian Wright. Unless he’s on the phone with Atlanta or Cleveland getting Darius Garland or Trae Young, fire Brian Wright,” user Tyler Glasscock said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday night.

Spurs fans appeared to have some whiplash from the news. One fan posted on X that it was the, “Best draft ever! The future is now” before adding a few minutes later “NVM (never mind)…let’s see how this turns out.”

Another Spurs fan quipped that they’d had “a bad dream that the Spurs traded their #8 pick for a kid who still sleeps with his favorite blanket and has to ask his mom if he can have a sleepover.”

Others tried to keep a hopeful view, suggesting there could be promising prospects coming through the draft around that time or that the Spurs might be planning to bundle the picks into a future trade package.

Spurs fan Moses Duggirala told KSAT on Thursday he had also “hit the panic button” during Wednesday night’s draft. First, he was worried about the team drafting two guards and then about the immediate trade to the Timberwolves.

After digesting the news overnight, Duggirala said he suspects the team won’t end up using the 2031 pick themselves.

“My thought process is they’re not going to intend to actually draft anyone with it, and use it in a trade situation,” Duggirala said. “In which case, depending on who we get in that trade, I think that would dictate whether or not it was good.”

BallHoggs BBQ owner Hubert Brown, whose Spurs-themed restaurant is located next to the Frost Bank Center, is putting his faith in head coach Gregg Popovich.

“Pop makes all the calls,” Brown said. “So whatever happened with that team, Pop got the say-so, the ‘yes’ or the ‘no.’ So whatever move was made, I think it - Pop knows what he’s doing. I think he made the right choice.”

The full outcome of the trade won’t be clear for six or seven years, though, whether this call was a slam dunk or an air ball.

More 2024 NBA Draft coverage on KSAT:

• San Antonio Spurs continue wheeling and dealing on Day 2 of 2024 NBA Draft
• Q&A with Spurs draft pick Stephon Castle: ‘It’s a blessing’ to play for Popovich
• San Antonio selects UConn’s Stephon Castle at No. 4, trades No. 8 pick