SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio’s first draft in the Victor Wembanyama era is officially in the books.
For the first time, the NBA Draft was split into two days. The Spurs had two top 10 picks in round one and another pair of picks in round two.
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“It’s an interesting two-day setup, but it’s fun. You get a chance to strategize a little bit more and time to talk to other teams,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said. “It’s different, it’ll take some adjusting, but I think it’s an interesting wrinkle. Each year, it’ll get a little easier and a little better.”
The Spurs selected their potential point guard of the future at No. 4 overall — Stephon Castle out of UConn. The 6-foot-6 guard brings immediate help defensively to a young silver and black roster that finished 22-60 in 2023-24.
Castle will join Wembanyama at the helm of the winningest NBA head coach in Gregg Popovich. Castle’s college career playing for Dan Hurley had a significant role in San Antonio’s interest in the one-and-done freshman.
“Coach [Dan] Hurley and his staff did an amazing job, not just recruiting talent, but getting them to work, to sacrifice and play for each other,” said Wright.
Drama ensued soon after the Spurs’ decision to draft Castle.
Four picks later, San Antonio traded away their No. 8 pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves selected point guard Rob Dillingham out of Kentucky — leaving the Spurs’ faithful confused and shocked after San Antonio was rumored to have an interest in drafting the sharpshooter.
“Those decisions are always difficult ones. You do all the work on the draft, and there’s (sic) definitely players that you like,” Wright said. “But, you have to weigh the calculus on what’s best for, ultimately, the future. We felt like the package that we got was one that made sense to move off of the eighth pick for.”
San Antonio already boasts the youngest roster in the league, so the impact of another developmental player could have played a factor in the trade. The deal also opened up about $7 million in cap space.
Wright was asked if the front office is stockpiling picks to use as trade assets this summer in free agency. However, Wright implied the decision wasn’t related.
“I don’t know about all of that. I think just in isolation, in a vacuum, we felt like it was fair value for what the eighth pick was,” Wright said. “And obviously, that’s some 11-year-old right now, but, ultimately, what you can do with the pick, what you can do with that pick, you know, potentially could have some impact.”
Wright said that the team will be aggressive and strategic this summer as the Spurs put themselves in a position to attract veteran talent in free agency.
“Once we get into that time period, we’ll kind of see,” Wright said. “I think you work through things in stages. In the first stage was getting through the draft. You’re always opportunistic and looking for opportunities to improve the team. But I think, as we’ve said, we’ll be aggressive but also strategic and kind of see what unfolds.”
The Spurs made two more picks in the second round. At No. 36, the Spurs selected Spanish guard Juan Nunez and UNC forward Harrison Ingram at No. 48 overall.
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