Back in draft lottery, Spurs get 11th pick.
With 2% shot, Silver and Black finish as expected with No. 11 pick
Twenty-three years ago, Peter Holt let out the whoop heard ‘round South Texas.
Then the Spurs’ chairman, Holt was on hand in Secaucus, N.J., the day the team won the 1997 NBA draft lottery and the right to select Tim Duncan.
A different Holt represented the Spurs in their return to the lottery Thursday. The results were less dramatic almost certainly less franchisechanging.
Instead of defying the odds, the Spurs instead followed the math, coming away with the 11th overall pick as expected.
All Holt’s son, Peter J. Holt, could do while watching virtually from the confines of the AT&T Center as the Spurs’ representative this time around was smile. There were no whoops this time.
Still, the Spurs will go into the Oct. 16 draft armed with their highest pick since tabbing Duncan first overall.
Fortune beamed brightest on
Minnesota, which landed the No. 1 pick for the second time in its history and first time since 2015, when the team chose Karl-anthony Towns.
Having been shut out of the NBA lottery for more than two decades — by virtue of a 22-season playoff streak that remains tied as the longest in league history — the Spurs could not pull off another lottery coup.
Twice in three long-ago trips to the lottery, the Spurs pocketed the top pick. In 1987, they used it to draft David Robinson. In 1997, they selected Duncan, setting the stage for five championships and a run of success unmatched in league annals.
In 1989, the Spurs wound up with the No. 3 pick, spending it on another future All-star, Sean Elliott.
Having finished their first losing season since 1996-97 with a 32-39 record, the Spurs entered Thursday’s drawing with overwhelming odds — 77.6-percent — of hitting at No. 11.
The Spurs had a slim 2 percent chance of shocking the world and grabbing the top pick again. They had a slightly better chance (9.2 percent) of slipping into the top 4. The Spurs’ luck couldn’t beat the math this time, in a draft lottery that went off like no other.
This year’s drawing was again held in Secaucus, N.J. Due to the ongoing pandemic, however, representatives from each club attended virtually from their home markets.
Peter J. Holt, who succeeded his mother, Juliana, as the team’s chairman in March 2019, served as the Spurs’ rep — following in his father’s footsteps 23 years later.
Even with the 11th pick, the Spurs are confident they can land a talented prospect who fits with their rebuilding plan.
It likely will not be Georgia’s
Anthony Edwards, Memphis’ James Wiseman, or former American high school star turned overseas pro player Lamelo Ball. Those are the three players most analysts deem as potential No. 1 selections.
Recent history has shown future star potential might still be available when the Spurs are on the clock at No. 11.
Golden State nabbed Klay Thompson at that spot in 2011. Indiana picked Myles Turner at No. 11 in 2015. In 2016, Orlando selected Domantas Sabonis and dealt him to Oklahoma City for Serge Ibaka.
A year later, OKC flipped Sabonis to the Pacers for Paul George.
The draft-day stakes will be high for the Spurs, who have not been accustomed to drafting before the teens. In the time since the Duncan draft, the Spurs have gone into draft night with a pick higher than 20th only twice.
In 2018, they took Lonnie Walker IV at No. 18. Last year, the Spurs chose Luka Samanic at No. 19. The Spurs will also have the 41st pick in the second round of this year’s draft.