San Antonio Spurs 2019 NBA Draft Reactions and Projections

The 2019 NBA Draft for the San Antonio Spurs was a productive one as they were able to draft three players that can all potentially see playing in time.

After a first round exit to the Denver Nuggets in 2019, the San Antonio Spurs are looking to improve their roster to make a deeper run in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Many people believe that the West will be wide open during the 2019-2020 season after the injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. With Dejounte Murray healthy from his ACL injury, there is a great level of excitement for next year around the organization.

The first stepping stone for the Spurs in building for next year was the NBA draft. San Antonio had a good amount of draft capital to get that done with two first round picks along with a second round selection in this year’s draft.

History shows that the Spurs have been able to find quality players in these later draft slots after making the playoffs for 22 years running.

Will San Antonio’s draft record continue to shine when all is said and done with this class? Here’s the breakdown of each player selected in this year’s draft.

19th Overall Pick – Luka Samanic

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The Croatian forward is a perfect fit for today’s NBA game.

Samanic is a stretch four that runs the floor well, can shoot from the outside, and is very athletic.

Perhaps the most important component of his game is the ability to defend. Samanic will be able to switch and defend wings and guards off pick-and-rolls, and take on anyone that plays the 2-5 positions.

Switchable defense has been a weakness for the Spurs over the last couple of years, but with the combination of Samanic, Dejounte Murray, and Derrick White, they will be able to defend at a high level now and in the future.

If Samanic can reach his full potential, expect him to be the starting power forward for the Spurs for years to come.

29th Overall Pick – Keldon Johnson

Perhaps one of the biggest steals of this year’s draft, Keldon Johnson of Kentucky will bring a lot of toughness to the Spurs.

Similar to Dejounte Murray, Johnson declared for the draft after one year of school and most likely would have been a top 10 pick in next year’s draft had he stayed at Kentucky.

With the excellent work of the Spurs’ player development staff, the 19-year-old wing will be able to improve his game over time under Coach Popovich.

He attacks the basket well and is a very efficient as he shot 46 percent from the field last year at Kentucky.

Johnson’s minutes as a rookie will depend on whether the Spurs re-sign Rudy Gay and if they decide to keep DeMar DeRozan.

49th Overall Pick – Quinndary Weatherspoon

Weatherspoon is a skilled combo guard that can score. He plays extremely well in the pick-and-roll and can add more shooting to the offense.

This could be another sleeper pick for the spurs as Weatherspoon has all the tools to be a solid scorer in the NBA.

With the addition of Weatherspoon, it gives the Spurs a promising young backcourt rotation of Murray, White, Forbes, Mills, Belinelli, Walker, Derozan, and Johnson.

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It will be interesting to see how Weatherspoon looks during the Summer League schedule and training camp, but don’t be surprised if one of the Spurs’ veteran guards are dealt in a trade to open up the depth chart for the youngsters.