Former Spurs lottery pick is now a cautionary tale for the NBA expansion draft

The NBA will be voting on expanding the league to 32 teams this week, adding franchises in spots like Seattle and Las Vegas. That means an expansion draft would have to take place, allowing those players to be poached from their current rosters. Organizations only get to protect eight guys. If they want to hold onto more than that, they just have to hope those athletes don't get picked.

Unfortunately, hope is not a strategy, making executives and coaches powerless in these scenarios. In 1988, the Spurs drafted a shooting guard named Willie Anderson out of Georgia with the 10th overall pick. It was only one year after they selected David Robinson, who had yet to join the team pending the completion of his duty to the United States Navy.

They likely envisioned the two doing serious damage together over the next decade, but Anderson was taken by the Toronto Raptors via the 1995 expansion draft. It didn't hurt too much then, but with the importance of depth in today's game, the effects of such a disruption could be a pain to deal with.

The next expansion draft will hurt more than the last

While the Spurs enjoyed the services of their lottery selection for seven years back in the 90s, they didn't lose him on their terms. The South Carolina-born guard had already started to decline, so there's no need to delve into any "what could have been" scenarios. He only played two more seasons before his NBA career was over.

When touring the Frost Bank Center, you'll come across the legendary trophy case displaying five championships, so it's hard to believe things didn't work out pretty well for San Antonio.

However, things are different now. The Silver and Black are a ready-made team, poised to challenge for championships for the foreseeable future. Keeping their roster as is would be preferable, but the inevitable is coming.

The Spurs would undoubtedly protect more than 8 players if possible

Now, we don't know exactly when the expansion draft may happen because we don't even know if the board of governors will approve this change. However, whispers of adding new blood have been percolating for years now. It seems like something Adam Silver really wants to get done, so I don't see anything slowing this train down.

With that being said, there's no telling what the roster will look like then, but let's just take a look at it now. If it were up to me, the Spurs would protect Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant, De'Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Luke Kornet.

Now, please don't "so, you hate waffles" me. I'm a big fan of Julian Champagnie's game, and Harrison Barnes has been a tremendous veteran presence for the guys, but just like when you're asked to make a top 5 of all-time great anything, some fan favorites are going to be left off the list.

That's why the whole thing is unfortunate and why the Spurs must choose wisely when the time comes. One of the reasons they're so formidable ahead of schedule is their depth. Losing any bit of that sucks.