3 Best undrafted talents to ever play for the San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most storied organizations in the history of the NBA. With five NBA championships and the greatest power forward to ever play the game to their name, they are very clearly among basketball royalty. They may be on the bottom now, but their history is filled with nothing but greatness.

While the Spurs' excellence has been achieved over the years through excellent scouting and drafting, they have also done a solid job of picking up great undrafted players, something that is exceedingly difficult to do. It is something that helped keep them one level above their competitors throughout the Tim Duncan-era dynasty.

Some would even argue that the Spurs have a few of the greatest undrafted talents of all time. These types of players were not outright stars, but they each played a valuable role in San Antonio and made their own unique contributions to winning basketball.

3. Jonathon Simmons

Jonathon Simmons found his way to the Spurs and to professional basketball as a whole in the most atypical of ways. After not being selected in the 2012 NBA Draft, Simmons attended an open tryout for the Spurs' minor league team, then called the Austin Toros, of the NBA Development League in 2013.

After making the Toros' training camp roster, he earned his way to the standard roster for the remainder of the D-League season in 2013-14. During his time with the Toros, Simmons nearly gave up on basketball entirely.

But after playing with San Antonio's Summer League team in 2015 and earning the league's championship game MVP, the Spurs decided to bring him on and sign him to a standard contract. Few players have ever put in as much work to earn an NBA contract as Simmons did.

With the Spurs, Simmons was a two-way spark plug, shooting 50% from the field in 55 games played in 2015-16. But where he truly shined was the next season, when he was an integral piece off the bench for a team with championship aspirations. No Spurs fans will ever forget his chase-down block on Stephen Curry in the 2016-17 season opener, or the countless posterizing dunks he recorded.

2. Avery Johnson

Unlike Simmons, Avery Johnson was not originally signed by San Antonio. He first played in the NBA in the 1988-89 season with the Seattle Supersonics, then was traded to the Denver Nuggets. He enjoyed short stints with the Spurs, Rockets and Warriors, before returning to San Antonio where he would remain for seven straight seasons.

At just 5'11", Johnson earned the nickname "The Little General," due to his small stature but big heart. He enjoyed the most productive seasons of his career in the Alamo City, and he was an intregal part of the Spurs' first championship team in 1998-99.

He is best known for hitting the game-clinching shot for the Spurs in Game 5 of the 1999 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. The next season, he started all 82 games in San Antonio at 35 years old. Johnson's jersey was hung in the rafters of the AT&T Center in 2007, and he remains one of just 10 players in Spurs history to have their jersey retired by the franchise.

1. Bruce Bowen

Also going to the Spurs later in his NBA career, Bruce Bowen signed with San Antonio in 2001 and joined a stacked team, playing alongside the likes of Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Tony Parker. He would become part of three championship teams in the Alamo City in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

A picture of durability, Bowen incredibly played all 82 games of every season from 2003 until 2007. His ability to simply be available was a big reason why he was such a crucial part of the 2000's Spurs dynasty.

Of course, his defense did not hurt the Spurs' chances either. A tough-nosed defender, Bruce was one of the best perimeter defenders of the 2000's and earned eight All-Defensive team selections over the course of his career. He was a big part of helping the Spurs slow down some of the elite offensive players of that era like Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki in the playoffs.

In each of the Spurs' three championship runs during that decade, Bowen shot 40% or greater from three-point range in the playoffs. His elevated play during the months of April, May, and June was a major X-factor in helping San Antonio clinch three NBA championships in five seasons.

Bruce Bowen's number 12 jersey was retired by the Spurs in 2012, and he was even kind enough to allow LaMarcus Aldridge to wear it in his Spurs tenure. Given his extensive individual and team accolades, Bowen is widely regarded as one of the greatest undrafted players in the history of the league.