The San Antonio Spurs' season has already come to a close, and while the playoffs roll on, they are busy preparing to become the best version of themselves for next year. Despite failing to make much noise as injuries and inexperience plagued the team in 2023, the NBA Draft Lottery is right around the corner to offer them a beacon of hope.
On May 16, the Spurs will join the other fellow lottery-bound teams to watch as a handful of ping pong balls decide their draft positioning. Having ended the regular season tied with the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons for the best odds at securing the top overall pick, it will be an extremely climactic event for Spurs fans.
When the deputy commissioner reveals the draft picks, it will be the culmination of a long season, one with much more losing than Alamo City is used to. But at the end of the day, adding a franchise-changing prospect to this group will be worth it. Depending on where the Spurs land in the lottery, it could significantly impact the future of several players on their roster.
1. Keldon Johnson
Entering his fifth year in the league, Keldon Johnson is undoubtedly a player whose future will hinge on where the Spurs land in the NBA Draft Lottery. He finished this season as San Antonio's leading scorer, but he is in no way irreplaceable.
Keldon's future with the Spurs will depend on whether they fall outside the top two of the draft. If that happens, they would almost assuredly miss out on Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson and likely select one of the Thompson twins from Overtime Elite or Brandon Miller from Alabama.
With Jeremy Sochan locked into the other starting forward spot for the foreseeable future, this result would likely lend itself to the team relegating Johnson to a sixth-man role. This shift would not necessarily signal the end of his time in San Antonio, and it might even be a positive thing for his production. But if he wants to remain a starter, Keldon should be hoping for a top-two pick.