Seven players the San Antonio Spurs gave up on too soon

4. Lonnie Walker IV

Unlike the players we've coverd so far, we're a long way away from fully knowing if the San Antonio Spurs made a mistake in letting Lonnie Walker leave in free agency or if they made a smart decision.

I don't think anyone was surprised when Walker signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last summer. The Lakers needed youth and three-point shooting and after a few years without fully realizing the potential that many Spurs fans had for Walker, it's easy to see why he would want to go to a bigger stage to try to prove himself. There's also the obvious Klutch Sports, Lakers, and LeBron James connection.

In his first season in purple and gold, Walker has largely been the guy we've seen suit up for the Spurs for the last four years. He's going to have his exciting moments and his breakout games that make you think he's on the cusp of becoming a star. On other nights he'll go 1-7 from behind the arc, play below-average defense, and give your team a whole lot of empty-calorie minutes.

Walker is still just 24 years old and should be in the league for a long, long time. He's got a role on an NBA roster, maybe just not the one that we hoped he would have when the Sprus drafted him.

It's still entirely possilbe that we will look back at Walker's career in a decade or so and lament that the Spurs ever let him leave San Antonio. It's too soon to tell but this will be a player that Spurs fans should continue to watch and root for. Even if the Spurs end up regretting letting him go, Walker was a great teammate and every Sprus fan should be rooting for his future success.