Did the San Antonio Spurs Make a Mistake in Drafting Lonnie Walker?

Did the San Antonio Spurs make a mistake in drafting Lonnie Walker?

No matter how you feel about Lonnie Walker's career thus far and his future with the Spurs, I don't think it's fair to call the selection a mistake.

When Adam Silver announced that the Spurs had picked Walker, I was thrilled. After years of picking low-risk, high-floor players or using their picks on draft-and-stash ventures that never amounted to anything the Spurs were finally taking someone who could provide a jolt of energy to the team.

I don't think any Spurs fan would say that Lonnie has lived up to the expectations that were put on him. I'm also willing to bet that the Spurs coaching staff and Lonnie himself could probably identify plenty of things that they wish they would have done better over the past four years. But that still doesn't mean picking him was the wrong move.

Do I wish that the Spurs had used this pick on someone like Robert Williams or Mitchell Robinson? Of course. But that's a pretty easy thing to say knowing what we know now. Back in 2018, I probably would have been pissed if the Spurs had let an exciting prospect like Walker pass on by.

Given where they were at the time, what they needed, and the pre-draft grade on Walker, I think the Spurs made the right pick here. It just hasn't panned out the way that we all hoped it would. That's basketball for you.

The Spurs made plenty of mistakes in how they handled Lonnie's development. And that's costing them now. But drafting him? No, that wasn't a mistake.