Spurs' latest decision makes their Lindy Waters stance crystal clear

The San Antonio Spurs just placed a vote of confidence in backup wing Lindy Waters III. It was a move that snuck past quietly, but that speaks volumes to their stance on the sharpshooter, as they elected to fully guarantee his contract for the season.

Building the right roster around Victor Wembanyama is not a simple thing. His brilliance as a defender and versatility on offense give a front office an immense amount of flexibility in casting a vision and adding key players to the roster. From trading for De'Aaron Fox to drafting Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper and signing Luke Kornet, the Spurs are intentionally putting players around Wembanyama to help him and the team thrive.

It is hard to argue with the results, certainly, as the Spurs are 26-11 on the season, good for second-place in the competitive Western Conference. As multiple players, including Wembanyama, have battled injuries this year, the depth of the team has been crucial to carrying them through.

Downstream of the core players on the roster are those deep reserves, one of whom is Lindy Waters III. Born and raised in next-door Oklahoma, Waters went undrafted and made his debut for his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2021-22 season.

From there, he has hung around at the back end of the league, a willing shooter who was figuring out what else he could contribute to an NBA team. He had a brilliant stretch of play for the Golden State Warriors at the start of last season, but by the end of the year he had been traded and cut loose to enter free agency.

Lindy Waters signed on with the Spurs

That put him on the market to sign a minimum contract with the San Antonio Spurs. As is common with such end-of-roster deals, Waters' deal was only partially guaranteed for $500,000. The Spurs could have waived him at any point during Training Camp and into the start of this season and cleared most of his money from the books.

It was a very real question whether the Spurs would do that. Waters entered the year as an uncertain piece on the roster, a player that they could elect to waive and replace with a buyout signing or with a trade. His job security was not high.

What Waters needed to do was prove himself by playing well when called upon. The Spurs' depth in the backcourt meant Waters was not going to be an every-game player, but when he did get minutes he needed to make the most of them.

That is not what has happened thus far. Waters is shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from deep, both career-low marks. In his 20 games he is barely doing much of anything -- he races after loose balls and takes the occasional shot, but overall he is not involved.

Yet the Spurs have clearly seen something that made them confident in keeping him around. It would not have been surprising for them to waive Waters III and sign a different player to take his spot, but instead they have fully-guaranteed his contract for the rest of the season.

That doesn't mean he is suddenly going to start playing better or step into the full-time rotation. It does mean the Spurs are not yet ready to move on from the 28-year-old wing. And perhaps that means better times are ahead for Waters and the Spurs.

For now, it's a vote of confidence in Waters as the Spurs make their stance crystal clear.