The 2025 NBA Draft Lottery is done. We now have the order for the upcoming draft, which has been heralded as a strong one. The Spurs stayed at 14th with the Hawks’ pick but moved up to second overall from eighth with their own selection and will have a shot at anyone not named Cooper Flagg.
The lottery always offers a reminder that the fate of franchises is often decided by ping-pong balls, and this one wasn’t the exception. A Mavericks front office that made a head-scratchingly bad trade was rewarded with the top pick and a likely generational talent, while some bottom-dwellers that tanked did not get blessings from the basketball gods.
As for the Spurs, Monday was a huge day for their rebuild. So let’s take a closer look at what having the second overall pick means for San Antonio.
No Cooper Flagg, but the Spurs could still find a cornerstone at No.2
As the NBA’s assistant commissioner kept naming other teams, the hope of getting Cooper Flagg grew for Spurs fans. In the end, Dallas got the top pick and will select the consensus best player in the draft, unless Nico Harrison wants to make the two most baffling decisions in NBA history in the span of a few months. Flagg was the big prize of this class, and he’s not going to be a Spur unless something shocking happens.
It doesn’t mean San Antonio can’t find Victor Wembanyama an elite running mate, though.
The consensus second-best prospect is Dylan Harper. The son of former NBA champion Ron is a 6’6 guard who has drawn comparisons to Cade Cunningham. The fit might not be ideal in the somewhat crowded San Antonio backcourt, but having two big creators with defensive potential in Harper and Stephon Castle growing up together as the veteran De’Aaron Fox ages out of his prime would give the Spurs an incredibly strong foundation in the perimeter for over a decade. Teams would struggle to keep the Silver and Black off the paint for years to come, with the Fox-Harper-Castle trio putting pressure on the defense at all times.
If the Spurs want size at the forward spots instead, Harper’s teammate at Rutgers, Ace Bailey, is there. A 6’10 shooter who projects to be a good defender is exactly the type of complementary piece San Antonio needs, and he would get time to develop physically on a team that has veteran forwards to go to in the most challenging matchups of his rookie year. While most people think he’s the third-best prospect, others prefer V.J. Edgecombe, an uber-athletic shooting guard with high defensive ceiling and huge offensive upside who would immediately provide depth and physicality at the wing.
There are other incredible talents available for the Spurs that we will soon do deep dives on, a pool of prospects that run the gamut on skills and positions, like Tre Johnson, Khaman Maluach, and Kasparas Jakucionis, to name a few. Flagg won’t be there, but moving to second overall allows San Antonio to get the best next player in a strong class filled with prospects with star potential.
The Spurs now have an incredibly valuable trade piece
The eighth pick was a good trade asset because of all those names mentioned in the previous section. There are a lot of guys from this class that teams would love to have. The second pick allows whoever gets it the chance to choose from all of them, and there are a lot of front offices around the league that are probably calling the Spurs right now about getting it. Moving up provided Brian Wright with a tool to accelerate the rebuild, if he so chooses.
The premier trade target in the league is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is presumed to be unhappy in Milwaukee and could seek to move on. We will explore the idea in depth soon, but needless to say, the Spurs now have the type of asset that would get them to the top of the queue on the Bucks’ front office’s calling list if the Greek Freak asks out. But it’s not just Giannis that San Antonio could pursue.
Several teams have had disappointing years and could look to pivot into rebuilds, like the Grizzlies and Heat. Others were already trying to rebuild but got pushed down on the draft and might not be in range to grab the player they covet, like the Jazz and Wizards. There might be teams that are competitive but aging out or trying to get cheaper, who would love to move a veteran star or several high-level complementary pieces for a young potential centerpiece for the future. Even the teams currently battling in the playoffs might fall in love with Harper, or Bayley, or Edgecombe and decide to reshape their roster on the fly. Anyone could be a trade partner, because the asset truly is that good.
The Spurs should be comfortable picking second overall and adding another prized young guy, but if someone that can make them a contender now becomes available or if a team makes them an offer they can’t refuse, they could simply move the pick and speed up their rebuild while still having plenty of future draft assets at their disposal.
Getting Flagg would have been fantastic, but moving to second has put San Antonio in a great spot to start a key offseason.
