Inside The Spurs

BREAKING: San Antonio Spurs to Pick 4th, 8th in NBA Draft, Lottery Decides

After receiving the right to the Toronto Raptors' 2024 first-round pick, the San Antonio Spurs will now select twice in the top 10 in June, giving them ample options for new talent next season.

Matt Guzman

May 12, 2024; Chicago, IL, USA; Duke University’s Kyle Filipowski at the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery.
May 12, 2024; Chicago, IL, USA; Duke University’s Kyle Filipowski at the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery. / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

SAN ANTONIO, Tx. — The San Antonio Spurs have some decisions to make.

After a few hours of preparation, with both team representatives and media watching, the NBA's annual Draft Lottery took place Sunday afternoon. Ping-pong balls were numbered, mixed and drawn from a custom-made lottery machine with the end goal of delivering the full lottery order from picks 1-14, and that it was.

The Spurs will be picking fourth and eighth in the 2024 NBA Draft, putting them in a prime position to add even more young talent or trade the picks for a seasoned veteran in the offseason.

Which route will it take? That's not yet decided. But that's a query for another day.

San Antonio was rewarded late for its deal with the Toronto Raptors, in which the Canadian team traded away two second rounders and this year's first round-pick for Jakob Poeltl, giving the Spurs Khem Birch as well. The first-rounder was top-6 protected, but the lottery was not in Toronto's favor.

The Raptors earned the eighth pick overall, meaning they had to convey it to the Spurs, giving San Antonio a second top-10 pick — the only team this season with such an arrangement.

According to San Antonio Express-News reporter Tom Orsborn, who was in the drawing room for the selection, San Antonio was one number away from earning the No. 1 overall pick for the second season in a row, but the final digit allowed it to go to the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta won its first NBA Draft Lottery in franchise history, and now gets a chance to draft a player first, which it hopes can turn into a generational talent. The Spurs, on the other hand, will have that same chance if they decide to use their picks.

Early indications have Rob Dillingham and Stephon Castle in Silver & Black threads. There will be ample time to flesh out an offseason plan, but any year with two lottery picks — let alone two in the top 10 — is a good year.

Next up, San Antonio will be on the clock at picks No. 4 and 8 inside Barclays Center.

The 2024 NBA Draft is scheduled for June 26 and 27 in a new format giving each round its own day. Coverage from Brooklyn, New York will begin in the evening.

Published
Matt Guzman
MATT GUZMAN

Matt Guzman is a sports journalist and storyteller from Austin, Texas. He serves as a credentialed reporter and site manager for San Antonio Spurs On SI and a staff writer for multiple collegiate sites in the same network. In the world of professional sports, he is a firm believer that athletes are people, too, and intends to tell stories of players and teams’ true, behind-the-scenes character that otherwise would not be seen through strong narrative writing, hooking ledes and passionate words.

Home/News