What's At Stake For Spurs in NBA Lottery?

What is at stake for the Spurs in Tuesday's NBA Lottery? Sports Illustrated examines

The San Antonio Spurs enter Tuesday's NBA Draft Lottery with the ninth-best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick. How the ping-pong balls bounce could change the fate of a franchise. 

Take the Oklahoma City Thunder, for example. A season of tanking last year, emphasizing loading up on future draft picks, netted them the No. 6 overall selection despite having nearly 75 percent odds of landing in the top five of the order.

Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Scott Wachter, USA TODAY

Stephen Lew, USA TODAY

With the recent changes to the lottery odds, there's a wide range of possibilities from any position. Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo examined what is at stake for the Spurs heading into Tuesday night and what to expect in terms of draft position. 

San Antonio Spurs (34-48)

Chance to win:

4.5%

Chance of top four pick:

20.3%

What’s at stake:

The last time the Spurs drafted in the top 10, it was 1997, when they took Tim Duncan No. 1. Times have certainly changed, and they’re in a rebuilding phase, but San Antonio remains pragmatic: they went outside the box last year and picked Josh Primo at No. 12, and clearly have a long game in mind. They’ve assembled good young players, but don’t have a true star to anchor the franchise, and they probably won’t get one drafting ninth. But the Spurs are confident in their player development capabilities, and while they’ve needed a big for some time, I wouldn’t assume they’ll be tethered to positional need in any way. Their roster is still a few years from getting expensive and they can be flexible here.

Daniel Dunn, USA TODAY

Scott Wachter, USA TODAY

Scott Wachter, USA TODAY

Potential options like Daniels and Jeremy Sochan neatly fit what San Antonio tends to value, as versatile, unselfish players who add value on both ends. Jalen Duren could be in play here if they believe in his upside, although the emergence of Jakob Poeltl has made the center position less of an issue. The Spurs may never be bad enough to nab favorable odds at the top of the draft, so a leap into the top four would be a massive turn of events. If not, they’ll probably draft well anyway.

The Spurs have a 50.7 percent chance of selecting at No. 9 overall, with a 25.9 percent chance of being No. 10 overall. There is a greater chance of San Antonio selecting in any of the top four spots than to pick at 11 or later.

The Spurs have been toward the back end of the lottery during the last two drafts. They used those selections to take Joshua Primo and Devin Vassell to add long-term projects on the wing. 

It hasn't been since the Spurs selected Tim Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick back in 1997 that they've made a top ten selection in the NBA Draft. 

Adding another prospect in the draft lottery will help the Spurs further their team-building efforts around Dejounte Murray. After his first All-Star campaign, prospects' addition and further development would help aid their progression.