We've all seen the "digging for diamonds" meme, right? The common depiction shows a man giving up his search for riches just as the treasure is on the other side of a little more work. The meaning of the meme is not to give up on your goals because you never know how close you are to breaking through. Well, we have a new version, and Spurs fans are going to love it.
Rebuilding in the NBA when you are the Spurs https://t.co/gY4TbPCK4F pic.twitter.com/vLQWMACMwI
— 🌨️ (@NotLikeRuss) October 14, 2025
This is objectively hilarious if you're a longtime San Antonio fan. The team before Tim Duncan's arrival wasn't bad; their best player was just injured, and it led to drafting the greatest power forward of all time. 20 years of dominance followed. Fast forward to where we are today, and it looks like they've hit the motherload again.
The Spurs' draft fortune is jealousy-inducing
There's really no way to label what's taken place in three straight drafts other than calling it very fortunate. The Silver and Black didn't have the worst record in the season that would lead to landing the number one pick to select Victor Wembanyama. That was Detroit. Yet they ended up with the fifth pick and the less-popular Thompson twin (Ausar).
That could have been San Antonio, but the basketball gods had better plans for Alamo City. The 7'4" alien, projected to be one of the best players we've ever seen, was a tremendous get for the organization. It was obvious from his first day, and if that was where the fortune ended, it would have been a fine landing spot. But that wasn't all.
After another subpar season, they landed the fourth pick overall in a more complicated draft. The 2024 class has been mostly underwhelming, with only a few true standouts. One of those special players is Stephon Castle, whom the Spurs could have missed on, but they didn't, and he went on to win Rookie of the Year, confirming Brian Wright made the right pick.
It's unreal to follow those years up with the number two overall pick when the odds said San Antonio would most likely have to select at the eighth spot. Dylan Harper already looks like the real deal, and he's only played in two preseason games. The Spurs must have built up a massive amount of goodwill with the basketball gods, because how else is such a run possible?
It's hard to explain. It's even more difficult to believe. But here we are. Ready to head into the future with a few of the most talented players the past three drafts had to offer. And one of them could be a top-five hooper of all time. It's insane. It's frustrating to teams like the Pelicans or Hornets. That only makes it even more hilarious.